#fergus mór

[grogusmum]

Seven Tears part 6

SELKIE!EZRA X F!READER

WORD COUNT: 2500ish

SERIES SUMMARY: Months after being abandoned, she does something rash and summons a selkie, who wishes to bring her comfort and maybe more.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Summer moves quickly on Roan Inish, Pearl and Cee grow close and the baby is born, but the fall brings the annulment at last, and with it there is retaliation and a choice is made.

WARNING: Olde Timey gender norms and sexism, though set in mid-20th century Ireland, and Ireland's predominantly white, Reader is physically undescribed, as are her blood relatives, her missing spouse, and his family are white, reader gives birth (not described), Cee in peril, ANGST, Colin and Jamie continue to be horrible people, Ezra is a selkie, yes, it deserves its own warning, excessive use of pet names, painful cliffhanger - its going to be okay, I promise! (as always see something say something. please let me know in my DMs if there is a warning I missed)

A/N: Welp, at 364 days since the last update- it hasn't been a literal year since the last chapter... After I finally got it down and started editing I realized why I had such a block. At least part of it anyway... This is a tough one. I understand why I kept diverting to writing side fics with sexytimes, new-fangled doodads, flashbacks of shenanigans, and so forth. While I was figuring out this chapter, and well into writing it, I spent most of the time saying to Ezra, can we just make breakfast and snuggle??? Of course, he's no help because he says yes let's. Like so many of my penultimate chapters, it's a cliffhanger and a painful one, and I am so very sorry. But I am not stopping and taking a break to do other fics. I will be writing part 7 this weekend.

Gaelic Translation (with a dash of history)

Móra dhuit ar maidin: good morning, is a twist on the traditional Dia dhuit ar maidin which means God (be) with you. Some believe this is where the infamous “Top of the Morning” Mor meaning big, Mora believed to be a “lost word”. However, it was discovered that in fact, this is one of the quite rare surviving pagan blessings. Mór was a significant goddess (note: attributes quite different to the Morrigan or Mór Ríon, even if sometimes mixed together) with many avatars. Of course, this all can be debated to the end of time, when one’s religion and language are made illegal so much is lost.

Gaeilge translation

A ghrá: love

Mo stór: Literally translating to “My treasure,” this phrase is often used to mean “my darling.”

Part 5

Series Masterlist

‘You would have to become a selkie yourself.’

Ezra stopped further conversation that night about it. “Today has been long and arduous, and not the hour for decisions of this magnitude, Moonbeam.” He had said, then unfairly distracted you as only he can.

Your time on the island was magical. You cleaned out the other cottages and your parents brought some basic furniture. The cottages were sparse but appointed with the necessaries to visit comfortably. The visits from your family and Tilda and Fergus were lovely. Because your relocation was for your safety and protection, no one knew beyond that circle. You knew you would miss your friends and cousins. But for now, you were distracted from missing them too badly because Cee came to visit, often. It was new to her, and she found it great fun. She would look at her human feet or hands and laugh with wonder, she would tell you later ‘wonder at their ridiculousness’. You noted fondly that she had a little bit of her father’s laugh.

The first time she came up out of the water you got to see the transformation firsthand. Her flippers felt for the seam under her snout, invisible to the eye. She then pulled it apart and a blonde teenager emerged. 

Blonde. You looked at Ezra, flabbergasted. To which he said-

 “There is a saying, my Pearl, all toads are frogs but not all frogs are indeed toads. Uncommon it may be, but one needs only look for the sea storm in her eyes to know.”

Cee came and went from the shoals, and Ezra reminded you not to worry, that as your belly rounded with every week that passed, he would be the worrier in the family.

Spending the morning fishing with your Da and Thomas, Ezra is gone when you wake. This is his way of thanking them as they usually have other supplies for you. Cee emerges from her bed which is curtained off in one corner of the great room, as you set out two bowls of porridge. 

“Móra dhuit ar maidin (MOR-uhg(w)itch air MA-jin), Cee”

“Móra dhuit ar ma–” Cee yawns openly, “jin. Where is me Da?” 

She, then, sniffs the oats hopefully.

“Fishing,” You tell her. “Why don' you cut some apples, dear.” 

“With hooks and a line?” Cee chuffs as she sets to the task. You can not help joining her mirth. 

You are with Cee on your own for the first time-

“You must have missed Ezr- your Da. I did not know I was keeping him from anyone- I would have encouraged him to visit. I am truly sorry, Cee.”

“‘tis the nature of things,” Cee says, mouth full of apples and oats, “besides if he were to slip back into his pelt and visit, he could not return to you for seven years. He has loved you a long time- everyone knows that!”

