Enchanted Isles (clip 2)
Bonnie Prince Charlie's route to the Hebrides
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The route to the Hebrides taken by Bonnie Prince Charlie. The film features a journey around the isles from Barra through to the Isle of Skye. It includes shots of Kisimul Castle, a man gathering cockles on the beach, a sandpiper, seaweed being processed, the birthplace of Flora McDonald, standing stones in Lewis, fishermen, Harris Tweed, schoolchildren singing Gaelic songs and remote landscape shots of the islands including the Cullens of Skye.
Questions & Activities
- Why is Iona called the Saint Isle?
- What is a selkie?
- Who was Flora McDonald and why is she important?
- Which composer wrote Fingals Cave?
- Where is Barra and who owned Kisimul Castle?
- What methods of transport are available for people to travel to islands such as Barra and South Uist today?
English (primary): Research the Scottish selkie stories and their relationship to mermaid folktales from around the world.
English / Scottish Identity: Using this and other films about the Highlands, discuss whether Scotland is complicit in its own sentimentalisation and whether this is to the benefit or detriment of Scotland.
English: Write an alternative account from the perspective of Flora McDonald.
Geography: Plot on a map all the places mentioned in this clip.
English: Look at the metaphors used in the narration for this story and discuss why have they been chosen and how effective (or not) they are. Look at how much of the language remains the same today in modern films to encourage tourism to Scotland.
Business Studies / Marketing: Look at other tourist adverts from around the world and examine the techniques involved. Then try to construct an advert for Scotland that avoids the traditional cliches but still encourages tourists to come and spend their money in Scotland.
|Resource Rights Holder||National Library of Scotland|
|Genre||Sponsored, Documentary, Educational|
|School Subject||English, Social Studies, Business Studies, Geography|
|Subject Matter||Scottish Identity, Marketing|
|Who||Alan Campbell Maclean (written commentary), Anglo Scottish Pictures Limited (producer), Cedric Thorpe Davie (musical arrangement), Films of Scotland Committee (sponsor), Fulton Mackay (by arrangement with Citizens Theatre), (spoken commentary), Tom Twigge (scriptwriter)|
|Where||Barra, Benbecular, Hebrides, Iona, Isle of Pabay, Lewis, Lochboisdale, Oban, Seil Island, Skye, South Uist, Staffa, Tiree, Tobermory|