Title page to Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir (Alexander MacDonald), Ais-eiridhna Sean ChánoinAlbannaich; no, Annuadh Oranaiche Gaidhealach (‘Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Language’)

Although the defeat of the Jacobite clans at Culloden had prompted a stepping up of the campaign to wipe out the Gaelic language, the second half of the 18th century saw an astonishing revival of Gaelic poetry. Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir’s 'Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Language' was the first secular book to be published in Scottish Gaelic. It was allegedly burnt by the public hangman in Edinburgh on account of its strongly pro-Jacobite and bawdy contents.