DEFINITION - CLANS
A clan is a social group made up of a number of distinct
branch-families that actually descended from, or accepted
themselves as descendants of, a common ancestor. The word
clan means simply children. The idea of
the clan as a community is necessarily based around this
idea of heredity and is most often ruled according to a
patriarchal structure. For instance, the clan chief
represented the hereditary "parent" of the entire
clan. The most prominent example of this form of society is
the Scottish Clan system.
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MAC, MC PREFIX
Scottish and Irish patronymic surnames frequently have the
prefix Mac or Mc. When these surnames were
originally developed, they were formed by adding the Gaelic
word mac, which means son of, to the name
of the original bearer's father. For example, the surname
MacDougall literally means son of Dougal.
In later times, these prefixes were also added to the
occupation or nickname of the bearer's father. For example,
MacWard means son of the bard and
MacDowell means son of the black stranger.
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PICTS
The Picts were a mysterious warrior people
of ancient Britain. According to tradition, the Picts
migrated from the shores of Brittany around the 15th century
BC. They sailed northward to Ireland, but were refused
permission to settle there by the ancient kings of that
land. However, the Picts were granted permission to settle
in the northeastern part of Scotland on the condition that
each Pictish king marry an Irish princess, thus providing
the Irish with a colony whose rulers were of royal Irish
blood. This Pictish settlement was ruled by a matriarchal
hierarchy unlike any other form of government in British
history.
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REGIONS
In the Middle Ages, the most common geographical divisions
in Scotland were rendered by counties. In the
modern era, however, Scotland is divided into regions,
and subdivided into counties. The following are a list of
the modern regions of Scotland, and the ancient counties
which are located within them.
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BOERMICIANS
The Boernicians, who were a mixture of
Scottish Picts, Angles, and Vikings, were one of the ancient
clans of the Scottish-English borderlands. Considered to be
the ancient founding peoples of the north, the Boernicians
inhabited the tract of rugged territory that stretches from
Carlisle in the west to Berwick in the east. In the 4th
century, Scotland was composed of five different kingdoms,
which were each home to a different race: the Gaels,
Vikings, Picts, Britons, and Angles all held land, each had
their own realm
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THE VIKINGS
The Vikings, a Scandinavian people of
astounding vitality, first began their invasion of Scotland
in 794. However, the first wave of mass Viking migration
occurred around 888, when King Harold of
Norway defeated an unruly faction of northern clans who then
abandoned their homeland. In search of a new place to live,
they migrated to the sea-swept Orkney Islands in the north
of Scotland under the leadership of their chief,
Earl Sigurd. This settlement was permitted by the
Scottish king and the kings of the Isle of Man, who allowed
the Viking exiles to make their homes in the Orkney and
Shetland Islands in return for a payment of 20,000
shillings.
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MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Many people wonder which spelling of this Scottish name is
the older. The quick answer is Stewart. The line of Stewart
monarchs of Scotland began in 1371, descending from the
union of Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce and
Walter, the 6th High Steward of Scotland. Mary, Queen of
Scots was born in 1542, a few days later her father died and
she became infant Queen of Scotland.
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A BRIEF HISTORY
The long history of the lands of the northern third of Great
Britain has been violent and often tragic. The castles and
ruins, the songs and the legends tell Scotland's tale. It is
the harshness of its history and the ruggedness of its land
that have shaped its proud inhabitants. How the country came
to be, and evolved, has long taxed the minds of many
historians.
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