153-498: The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean is an 1857 novel written by Scottish author R. M. Ballantyne . One of the first works of juvenile fiction to feature exclusively juvenile heroes, the story relates the adventures of three boys marooned on a South Pacific island, the only survivors of a shipwreck. A typical Robinsonade – a genre of fiction inspired by Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe – and one of
306-549: A feminist movement developed. Parental authority was seen as important, but children were given legal protections against abuse and neglect for the first time towards the end of the period. Access to education increased rapidly during the 19th century. State-funded schools were established in England and Wales for the first time. Education became compulsory for pre-teenaged children in England, Scotland and Wales. Literacy rates increased rapidly, and had become nearly universal by
459-721: A European style of feudalism to Scotland along with an influx of people of French descent – by invitation, unlike England where it was by conquest. To this day, many of the common family names of Scotland can trace ancestry to Normans from this period, such as the Stewarts , the Bruces , the Hamiltons , the Wallaces and the Melvilles . The Northern Isles and some parts of Caithness were Norn -speaking (the west of Caithness
612-709: A centre for Scottish migration in the 1930s. In 1961 a third of residents were born in Scotland, and in 2011 the figure was 12.7%. Other European countries have had their share of Scots immigrants. The Scots have emigrated to mainland Europe for centuries as merchants and soldiers. Many emigrated to France, Poland, Italy , Germany, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. Recently some scholars suggested that up to 250,000 Russian nationals may have Scottish ancestry. A number of Scottish people settled in South Africa in
765-599: A child, Golding strongly disagreed with the views that it espoused, and in contrast Lord of the Flies depicts the English boys as savages themselves, who forget more than they learn, unlike Ballantyne's boys. Golding described the relationship between the two books by saying that The Coral Island "rotted to compost" in his mind, and in the compost "a new myth put down roots". Neither is the idyllic nature of Ballantyne's coral island to be found on Stevenson's treasure island, which
918-525: A connection to Scotland. This connection may be active through cultural, linguistic, friendship, or professional links, or who may simply be interested Scotland’s heritage or culture). The majority of Scotch-Irish Americans originally came from Lowland Scotland and Northern England before migrating to the province of Ulster in Ireland (see Plantation of Ulster ) and thence, beginning about five generations later, to North America in large numbers during
1071-548: A democracy. The political legacy of the reform movement was to link the nonconformists (part of the evangelical movement) in England and Wales with the Liberal Party . This continued until the First World War . The Presbyterians played a similar role as a religious voice for reform in Scotland. Religion was politically controversial during this era, with Nonconformists pushing for the disestablishment of
1224-487: A document in the history of ideas". A scientific and social background for the novel is found in Darwinism , of the natural and the social kind. For instance, although The Coral Island was published a year before Origin of Species (whose ideas were already being circulated and discussed widely), Charles Darwin 's 1842 The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs was one of the best-known contemporary accounts of
1377-455: A fashion among employers for providing welfare services to their workers, led to relative social stability. The Chartist movement for working-class men to be given the right to vote, which had been prominent in the early Victorian period, dissipated. Government involvement in the economy was limited. Only in the post-World War II period , around a century later, did the country experience substantial economic growth again. But whilst industry
1530-522: A four-part children's television drama broadcast by ITV in 2000. Born in Edinburgh in 1825, and raised there, Ballantyne was the ninth of ten children and the youngest son. Tutored by his mother and sisters, his only formal education was a brief period at Edinburgh Academy in 1835–37. At the age of 16 he travelled to Canada, where he spent five years working for the Hudson's Bay Company , trading with
1683-417: A fundraiser for the missionary cause"; literary critic Michelle Elleray discusses numerous children's books from the early to mid-19th century, including The Coral Island , in which coral plays such an educational role. The novel's setting provides the backdrop for a meditation in the style of Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who promoted an educational setting in which lessons are provided by direct interactions with
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#17327918688711836-464: A general principle of one vote per household. All these acts and others simplified the electoral system and reduced corruption. Historian Bruce L Kinzer describes these reforms as putting the United Kingdom on the path towards becoming a democracy. The traditional aristocratic ruling class attempted to maintain as much influence as possible while gradually allowing the middle- and working-classes
1989-514: A high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. Prosperity rose during the period, but debilitating undernutrition persisted. Literacy and childhood education became near universal in Great Britain for the first time. Whilst some attempts were made to improve living conditions, slum housing and disease remained
2142-764: A holding. Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire , the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria , from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the Georgian era and preceded the Edwardian era , and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe. Various liberalising political reforms took place in
2295-445: A major employer and industry in their own right. Expected standards of personal conduct changed in around the first half of the 19th century, with good manners and self-restraint becoming much more common. Historians have suggested various contributing factors, such as Britain's major conflicts with France during the early 19th century, meaning that the distracting temptations of sinful behaviour had to be avoided in order to focus on
2448-496: A month later after the arrival of another missionary, and Tararo's conversion to Christianity. The " false gods " of Mango are consigned to the flames, and the boys set sail for home, older and wiser. They return as adults for another adventure in Ballantyne's 1861 novel The Gorilla Hunters , a sequel to The Coral Island . All Ballantyne's novels are, in his own words, "adventure stories for young folks", and The Coral Island
2601-653: A museum, 'The Scots House' in the town of Veere was the only place outwith Scotland where Scots Law was practised. In Rotterdam, meanwhile, the doors of the Scots International Church have remained open since 1643. The first Scots to be mentioned in Russia's history were the Scottish soldiers in Muscovy referred to as early as the 14th century. Among the 'soldiers of fortune' was the ancestor of
2754-430: A rise in prosecutions for illegal sodomy in the middle of the 19th century. Male sexuality became a favourite subject of medical researchers' study. For the first time, all male homosexual acts were outlawed. Concern about sexual exploitation of adolescent girls increased during the period, especially following the white slavery scandal , which contributed to the increasing of the age of consent from 13 to 16 . At
2907-546: A role in economic life but exploitation of their labour became especially intense during the Victorian era. Children were put to work in a wide range of occupations, but particularly associated with this period are factories. Employing children had advantages, as they were cheap, had limited ability to resist harsh working conditions, and could enter spaces too small for adults. Some accounts exist of happy upbringings involving child labour, but conditions were generally poor. Pay
