Highland Society of London

The Highland Society of London is a charity registered in England and Wales, with "the view of establishing and supporting schools in the Highlands and in the Northern parts of Great Britain, for relieving distressed Highlanders at a distance from their native homes, for preserving the antiquities and rescuing from oblivion the valuable remains of Celtic literature, and for promoting the improvement and general welfare of the Northern parts of Great Britain".[1]

History

Highland Society of London Act 1816
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for the Incorporation of The Highland Society of London; for the better Management of the Funds of the Society; and for rendering its Exertions more extensive and beneficial to the Public.
Citation56 Geo. 3. c. xx
Dates
Royal assent21 May 1816
Text of statute as originally enacted
Highland Society of London Act 1831
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act for repealing, altering, enlarging, and amending certain Provisions of an Act passed in the Fifty-sixth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, intituled "An Act for the Incorporation of the Highland Society of London, for the better Management of the Funds of the Society, and for rendering its Exertions more extensive and beneficial to the Public."
Citation1 & 2 Will. 4. c. xlvii
Dates
Royal assent23 August 1831
Text of statute as originally enacted

The society was founded in 1778 by Highland gentlemen resident in London and was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the Highland Society of London Act 1816 (56 Geo. 3. c. xx) on 21 May 1816.

Within a year of its foundation, its members had come to include a number of notable Scots:[2]

The Presidents over the first 25 years of the Society's existence were:[2]

Activities

In 1782, the Society was instrumental in securing the repeal of the Dress Act 1746, the statutory proscription of Highland Dress, introduced after the Jacobite rising of 1745. It has a well known and definitive collection of clan tartans established in the early 19th century. In its early days it was active in the investigations into the authenticity of the poems supposedly by Ossian, which it had also helped to publish.

The Society supports and awards annual prizes for piping, including gold medals at the Northern Meeting and Argyllshire Gathering. Its early records are deposited in the National Library of Scotland.[3]

Highland Book Prize

In 2017, the Society established the Highland Book Prize in collaboration with Moniack Mhor. Open to fiction, non-fiction and poetry, the prize "celebrates the finest published work that recognises the rich talent, landscape, and cultural diversity of the Scottish Highlands".[4]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019 prize was jointly awarded to all four shortlisted authors "equally as a collective, as a celebration of life, literature and community".[5]

Year Work Author Result Ref(s)
2024 Night Train to Odesa Jen Stout Winner [6]
Birds Humans Machines Dolphins Genevieve Carver Shortlist [7]
Gliff Ali Smith
Women of the Hebrides / Ban-eileanaich Innse Gall Joni Buchanan
2023 Sea Bean Sally Huband Winner [8]
Columba's Bones David Greig Shortlist [9]
Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time Kapka Kassabova
Nothing Left to Fear from Hell Alan Warner
Wild Air: In Search of Birdsong James Macdonald Lockhart
2022 Crann-Fìge/ Fig Tree Duncan Gillies Winner [10]
Companion Piece Ali Smith Shortlist [11]
Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer Tony Davidson
WAH! Things I Never Told My Mother Cynthia Rogerson
2021 The Stone Age Jen Hadfield Winner [12]
Slaves and Highlanders David Alston Shortlist [13]
Islands of Abandonment Cal Flyn
In a Veil of Mist Donald S. Murray
2020 The Changing Outer Hebrides: Galson and the Meaning of Place Frank Rennie Winner [14]
The Nature of Summer Jim Crumley Shortlist [15]
To The Lake: A Journey of War and Peace Kapka Kassabova
Summer Ali Smith
2019 The Frayed Atlantic Edge: A Historian’s Journey from Shetland to the Channel David Gange Winner [16]
Surfacing Kathleen Jamie
Spring Ali Smith
Moder Dy Roseanne Watt
2018 Now We Shall Be Entirely Free Andrew Miller Winner [17]
The Assynt Crofter: Allan MacRae, A Life Judith Ross Napier Shortlist [18]
The Last Wilderness: A Journey Into Silence Neil Ansell
The Valley at the Centre of the World Malachy Tallack
2017 Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe Kapka Kassabova Winner [19]
The Finest Road in the World James Miller Shortlist [20]
The Angel in the Stone R.L. McKinney
The Potter's Tale: A Colonsay Life Dion Alexander

References

  1. ^ Open Charities web site, accessed on 16 November 2013
  2. ^ a b Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster Bt., An Account of the Highland Society of London (London, 1813), Appendix II
  3. ^ "J. F. Campbell Collection: Highland Society of London and branch societies". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  4. ^ "About". Highland Book Prize. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  5. ^ "2019 Highland Book Prize awarded collectively to short-listed authors "as a celebration of life, literature and community."". Highland Book Prize.
  6. ^ "Highland Book Prize Winner 2024". Highland Book Prize.
  7. ^ "Highland Book Prize 2024 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
  8. ^ "Sea Bean by Sally Huband wins the 2023 Highland Book Prize". Highland Book Prize.
  9. ^ "Highland Book Prize 2023 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
  10. ^ "Highland Book Prize 2022 Award". Highland Book Prize.
  11. ^ "Shortlist Announced for the 2022 Highland Book Prize". Highland Book Prize.
  12. ^ "The Stone Age wins the 2021 Highland Book Prize". Highland Book Prize.
  13. ^ "2021 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
  14. ^ "2020 Award". Highland Book Prize.
  15. ^ "2020 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
  16. ^ "2019 Award". Highland Book Prize.
  17. ^ "2018 Award". Highland Book Prize.
  18. ^ "2018 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
  19. ^ "2017 Award". Highland Book Prize.
  20. ^ "2017 Shortlist". Highland Book Prize.
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