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The History of Scotland – The Highlands by Joseph Archibald
The Highlands of Scotland have been well documented for their wars and betrayals and it is certainly true that from the reign of James IV in the 1490’s life in the Highlands was somewhat tumultuous. In 1493, James went against the powerful chiefs of the MacDonald Clan and forfeited the MacDonald Lord of the Isles in favour of himself and the Campbell Clan. Thus the Campbell’s became the powerhouse at this time at the expense of the MacDonalds.
Problems arose not only with the MacDonalds but also with many other Scottish clans because of this unhealthy power divide that the Campbells held over everyone else. The Campbell were in such a position that they were able to buy up available land and charge a form of rent upon anyone who wished to utilize the area for cows or sheep. The MacLeans were particularly aggrieved Clan comes from the Gaelic word “clann” which literally means “children”.
It would seem this would mean that every member in a clan were closely related but this was not the case. Only the higher echelons of a particular clan were related to the chiefs. Everyone else just looked to the chief as the leader rather than as a relative as such.
The actual system of clans came from a mixture of early Celtic idealism and feudal ways, the main point being the ownership of lands. The clan chief was the owner of the lands of the clan and he had the power to grant the land out to his fellow clans men. The status of a clan however was not necessarily about the amount of land that the family owned but more about the number of men the clan could muster to fight in war. Due to the Highlands being very militaristic they would be looked to for fighting men at the time of conflict between the King and his opponents. For the highland clans this became problematic because they often became embroiled in lowland politics.
When James VI came to be King however, civil war broke out. When he called on the clans to help the Campbells decided otherwise. It was not just the Campbells who were to cause problems for James – he extirped (sent away) the clan MacGregor in 1603, and in 1609 he brought new laws into force that curtailed all clan chiefs from using and abusing their previous powers.
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