You are taken aback, you hardly register the sweet knowledge that she and others in his pod knew his love for you, thinking about the fact that if he goes in he can not return for seven years. Seeing her come and go, you assumed, with no small amount of relief, that bit was a myth, and you tell her so.

“Oh, I can come and go, because I am a natural-born selkie. Da was turned.”

“How was he turned?”

“Well,” Cee starts, “ehm, that is probably a story he ought tell you. Though he don' really like to tell that tale.”

By the time of Ezra return, Cee’s words were pushed out of your mind. For the pair of you had gathered seaweed and dug clams for luncheon, and you had felt your first real kick from the baby.

“Pearl! Come sit,” Ezra pulls you into the house. “You need to rest.”

Sitting you down by the fireplace, he settles on his knees, splaying a large warm hand on your lower belly, soft brown eyes on you, hoping to feel another kick. 

“How does everyone?”

“Very well, Moonbeam,” Ezra absently runs his hand over the expanse of your middle, then drops his head on your lap. “Patrick had some supplies for us as well.”

“Any news?”

“Well…”

“What, a ghrá (uh GHRAH)?”

“Colin and his brother are still ragin’. Dierdre is making progress with the annulment, tis not sitting too well, it seems.”

“Pity sake”

“He deserves none," Ezra's eyes darken and you see his selkie nature for just a moment.

On the longest day, your water breaks at 4 a.m. The gift of midsummer's day is that daylight is already breaking, and Ezra can take the currach out right away and fetch your mam. The whole of the family comes back with Ezra and waits outside the cottage as Deirdre and Felicia help you bring young Rory into the world, with Ezra attached to your side. 

When Rory's shoulder breaches its final barrier with your last mighty push, he slips like a seal into your mother’s waiting arms. 

Ezra kisses your glistening brow and with a whoop, he runs to the window to shout to kin both seal and man-

“Tis a boy! With a shock of red hair from who knows where!” To which everyone whooped and laughed hardily.

“It’s midsummer! That’d be the faeries doing!” Hugh calls.

“Someone tell that boy to hush,” Deirdre says to no one in particular, shaking her head and crossing herself. She hands off the swaddled babe to Felicia, who brings him to you. Your Mam goes to the fireplace takes up an iron poker and draws talismans into the ash, muttering about faeries, calling St. Bridget to protect the home and all dwelling within.

You, Ezra, Rory, and Cee grow more in love with every passing day. There is nothing Cee enjoys more than when Rory is in his boat cradle, being lulled in the shallows tethered to a rope you hold fast to. During his fussy times, it is the only thing that calms him. She swims round and round it, bobbing up to check on him. Ezra barks his laugh at Cee’s antics and in the evenings he holds his son close, nosing his cheek and murmuring in the old way. And of course, any chance he gets, he brings you closer to him than many would find humanly possible. Nights are spent worshipful, in one another's arms. When the babe is wakeful, Ezra brings him to you, and when Rory is fed and dozing he silently takes him back to his cradle.

Summer rushes past as it has a habit of doing and autumn comes. Plans are set for this morning to go to the mainland to sign papers for your annulment. 

“Tis finally here,” you sigh, kissing Ezra, the baby dressed and ready for a boat ride. “I’ll go to the church and get this settled at long last and meet you at the pub?”

“Agreed, mo stór (mu store)” Ezra says as he carries out a basket to the currach, he sets it in the boat and then helps you aboard, as you hold Rory. 

The tide is with you as is the wind, so your trip is uneventful and swift. Ezra kisses your cheek and takes the baby for Tilda and Fergus to see and you head up to St Bridget’s to finally wash your hands of Colin. You smile as you walk the familiar cobbled road, excited butterflies in your belly. You remember to be watchful, knowing Colin and Jamie, this day is sure to stir up a hornet's nest. All is quiet, but you start to feel as though it is too quiet.

Ezra brings Rory into the pub, head up, bursting with fatherly pride, and Tilda comes round the board, hand on her heart. She takes up the baby as she gives Ezra a peck on the cheek. 

“You may never get the wee one back,” Fergus laughs. 

“Look how big you’ve gotten!” She coos.

“He is but a weed of a thing, growing faster-” No sooner does Ezra sit to catch up with his friends, does Hugh run into the bar, holding a stitch in his side. Ezra stands, his nostrils flaring as his eyes go dark, as if the barometer just fell and he could feel a dangerous storm brewing.

