Marriage in the Highlands in the Early 1500’s*
Margaret Mallory
Dunscaith, home of the Chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat |
The most surprising thing I learned in my research for my
THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS series was about the marriage practices of Highlanders
in the Western Isles, particularly the chieftains, at that time my books take
place.
In the early 1500’s, these Gaelic-speaking Highlanders maintained
their old Celtic customs alongside their Christian beliefs. Priests were not
necessary to make a marriage, which was fortunate since priests were few and far
between in the Highlands at this time. In Celtic secular marriage, it was
common for couples to enter a trial marriage. At the end of a year, either
party could leave the marriage. If the couple decided to stick with it, they could
have their marriage blessed at the same time their first child was christened
when the priest made his rounds. Children
born of these trial marriages were considered legitimate, and men generally
claimed children born outside of marriage as well. Divorce was permitted by either party on
fairly loose grounds.
Chieftains, who were more than kings to their clans, disregarded
edicts from Rome as freely as they ignored edits from the Crown. For them, marriage was a means of making an
alliance with another clan—and they changed alliances all the time. Henry VIII had nothing on some of these
chieftains when it came to multiple wives, though a chieftain could simply “set
aside” a wife, rather than look for an excuse to have her killed.
Cawdor Castle |
The chieftains did not ignore the Church rules entirely, but
Rome was a long way away so they generally followed the principle that it was
better to ask forgiveness than permission. Though a chieftain might seek an
annulment, he was unlikely to wait the two or three years to get an answer from
Rome before taking a new wife. The petition
for annulment was often based on the marriage being in violation of the rules
of consanguinity, though everyone had been well aware of the issue at the time of
the marriage.
As might be expected, a clan chieftain’s serial (and
sometimes concurrent) marriages did not always lead to family harmony or good
relations with other clans. The MacDonalds of Sleat, the clan of my fictional
heroes, had their share of such conflict.
Hugh (Uisdean), the first MacDonald of Sleat and the
grandfather of my fictional character Connor, was one of three sons that
Alexander, the third Lord of the Isles, had by different women. Despite being
admonished by the pope himself for putting away his true wife and “adhering” to
Hugh’s beautiful and highborn mother, Alexander refused to part with her. His
half-sons, however, got along well.
Hugh had six sons by six different women, all from prominent
families. Unfortunately, his sons did not get along as well as Hugh had with
his half-brothers. In fact, Hugh’s first son hated his half-brothers so much
that upon his death he turned the clan’s lands over to the Crown to keep the
others from inheriting them. Though later chieftains held onto the lands, their
lack of legal title caused the clan problems for years. Two of Hugh’s other
sons were murdered by their half-brothers, and another was murdered by Hugh’s grandsons.
This family strife plays an important role in all four books
in THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS. In THE SINNER, I also included as secondary
characters two couples who were wed in order to make alliances between their respective
clans—with wildly differing results.
Margaret Mallory at Eilean Donan |
I drew on a well-known incident involving the Maclean
chieftain, Lachlan Cattanach (Shaggy), and his wife Catherine, whose father and
then brother were chieftains of the powerful Campbell clan. I won’t say here
what happened, but when Shaggy was found murdered in bed on a visit to Edinburgh
some years later, everyone assumed it was done by a Campbell in retribution.
Catherine’s brother John had better luck in marriage. When
the Thane of Cawdor died leaving his baby daughter Muriel as his sole heir,
clan chieftains all over the Highlands hoped to arrange a match that would
result in one of their sons becoming the next Thane of Cawdor one day. When
Muriel was still a toddler, the Campbell chieftain preempted the others by
having his men snatch Muriel when she was outside the walls of Cawdor Castle
taking in the fresh air with her nursemaid. Muriel was raised in the Campbell
chieftain’s household and married to John as soon as she reached twelve, the
age of consent. By all reports, this marriage, which was made solely for the
purpose of gaining lands and wealth for the Campbells, was a very happy one.
Then as now, some marriages turn
out well despite how they started.
* My primary source is “Marriage, Concubinage and Divorce in
Gaelic Scotland,” by David Sellar, from Volume 51 of the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Thanks to Sharron
Gunn for referring me to the article.) I also found supporting information in
clan histories from numerous sources.
~~~
I hope you’ll
enjoy the slide show I put together of photos I took of some of the castles
& other settings that appear in THE SINNER. To see the show, click here ,
then click on “show info” on the upper right for descriptions.
