John Marsden (2) (1946–2017)

Known perhaps best to the average modern anglophone through their mention in Macbeth - though I personally first heard of them in a wargaming context - the galloglas were a warrior caste of Scottish origin but soon enough nativized in 13th to 16th century Ireland. As professional heavy infantry, at least in their later years characteristically armed with poleaxes, they become indispensable to Irish armies, and eventually also to English ones on the island.

The operative word of the subtitle show more of this book however isn't so much "warrior" as "kindreds" - the focus is on tracing the half-dozen originally Scottish clans that provided their leaders. Not uninteresting, but not quite what I was expecting either. show less

Not so much fury here as tedium, perhaps the title promised too much, although it's a fair quote from a contemporary prayer "preserve us from .." etc. The detail of the story is all there, and persuasively assembled from some very thin records, and that I think was the aim of the author, to catologue events rather than draw too many conclusions from them. One thing that did become apparent, however, was how the Viking raiders timed their pillaging at intervals to allow for their victims to show more build up their wealth again ready to be 'harvested'. As chilling a comparison with the situation between the hunter and the prey as is possible to make. show less

A very well-researched book, with a map of the border lands of England and Lowland Scotland as well as what historical facts exist for the ballads. And the pictures! Just makes me want to get my hiking boots and backpack and head out there. Lovely rolling hills and lots of mist.

This is a book about a specific sort of ballad, from the days of the reivers" along the Scottish/English border from 1500's-1603 (when James I assumed the crown of both realms). The main way of living was farming and show more herding cattle, and then going on raids across the borders to steal a neighbor's cattle and horses. Not a gentle time, and the ballads give many details about the raids. Marsden has done an amazing amount of research into who the people were who were mentioned in the ballads. Were they farmers? Were they raiders? Were they the border government who either benefitted from or hung the raiders? There is a lot of history in this region, and bringing out the ballads that documented it and kept many of these names and events alive is a remarkable feat." show less

I must admit this book wasn't what I hoped it would be -- a comprehensive account of the Norse and Danish "viking" invasions of the British Isles from 793 to William the Conqueror in 1066. Instead, it's mostly an account of coastal monasteries, with particular attention to that of St. Cuthbert at Lindisfarne, the invasion that started it all and led to nearly 3 centuries of wandering by monks toting his unwithered carcass around northern England. While the heathen invaders play a role in the show more book, the after-effects of their raids seem more important to the author than other specifics regarding the raiding, particularly political, social and economic forces behind their movement.

While the path taken by Marsden was not much to my liking, I probably could have successfully adjusted my expectations had he been more secular in his presentation. Marsden derived too many conclusions from suspect sources...sagas, poems, and chronicles where he would seemingly pick and choose what he considered unequivocal fact and what was obvious fiction -- even when appearing in the same paragraph! He was also overly fond of pointing out passages that seemed to foretell future events, I'm pretty sure Marsden actually believed that divine intervention altered to course of history many times during this period. This quickly becomes tedious to the non-believer, and throws all conclusions into doubt.

Read this book if you have a special interest in English and Irish monasteries during the Dark Ages. Skip it if you want to learn more about vikings or the heroes that opposed them (such as Alfred the Great). show less