Royalty of Scotland and Ireland

[Ancient Princess]

And to end the day on a great note, there have been many Irish and Scottish family (direct) lines that are related to past monarchs of Ireland and Scotland. The courts in Ireland through the Honorable Chief Herald and the Honorable Lord Lyon Courts in Edinburgh Scotland are the ones to examine these royal lines in the end. There were many Irish Kings and yes High Kings but until the genealogies are done again by reputable genalogist and historians it is hard to say what is clean and what is not. I would like to see in my lifetime descendents finally recognized as being direct heirs to an ancient royal lines without so much confusion. There are some other Scottish Clan lines that are trying to connect to Somerled and I for one applaud their efforts, well done. (Somerled is of Norweigen descent and not of Irish or Scottish Royal Lines) and in closing I bid you all peace.

[Ancient Princess]

I will post the list of the Standing council of the Scottish Highland Chiefs when I can as it is a huge file....more on this later.

[Daisiesforever]

Ancient Princess, this is a wonderful and informative account. I enjoyed reading these posts.

[Ancient Princess]

Dear Daisiesforever, Thank you for such a kind comment. I will post more here as time goes by. I will be putting some of the members of the Honorable Standing Coucil of Scottish Highland chiefs here soon, this will included the current Chieftess of Clan MacKinnon Madame Anne Gunhield of Mackinnon (she is related to the Antigua Mackinnons) and if I remember right, she sits on the panel. I plan to show in graph form all the lines of Mackinnon and where they are in senority, but; have to figure out how to do this. Maybe use my powerpoint program for Windows 7....please be patient as it is a huge amount of information and I am learning that particular program. Best Regards, Ancient Princess

[Ancient Princess]

Agnew· Arthur · Borthwick · Brodie · Bruce · Buchan · Burnett · Cameron · Campbell · Carnegie · Chisholm · Cochrane · Colquhoun · Cumming · Darroch · Davidson · Drummond · Dunbar · Elliot · Erskine · Farquharson · Fergusson · Forbes · Forsyth · Fraser · Fraser of Lovat · Gordon · Graham · Grant · Gregor · Hamilton · Hannay · Hay · Henderson · Irvine · Johnstone · Keith · Kennedy · Kerr · Kincaid · Lamont · Lennox · Leslie · Lindsay · Lockhart · Lyon · MacAlister · MacBain · MacDonald · Macdonald of Clanranald · MacDonald of Keppoch · Macdonald of Sleat · MacDonell of Glengarry · MacDougall · Macdowall · MacIntyre · Mackenzie · MacKinnon of Antigua · Mackintosh · Maclachlan · Maclaine of Lochbuie · MacLaren · MacLea (Livingstone) · Maclean · MacLennan · MacLeod · MacLeod of Lewis · Macnab · Macnaghten · MacNeacail · MacNeil · Macpherson · MacQuarrie MacTavish · MacThomas · Malcolm (MacCallum) · Matheson · Menzies · Moffat · Moncreiffe · Montgomery · Morrison · Munro · Murray · Nicolson · Ogilvy · Oliphant · Ramsay · Robertson · Rose · Ross · Scott · Shaw · Sinclair · Skene · Stirling · Stuart of Bute · Sutherland · Urquhart · Wallace · Wood ·

[Ancient Princess]

Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland


Introduction

The Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland is a branch of the National Library of Ireland. The functions of the Chief Herald of Ireland are the granting and confirming of coats of arms to individuals and corporate bodies. All arms granted are recorded in the Register of Arms, maintained since the foundation of the Office in 1552. The Register of Arms and other Office collections can be viewed by application through the Manuscripts Reading Room of the National Library of Ireland. Readers must hold a separate Manuscript Reader's Ticket in addition to their full Reader's Ticket in order to gain admission to the Manuscripts Reading Room. Please consult the Readers' Ticket section for more details.
Heraldry

Armorial bearings, or coats-of-arms, originated during the late medieval period as a means of recognition on the battlefield and at the tournament. They were soon employed also to attest documents and identify property. Clearly, a system of identification, to be effective, required regulation because use of the same arms by more than one person would result in confusion. Specialists, known as heralds, were therefore employed to keep the necessary records and advise on all related matters. Such officers of arms have functioned for Ireland since 1382. The post of Ulster King of Arms, Herald of all Ireland, was created by the Crown in 1552 and continued under the name until 1943 when the Office of Arms was transferred to the Government of Ireland and renamed the Genealogical Office. Since then, the Office has operated as a branch of the National Library and under the direction of the Chief Herald of Ireland.

