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I'm a bit late to this post, but Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars by David Stevenson is a good place to start. In Gaelic tradition Alasdair MacColla is often presented as the ideal Highland Warrior, and the book serves in part as a biography of his life.

My favourite MacColla anecdote is when they were gathering men in Ireland to lead an expedition into Argyll. It was thought that the man with the best sword arm would also be the best man to lead the expedition - so Alasdair strides to the front of the assembled warriors with his right arm raised, receiving cheers from crowd. When the noise died down, some smart-aleck shouted "But who's got the second best sword arm?" at which point Alasdair raises his left arm shouting "This is it!," and the crowd goes wild.

Duanaire Na Sracaire (Songbook of the Pillagers) is another great tome if you want to try to delve into the mindset of a Highland Warrior. These are Gaelic poems from before 1600, with English translations - many of them being praise poems honouring highland warriors and Gaelic leaders of great renown. Even if poetry may not be your thing, they're worth a read - these are the songs and praise poetry which give a great deal of insight into what values a worthy warrior was thought to have, and what deeds were considered praise worthy.

Iain Lom is probably my favourite Gaelic poet, and his works (with translation) can be found in Orain Iain Luim; the Songs of John MacDonald, bard of Keppoch. He was a contemporary of Alasdair MacColla, so some of his work also covers MacColla's campaigns, including a lament composed when Iain first heard of MacColla's death.

Iain also lead a storied life, a few incidents which are noted on wikipedia, but can be found in greater detail in Orain Iain Luim :

>It is believed that Iain Lom accidentally killed his own brother at a skirmish on Loch Tayside (Sròn a’ Chlachain), a battle in which his father was also killed. Thereafter he refused to draw a sword. When offered one by Alasdair Mac Colla at Inverlochy he declined saying "Cathaichibh sibhse 's innse mise" (You fight and I'll narrate).

>His supposed lameness didn't stop him from climbing a tree during the battle of Inverlochy. When chastized for his seeming cowardice by his chief afterwards, he is said to have replied that he had climbed the tree the better to see his chief and clansmens' valiant deeds, and had he been killed in the battle, who would then have composed poetry about them?

Hope this helps!

I am thinking she must be reading the Outlander series. While I was in Scotland, I went on a tour of places that Outlander either used or was similar to- one of them being Culloden. The store there had some wonderful books; we bought the one that was written by our guide that day - "Culloden Tales" by Hugh Allison . I have also watched all the Neil Oliver youtubes, if there was something by him in a DVD, that would be another great choice.

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