“I was- I was down at the docks-” he gasps trying to catch his breath. “Cee was there, knew it was the- the big day. But Colin-” 

Ezra was on him, hands like vices on his shoulders. 

“Ezra!” Tilda commands. He let go but the huff of his breathing bristles his mustache.

“What about Colin,” Ezra’s voice is like nothing they have ever heard. Rory fusses.

“He’s got Cee in a net, started dragging her out. Da -.”

Ezra bellows. 

“Watch over Rory, Tilda. Hugh, does she know?”

“No, I came here first. Thomas has a boat- one with a motor-” 

“Good lad,” Ezra breathes and storms from the pub, Hugh following behind.

At the dock, Ezra prowles up and down, until Thomas comes into view.

“Over there!”

Ezra looks at the small vessel with an outboard motor, mildly distrustful. 

“Hugh stay at the dock and keep watch. We will get to the boa-”

“No. Go back to the island.”

“Wh-”

“I need my pelt.”

Cee twists and bites at the net, angry at herself for getting caught. Knowing this was to get to you and Ezra. Other seals surround her, trying to help.

She barks, nostrils flaring, pointing with her nose behind her. Two seals peel off and go in the direction she indicates, while one stays with Cee.

Soon enough two gray seals like torpedoes reach Ezra, flanking the port and starboard bows. Their heads come above the surface and one barks.

"Go on ahead to the island, in the hamper at the end of the big bed. Fast. Meet me back at this boat. Mind the propeller," Ezra shouts over the wind and motor.

The seals put out a burst of speed, porpoising in and out of the water. 

"What are you going to do?"

"You have to tell her," Ezra's voice breaks, eyes rimmed red. "Tell her,  I will return even if she can't bring herself to come to me. I will-"

"Ezra?"

"I promised," he wails, "I have never promised anyone anything- only she! But I can't let Cee-"

"She'll understand."

"I'm deserting her!"

"I will tell her."

"Is there anything to write with?"

Thomas rummages a bit and pulls from his pack, a small notebook with a pen tucked in its spine.

Ezra takes it and begins scribbling frantically.

Jamie’s boat speeds along, gulls scold them, and seals chase. Colin and Jamie jeer at them, determined to take their offense out on the young selkie. Heedless of the long-held taboo and the consequences that can befall entire villages, for harming a seal. Whether or not they know Cee was a selkie or a seal, they laughed in bad humor and wondered if one of them would make wife of her. They are both quite lucky Cee could not hear their base chatter. 

After chewing at the net for some time, Cee finally breaks through the net, barking a laugh of triumph. When she slips free, she rolls and tumbles with her companion in celebration. When she has had her fill, she bobs in the water watching as the craft continues east. Cee barks at the other seal and sets after the boat at top speed. Only after she chews the netting that held her captive to shreds, does she make way to the mainland. But it is not long before she is faced with her mistake. 

You arrive at the pub in good spirits, but your relaxed smile is wiped clean off at the sight of the faces within. Your face falls further seeing Tilda with Rory, and Ezra nowhere to be found.

"Where-"

For the second time today, Hugh bursts in like the devil is at his heels-

"C-cee-"

"Is she alright?" Tilda says standing.

"She is! She- she got away, but she's ragin' on the stand!"

The lot of you pour out of the pub. Fergus tosses out a lone customer and locks up behind. Hugh hastily explains what he knows, as your eyes become saucers. At the beach Cee is half out of her coat,  as she is covered with the blanket that Tilda had the forethought to bring, she seethes-

"Da went after 'em. He didn’ know I broke free on me own until after he’d done it! He's angrier than I have ever seen!"

"Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?" Your eyes search her.

"He's not mad at that- well he is bu' he's fit to be tied because-" Cee's words pull up short, she looks like she might cry. "He thought- he- put on his pelt. I- I'm sorry."

You look as though you've been struck in the face, but you rub her shoulder absently hoping she knows you do not blame her. 

"He's gone after the boat, he wi- he'll sink it," Cee finishes.

"Where's Thomas?" Asks Hugh.

"I'm here!" Thomas runs down the rocky steps, and hands you the note.

My shining Pearl,

I am loath to break my promise and beg your forgiveness.

Do I dare remind you that we spoke of you coming with me? 

Though I admit that conversation was far from over.

Do I presume to ask for this gift? 

Would you don a silken seal coat, mo ghrá? 

Would you do this for me though I hardly deserve it? 

Yours forever,

Ezra

When you finish reading, you find yourself turning a lost circle, pebbles shifting underfoot. 

"I- he-" You look down at the note again, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"He didn't want to!" Thomas says, beside himself.

