Caledonian Jews

This is the first full history of the Jews in Scotland who lived outside Edinburgh and Glasgow. The work focuses on seven communities from the borders to the highlands: Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Dunfermline, Falkirk, Greenock, and Inverness. Each of these communities was of sufficient size and affluence to form a congregation with a functional synagogue and, while their histories have been previously neglected in favor of Jewish populations in larger cities, their stories are important in understanding Scottish Jewry and British history as a whole. Drawn from numerous primary sources, the history of Jews in Scotland is traced from the earliest rumors to the present.

Nathan Abrams is a senior lecturer in film studies at Bangor University. He is the author and editor of four other books and has published several articles on Scottish Jewish History.

Nathan Abrams
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 242
Bibliographic Info: 27 photos, glossary, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4285-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5432-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v

Preface      1

Introduction      5

1. Aberdeen      15

2. Ayr      41

3. Dundee      65

4. Dunfermline      95

5. Falkirk      110

6. Greenock      123

7. Inverness, the Highlands, and Islands      142

Conclusion      167

Appendix A: Figures for the Size of the Communities      189

Appendix B: “A New Letter”      192

Appendix C: Burials in the Jewish Section of Grove Cemetery, Aberdeen      194

Appendix D: Burials in the Jewish Section of Bow Road Cemetery, Greenock      196

Appendix E: Burials in the Jewish Section of Tomnahurich Cemetery, Inverness      197

Appendix F: List of Children Enrolled in Falkirk Schools      198

Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish Terms      201

Chapter Notes      203

Bibliography      223

Index      231

“Abrams has succceeded in broadening our understanding of Scottish Jewry and British history…provides an insightful, fascinating and refreshing account of Jewish life beyond Edinburg and Glasgow”—Northern Scotland.