Marriage in the Highlands in the Early 1500’s*
Margaret Mallory
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| Dunscaith, home of the Chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat |
The most surprising thing I learned in my research for myTHE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS series was about the marriage practices of Highlandersin the Western Isles, particularly the chieftains, at that time my books takeplace.
In the early 1500’s, these Gaelic-speaking Highlanders maintainedtheir old Celtic customs alongside their Christian beliefs. Priests were notnecessary to make a marriage, which was fortunate since priests were few and farbetween in the Highlands at this time. In Celtic secular marriage, it wascommon for couples to enter a trial marriage. At the end of a year, eitherparty could leave the marriage. If the couple decided to stick with it, they couldhave their marriage blessed at the same time their first child was christenedwhen the priest made his rounds. Childrenborn of these trial marriages were considered legitimate, and men generallyclaimed children born outside of marriage as well. Divorce was permitted by either party onfairly loose grounds.
Chieftains, who were more than kings to their clans, disregardededicts from Rome as freely as they ignored edits from the Crown. For them, marriage was a means of making analliance with another clan—and they changed alliances all the time. Henry VIII had nothing on some of thesechieftains when it came to multiple wives, though a chieftain could simply “setaside” a wife, rather than look for an excuse to have her killed.
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| Cawdor Castle |
The chieftains did not ignore the Church rules entirely, butRome was a long way away so they generally followed the principle that it wasbetter to ask forgiveness than permission. Though a chieftain might seek anannulment, he was unlikely to wait the two or three years to get an answer fromRome before taking a new wife. The petitionfor annulment was often based on the marriage being in violation of the rulesof consanguinity, though everyone had been well aware of the issue at the time ofthe marriage.
As might be expected, a clan chieftain’s serial (andsometimes concurrent) marriages did not always lead to family harmony or goodrelations with other clans. The MacDonalds of Sleat, the clan of my fictionalheroes, had their share of such conflict.
Hugh (Uisdean), the first MacDonald of Sleat and thegrandfather of my fictional character Connor, was one of three sons thatAlexander, the third Lord of the Isles, had by different women. Despite beingadmonished by the pope himself for putting away his true wife and “adhering” toHugh’s beautiful and highborn mother, Alexander refused to part with her. Hishalf-sons, however, got along well.
Hugh had six sons by six different women, all from prominentfamilies. Unfortunately, his sons did not get along as well as Hugh had withhis half-brothers. In fact, Hugh’s first son hated his half-brothers so muchthat upon his death he turned the clan’s lands over to the Crown to keep theothers from inheriting them. Though later chieftains held onto the lands, theirlack of legal title caused the clan problems for years. Two of Hugh’s othersons were murdered by their half-brothers, and another was murdered by Hugh’s grandsons.
This family strife plays an important role in all four booksin THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS. In THE SINNER, I also included as secondarycharacters two couples who were wed in order to make alliances between their respectiveclans—with wildly differing results.
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| Margaret Mallory at Eilean Donan |
I drew on a well-known incident involving the Macleanchieftain, Lachlan Cattanach (Shaggy), and his wife Catherine, whose father andthen brother were chieftains of the powerful Campbell clan. I won’t say herewhat happened, but when Shaggy was found murdered in bed on a visit to Edinburghsome years later, everyone assumed it was done by a Campbell in retribution.
Catherine’s brother John had better luck in marriage. Whenthe 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 wouldresult in one of their sons becoming the next Thane of Cawdor one day. WhenMuriel was still a toddler, the Campbell chieftain preempted the others byhaving his men snatch Muriel when she was outside the walls of Cawdor Castletaking in the fresh air with her nursemaid. Muriel was raised in the Campbellchieftain’s household and married to John as soon as she reached twelve, theage of consent. By all reports, this marriage, which was made solely for thepurpose of gaining lands and wealth for the Campbells, was a very happy one.
Then as now, some marriages turnout well despite how they started.
* My primary source is “Marriage, Concubinage and Divorce inGaelic Scotland,” by David Sellar, from Volume 51 of the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Thanks to SharronGunn for referring me to the article.) I also found supporting information inclan histories from numerous sources.
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I hope you’llenjoy 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 GroupDiscussion Questions, blurbs, excerpts, and other information relating to mybooks, please visit my website: www.MargaretMallory.com.
I’d love torespond to your comments or questions! I’ll give away a signed copy of THESINNER to one of the commenters.
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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?
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