Attached here are scanned images from Fionn MacColla's 1967 book 'At the sign of the clenched fist'. I believe they belong here in the public domain. The book belongs to that special genre: the ramblings of a madman. And not just any madman, but one who has shunned his Sassanach slave name Thomas Douglas MacDonald, learned Gaelic, moved to Western Isles, converted from the Wee Frees to the true Catholic faith, and has helped found the National Party of Scotland along with a variety of other writers and artists such as Edward Baird who painted MacColla's above portrait. MacColla is 26 there, it was 1932.
I didn't like the book. Some of the arguments don't even hold. Okay so the protestant reformers were allied with the English as Fionn Mac Colla rants and raves about, but he omits the fact that prior to the regal union in 1603, his MacDonald ancestors also repeatedly allied with English kings, to batter against the Lowland central regime. The pictures were cool though. And the underlying milieau of the Scottish Renaissance is as well - seeds that are finally taking formation.
I've always been a firm believer and passionate advocate in the value of madness. RIP a' Fhionn.
Public domain is 70 years after the writer's death, so no, not public domain.
ReplyDeleteNot that I care btw ;-)
Delete