Southern Magic - History Tidbits

THE SCOTLAND

By Carla Swafford

You stutter and frequently fall off your horse during your daily stag hunting. Your Scottish subjects have kidnapped you twice and enjoy calling you the "Wisest Fool in Christendom". Though you married and had nine children, you prefer the company of your current favorite, George Villiers, and call him "my sweet child and wife".

You are?

James VI of Scotland and, later, crowned James I of England. James spelled his last name the French way, Stuart, instead of Stewart. He opposed smoking tobacco and authorized the new translation of the Bible, known as the King James's Bible.

The proprietor of all or large part of a territory of a clan was called a chief.

Tacksmen or goodmen were tenants of land divided in grants and were usually direct descendants of the chief.

A chieftain was usually a tacksman of wealth by marriage and governed a portion of land under the chief's authority.

Want to pick a fight with someone in a Highland clan? Just say "Name your chief". It was considered dishonorable for a clan to be without a chief.

Under the chief and chieftain's care, were the distant relations and lesser clans called commoners.

Tartan was worn as belted plaid, usually 5-1/2 yards and could be used as a cloak or blanket.

Tartan was illegal to wear between 1745 and 1782.

The design of a tartan is called a sett.

Trews were tartan tights and worn while horseback riding.

During the Battle of Inverlochy (1645), the preferred weapons were broadswords, axes, and bows and arrows.


Taken from Magic Moments - February 2001 Volume 4/Issue 2