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Clans and Families
of Ireland and Scotland
IV. The Kingdom of the
Picts: Christianity, Paganism and the Making of Gaelic Scotland |
later sense of the title was that of
"Sheriff," and it was in this sense that Sir William Murray of Tullibardine, as a descendant also
of the original sheriffs of Perth, became Stewart of Strathearn in 1473, with a lifetime
appointment following in 1483. The Tullibardine family continued to rise in power, being
made "Earls of Tullibardine" in 1583, and eventually (in 1629) inheriting the
Earldom of Atholl, which they hold today. The unusual local power which accrued to the
AtholI-Tullibardine family (now dukes of Atholl) is based on a resurgence of traditions of
Strathearn/Perthshire regional autonomy together with politico-strategic realities arising
in part from the removal of direct royal control over the area after the union of the
crowns in 1603.
Old traditions continued to have an effect on the day-to-day life of
the kingdom. Below the level of king, churchman and earl, the pattern of life remained
surprisingly unchanged. The use of the name "Scotland" was descriptive of the
Gaelic-speaking, Celtic power base which carved out the united kingdom between 1130 (the
subjection of Moray) and 1266 (the subjection of the Hebrides). The political history, the
record of rulers and battles in a kingdom is not the true record of the life of a people.
Looking below the level of names and dates, the reigns of kings and the tenure of bishops,
we find a Scotland almost humming with elemental Picto-Gaelic energy. It hums like the
wind in a grey ruin, sound invading seclusion as sunlight invades shadow and warm life
shocks cold stone amid the leafy humus of the past. Even today in the Gaelic-speaking
Highlands, one can find venerated cult objects used in a Christian context, such as the
"fairy fire stones" used in healing the sick, or blackened in the fire for a
more sinister purpose (Thomson 221). The "clay body" used in "working
woe" reminds one of sympathetic voodoo magic. Holy wells are still resorted to, and
offerings made, and the insane are sometimes dipped in the healing water and then left
overnight. Rowan trees are still found planted outside houses, presumably from a
continuing belief in black witchcraft, practiced at least as late as the eighteenth
century. Some sense of the magical power of iron and of the original semi-devine nature of
the blacksmith continues in the practice of nailing horseshoes to walls as talismans
against bad luck. On the positive side of witchcraft, healers or "charmers" are
still called upon in curing the sick, as are traditional herbal remedies administered in a
shamanistic way by country witchdoctors or by hags stooping over cauldrons.
The mind at work here is a Celtic one, a mind still connected to the
Gaelic language and to a conservative rural environment. These factors have encouraged the
continuation of a Celtic culture which remains linguistically and geographically unremoved
from its original context. Christianity, long a part of Gaelic tradition, has maintained
in this environment a high level of syncretism with earlier traditions. Politically
expedient edicts on religious matters, executed on paper at Edinburgh or Perth, did not
necessarily translate into the cultural mind of the people, and the original fusion of
Christian and pagan, with its symbolic rationalization in Class II symbol stones, has
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