3060-517: A role in politics. However, all women and a large minority of men remained outside the system into the early 20th century. Cities were given greater political autonomy and the labour movement was legalised. From 1845 to 1852, the Potato Famine caused mass starvation, disease and death in Ireland, sparking large-scale emigration. The Corn Laws were repealed in response to this. Across
3213-613: A scene. It was witnessed. It is true – true as that accursed sin which has rendered the human heart capable of such diabolical enormities! The supposed civilising influence of missionaries in spreading Christianity among the natives of the South Seas is an important theme of the second half of the story; as Jack remarks to Peterkin, "all the natives of the South Sea Islands are fierce cannibals, and they have little respect for strangers". Modern critics view this aspect of
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#17327918688713366-463: A severe problem. The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat undeveloped in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly, while Ireland's fell sharply. In the strictest sense, the Victorian era covers the duration of Victoria's reign as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , from her accession on 20 June 1837—after
3519-518: A substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room Hunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique. Levels of poverty fell significantly during the 19th century from as much as two thirds of
3672-475: A symbol of the British Empire. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class. A distinctive middle-class lifestyle developed that influenced what society valued as a whole. Increased importance was placed on the value of
3825-687: A time when job options for women were limited and generally low-paying, some women, particularly those without familial support, took to prostitution to support themselves. Attitudes in public life and among the general population to prostitution varied. Evidence about prostitutes' situation also varies. One contemporary study argues that the trade was a short-term stepping stone to a different lifestyle for many women, while another, more recent study argues they were subject to physical abuse, financial exploitation, state persecution, and difficult working conditions. Due to worries about venereal disease , especially among soldiers, women suspected of prostitution were for
3978-490: A trend in boys' fiction by using boys as the main characters, a device now commonplace in the genre. It preserves, according to literary critic Minnie Singh, the moralizing aspects of didactic texts, but does so (and in this regard it is a "founding text") by the "congruence of subject and implied reader": the story is about boys and written retrospectively as though by a boy, for an audience of boys. According to literary critic Frank Kermode , The Coral Island "could be used as
4131-461: A wide range of new inventions. This led Great Britain to become the foremost industrial and trading nation of the time. Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era (1850–1870) as Britain's 'Golden Years', with national income per person increasing by half. This prosperity was driven by increased industrialisation, especially in textiles and machinery, along with exports to the empire and elsewhere. The positive economic conditions, as well as
4284-519: Is no exception. It is a Robinsonade , a genre of fiction inspired by Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe (1719), one of the most popular of its type, and one of the first works of juvenile fiction to feature exclusively juvenile heroes. Susan Maher, professor of English, notes that, in comparison to Robinson Crusoe , such books generally replaced some of the original's romance with a "pedestrian realism", exemplified by works such as The Coral Island and Frederick Marryat 's 1841 novel Masterman Ready, or
4437-456: Is now called classical music was somewhat undeveloped compared to parts of Europe but did have significant support. Photography became an increasingly accessible and popular part of everyday life. Many sports were introduced or popularised during the Victorian era. They became important to male identity. Examples included cricket , football , rugby , tennis and cycling . The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with
4590-475: Is reunited with his friends. The three boys sail to the island of Mango, where a missionary has converted some of the population to Christianity . There they once again meet Tararo, whose daughter Avatea wishes to become a Christian against her father's wishes. The boys attempt to take Avatea in a small boat to a nearby island the chief of which has been converted, but en route they are overtaken by one of Tararo's war canoes and taken prisoner. They are released
4743-616: Is still spoken by a small number of residents. Cape Breton is the home of the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts . Glengarry County in present-day Eastern Ontario is a historic county that was set up as a settlement for Highland Scots , where many from the Highlands settled to preserve their culture as a result of the Highland Clearances. Gaelic was the native language of the community since its settlement in
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4896-497: Is the fourth most commonly nominated ancestry and represents over 8.9% of the total population of Australia. Significant numbers of Scottish people also settled in New Zealand. Approximately 20 per cent of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland, and Scottish influence is still visible around the country. The South Island city of Dunedin , in particular, is known for its Scottish heritage and
5049-657: Is today mainly remembered for The Coral Island , to the exclusion of much of his other work. The novel was still considered a classic for English primary school children in the early 20th century. In the United States it was long a staple of suggested reading lists for high-school students; such a list, discussed in a 1915 article in The English Journal , recommends the novel in the category "Stories for Boys in Easy Style". A simplified adaptation of
5202-497: Is unsuitable for settlement "but exists merely as a site from which to excavate treasure, a view consistent with the late-Victorian imperial mission" according to Honaker. The Coral Island was adapted into a children's television series in a joint venture between Thames Television and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1980, first shown on Australian and British television in 1983. It
5355-435: Is written as a first person narrative from the perspective of 15-year-old Ralph Rover, one of three boys shipwrecked on the coral reef of a large but uninhabited Polynesian island. Ralph tells the story retrospectively, looking back on his boyhood adventure: "I was a boy when I went through the wonderful adventures herein set down. With the memory of my boyish feelings strong upon me, I present my book especially to boys, in
5508-531: The Borders ( OE: Loðene ), a northern variety of Old English , also known as Early Scots , was spoken. As a result of David I, King of Scots' return from exile in England in 1113, ultimately to assume the throne in 1124 with the help of Anglo-Norman military force, David invited Anglo-Norman families from France and England to settle in lands he granted them to spread a ruling class loyal to him. This Davidian Revolution , as many historians call it, brought
5661-530: The Church of England . Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851, and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed. Legal restrictions on Roman Catholics were also largely removed . The number of Catholics grew in Great Britain due to conversions and immigration from Ireland . Secularism and doubts about
5814-525: The Middle Ages . Craftsmen and tradesmen followed courtiers and in later centuries a brisk trade grew up between the two nations: Scotland's primary goods (wool, hides, salmon and then coal) in exchange for the luxuries obtainable in the Netherlands, one of the major hubs of European trade. By 1600, trading colonies had grown up on either side of the well-travelled shipping routes: the Dutch settled along
