Tribesmen

The clan led by Trump presents to Americans the same marauders and robbers as their chief and his dogs. Sustained by ignorance and perceived abuse, they are reminiscent of the Celtic brand that once inhabited the uncivilized Scottish highlands (of which I have little doubt Trump’s raw lineage descends in notable measure). Nor yet have we “forgotten that the ancient Gaelic polity had been found to be incompatible with the authority of law, had obstructed the progress of civilisation, had more than once brought on the empire the curse of civil war”.

Whether Trump and his freebooters will escape hateful revenge is yet uncertain. I would not dismiss the strength of the provocation. Trump and his allies can no longer pretend to hide behind lies and fabrications. Decency and morality are not the preserve of timidity; they are the blood of vengeance.

”The Highlands were subjugated rapidly, completely, and for ever. During a short time the English nation, still heated by the recent conflict, breathed nothing but vengeance. The slaughter on the field of battle and on the scaffold was not sufficient to slake the public thirst for blood. The sight of the tartan inflamed the populace of London with hatred, which showed itself by unmanly outrages to defenceless captives. A political and social revolution took place through the whole Celtic region. The power of the chiefs was destroyed: the people were disarmed: the use of the old national garb was interdicted: the old predatory habits were effectually broken”.

Excerpt From
The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3
Thomas Babington Macaulay

Regrettably the differences between us ants on the globe are infrequently settled by reason and understanding alone. Confrontation on occasion becomes necessary. There is no cleansed way to acknowledge civil war. We haven’t eclipsed the past in so many other historical incidents. The French Revolution wasn’t muscled by politicians or lords. As for the popular vote, all accounts point to other than Trump. And therein lies the palpable combustion. The initial punishment will likely be confined to legal and penal quarters. But it wouldn’t be the first time a monarch was beheaded.

“The religion of the greater part of the Highlands was a rude mixture of Popery and Paganism. The symbol of redemption was associated with heathen sacrifices and incantations. Baptized men poured libations of ale to one Daemon, and set out drink offerings of milk for another. Seers wrapped themselves up in bulls’ hides, and awaited, in that vesture, the inspiration which was to reveal the future. Even among those minstrels and genealogists whose hereditary vocation was to preserve the memory of past events, an enquirer would have found very few who could read. In truth, he might easily have journeyed from sea to sea without discovering a page of Gaelic printed or written. The price which he would have had to pay for his knowledge of the country would have been heavy. He would have had to endure hardships as great as if he had sojourned among the Esquimaux or the Samoyeds. Here and there, indeed, at the castle of some great lord who had a seat in the Parliament and Privy Council, and who was accustomed to pass a large part of his life in the cities of the South, might have been found wigs and embroidered coats, plate and fine linen, lace and jewels, French dishes and French wines. But, in general, the traveller would have been forced to content himself with very different quarters.”

Idem