Major John Stewart Of Ardvorlich was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 military officer and the author of several authoritative works on the history of various Scottish clan

Clan

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

s.

Published works

His works include The Stewarts, The Stewarts : the Highland branches of a royal name,, The Camerons - A History of Clan Cameron, and The Grahams.

His 344-page The Camerons - A History of Clan Cameron was published by the Clan Cameron

Clan Cameron

Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands is the mountain Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The chief of the clan is customarily referred to as...

 Association in 1971, and highly praised by Colonel Sir Donald Hamish Cameron of Lochiel

Lochiel

Lochiel may refer to:*Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, the Scottish chieftain*Lochiel, New South Wales, Australia*Lochiel, South Australia*Lochiel, Mpumalanga, South Africa...

, the clan's Chief at the time. Considered "the definitive book on the clan" by present-day Camerons, it is proudly sold at The Clan Cameron Museum at Achnacarry

Achnacarry

Achnacarry is a small hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of Highland, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west....

 

He has also produced a History of the Ardvorlich Stewarts, his own direct family, which was published privately and its copies never offered to the general public, or even to specilialised researchers. A copy exists with the Stewart Society and another with the Public Library in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, with remaining copies believed to be preserved only in possession of family members. Family members are rather secretive about it, with outsiders being only shown "select pages" of the book

John Stewart's researches unearthed considerable information on the history of his own ancestors and those of other renowned Scottish families and clans, which he interpreted in a romantic manner - as is evident, for example, in the following excerpt from The Grahams:

It is remarkable that the early Grahams were one and all exceedingly capable men. In an age when the reputation of many great public figures, and, alas, that of most of the Scottish nobility, were sullied by deeds of violence, and often, deeds of blackest treachery, it is refreshing to find that the Grahams stand out as loyal and true to the causes they espoused. Their story is not one a of rapid rise to power through the Royal favour, or even at the expense of their peers, but rather a gradual but steady rise based on their undoubted ability and worthiness which seems to have endured from one generation to another.

External links

• Online extracts from The Camerons - A History of Clan Cameron Retrieved November 2010
• Stewarts of Balquhidder official website Retrieved November 2010
• Argyll Stewart Family History