5967-715: The Norse-Gaels of the Western Isles became part of Scotland, followed by the Norse of the Northern Isles in the 15th century. In modern usage, "Scottish people" or "Scots" refers to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from Scotland. The Latin word Scoti originally referred to the Gaels, but came to describe all inhabitants of Scotland. Considered pejorative by some,
6120-570: The Pax Britannica , was a time of relatively peaceful relations between the world's great powers . This is particularly true of Britain's interactions with the others. The only war in which the British Empire fought against another major power was the Crimean War , from 1853 to 1856. There were various revolts and violent conflicts within the British Empire, and Britain participated in wars against minor powers. It also took part in
6273-627: The Picts and Gaels , who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or Alba ) in the 9th century. In the following two centuries, Celtic-speaking Cumbrians of Strathclyde and Germanic-speaking Angles of Northumbria became part of Scotland. In the High Middle Ages , during the 12th-century Davidian Revolution , small numbers of Norman nobles migrated to the Lowlands. In the 13th century,
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6426-563: The River Tweed to the south. They also occupied the southwest of Scotland up to and including the Plain of Kyle . Their language, Old English , was the earliest form of the language which eventually became known as Scots . Use of the Gaelic language spread through nearly the whole of Scotland by the 9th century, reaching a peak in the 11th to 13th centuries, but was never the language of
6579-773: The United States and Canada . Scots have travelled internationally for centuries, helping to build Scotland's international reputation and the promotion of Scottish culture , music , literature and art . The Scottish Government uses the term "Scottish connections" when described Scottish diaspora, and recognises Scottish connections as people of Scottish heritage (by ancestry, marriage or other family connection), lived diaspora (those who moved to Scotland to permanently reside at any time for any reason), educational diaspora (alumni of Scottish educational institutions, and Scots studying or working in international institutions) and affinity (individuals who associate themselves with
6732-801: The plantation of Ulster , resulted in a Presbyterian and Scottish society, which formed the Ulster-Scots community. The Protestant Ascendancy did not however benefit them much, as the ascendancy was predominantly Anglican . The number of people of Scottish descent in England and Wales is difficult to quantify due to the many complex migrations on the island, and ancient migration patterns due to wars, famine and conquest. The 2011 Census recorded 708,872 people born in Scotland resident in England, 24,346 resident in Wales and 15,455 resident in Northern Ireland. Northamptonshire town Corby became
6885-679: The "rhetoric of excess" that features in the descriptions of cannibalism, and especially in the accounts of Fijian savagery provided by Bloody Bill (most notably that of the sacrifice of children to the eel gods) and the missionary, a representative of the London Missionary Society , an "emblematic figure of colonial fiction". Others have also linked popular boys' fiction of the period with imperialism; Joseph Bristow 's Empire Boys (1991) claimed to see an " 'imperialist manhood,' which shaped British attitudes towards empire and masculinity." The novel's portrayal of Pacific culture and
7038-595: The ' New World ' lands of North and South America, Australia and New Zealand . The highest concentrations of people of Scottish descent in the world outside of Scotland are in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Canada, Otago and Murihiku/Southland in New Zealand, the Falkland Islands , and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Canada has the highest level of Scottish descendants per capita in
7191-587: The 'workshop of the world', Britain was uniquely advanced in technology in the mid-19th century. Engineering, having developed into a profession in the 18th century, gained new profile and prestige in this period. The Victorian era saw methods of communication and transportation develop significantly. In 1837, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone invented the first telegraph system . This system, which used electrical currents to transmit coded messages, quickly spread across Britain, appearing in every town and post office. A worldwide network developed towards
7344-580: The 1800s and were known for their road-building expertise, their farming experience, and architectural skills. The largest population of Scots in Latin America is found in Argentina , followed by Chile , , Colombia and Mexico . It is said that the first people from the Low Countries to settle in Scotland came in the wake of Maud's marriage to the Scottish king, David I , during
7497-444: The 1840s, Scots-born immigrants constituted 12% of the non-Aboriginal population. Out of the 1.3 million migrants from Britain to Australia in the period from 1861 to 1914, 13.5% were Scots. Just 5.3% of the convicts transported to Eastern Australia between 1789 and 1852 were Scots. A steady rate of Scottish immigration continued into the 20th century and substantial numbers of Scots continued to arrive after 1945. From 1900 until
7650-587: The 1880s, sanitation was inadequate in areas such as water supply and disposal of sewage. This all had a negative effect on health, especially that of the impoverished young. For instance, of the babies born in Liverpool in 1851, only 45 per cent survived to age 20. It had been hoped that there would be a rapid improvement following the Public Baths and Wash-houses Act 1846. This was the first legislation to empower local authorities in England and Wales to fund
7803-493: The 18th century although the number of speakers decreased as a result of English migration . As of the modern 21st century, there are still a few Gaelic speakers in the community. John Kenneth Galbraith in his book The Scotch (Toronto: MacMillan, 1964) documents the descendants of 19th-century Scottish pioneers who settled in Southwestern Ontario and affectionately referred to themselves as 'Scotch'. He states
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#17327918688717956-647: The 18th century as " Erse ") and the Inglis -speaking " Lowlanders " (a language later to be called Scots ). However, movement between the two regions increased over the last few centuries. Highlanders moved to major cities (e.g. Glasgow and Edinburgh) and regions bordering the southern Highlands (e.g. Lowland Stirlingshire and Perthshire). This is evidenced by people with traditional Gaelic surnames (including anglicised varieties) currently living in these areas. Lowlanders also settled in Highland regions such as Moray , which
8109-536: The 1950s, Scots favoured New South Wales, as well as Western Australia and Southern Australia. A strong cultural Scottish presence is evident in the Highland Games , dance, Tartan Day celebrations, clan and Gaelic-speaking societies found throughout modern Australia. According to the 2011 Australian census , 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 1,792,600 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry. This
8262-413: The 19th century and germ theory was developed for the first time. Doctors became more specialised and the number of hospitals grew. The overall number of deaths fell by about 20%. The life expectancy of women increased from around 42 to 55 and 40 to 56 for men. In spite of this, the mortality rate fell only marginally, from 20.8 per thousand in 1850 to 18.2 by the end of the century. Urbanisation aided
8415-550: The 19th century for the first time in history, improved nutrition, and a lower overall mortality rate. Ireland's population shrank significantly, mostly due to emigration and the Great Famine. The professionalisation of scientific study began in parts of Europe following the French Revolution but was slow to reach Britain. William Whewell coined the term 'scientist' in 1833 to refer to those who studied what
