I have a few points to make that will adjust your conceived image of the SSPCK. Firstly, the SSPCK was largely dependent on Gaelic-speakers: it was a pre-requisite qualification for all Society schoolmasters, as was good moral standing and an aversion to coercive measures. One schoolmaster, a John Clow, was removed from his post and chastised for attempting to force Catholic children to attend Protestant services. In addition, Catholic parents were just as eager as Protestants to have their children educated in Society schools, showing little resistance to schoolmasters as opposed to chasing away Presbyterian ministers.

The SSPCK insisted on tapping into local kinship ties to allow natives a substantial role in the education/conversion of their own communities. Its attitude to language and religion was far from static and it cannot be doubted that, at certain times, the Society capitalised on anti-Gaelic sentiment (e.g. immediately after the ’15 Rising) in order to attract donations/funding for its mission, yet the society was open to local innovation in both religious and secular worship. It is no accident that the great Jacobite poet, Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, was a schoolmaster for the Society in Ardnamurchan: he was offered a decent wage and the valuable opportunity to communicate the needs of his community to political centres in Edinburgh/London. This led to the SSPCK patronising his project to produce a Gaelic-English vocabulary in 1741. Yes, the Society sometimes exhibit the habit, mostly in their rhetoric, of preferring English to Gaelic. This was a natural consequence of ongoing debates regarding orthography and varied dialects of Gaelic, which made it difficult for the Society to figure out where to put their money with regards to producing a Gaelic Bible. It should be noted that they display a very early commitment to this project as an eventuality.

I would also like to correct your understanding of the relationship between the SSPCK, local elites and the government. The SSPCK was established to supplement the existing systems of education and governance as its members believed that the government and local heritors were not doing enough – nor would they be pushed to. The SSPCK acted as the sole lobbying group for the benefit of ordinary Highlanders up until the end of the 18th century. Heritors often offered nominal support to the SSPCK, but when cold hard cash was required they became somewhat elusive. A relevant example is the case of Abertarff, in which the society had established a school but required the landowner to build a bridge to enable more children to attend. The society was ignored for 6 years, until it finally received note that the bridge and school had been built: this however was a lie. Local elites (to use an unjustifiably broad brush) were often keen to take advantage of what they saw as “discounted improvements” available from the SSPCK, but they were inevitably cautious when they were required to assist in providing financial support for their own tenants.

In sum, the SSPCK was an organisation that sought to win over Gaelic communities: yes it was to win them over to the Hanoverians and Protestantism (keep in mind 80% of Highlanders were already Calvinist protestants) and to teach them English, but this was done using predominantly persuasive methods. Today’s Highland history has outgrown old notions of “goodies vs baddies” and the delicate passive Gael vs. the Imperialistic, zealous, anglicising lowlanders. The SSPCK was one organisation among many that operated in the 18th Century Highlands, but it was one of only a few that had the best interests of native Gaels at heart, despite being sometimes misguided and overcautious of Gaelic participation at a central organisational level.

Apologies for the length of the reply: I am currently in the early stages of a dedicated PhD on the SSPCK from a native perspective and, thus, had a lot to say on the matter!

slm