Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr (15 January 1869 – 5 January 1960) (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: Ruaraidh Arascain is Mhàirr) was a

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into ...

political activist, writer and

language revival Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...

campaigner.

Early life

Ruaraidh Erskine was born ''The Honourable Stuart Richard Joseph Erskine'' at 1 Portland Place,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 15 January 1869. He was the third of the four children born to William Macnaghten Erskine, 5th Baron Erskine (1841–1913), an army officer, and his wife, Caroline Alice Martha Grimble. The family were descendants of the Erskine Earls of Buchan.
Derick S. Thomson, ‘Erskine, Stuart Richard (1869–1960)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oct 2009; online edn, Sept 2010 Erskine claimed that he learned to speak

from his childhood nanny, who came from Harris, Scotland, Harris, and that this kindled the enthusiasm which was to be a main hallmark of his career.Cairns, Gerard (2021), ''No Language! No Nation! The Life and Times of The Honourable Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr'', Rymour Books, Perth, His imagination was fired early by the

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

movement and these combined influences, together with his family's

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

roots, led to his development as a prominent Gaelic nationalist, whose compelling dream was of a self-governing

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. As essential steps towards the realization of this dream he was actively involved in the fostering of Gaelic consciousness and in the extension of Gaelic usage, especially in the written form. He hoped that a significant extension of

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities ...

would contribute to the raising of literary standards, in a reaction against what he saw as the degrading influence of music-hall and ‘pop’ culture on Gaelic verse in the second half of the nineteenth century. He probably also viewed his activity as a response to the dominance of folklore in the Gaelic literary world.

Journalism and the Neo-Jacobite Revival

In 1890, Erskine and

Herbert Vivian Herbert Vivian (3 April 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English journalist, author and newspaper owner, who befriended Lord Randolph Churchill, Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, Charles Russell, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. H ...

co-founded ''The Whirlwind'', a weekly newspaper. The paper was published for less than a year, but printed works by a number of notable artists, including Walter Sickert and James NcNeill Whistler. It advocated nationalism, peace, free trade and

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

, and opposed

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

and

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. It also espoused a Jacobite philosophy, and the restoration of the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

. Erskine, along with Vivian and Melville Henry Massue founded the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain and Ireland in 1891, and he was president of the organisation in 1893, 1894 and 1897. In 1891, he stood as a candidate for the Buteshire constituency as a "Scottish Tory Home Ruler", but by October of that year, he had withdrawn. In 1901, Erskine began to edit a new bilingual newspaper, ''Am Bàrd'', which ran until July of the following year. In 1904, he launched ''Guth na Blaidhna'', a bilingual periodical which promoted Scottish Gaelic

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and a twentieth-century

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. It was published for 21 years, finally going out of business in 1925. Between February 1908 and February 1909 he published the weekly Gaelic language newspaper ''Alba'', which covered a range of political and cultural matters, including land, crofting, fishing, Scottish Gaelic-medium education, early

Scottish history The recorded history of Scotland begins with the Scotland during the Roman Empire, arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the Roman province, province of Roman Britain, Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. No ...

and Gaelic song. In 1914, Erskine revived ''The Scottish Review'', a title which had been edited by the 3rd Marquess of Bute between 1882 and 1900. The journal's political stance became leftist as well as nationalist. Contributors included the Aberdonian

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist William Diack,

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a Scottish left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP), the author and poet Lewis Spence, and the

Welsh Nationalist Welsh nationalism () emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Culture of Wales, Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self-determination, which includes Welsh de ...

MP Edward Thomas John.

Scottish nationalism

In 1892, aged 23, he became vice-president of the Scottish Home Rule Association, but he grew to oppose the notion of

home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

for

within the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and went on to support

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

. In 1904 he formed the ''Guth na Bliadhna'' (Voice of the Year) publication and used it to advocate independence and a coming together of the

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celts, Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Goidelic languages, Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising ...

of both Scotland and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to aid each other in a campaign to establish their respective languages as the official language of their country. He also used the magazine to call for the formation of a political party to campaign for independence. His activities with the publication brought him into contact with William Gillies, with whom he formed the

Scots National League The Scots National League (SNL) was a political organisation which campaigned for Scottish independence in the 1920s. It amalgamated with other Scottish nationalism, Scottish nationalist bodies in 1928 to form the National Party of Scotland. T ...

(SNL) in 1920, thus going some way towards the realisation of the formation of a Scottish nationalist political party. Despite his aristocratic background, Erskine had links with the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

figure John Maclean who was himself an advocate of an independent (socialist) Scotland. Erskine had at one stage described socialism as "a predatory creed", but by the time of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was becoming more politically radical and finding sympathy with the cause of figures such as Maclean. He championed the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

in 1916, and attempted to foster links with the Irish nationalist community by attempting to set up a joint Scottish-Irish Celtic newspaper with Art O'Brian the president of the Irish Self Determination League. Erskine attempted to get independent representation for Scotland at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the First World War. In this he was ultimately unsuccessful, but it did attract the support of figures such as

, a prominent figure in the

at the time. Erskine and Gillies led the SNL into joining with other groups to form the

National Party of Scotland The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which ...

(NPS) in 1928. The NPS was quite different in outlook to the SNL had been and many SNL members left the NPS due to this factor, including Erskine. After this, Erskine was to play little role in politics. Erskine was long accused of being

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

. Some of his ideas, however, have gained in popularity over time, e.g.

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

(through the

Highland Land League The first Highland Land League () emerged as a distinct political force in Scotland during the 1880s, with its power base in the country's Highlands and Islands. It was known also as the Highland Land Law Reform Association and the Crofters' Par ...

), and even the Scottish Gaelic

. His

pan-Celticism Pan-Celticism (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Pan-Cheilteachas'', Breton: ''Pan-Keltaidd'', Welsh: ''Pan-Geltaidd'', Cornish: ''Pan-Keltaidh'', Manx: ''Pan-Cheltaghys''), also known as Celticism or Celtic nationalism, is a political, social and cultura ...

has received attention from the Celtic Congress and Celtic League.

Personal life

In May 1891, the engagement of Erskine and Muriel Lilias Colquhoun Graham was announced; they were married on 18 July 1891.

References

External links

"Erskine, Stuart Richard [''known as'' Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar
"">'known as'' Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar">"Erskine, Stuart Richard [''known as'' Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar
"''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
"Connections across the North Channel: Ruaraidh Erskine and Irish Influence in Scottish Discontent, 1906-1920"
at ''The Irish Story''
"Snake Women and Hideous Sensations: The Strange Case of Gaelic Detective Short Stories by Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar,"
''Scottish Literary Review''
"A Fitting Offering to the Gaelic Thalia or Melpomene”: Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar and Drama in Scottish Gaelic,"
''Litteraria Pragensia''
"Neo-Jacobites, Decadents and Fin de Siècle Nationalism,"
''The History of Scottish Cosmopolitanism at the Fin de Siècle'' (video) *Gerard Cairns,

' (Perth: Rymour Books, 2021)
"Masculinity in Ruaraidh Erskine's Short Stories in the Context of Fin-de-siècle Detective Fiction,"
''Association for Scottish Literature'' (video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Erskine, Ruaraidh 1869 births 1960 deaths Jacobite propagandists Neo-Jacobite Revival Scottish Gaelic language activists Scottish independence activists Scottish Jacobites Scottish journalists Scottish nationalists Scottish politicians Scottish republicanism Scottish newspaper founders 19th-century British newspaper founders