8568-470: The American author James F. Bowman , The Island Home . He also borrowed from John Williams 's Narrative of Missionary Enterprises (1837), to the extent that cultural historian Rod Edmond has suggested that Ballantyne must have written one chapter of The Coral Island with Williams's book open in front of him, so similar is the text. Edmond describes the novel as "a fruit cocktail of other writing about
8721-454: The Bible. A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels, women's magazines, children's literature, and newspapers. Much literature, including chapbooks , was distributed on the street. Music was also very popular, with genres such as folk music , broadsides , music halls , brass bands , theater music and choral music having mass appeal. What
8874-490: The British Empire, reform included rapid expansion, the complete abolition of slavery in the African possessions and the end of transportation of convicts to Australia . Restrictions on colonial trade were loosened and responsible (i.e. semi-autonomous) government was introduced in some territories. Throughout most of the 19th century Britain was the most powerful country in the world. The period from 1815 to 1914 , known as
9027-515: The First Nations for furs. He returned to Scotland in 1847 and for some years worked for the publisher Messrs Constable , first as a clerk and then as a partner in the business. During his time in Canada he had helped to pass the time by writing long letters to his mother – to which he attributed "whatever small amount of facility in composition [he] may have acquired" – and began his first book. Ballantyne's Canadian experiences formed
9180-553: The Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain biological evolution by natural selection, gained a high profile in the public consciousness. Simplified (and at times inaccurate) popular science was increasingly distributed through a variety of publications which caused tension with the professionals. There were significant advances in various fields of research, including statistics , elasticity , refrigeration , natural history , electromagnetism , and logic . Known as
9333-610: The Pacific", adding that "by modern standards Ballantyne's plagiarism in The Coral Island is startling". Although the first edition is dated 1858 it was on sale in bookshops from early December 1857; dating books forward was a common practice at the time, especially during the Christmas period, to "preserve their newness" into the new year. The Coral Island is Ballantyne's second novel, and has never been out of print. He
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#17327918688719486-682: The Scots. The Russian census lists do not distinguish Scots from other British people, so it is hard to establish reliable figures for the number of Scots living and working in modern Russia. From as far back as the mid-16th century there were Scots trading and settling in Poland . A "Scotch Pedlar's Pack in Poland" became a proverbial expression. It usually consisted of cloths, woollen goods and linen kerchiefs (head coverings). Itinerants also sold tin utensils and ironware such as scissors and knives. Along with
9639-479: The South Island. All over New Zealand, the Scots developed different means to bridge the old homeland and the new. Many Caledonian societies were formed, well over 100 by the early twentieth century, that helped maintain Scottish culture and traditions. From the 1860s, these societies organised annual Caledonian Games throughout New Zealand. The Games were sports meets that brought together Scottish settlers and
9792-657: The South Pacific caused him to erroneously describe coconuts as being soft and easily opened. After learning of this mistake, resolved to write only about things he had personal experience of. Ballantyne wrote The Coral Island while staying in a house on the Burntisland seafront opposite Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth in Fife. According to Ballantyne biographer Eric Quayle he borrowed extensively from an 1852 novel by
9945-400: The UK, including expanding the electoral franchise. The Great Famine caused mass death in Ireland early in the period. The British Empire had relatively peaceful relations with the other great powers . It participated in various military conflicts mainly against minor powers. The British Empire expanded during this period and was the predominant power in the world. Victorian society valued
10098-576: The Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed. For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical. The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy . Trips to resorts such as Blackpool were increasingly popular towards
10251-400: The West." The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure. P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants. Overcrowding was a major problem with seven or eight people frequently sleeping in a single room. Until at least
10404-421: The Wreck of the Pacific . Romance , with its attention to character development, was only restored to the genre of boys' fiction with Robert Louis Stevenson 's Treasure Island argues literary critic Lisa Honaker. The Coral Island , for all its adventure, is greatly occupied with the realism of domestic fiction (the domain of the realist novel); Ballantyne devotes about a third of the book to descriptions of
10557-442: The accuracy of the Old Testament grew among people with higher levels of education. Northern English and Scottish academics tended to be more religiously conservative, whilst agnosticism and even atheism (though its promotion was illegal) gained appeal among academics in the south. Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of
10710-599: The area around Edinburgh. Their descendants gradually occupied all of the Lowlands." Knox College 's Stuart Macdonald, who specialises in early modern Scottish history, writes that during the 18th and 19th centuries, the people of Scotland remained grouped into multiple ethnicities: To speak of Scots as a single ethnic group is also somewhat problematic. It would be more accurate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to talk of two distinct Scottish ethnic communities divided by language and culture, and, at times, mutual antagonisms – Highlanders and Lowlanders. With regard to
10863-411: The basis for welfare provision into the 20th century. While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low. Barely enough to provide a subsistence living in good times, let alone save up for bad. Improvements were made over time to housing along with
11016-579: The basis of his first novel, The Young Fur Traders , published in 1856, the year he decided to become a full-time writer and embarked on the adventure stories for the young with which his name is popularly associated. Ballantyne never visited the coral islands of the South Pacific, relying instead on the accounts of others that were then beginning to emerge in Britain, which he exaggerated for theatrical effect by including "plenty of gore and violence meant to titillate his juvenile readership". His ignorance of
11169-489: The best-known being James Wylie . The next wave of migration established commercial links with Russia. The 19th century witnessed the immense literary cross-references between Scotland and Russia. A Russian scholar, Maria Koroleva, distinguishes between 'the Russian Scots' (properly assimilated) and 'Scots in Russia', who remained thoroughly Scottish. There are several societies in contemporary Russia to unite
11322-481: The book was meant to give a true picture of life in the community in the early decades of the 20th century. By 1830, 15.11% of the colonies' total non-Aboriginal population were Scots, which increased by the middle of the century to 25,000, or 20–25% of the non-Aboriginal population. The Australian Gold Rush of the 1850s provided a further impetus for Scottish migration: in the 1850s 90,000 Scots immigrated to Australia, far more than other British or Irish populations at
11475-432: The book was recommended in the 1950s for American 12–14 year olds. Although mostly neglected by modern scholars and generally considered to be dated in many aspects, in 2006 it was voted one of the top twenty Scottish novels at the 15th International World Wide Web Conference . Robert Louis Stevenson 's 1882 novel Treasure Island was in part inspired by The Coral Island , which he admired for its "better qualities", as
