John Marsden (2) (1946–)

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 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.… (más)

After an interesting opening, my attention began to diminish, and from about halfway I began skim-reading for much of the time. Certain sections droned on about the same subject and I couldn't concentrate on it.

It's a book with almost as many lengthy quotes from other writers as there is of the author's own work. Many of these quotes are testimonies from different sources, which are compared. Some readers might find this interesting, but for me it gets boring after a while. I've never been a fan of reading a quoted passage, only to learn afterwards that it's unreliable or simply not true.

Overall, I found this too bland and couldn't get into it.… (más)

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 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."… (más)