[Ancient Princess]

History of the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh Scotland

The office of Lyon King of Arms dates from the 14th century. The position may incorporate the much older Celtic office of royal Seanchaidh or of King's Poet with responsibility for keeping the royal genealogy and attending the inauguration (later coronation) of the King.
The Lord Lyon is the sole King of Arms in Scotland. He is Head of the Heraldic Executive and the Judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon which has jurisdiction over all heraldic business in Scotland. On ceremonial occasions the Lord Lyon is accompanied by Her Majesty's Officers of Arms, all of whom are members of the Royal Household. They are at present Albany Herald, Rothesay Herald and Snawdoun Herald, and Unicorn Pursuivant and Ormond Pursuivant.
The Officers of Arms may be consulted on matters of heraldry and genealogy by members of the public and may represent their clients before the Lyon Court.
An Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1592 gave the Lord Lyon responsibility for prosecuting as a criminal offence anyone who uses unauthorised Arms. The Court has its own Procurator Fiscal, an independent official prosecutor.
In 1672 a further Act of the Scottish Parliament authorised the creation of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland. This Register is maintained by the Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records and contains an official copy of every Coat of Arms granted in Scotland since 1672.

[Ancient Princess]

When the Scotland Act 1998 was passed it led to the establishment of the first Scottish Parliament since 1707.
In this section you can learn about the history of the Scottish Parliament from the middle ages through to the Treaty of the Union, and also about the participation of Scotland in the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament, the road to devolution and the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
You can also read about the first days of the new Scottish Parliament and the Parliament's first First Minister, Donald Dewar.
In 2009 the Parliament held a series of events to mark its tenth anniversary. You can find out more about these activities on the Devolution - 10 years page.
In addition, you can find out about the development of parliaments in Scotland from the 13th to the 21st century in our new interactive timeline. This can be found on the Offical Scottish Parliment Website.

[Ancient Princess]

Houses of the Oireachtas also known as Irelands Parliment

The first meeting of Dáil Éireann took place in the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, in the afternoon of 21st January 1919.
The session lasted a mere two hours. They were two of the most momentous hours in Ireland’s history.
During this brief period the Dáil adopted a Constitution and approved the Declaration of Independence. By doing so the Dáil asserted a continuity of objectives with the leaders of the 1916 Rising in setting up a separate parliament, government and republic.

Ireland is a parliamentary democracy. The legislature consists of two Houses: Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.
The functions and powers of the Houses derive from the Constitution of Ireland – Bunreacht na hÉireann which was adopted by the people in a plebiscite on 1 July 1937 and came into operation on 29 December 1937.

[Ancient Princess]

Scotland’s Crown Jewels

The "Honours of Scotland" are the crown jewels and they consist of a crown, a sword and a sceptre. The crown was made in 1540 from gold melted down from the previous one, with additional gold mined in Upper Clydesdsale.

More precious stones and pearls were also added and the crown was first used by King James V at the coronation of his second queen, Mary of Guise (mother of Mary Queen of Scots). Pope Julius II presented the sword to King James IV in 1507. It was made by an Italian craftsman, Domenico da Suttri. The sceptre is the oldest of the crown jewels. It was made in 1494 and was presented to King James V by Pope Alexander VI.

The 'Honours' of Scotland
The Scottish 'Honours' are the oldest Royal Regalia in Britain and can be seen in Edinburgh Castle.

