Anna, the Witch of Mull

Anna, the Witch of Mull, is an historical novel about Anna Maclean and Donald Campbell, my ancestors, who lived during the tumultuous time of the clearances on the Western Highlands in the 18th and 19th Centuries. The novel explores the lifestyle, challenges, history of the period, holidays and culture of the Highland clans. In this informative tale there is birth, death, superstitions, religion, marriages, celebrations and struggles to survive.

The 18th and 19th centuries in the Western Highlands were a time of upheaval and hardship for the clans of Scotland. Once protected by the clan chiefs, everything changed following the battle of Culloden in 1746. Bonnie Prince Charles used the Highland Jacobite warriors in an attempt to reclaim the Stuart throne and a united Great Britain. However, after several successful battles, the Jacobites were unable to fend off the larger and well-armed British in a final bloody defeat on the moor of Culloden. Following this defeat of the Jacobites, the British retaliated by inflicting great punishment on the Western Highland clans. These penalties greatly affected their lifestyle and their lives would never be the same. The Macleans and the Campbells, once warring clans, found themselves working together trying to survive the rule of the laird on the somewhat inhospitable environment of the Isle of Mull. In this informative tale there is birth, death, superstitions, religion, marriages, celebrations and struggles to survive. This Scottish tale explores the lives of Anna Maclean and Donald Campbell, my Scottish ancestors. Generally, there is an abundance of stories written about the rich and famous, but an inadequate supply of tales describing the life of the peasant. Anna, the Witch of Mull, might satisfy some of your curiosity about the life of poor farmers. No matter what country of origin during these centuries the poor had similar challenges trying to survive. Much research was done to portray the life of my ancestors as accurately as possible.

Virginia Altmann, a psychotherapist by vocation and a graduate of Boston University School of Social Work, grew up in a suburb of Boston. She did not begin writing until her mid-70s after she retired. Her mother grew up in the foster care system of Boston in the early 20th Century. Wanting to honor her mother who had no knowledge of her Scottish ancestors and always curious about cultures and history of earlier generations, Virginia wrote her first historical novel. The novel is based on her ancestors from the Isle of Mull in the Western Highlands of Scotland. Virginia did much research in order to discover just how her Highland ancestors might have lived and why they eventually felt the need to leave their homeland and sail to the new land of Prince Edward Island. The dates and people of her ancestry were obtained through records left in Social Services by her grandmother as well as researching on Ancestry.com.