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

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: 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 t ...

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 groups, o ...

campaigner.

Early life

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

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lo ...

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 cu ...

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

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. 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 literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Irish ...

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, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. He campaigned for Irish Home Rule and was pr ...

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 Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

and James NcNeill Whistler. It advocated nationalism, peace, free trade and

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, 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 1 ...

, and opposed

female suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

. Erskine, along with Vivian and

Melville Henry Massue Melville Amadeus Henry Douglas Heddle de La Caillemotte de Massue de Ruvigné, "9th Marquis of Ruvigny and 15th of Raineval" (25 April 1868 – 6 October 1921) was a British genealogist and author, who was twice president of the Legitimist Jacobit ...

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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a twentieth-century

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. 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 begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the ''Picti'', whose uprisings forced Rome ...

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 (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist William Diack,

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a British 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 Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP), the author and poet

Lewis Spence James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and occult scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice- ...

, and the

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

Edward Thomas John Edward Thomas John (14 March 1857 – 16 February 1931), known as E.T. John, was a radical Welsh Liberal Party politician who later joined the Labour Party. Background He was born in Pontypridd on 14 March 1857, the son of John John and Margar ...

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 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 governance wit ...

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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and went on to support

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

. 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 ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...

of both Scotland and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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 William Gillies (1865–1932) was a Scottish patriot and a socialist. He helped to form the Scots National League, which joined with other bodies to form the National Party of Scotland, which in turn evolved into the Scottish National Party (S ...

, 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 nationalist bodies in 1928 to form the National Party of Scotland. The Scots National Leag ...

(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 a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), 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 a ...

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 c ...

(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 political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

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

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

(through the

Highland Land League The first Highland Land League ( gd, Dionnasg an Fhearainn) 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 Associat ...

), and even the Scottish Gaelic

. His

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

has received attention from the

Celtic Congress The International Celtic Congress ( br, Ar C'hendalc'h Keltiek, kw, An Guntelles Keltek, gv, Yn Cohaglym Celtiagh, gd, A' Chòmhdhail Cheilteach, ga, An Chomhdháil Cheilteach, cy, Y Gyngres Geltaidd) is a cultural organisation that seeks to ...

and

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

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
".html" ;"title="'known as'' Ruaraidh Erskine of Mar">"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 Jacobitism Jacobite propagandists Neo-Jacobite Revival Scottish Gaelic language activists Scottish independence activists Scottish Jacobites Scottish journalists Scottish nationalists Scottish politicians Scottish republicanism 19th-century British newspaper founders