11628-404: The boys' life on the island is idyllic. They build a shelter and construct a small boat using their only possessions: a broken telescope, an iron-bound oar, and a small axe. Their first contact with other humans comes after several months when they observe two large outrigger canoes in the distance, one pursued by the other. The two groups of Polynesians disembark on the beach and engage in battle;
11781-468: The boys' living arrangements. The book exhibits a "light-hearted confidence" in its description of an adventure that was above all fun. As Ralph says in his preface: "If there is any boy or man who loves to be melancholy and morose, and who cannot enter with kindly sympathy into the regions of fun, let me seriously advise him to shut my book and put it away. It is not meant for him." Professor of English M. Daphne Kutzer has observed that "the swift movement of
11934-466: The building of public baths and wash houses but, since the act was only permissive rather than mandatory, improvement was slow. Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing. Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation: Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up
12087-455: The children encounter evil, but in Lord of the Flies evil is within them. In the early 20th century, the novel was considered a classic for primary school children in the UK, and in the United States it was a staple of high-school suggested reading lists. Modern critics consider the book's worldview to be dated and imperialist, but although less popular today, The Coral Island was adapted into
12240-489: The children in school; in 1840 only about 20 per cent of the children in London had any schooling. By the 1850s, around half of the children in England and Wales were in school (not including Sunday school ). From the 1833 Factory Act onwards, attempts were made to get child labourers into part time education, though this was often difficult to achieve. Only in the 1870s and 1880s did children begin to be compelled into school. Work continued to inhibit children's schooling into
12393-468: The copyright. He wrote bitterly to Nelsons in 1893 about the copyrights they held on his books while he had earned nothing: "for thirty-eight years [you have] reaped the whole profits". The Coral Island – still considered a classic – was republished by Penguin Books in 1995, in their Popular Classics series. Published during the "first golden age of children's fiction", The Coral Island began
12546-454: The death of her uncle, William IV —until her death on 22 January 1901, after which she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII . Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, a longer period than any of her predecessors. The term 'Victorian' was in contemporaneous usage to describe the era. The era can also be understood in a more extensive sense—the 'long Victorian era'—as a period that possessed sensibilities and characteristics distinct from
12699-501: The descendants of emigrants, often Gaelic-speaking, from the Maritime Provinces of Canada , from the 1880s onward. Americans of Scottish descent outnumber the population of Scotland, where 4,459,071 or 88.09% of people identified as ethnic Scottish in the 2001 Census. In the 2013 American Community Survey 5,310,285 identified as Scottish and 2,976,878 as of Scots-Irish descent. Americans of Scottish descent outnumber
12852-742: The diplomatic struggles of the Great Game and the Scramble for Africa . In 1840, Queen Victoria married her German cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The couple had nine children, who themselves married into various royal families, and the queen thus became known as the 'grandmother of Europe'. In 1861, Albert died. Victoria went into mourning and withdrew from public life for ten years. In 1871, with republican sentiments growing in Britain, she began to return to public life. In her later years, her popularity soared as she became
13005-474: The early 20th century. 19th-century Britain saw a huge population increase accompanied by rapid urbanisation stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. In the 1901 census , more than three out of every four people were classified as living in an urban area, compared to one in five a century earlier. Historian Richard A. Soloway wrote that "Great Britain had become the most urbanized country in
13158-515: The earnest hope that they may derive valuable information, much pleasure, great profit, and unbounded amusement from its pages." The account starts briskly; only four pages are devoted to Ralph's early life and a further fourteen to his voyage to the Pacific Ocean on board the Arrow . He and his two companions – 18-year-old Jack Martin and 13-year-old Peterkin Gay ;– are the sole survivors of
13311-528: The eastern seaboard of Scotland; the Scots congregating first in Campvere —where they were allowed to land their goods duty-free and run their own affairs—and then in Rotterdam , where Scottish and Dutch Calvinism coexisted comfortably. Besides the thousands (or, according to one estimate, over 1 million) of local descendants with Scots ancestry, both ports still show signs of these early alliances. Now
13464-679: The effects of colonisation are analyzed in studies such as Brian Street 's The Savage in Literature: Representations of ' primitive society in English Fiction (1975) and Rod Edmond's Representing the South Pacific: Colonial Discourse from Cook to Gauguin (1998). The domination imposed by "geographical mapping of a territory and policing of its native inhabitants" is an important theme in the novel both specifically and in general, in
13617-432: The eighteenth century. In the 2000 census, 4.8 million Americans self-reported Scottish ancestry, 1.7% of the total U.S. population. Over 4.3 million self-reported Scotch-Irish ancestry, for a total of 9.2 million Americans self-reporting some kind of Scottish descent. Self-reported numbers are regarded by demographers as massive under-counts, because Scottish ancestry is known to be disproportionately under-reported among
13770-424: The end of period. Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure. Before the Industrial Revolution, daily life had changed little for hundreds of years. The 19th century saw rapid technological development with
13923-453: The end of the century. Private education for wealthier children, boys and more gradually girls, became more formalised over the course of the century. The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour. This included features such as charity, personal responsibility, controlled habits, child discipline and self-criticism. As well as personal improvement, importance
14076-470: The end of the century. In 1876, an American patented the telephone . A little over a decade later, 26,000 telephones were in service in Britain. Multiple switchboards were installed in every major town and city. Guglielmo Marconi developed early radio broadcasting at the end of the period. The railways were important economically in the Victorian era, allowing goods, raw materials, and people to be moved around, stimulating trade and industry. They were also
14229-516: The family, and the idea that marriage should be based on romantic love gained popularity. A clear separation was established between the home and the workplace, which had often not been the case before. The home was seen as a private environment, where housewives provided their husbands with a respite from the troubles of the outside world. Within this ideal, women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners. Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and
14382-534: The famous Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov , called George Learmonth. A number of Scots gained wealth and fame in the times of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great . These include Admiral Thomas Gordon , Commander-in-Chief of Kronstadt , Patrick Gordon , Paul Menzies , Samuel Greig , Charles Baird , Charles Cameron , Adam Menelaws and William Hastie . Several doctors to the Russian court were from Scotland,
14535-767: The following: "The basic ethnic and cultural division in the British Isles has been that between the Anglo-Saxon peoples of England and the Scottish Lowlands and the Celtic peoples of Wales, Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. In 2014, historian Steven L. Danver, who specialises in indigenous ethnic research, wrote regarding Lowlands Scots and Gaelic Scots' unique ancestries: "The people of Scotland are divided into two groups - Lowland Scots in
