Folklore of the Scottish Highlands (4 page)

7
Pictish figures engraved on stone — deer, horse

These four kingdoms were constantly at war with each other, but the conversion of the three pagan factions to Christianity made ultimate union possible. In AD 843 Kenneth MacAlpin became King of the Picts as well as ruler of the Scots; any threat from Anglian power had been destroyed in 685 at the Battle of Nechtansmere in Angus. Kenneth MacAlpin extended the boundaries of his territory, but he could never finally conquer the Angles and he remained King of Alba, as the united kingdoms were called. It was not until the victory of Malcolm II at the Battle of Carham in 1018 that total victory came to the Scots, and the four peoples became united under Malcolm’s grandson, Duncan I, and Scotland came into being. This did not include Orkney and Shetland, or parts of Northern Scotland and the Hebrides which were at that time under Norse rule — another important cultural factor influencing the subsequent development of Highland history and its traditions.

It is at the boundaries between Gaelic and non-Gaelic areas that some of the most interesting folk material is to be found, for traditions pay no respect to geography, and there must always be some peripheral region where they mingle and blend into each other. Settlements too, of one people into the territory of another group, can bring about the introduction of stories and traditions which rightly belong to a different district or milieu. But, even so, there is a fascinating universality and consistency in the legends and superstitions in the Highland areas of Scotland, in spite of the different influences and ideas that have been gradually introduced down the centuries. The result of all this amalgam of cultural contacts is well-expressed by John Campbell in his introduction to his
Popular Tales of the West Highlands
:

In the islands where the western wanderers settled down and where they have remained for centuries, old men and women are still found who have hardly stirred from their native islands, who speak only Gaelic, and cannot read or write, and yet their minds are filled with a mass of popular lore, as various as the wreck piled on the shores of Spitzbergen.

8
Highland army officer, eighteenth-century. After F.A. Macdonald 1983, 140

2 Clan lore

In order to fully understand the nature of surviving tradition in Gaelic Scotland, social as well as historical factors must be taken into account. Until the final breakdown of the clan system in the eighteenth century, after the disastrous Battle of Culloden in 1746, Highlanders were organised in tribes or clans (from
clann
, ‘children’), as were the Celts from time immemorial. After the defeat of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by the Duke of Cumberland and his troops, this ancient system ceased to function officially, although it has survived vestigially until the present day, having acquired a certain glamour with the establishment of Balmoral as a royal residence and the interest of the Royal family in things Highland.

Nearly all the Highland clans (
9
) traced their origins back to Ireland; genuine clan names appear in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Most of the genealogies are traced back to Loarn, son of Erc, one of the three brothers who established the kingdom of Dalriada in Argyllshire in the late fifth century AD. The Lords of the Isles, the MacDonalds, however, trace their ancestry to Colla Uais of Ireland. The Campbells seem to have a purely fictitious origin and the MacLeods and Nicholsons have a strong Norse element in their genealogy. The concept of clan differed from that of tribe in that the central feature of the clan was consanguinity or kinship; that of the tribe,
tuath
, had a territorial basis. As the word
clann
means ‘progeny, children’, the members of any clan, from the chief down, were bonded together by blood kinship, the degree of which varied; the chief of the clan and the heads of the various branches or
septs
were closely related. There were, however, accretions to the clan who could, strictly speaking, claim no blood relationship. The clansmen bore a common name, and this name was derived from a common ancestor who may, in certain instances, have been a pagan deity rather than an historical character. In the later Middle Ages, the feudal system was extended in Scotland and the clans were confined to the more inaccessible districts; and, as we have seen, this archaic system survived until the eighteenth century, when it was terminated as a result of Culloden Moor.

Like the old pagan kings, the chief was believed to be semi-divine, in that he could do no wrong and loyalty to him was absolute. The clan chief was the real owner of the clan territory; the clansmen got their land from him and in return they gave him goods in kind and military service. Archaic records make it clear that the clan as a functioning organisation in Scotland existed as early as the sixth century AD. If a clansman had to obey a feudal superior and his orders were at variance with those of his chief, then the feudal lord, or king, would be ignored; when the clans were sufficiently isolated to make punishment for this too difficult to enforce, then they could escape retribution.

9
Map of the distribution of the highland clans in the sixteenth century, the clans emerging AD 1150-1350. After W.H.S. Sellar 1983

For this reason, the Western Highlands and Islands were, for centuries, ruled by petty sovereigns, and the king’s writ simply did not apply. Inter-clan relations tended to be unstable — leading to inter-tribal strife as in ancient Gaul and Ireland — and this had tragic consequences for Highland history. The story is one of petty jealousies, bitter quarrels, constant raiding of land and plundering of goods, cattle and women, and many atrocities were committed by all parties.