The 'Honours' were first used together at the coronation of the nine-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543, and subsequently at the coronations of her infant son James VI (and I of England) at Stirling in 1567 and her grandson Charles I in 1633 at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The Crown almost certainly dates from before 1540 when it was remodelled by order of James V. It was last worn at the coronation of Charles II at Scone in 1651.

Made of solid silver, the Sceptre is surmounted with three figures supporting a crystal globe, a cut and polished rock crystal, with a Scottish pearl on top A gift from the Pope, possibly given by Innocent Vlll to James IV in 1494, it was remodelled by James V who even added his initials to the sceptre.

The Sword of State was presented to James IV in 1507 by Pope Julius II and has a blade a metre long.

Also displayed with the Crown Jewels in Edinburgh Castle is the Stone of Destiny, returned to Scotland after 700 years in England. Taken by Edward 1st in 1296, the Stone is a symbol of Scotland nationhood. It was the coronation stone for Scottish kings such as MacBeth. Legend has it that it was "Jacob's Pillow" on which he dreamed of the ladder of angels from earth to heaven.
The story of the Scottish regalia is stranger than fiction. First of all they were hidden to stop them falling into English hands. Then, following the Treaty of Union in 1707, the ancient crown jewels of Scotland disappeared for a century. Rumours circulated that the English had removed them to London. However it was one of Scotland's most celebrated literary sons who rediscovered them............

The regalia of Scotland - the 'Honours of Scotland' - were among the most potent symbols of Scottish nationhood. During Cromwell's occupation of Scotland in the 1650s, the Honours were one of his most sought after targets.

[Ancient Princess]

The Ancient Laws of Picts, The Ancient Laws of Albannia (Scotland), The Ancient Laws of Brehnon in Ireland and last but not least The Ancient Laws of Sheliliegh :) I will start with the Ancient Laws of Albannia (Scotland) and it's association to King Donald I of Alpin and his line that connects to MacKinnon (MacFhingone)....

The Leges inter Brettos et Scottos or Laws of the Brets and Scots was a legal codification under David I of Scotland (reigned 1124 – 1153). Only a small fragment of the original document survives, describing the penalties for several offenses against people.

David I, who codified the Laws of the Bretts and Scotts.


Historically, the term "Brets" refers to Brythonic peoples, while "Scots" refers to Gaelic-speaking, Irish-descended peoples. Skene however, asserted that here "Scots" refers to all of the peoples living north of the firths of Clyde and Forth.
Aside from the document's intrinsic importance to Scottish history, it is significant in its similarity to corresponding areas both of Irish Brehon law and of Welsh law, which are better-preserved than the laws of medieval southern Scotland, allowing reasonable conjectures to be made regarding the laws and customs of the region, as few historical records exist.
The Laws or their precursor were relevant in the early twelfth century, as the Laws of the Four Burghs (Latin: Leges Quatuor Burgorum) explicitly banned parts of it relating to the cro (or weregild)
The Laws are known to have been relevant until 1305, as Edward I of England specifically abolished them in that year,following his invasion of Scotland. There is no further mention of them, and when Scotland successfully reasserted its independence, the feudal Scots law then became applicable.

[Ancient Princess]