14688-467: The growth of coral. Ballantyne had been reading books by Darwin and by his rival Alfred Russel Wallace ; in later publications he also acknowledged the naturalist Henry Ogg Forbes . The interest in evolutionary theory was reflected in much contemporary popular literature, and social Darwinism was an important factor contributing to the world view of the Victorians and their empire building. The story
14841-488: The island's culture: the popular sport of surfing , the sacrificing of babies to eel gods , rape, and cannibalism. Rising tensions result in the inhabitants attacking the pirates, leaving only Ralph and Bloody Bill alive. The pair succeed in making their escape in the schooner, but Bill is mortally wounded. He makes a death-bed repentance for his evil life, leaving Ralph to sail back to the Coral Island alone, where he
14994-438: The label 'Victorian', though there have also been defences of it. Michael Sadleir was insistent that "in truth, the Victorian period is three periods, and not one". He distinguished early Victorianism—the socially and politically unsettled period from 1837 to 1850 —and late Victorianism (from 1880 onwards), with its new waves of aestheticism and imperialism , from the Victorian heyday: mid-Victorianism, 1851 to 1879. He saw
15147-525: The latter period as characterised by a distinctive mixture of prosperity, domestic prudery , and complacency —what G. M. Trevelyan called the 'mid-Victorian decades of quiet politics and roaring prosperity'. The Reform Act , which made various changes to the electoral system including expanding the franchise, had been passed in 1832. The franchise was expanded again by the Second Reform Act in 1867. The Third Reform Act in 1884 introduced
15300-747: The majority of mixed ancestry, and because areas where people reported "American" ancestry were the places where, historically, Scottish and Scotch-Irish Protestants settled in North America (that is: along the North American coast, Appalachia , and the Southeastern United States ). Scottish Americans descended from nineteenth-century Scottish emigrants tend to be concentrated in the West, while many in New England are
15453-420: The management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world. The quality and safety of household lighting improved over the period with oil lamps becoming the norm in the early 1860s, gas lighting in the 1890s and electric lights beginning to appear in the homes of the richest by the end of the period. Medicine advanced rapidly during
15606-444: The middle of the 19th century to 'diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics, and children (in that order)'. Legal restrictions were placed on cruelty to animals. Restrictions were placed on the working hours of child labourers in the 1830s and 1840s. Further interventions took place throughout the century to increase the level of child protection. Use of the death penalty also decreased. Crime rates fell significantly in
15759-456: The moral tone of Ballantyne's writing is compensated for by his ability to tell a "cracking good yarn in an accessible and well-fashioned prose style". The major themes of the novel revolve around the influence of Christianity, the importance of social hierarchies, and the inherent superiority of civilised Europeans over the South Sea islanders; Martine Dutheil, professor of English, considers
15912-442: The most popular of its type, the book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print. Among the novel's major themes are the civilising effect of Christianity, 19th-century imperialism in the South Pacific, and the importance of hierarchy and leadership. It was the inspiration for William Golding 's dystopian novel Lord of the Flies (1954), which inverted the morality of The Coral Island ; in Ballantyne's story
16065-524: The natural world rather than by books and coercive teachers. Singh points out that Rousseau, in Emile, or On Education , promotes the reading and even imitation of Robinson Crusoe ; literary critic Fiona McCulloch argues that the unmediated knowledge the boys gain on their coral island resembles the "direct language for children" Rousseau advocates in Emile . The Coral Island was an almost instant success, and
16218-453: The new theories of evolution proposed by Darwin and others. In morals and culture, the natives are placed lower on the evolutionary ladder than are Europeans, as is evidenced in the battle over the native woman Avatea, which pits "the forces of civilization versus the forces of cannibalism". Another hierarchy is seen in the organisation of the boys. Although Jack, Ralph and Peterkin each have a say in how they should organise themselves, ultimately
16371-411: The novel "a key text mapping out colonial relations in the Victorian period". The basic subject of the novel is popular and widespread: "castaway children assuming adult responsibilities without adult supervision", and The Coral Island is considered the classic example of such a book. I saw that these inhuman monsters were actually launching their canoe over the living bodies of their victims. But there
16524-473: The novel less benevolently; Jerry Phillips, in a 1995 article, sees in The Coral Island the "perfect realiz[ation]" of "the official discourse of 19th century Pacific imperialism", which he argues was "obsessed with the purity of God, Trade, and the Nation." The importance of hierarchy and leadership is also a significant element. The overarching hierarchy of race is informed by Victorian concepts, influenced by
16677-490: The novel, for instance, one of the naval officers who rescues the children mentions the book, commenting on the hunt for one of their number, Ralph, as a "jolly good show. Like the Coral Island". Jack also makes an appearance in Lord of the Flies as Jack Merridew, representing the irrational nature of the boys. Indeed, Golding's three central characters – Ralph, Simon and Jack – are caricatures of Ballantyne's heroes. Despite having enjoyed The Coral Island many times as
16830-600: The people, also known as the Gaels , in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, in the western edge of Scotland. Bede used the word natio (nation) for the Scots, where he often refers to other peoples, such as the Picts, with the word gens (race). In the 10th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the word Scot is mentioned as a reference to the "Land of the Gaels". The word Scottorum was again used by an Irish king in 1005: Imperator Scottorum
16983-483: The period spanning the 16th century to the 18th century, sociologist Ian Carter's research into marriage patterns found little intermarrying between the groups. Today, Scotland has a population of just over five million people, the majority of whom consider themselves Scottish. It is estimated around 40 million people worldwide claim Scottish ancestry, particularly in Australia , New Zealand , continental Europe ,
17136-463: The period, had a "pious significance". The "enchanted garden" of coral the boys discover at the bottom of their island's lagoon is suggestive of "missionary encounters with the societies of the Pacific Island". In Victorian society coral had been given an "evangelical framing", and the little "coral insect" responsible for building coral reefs mirrored the "child reader's productive capacity as
17289-457: The periods adjacent to it, in which case it is sometimes dated to begin before Victoria's accession—typically from the passage of or agitation for (during the 1830s) the Reform Act 1832 , which introduced a wide-ranging change to the electoral system of England and Wales . Definitions that purport a distinct sensibility or politics to the era have also created scepticism about the worth of
17442-415: The political practicalities of nation building . Academics have explored how 15th and 16th-century Scottish poets and orators, such as Blind Harry , constructed terms such as 'trew Scottis' in an effort to diminish differences between the ethnic groups living within Scotland in the popular consciousness. A 1974 International Political Science Association report defined this ethnic plurality in Scotland as
