The Haldanes of Gleneagles ― A Scottish History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day

The Haldanes have been in Scotland for more than 800 years, and their story illustrates many of the defining themes of Scotland’s history. Haldanes played significant roles in the Bruce war of independence, the political upheavals which accompanied the establishment of the Stewart dynasty, the religious struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Darien Scheme and the Act of Union, the Jacobite rebellions, the development of the East India Company, and the theological controversies of the 19th century. In the 20th century, Haldanes were still to be found in the public eye with some influence on matters of national significance. In this book, Neil Stacy follows the fortunes of the family, highlighting the extraordinary contribution they have made in so many areas as well as uncovering some of the more colorful episodes in the family’s history, such as long-buried secrets of romance in the teeth of parental opposition, a military career threatened by a youthful liaison with a blackmailing barmaid, and an attempt to run a temperance hotel in the western Highlands which ended in high farce.

Neil Stacy studied History at Oxford and spent many years working in the theater and TV before returning to historical research. He has produced books on the estates of the abbeys of Glastonbury and Shaftesbury and contributed articles to scholarly journals and to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.