The opening of I. THE GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS
The whole of this part has been THOROUGHLY REVISED, RE-MODELLED, and to a great extent RE-WRITTEN. All the introductory chapters relating to the PRIMITIVE HISTORY of the Highlands, are NEW, and in them are treated the much controverted questions as to the PICTS and SCOTS, their RACE and LANGUAGE--the EARLY RACES OF KINGS, all points connected with the early SOCIAL and POLITICAL CONDITION of the Highlanders, their ORIGINAL RELIGION and the SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY. The most RECENT INVESTIGATIONS bearing on the ANTIQUITIES of the Highlands, the ANCIENT MANNERS and CUSTOMS of their people, their PECULIAR DRESS, their SOCIAL and POLITICAL RELATIONS, their SUPERSTITIONS, and other interesting antiquarian matters, have been taken advantage of.
As to the rest of this portion of the work, while whatever had no connection with Highland history has been expunged, much new matter has been added in order to make the general narrative COMPLETE and AUTHENTIC. When, at a later period of their history, the Highlanders become a potent element in the settlement of many great disputes, it has been sought to make the reader understand clearly the part they thus took in the stirring and momentous transactions of the times.