For Book Group
Discussion Questions, blurbs, excerpts, and other information relating to my
books, please visit my website: www.MargaretMallory.com.
I’d love to
respond to your comments or questions! I’ll give away a signed copy of THE
SINNER to one of the commenters.
*~*~*~*
Four fearless warriors return to the Highlands to claim their lands and legacies. But all their trials on the battlefield can't prepare them for their greatest challenge yet: winning the hearts of four willful Scottish beauties.
IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE
Alex MacDonald is known for his skill as a warrior, his prowess with women, and his vow to never take a wife. But now his chieftain has asked him to make the ultimate sacrifice: wed Glynis MacNeil, a lass famed throughout the Highlands for her exquisite beauty—and defiant ways.Familiar with heartbreak, Glynis refuses to fall for another handsome scoundrel. Yet when Alex's past sins force an unlikely union, Glynis gives in to temptation and becomes his wife. Will their newfound passion be strong enough to fight the enemy that threatens their home, their clan, and their very lives?
15 comments:
Margaret,
Thank you for your very interesting post.
Marion
Thanks for having me here, Eliza. I love your blog!
I'm very excited because today is my official publication date for THE SINNER, which means it should be in bookstores everywhere & it released as an e-book early this morning. Yay!
I'd love to answer questions or respond to comments.
Margaret
I have really enjoyed reading all of Ms Mallory's books and thanks for sharing this post. I have heard that Ireland worked under similar conditions with regards to marriage and the paucity of Catholic priests. If these practices didn't lead to necessarily conventional marriages, it sure led to a lot of fascinating stories!
I'd love to be entered for a chance to win the next book!
Thx for the kind words about my books, Elizabeth. You're right that the customs were similar to those in Ireland. The Highlands, particularly the Western Isles, had closer ties with Ireland than to the Scottish Lowlands at that time.
Margaret
I love this post. I just saw your post on twitter and have never visited your site, but who can resist a good romance novel. Not I! I love this post. History has always been interesting and to pair it with romance makes it even more relatable. Itching to read The Sinner. Can't wait. Very well researched post.
Congrats on latest release!
I love your books and I love that the pic on this post is a curved woman! Some of us have some flesh to hold on to!! lol
As to the divorce/putting aside that is a shame and a blessing. Shame that I imagine there were many broken hearts. Being that the scale of romance is often off kilter and that one is much more in love than one's partner. A blessing that if things were truly bad abuse/etc one was able to escape it.
But over all a good thing so that they were able make bonds without loosing the chance to find true love.
Major plus side to it all is that the children were accepted and legitimized. *smiles*
Theresa brbalways(at)yahoo(dot)com
Very interesting post! I really enjoyed "The Guardian" and can't wait to treat myself to "The Sinner." (Not to mention the spicy love scene I keep hearing about :)
Oh my, I wonder which love scene you've heard about,Diana!
I'm so glad folks are enjoying the post, and thanks for the compliments on my books. :)
BTW, women could leave their marriages, too. My heroine left her dirk in her philandering 1st husband's thigh as she was going out the door.
Great info, love those Scottish castles. Can;t imagine how cold they were in the winter, but I guess with the right laird next to you.......
Sheila
smulholland62@msn.com
I didn't know about the trial marriages. I had heard of hand-fasting when two make a vow to each other because priests were scarce and only came around a few times a year.
Thx for the comments! Those castles must have been damp & cold to live in--but at least the people who lived in them didn't have to share their home with the family cow, as those in cottages did. ;)
Happy release Margaret!
I have always found historical Scotland intriguing but especially the period you discussed (1500s). How I would like to be a fly on the wall then :) That's why I live out that experience through books.
If you could time travel to any time period of Scotland which era would you choose?
Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com
Margaret, thank you so much for visiting with us again!! Fascinating post!
And now for the winner... (man I wish I could pick myself, I'm dying to read this book!)... Elizabeth!
Congrats! Please send me your contact info at writer @ elizaknight.com (minus spaces.)
Cheers and Enjoy!
Wow. And we think marriage is complicated these days? Thanks for the interesting information, Margaret! And best of luck on your newest creation, The Sinner. That cover is excellent. I'm certain the story will be just as good. I can hardly wait to read it.
Eliza, thanks so much for letting me visit. Congrats to Elizabeth.
Na, whatever period I'm researching is my favorite at the time. I do prefer to have my heroes swinging swords, rather than shooting guns. Seems more heroic somehow.
Laurie, thanks for the best wishes.
Thanks all!
Margaret
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