17595-514: The population in 1800 to less than a third by 1901. However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions. Attitudes towards the poor were often unsympathetic and they were frequently blamed for their situation. In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain
17748-515: The population of Scotland, where 4,459,071 or 88.09% of people identified as ethnic Scottish in the 2001 Census. The number of Americans with a Scottish ancestor is estimated to be between 9 and 25 million (up to 8.3% of the total US population), and "Scotch-Irish", 27 to 30 million (up to 10% of the total US population), but these subgroups overlap and are often not distinguishable. The majority of Scotch-Irish originally came from Lowland Scotland and Northern England before migrating to
17901-584: The preferred term is Scots . Many Scottish people find the term Scotch to be offensive when applied to people. The Oxford Dictionary describes Scotch as an old-fashioned term for "Scottish". In the Early Middle Ages , Scotland saw several ethnic or cultural groups mentioned in contemporary sources, namely the Picts , the Gaels , the Britons , and the Angles , with the last of these settling in
18054-511: The protection offered by King Stephen in the Royal Grant of 1576, a district in Kraków was assigned to Scottish immigrants. Records from 1592 mention Scots settlers who were granted citizenship of Kraków give their employment as traders or merchants. Fees for citizenship ranged from 12 Polish florins to a musket and gunpowder, or an undertaking to marry within a year and a day of acquiring
18207-621: The province of Ulster in Ireland (see Plantation of Ulster ) and thence, beginning about five generations later, to North America in large numbers during the 18th century. Several Presidents of the United States have claimed Scottish ancestry or Scotch-Irish ancestry, including James Monroe through his great-great-grandfather Patrick Andrew Monroe emigrated to America, Andrew Jackson , Theodore Roosevelt , Franklin D. Roosevelt , Harry S. Truman , Lyndon B. Johnson , Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush and Donald Trump , whose mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump ,
18360-549: The question and the numerous responses for "Canadian" do not give an accurate figure for numerous groups, particularly those of British Isles origins. Scottish-Canadians are the 3rd biggest ethnic group in Canada. Scottish culture has particularly thrived in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia ( Latin for "New Scotland"). There, in Cape Breton , where both lowland and highland Scots settled in large numbers, Canadian Gaelic
18513-405: The second half of the 19th century. Sociologist Christie Davies linked this change to attempts to morally educate the population, especially at Sunday schools . Contrary to popular belief, Victorian society understood that both men and women enjoyed copulation . Chastity was expected of women, whilst attitudes to male sexual behaviour were more relaxed. The development of police forces led to
18666-402: The shape of British pirates , who make a living by trading or stealing sandalwood . The three boys hide in a cave, but Ralph is captured when he ventures out to see if the intruders have left and is taken on board the pirate schooner . He strikes up a friendship with one of the crew, Bloody Bill, and when the ship calls at the island of Emo to trade for more wood Ralph experiences many facets of
18819-459: The shipwreck. The narrative is in two parts. The first describes how the boys feed themselves, what they drink, the clothing and shelter they fashion, and how they cope with having to rely on their own resources. The second half of the novel is more action-packed, featuring conflicts with pirates, fighting between the native Polynesians, and the conversion efforts of Christian missionaries. Fruit, fish and wild pigs provide plentiful food, and at first
18972-531: The south-east of the country. King Edgar divided the Kingdom of Northumbria between Scotland and England; at least, most medieval historians now accept the 'gift' by Edgar. In any case, after the later Battle of Carham the Scottish kingdom encompassed many English people, with even more quite possibly arriving after the Norman invasion of England in 1066. South-east of the Firth of Forth , then in Lothian and
19125-460: The southeast of the country. Culturally, these peoples are grouped according to language. Most of Scotland until the 13th century spoke Celtic languages , and these included, at least initially, the Britons , as well as the Gaels and the Picts . Germanic peoples included the Angles of Northumbria , who settled in south-eastern Scotland in the region between the Firth of Forth to the north and
19278-468: The southern part of the country and Highland Scots in the north - that differ from one another ethnically, culturally, and linguistically ... Lowlanders differ from Highlanders in their ethnic origin. While Highland Scots are of Celtic (Gaelic) descent, Lowland Scots are descended from people of Germanic stock. During the seventh century C.E., settlers of Germanic tribes of Angles moved from Northumbria in present-day northern England and southeastern Scotland to
19431-402: The spread of diseases and squalid living conditions in many places exacerbated the problem. The population of England, Scotland and Wales grew rapidly during the 19th century. Various factors are considered contributary to this, including a rising fertility rate (though it was falling by the end of the period), the lack of a catastrophic pandemic or famine in the island of Great Britain during
19584-456: The story from coastal England to exotic Pacific island is similar to the swift movement from the real world to the fantastic in children's fantasy". To a modern reader, Ballantyne's books can seem overly concerned with accounts of flora and fauna, an "ethnographic gloss" intended to suggest that their settings are real places offering adventures to those who can reach them. They can also seem "obtrusively pious", but, according to John Rennie Short,
19737-516: The term Scotch has also been used for Scottish people, now primarily outwith Scotland. People of Scottish descent live in many countries. Emigration, influenced by factors such as the Highland and Lowland Clearances , Scottish emigration to various locales throughout the British Empire , and latterly industrial decline and unemployment, have resulted in the spread of Scottish languages and culture . Large populations of Scottish people settled
19890-414: The time had a policy when accepting a manuscript of buying the copyright from the author rather than paying royalties; as a result, authors generally did not receive any income from the sale of subsequent editions. Ballantyne received between £50 and £60, equivalent to about £6500 as of 2017, but when the novel's popularity became evident and the number of editions increased he tried unsuccessfully to buy back
20043-746: The time. Literacy rates of the Scottish immigrants ran at 90–95%. By 1860, Scots made up 50% of the ethnic composition of Western Victoria , Adelaide , Penola and Naracoorte . Other settlements in New South Wales included New England , the Hunter Valley and the Illawarra . Much settlement followed the Highland Potato Famine , Highland Clearances and the Lowland Clearances of the mid-19th century. In
20196-465: The topography of the island as mapped by the boys and the South Pacific's "eventual subjugation and conversion to Christianity", a topic continued in Stevenson's Treasure Island . The exploration of the relationship between nature and evangelical Christianity is another typically Victorian theme. Coral connects the two ideas. Literary critic Katharine Anderson explains that coral jewellery, popular in
20349-403: The victors take fifteen prisoners and kill and eat one immediately. But when they threaten to kill one of the three women captured, along with two children, the boys intervene to defeat the pursuers, earning them the gratitude of the chief, Tararo. The next morning they prevent another act of cannibalism . The natives leave, and the boys are alone once more. More unwelcome visitors then arrive in