No single theory as to the origin of early Irish law is universally accepted. Early Irish law consisted of the accumulated decisions of the Brehons, or judges, guided entirely by an oral tradition. Some of these laws were recorded in text form by Christian clerics. The early theory to be recorded is contained in the Pseudo-Historical Prologue to the Senchas Már. According to that text, after a difficult case involving St. Patrick, the Saint supervised the mixing of native Irish law and the law of the church. A representative of every group came and recited the law related to that group and they were written down and collected into the Senchas Már, excepting that any law which conflicted with the law of the church was replaced. The story also tells how the law transitioned from the keeping of the poets, whose speech was "dark" and incomprehensible, to the keeping of each group who had an interest in it. The story is extremely dubious as, not only is it written many centuries after the events it depicts, but it also incorrectly dates the collection of the Senchas Már to the time of St. Patrick while scholars have been able to determine that it was collected during the eighth century, at least three centuries after the time of St. Patrick. Some of the ideas in the tale may be correct, and it has been suggested by modern historians the Irish jurists were an offshoot from the poetic class which would have previously preserved the laws.
For some time, especially through the work of D. A. Binchy, the laws were held to be conservative and useful primarily for reconstructing the laws and customs of the Proto-Indo-Europeans just as linguists had reconstructed the Proto-Indo-European language. For instance, historians have seen comparisons between Irish and Indian customs of fasting as a method of shaming a wrongdoer, in order to recover a debt or to demand the righting of a wrong.Other legal institutions prominent in early Irish law but foreign to most contemporary legal systems, such as the use of sureties, have been considered as survivals from earlier periods.More recently historians have come to doubt such attributions. While few historians would argue that all Irish law comes from church influence, they are today much more wary as to what material is a survival and what has changed. A past may still be suggested for a certain legal concept based on Irish legal terms' being cognate with terms in other Celtic languages, although that information does not prove that the practice described by the legal term has not changed.
Today the legal system is agreed to be some mixture of earlier law influenced by the church as well as adaptation through methods of reasoning which the Irish jurists would have sanctioned. It is not, however, agreed as to just how large a role each of these aspects may have played in the creation of the legal texts, but rather it represents an important scope for debate.There is, however, one area where scholars have found material that is clearly old. A number of legal terms have been shown to have originated in the period before the Celtic Languages split up because they are preserved in both Old Irish and in the Welsh legal texts. On the other hand, this is not regarded as unquestionable evidence that the practices described by such terms are unchanged or even have their origins in the same period as do the terms.
Another important aspect when considering the origins is that the early Irish law texts are not always consistent. Early Irish law is, like the Old Irish language, remarkably standard across an Island with no central authority. However, close examination has revealed some variations. Among these one can especially point to variations both in style and content between two of the major legal schools, as they are known; those which produced the Bretha Nemed and Senchas Már respectively.

[Ancient Princess]

In AD 697 the Abbot of Iona, Adomnán, introduced the Law of the Innocents; known as the 'Cáin Adomnáin' – the Law of Adomnán. The Law of the Innocents was an attempt to protect non-combatants: women, children and the clergy – to give rights to civilians.
Adomnán managed to get the King of Dál Riata, the king of the Picts and more than 50 Irish kings to agree to the Law of the Innocents.
The Cáin Adomnáin recounts that an angel told Adomnán to create a law that:
… women be not in any manner killed by men, through slaughter or any other death, either by poison, or in water, or in fire, or by any other beast, or in a pit, or by dogs, but that they shall die in their lawful bed …
… he who from this day forward shall put a woman to death and does not do penance according to the Law, shall not only perish in eternity, and be cursed for God and Adomnán.
The Law of the Innocents laid out a series of fines for unlawful acts including wounding or slaying innocent children, clerics and women.

• 

[Ancient Princess]

The law of Sheliliegh is a black hawthorn branch made into a cane and used as a weapon. The number of notchs on the Sheliliegh is to signify when a person used it in battle. It goes back to a very early time in Irelands history. Some poeple would use it as a cane or to control livestock.

[Ancient Princess]

The Poppleton Manuscript is the name given to the fourteenth century codex likely compiled by Robert of Poppleton, a Carmelite friar who was the Prior of Hulne, near Alnwick. The manuscript contains numerous works, such as a map of the world (with index), and works by Orosius, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales. It is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Ms Latin 4126).