The clan was by no means a democratic organisation; like all Celtic society, it was highly aristocratic. The various offices were hereditary; the chief was the commander of the clan in war; the oldest member of the cadet branch was lieutenant-colonel and he commanded the right wing. The youngest member of the cadet branch commanded the rear. Every head of a distinct family was captain of his own tribe. Every clan had its standard-bearer, likewise an hereditary post. Every chief had his poet or bard, to praise him in life and to lament him in death. The bagpipe was the military instrument for war-music and also much favoured in the chieftains’ residences. The pipers were instructed in special piping-schools; one of the most famous of these was that of the MacCrimmons, pipers to the MacLeods of Dunvegan, with their school at Borreraig nearby. Each clan had a special place of meeting; people were summoned to it in times of emergency by the Fiery Cross. Two men, each carrying a pole with a cross of fire-blackened wood attached to the end, ran through the clan territory shouting the military slogan of the clan; if they tired, others took their place. Everyone would arm at once and go to the traditional meeting-place to take orders from their chief. Every clan had a special war-cry; for example, the Grants shouted ‘Stand fast Craigellachie’, the Camerons, ‘Sons of Dogs come hither and you shall get flesh’, and so on. Every clan had a distinguishing badge; the notion that the clans were recognisable to each other by their gaudy individual tartans is a modern one; they were known by their badges, which were plain and worn in their bonnets. The MacDonalds (
10
), for example, wore heather, which was also their war-cry (
fraoch
); the Grants fir (
giuthas
); the MacIntoshes holly (
cuileann
). To a certain extent the choice of badge would be determined by what was available in a given locality, but it is likely that the chosen plant would also have a magical and evil-averting significance.

Another custom in the ancient Celtic world was the careful study of omens when the clan was leaving on some foray; it was a good omen, for example, to meet an armed man. If a bare-footed woman crossed the path in front of the soldiers, she would be seized and blood drawn from her forehead in order to avert evil. If a deer, fox, hare or some other game animal was seen and not killed, it was an ill omen. There was also a clan custom known as
cuid-oidhche
, ‘a night’s share or portion’. This was provided for the chief, when he was going hunting or on a raid, by the tenant who lived near the hill or place he reached by nightfall, and consisted in hospitality for the lord and his men, and food for his dogs and horses for one night.

10
Leather front of a targe (
sgiath
), probably late seventeenth-century, with the double-headed eagle emblem of the MacDonalds. After S. Maxwell 1983, 10

Martin Martin (
c.
1660-1719), living in the decades before the clan system became redundant, has some interesting details to add to our knowledge of its functions. He records that every heir or young chieftain was obliged to give a public exhibition of his valour before he was acknowledged and declared leader of his people who, if satisfied, then vowed to follow and obey him. This again is an archaic custom of initiation rite with its origins far back in the Celtic world. Writing in 1703, Martin notes that he had heard no instance of this practice for some 60 years. He says that a heap of stones in the shape of a pyramid was erected. The young chieftain-elect was placed on this and his friends and followers stood in a circle about him, his elevated position signifying his authority over them. One of his oldest friends then handed to him the sword worn by his father and a white rod was given to him at the same time; the giving of the white rod as a symbol of authority is also found in the earliest Irish traditions. Then the chief Druid (as Martin calls him) or orator stood beside the cairn and eulogised the ancestry and noble deeds of the family and its magnificent traditional generosity — a virtue always highly prized by the Celts. Martin also notes that when any chieftain went on a military expedition, blood was drawn from the first animal met with on enemy territory and some of this was then sprinkled on the colours; this was considered to be a good omen. There was always a sentry on top of the houses in Barra, even in Martin’s time, called Gockmin (Cockman). Before the clan engaged in battle the chief bard addressed the army, exhorting it to courage and praising the prowess of its forebears. When the bard had completed his oration the men would give a great shout and rush into the fray. In similar fashion, two ancient Celtic warriors about to engage in single combat would revile their enemy and eulogise their own ancestors. Martin says that this speech was known as
Brosnichiy Kah
(
Brosnachaidh Catha
), ‘Incentive to Battle’. He records that every great family in the Isles had a chief Druid who foretold future events and decided all causes. It is against the broken remnants of this once-rigid clan structure that the extant traditions of the Highlands must be viewed, and clan legends form a major tale type. A few stories from this huge repertoire are given as examples, many of which can still be heard today.

One of the most popular, if distasteful, of such tales is the well-known story of the Appin murder. The episode upon which this story is based is known to have taken place after the clan rebellion known as the Rising of 1745-6. Many of the Highland lairds had been deprived of their lands and possessions — and even their lives — and factors had been sent by the crown to administer the estates and to take rent from the tenants. One such factor was Colin Campbell of Glenure, known as ‘the Red Fox of Appin’. In 1748, he was appointed factor to the estate of Ardshiel and other neighbouring territories. James Stewart was the unofficial laird of Ardshiel and at first cooperated with Campbell, but Campbell was accused by his masters of being a Jacobite sympathizer, particularly since his mother was a Cameron. Feeling that he had to take decisive action to dispel these suspicions he rounded on James Stewart and demanded back rents as far as 1745, money which had already been made over to the lairds. This caused tension between the two men, and when, in 1751, James Stewart was compelled to give up his farms, his hatred of Campbell increased and intensified and he made many threats against Campbell, particularly when he had, as became his wont, drunk too much.