20502-402: The war effort, and the evangelical movement's push for moral improvement. There is evidence that the expected standards of moral behaviour were reflected in action as well as rhetoric across all classes of society. For instance, an analysis suggested that less than 5% of working class couples cohabited before marriage. Historian Harold Perkin argued that the change in moral standards led by
20655-476: The wider New Zealand public. In so doing, the Games gave Scots a path to cultural integration as Scottish New Zealanders. In the 1961 census there were 47,078 people living in New Zealand who were born in Scotland; in the 2013 census there were 25,953 in this category. Many people of Scottish descent live in other parts of the United Kingdom. In Ulster particularly the colonial policies of James VI , known as
20808-452: The words Scot and Scottish are applied mainly to inhabitants of Scotland. The possible ancient Irish connotations are largely forgotten. The language known as Ulster Scots , spoken in parts of northeastern Ireland, is the result of 17th- and 18th-century immigration to Ireland from Scotland. In the English language, the word Scotch is a term to describe a thing from Scotland, such as Scotch whisky . However, when referring to people,
20961-569: The world and the second-largest population of Scottish descendants, after the United States. Originally the Romans used Scotia to refer to Ireland. The Venerable Bede ( c. 672 or 673 – 27 May, 735) uses the word Scottorum for the nation from Ireland who settled part of the Pictish lands: " Scottorum nationem in Pictorum parte recipit ." This can be inferred to mean the arrival of
21114-478: The world". Modern critics find darker undertones in the novel. In an essay published in College English in 2001, Martine Dutheil states that The Coral Island can be thought of as epitomising a move away from "the confidence and optimism of the early Victorian proponents of British imperialism " toward "self-consciousness and anxiety about colonial domination". She locates this anxiety in what she calls
21267-484: The younger boys defer to Jack, "a natural leader", particularly in a crisis, forming a natural hierarchy. The pirates also have a hierarchy, but one without democracy, and as a consequence are wiped out. The hierarchy of the natives is imposed by savagery. Ballantyne's message is that leaders should be respected by those they lead, and govern with their consent. This educational message is especially appropriate considering Ballantyne's adolescent audience, "the future rulers of
21420-401: Was J. M. Barrie 's character Peter Pan ; both Stevenson and Barrie had been "fervent boy readers" of the novel. Novelist G. A. Henty was also influenced by Ballantyne's audience-friendly method of didactism. William Golding 's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies was written as a counterpoint to (or even a parody of) The Coral Island , and Golding makes explicit references to it. At the end of
21573-732: Was Gaelic-speaking into the 20th century, as were some small communities in parts of the Central Highlands). From 1200 to 1500, the Early Scots language spread across the lowland parts of Scotland between Galloway and the Highland line, being used by Barbour in his historical epic The Brus in the late 14th century in Aberdeen. From 1500 on, Scotland was commonly divided by language into two groups of people, Gaelic-speaking " Highlanders " (the language formerly called Scottis by English speakers and known by many Lowlanders in
21726-416: Was also adapted into a four-part children's television drama by Zenith Productions , broadcast by ITV in 2000. Scottish people Modern ethnicities The Scottish people or Scots ( Scots : Scots fowk ; Scottish Gaelic : Albannaich ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland . Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples ,
21879-457: Was an exceedingly prolific author who wrote more than 100 books in his 40-year career. According to professor and author John Rennie Short, Ballantyne had a "deep religious conviction", and felt it his duty to educate Victorian middle-class boys – his target audience – in "codes of honour, decency, and religiosity". The first edition of The Coral Island was published by T. Nelson & Sons , who in common with many other publishers of
22032-543: Was born in Tong on the Isle of Lewis . As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times. According to the 2011 Census of Canada , the number of Canadians claiming full or partial Scottish descent is 4,714,970, or 15.10% of the nation's total population. Many respondents may have misunderstood
22185-485: Was generally then known as natural philosophy, but it took a while to catch on. Having been previously dominated by amateurs with a separate income, the Royal Society admitted only professionals from 1847 onwards. The British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley indicated in 1852 that it remained difficult to earn a living as a scientist alone. Scientific knowledge and debates such as that about Charles Darwin 's On
22338-448: Was given to social reform. Utilitarianism was another philosophy that saw itself as based on science rather than on morality, but also emphasised social progress. An alliance formed between these two ideological strands. The reformers emphasised causes such as improving the conditions of women and children, giving police reform priority over harsh punishment to prevent crime, religious equality, and political reform in order to establish
22491-401: Was low, punishments severe, work was dangerous and disrupted children's development (often leaving them too tired to play even in their free time). Early labour could do lifelong harm; even in the 1960s and '70s, the elderly people of industrial towns were noted for their often unusually short stature, deformed physiques, and diseases associated with unhealthy working conditions. Reformers wanted
22644-475: Was named as a tribute to Edinburgh by the city's Scottish founders. Scottish migration to New Zealand dates back to the earliest period of European colonisation, with a large proportion of Pākehā New Zealanders being of Scottish descent. However, identification as "British" or "European" New Zealanders can sometimes obscure their origin. Many Scottish New Zealanders also have Māori or other non-European ancestry. The majority of Scottish immigrants settled on
22797-445: Was no pity in the breasts of these men. Forward they went in ruthless indifference, shouting as they went, while high above their voices rang the dying shrieks of those wretched creatures as, one after another, the ponderous canoe passed over them, burst the eyeballs from their sockets, and sent the life-blood gushing from their mouths. Oh reader, this is no fiction! I would not, for the sake of thrilling you with horror, invent so terrible
22950-454: Was the title given to Brian Bóruma by his notary, Mael Suthain, in the Book of Armagh . This style was subsequently copied by the Scottish kings. Basileus Scottorum appears on the great seal of King Edgar (1074–1107). Alexander I ( c. 1078 –1124) used the words Rex Scottorum on his great seal, as did many of his successors up to and including James VI . In modern times,
23103-408: Was traditionally Gaelic-speaking but replaced with Doric in the 19th century. Today, immigrants have brought other languages, such as Polish , Punjabi and Urdu , but almost every adult throughout Scotland is fluent in the English language. Historian Susan Reynolds has put forward how, since the Middle Ages , there have been attempts to obfuscate the ethnic plurality of Scottish people due to
23256-415: Was translated into almost every European language within fifty years of its publication. It was widely admired by its contemporary readers, although modern critics view the text as featuring "dated colonialist themes and arguably racist undertones". Ballantyne's blend of blood-thirsty adventure and pious imperialism appealed not just to his target juvenile audience but also to their parents and teachers. He
23409-432: Was well developed, education and the arts were mediocre. Wage rates continued to improve in the later 19th century: real wages (after taking inflation into account) were 65 per cent higher in 1901 compared to 1871. Much of the money was saved, as the number of depositors in savings banks rose from 430,000 in 1831 to 5.2 million in 1887, and their deposits from £14 million to over £90 million. Children had always played
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