The manuscript is famous because it contains seven consecutive documents concerning medieval Scotland, some of which are unique to the manuscript, and regarded as important sources. The first six, at least, had probably been compiled previously in Scotland, in the early thirteenth century. They comprise:

1. de Situ Albanie; which appears to be an introduction to the following five or six texts. The Poppleton MS preserves the only copy of this.
2. Cronica de origine antiquorum Pictorum (i.e. Chronicle on the Origins of the Ancient Picts); part of the Pictish Chronicle, this is largely a pastiche of wider Latin learning regarding the Picts and Scots. It contains extracts from the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville and Nennius's Historia Brittonum.
3. A Pictish King List; part of the Pictish Chroncle, this is a largely un-Gaelicized list of Pictish Kings, containing an opening mythological section not present in many other Pictish king lists. Unlike related Pictish king-lists, it gets cut off at the accession of Cináed mac Ailpín. It reveals its origins at Abernethy by preserving a spurious foundation "charter" for the monastery there, reputedly granted by King Nechtan (fl. early seventh century), whom it calls Nectonius magnus filius Uuirp.
4. Chronicle of the Kings of Alba; it is a short chronicle of the Kings of Alba, from the period of King Cináed mac Ailpín (d. 858) until the reign of King Cináed mac Maíl Coluim (r. d. 995). As for the de Situ Albanie, the Poppleton MS preserves the only copy.
5. A List of Dál Riatan and Scottish monarchs; this joined pair of king-lists starts from the legendary Fergus Mór mac Eirc, and ends with William I.
6. A genealogy of William I; this genealogy goes all the way back to Adam, via Gaidhel Glas. It is just a record or partial translation of a Gaelic genealogy, in which mac and meic have been replaced with filius and filii. Virtually all ancestors before David I have their names in the Middle Irish genitive form.
7. A foundation legend of St Andrews; it may not have been compiled by the author of de Situ Albanie in the thirteenth century, simply because it does not fit in with the logic presented by documents one to six, and is unrelated to the legend or topic is mentioned in de Situ Albanie.

The value of the manuscript has been shown in the publications of William Forbes Skene, Alan Orr Anderson, and his wife Marjory Anderson. Dozens of articles have been written in the last half-century about various aspects of the Scottish content, although studies of the whole manuscript have been rarer.
Bibliography

• Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286, Vol. 1, (Edinburgh, 1923)
• Anderson, Marjorie O., Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1973), pp. 235–60
• Broun, Dauvit, "The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of Pictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba?" in E.J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era, (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005), pp. 24–42
• Skene, William F., Chronicles of the Picts and Scots: And Other Memorials of Scottish History, (Edinburgh, 1867)
• Documents and Manuscripts such as these were also used in Ardra Raye of Kilmorie Mishnish McKinnons genealogy that covered before King Donald and his brother King Kenneth.

[sally1234]

Originally Posted by Ancient Princess

Scotland’s Crown Jewels

Oh I LOOVE that crown

[Ancient Princess]

The Honors of Scotland lay in wait. They are not only beautiful but signify Scotlands independence. Scotland had its own Kings that dated back many years ago and has a very strong genealogical tie to the Irish Kings. Thankfully they have not been lost...

[shari-aree]

Wow!
I love all of this History.
Can anyone tell me if there is truth in the following:-

Scottish ... MacDonald = Mac (son of ) Donald = Child of a Marriage
... McDonald = Mc (Bastard Son of) Donald = Child not of a Marriage ???

.....about 15 years ago My Sister toured Scotland & was told that Mc meant 'bastard son of' ?????????????

I am interested as this is My Surname (Married).

[American Dane]

Originally Posted by shari-aree

Wow!
I love all of this History.
Can anyone tell me if there is truth in the following:-

Scottish ... MacDonald = Mac (son of ) Donald = Child of a Marriage
... McDonald = Mc (Bastard Son of) Donald = Child not of a Marriage ???

.....about 15 years ago My Sister toured Scotland & was told that Mc meant 'bastard son of' ?????????????

I am interested as this is My Surname (Married).

I always was under the belief that Mc was Irish and Mac was Scottish but apparently Mc is just an abbreviation of Mac, so don't worry!

ScottishHistory.com - Mac vs Mc

[Ancient Princess]

"Mac", as I understand it means for the man and ,"Mc" means for the woman. I have never heard of it's meaning if the child was legitimate? Can anyone comment on this. How wanderful, The Great McDonald's. Which line of McDonald? Keppoch, Ranald, Etc...