"Of course, he didn't," Dierdre soothes. 

Trembling, you rush to Tilda grasping her hands. Blinded by the tears that refuse to fall, you don't see what everyone else can see plain, she knows your question and hates the answer.

"The Maiden and the Seal-lord! She- she was able to take her grandmother's pelt! You have one from yours, yes? Please yes!"

The waves crash, as though very ocean can not abide your tears.

"Darlin, my seal gran has too many greats in front of it to tell us, even if I could dig it up and give it to you," Tilda holds your panicked face in her worn hands. " Which I would, I most surely would. But it would not transform you- for no matter how close I hold you as kin, you must be a blood relation. Your way… if you wish it, it will be harder." 

Your wail breaks her heart, gulls echo your cry. 

You take Rory in your arms, the note crushed in your hand, and climb Widow’s Rock.

"Ez-ra!" 

Deirdre sends everyone back to the house and carefully climbs the rock. She wraps her arms around you and Rory. 

"For right or wrong, God forgive him. He will sink that boat and come back to you, even if he can't take off his coat."

You nod in response, eyes on the open water-

"I need to talk to Cee.”

Part 7

💚THANK YOU FOR READING💚REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED💚

If you care to read more of my stories you can find my masterlist here and if you would like to be tagged for any of my fics you can find my handy dandy taglist form here.

[fountainpenguin]

Origin of the Pixies

Fairly OddParents ~ (August 2016 - Ongoing)

"Talk of these things should be reserved for fathers and sons. I'm Head Pixie. I'm your aldra mór, but I'm no one's daddy."

Head Pixie backstory longfic

Drama & Angst (I hear there's fluff in here somewhere...)

First-person POV

Dead Dove

Summary

After being infected with Wolbachia pipientis - the real-life bacteria that causes insects to reproduce asexually - Fergus Whimsifinado soon finds himself a single father struggling to provide for 500+ genetically-identical offspring he never really wanted in the first place. Suddenly becoming the first member of a brand new species means complex politics to deal with, a Pixie World to build, a shipping company and a therapy business to manage, and a budding interspecies war to survive... ... All on top of raising children.

Not Rated; Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings

Read on FFN | Read on AO3

Chapter Recaps | Gen 2 Pixies Sheet

Cloudlands AU - Detailed warnings & other AU info

More Fairly OddParents 'fics

This work has a largely T tone. Borderline M for themes like 'queen bee' insect people fighting to the death, getting abducted by Cupid's family for study, being forced into a will o' the wisp's harem to ensure milk for newborn Sanderson, and general themes of non-human reproduction, child loss, and war.

Head Pixie-centric longfic with a focus on:

- Growing up with freckles in insect society, where you're typecast as a violent "queen bee" who'll stop at nothing to defend his hive. Set Daddy's fortune aside for wergild; you're gonna need it. - Accidental selkie wife addition (Please don't send her back to Mom; she needs this job) - Local party boy struggles to prioritize fatherhood above raves - Getting abducted by Cupid's hot grumpy mom, who's absolutely willing to push you to your limits if it means she can unravel your biology and show you off to all her friends - Raising little worker bees... I mean, drone pixies who regularly need their faces licked for pheromone exposure or they'll cry - Cloudlands' most eligible rich bachelor rejects hugs because he fears bee-instinct cuddle death attacks; more at 11 - Building a company up from nothing. Gotta start somewhere- Why not with cupcakes? (Maybe cute kids are good for something after all...) - Raising an heir you're biologically programmed to kill... It's fine- Sis is raising the spare - Why did we think adopting a cù sìth that can steal your soul if you lie was a good idea? - The cool girl who founded the human godparenting division is afraid you'll hurt her with your big, scary muscles and she'd rather "just be friends." oh no. - WHAT midlife crisis? Hahaha... Don't read Chapter 37. - The war over godkids from "Balance of Flour" (Season 7); H.P. and his 4 eldest pixies are drafted on the Fairies' side. Huh... That's gonna cause issues with the whole "BFF with the leader of the Anti-Fairies" thing... - Divorce? Child loss?? Raising some anti-fairy kid with Anti-Cosmo? Uh-oh. - His hat is also a pen

Read on FFN | Read on AO3 | Blog Tag

"I'm impolite and I make fun of everyone! I'm immature but I will stay this way forever <3" (x)

[coloursofunison]

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Rowena Kinread and her new book, The Scots of Dalriada to the blog HistoricalFiction #ScottishHistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Rowena Kinreead and her new book, The Scots of Dalriada to the blog HistoricalFiction #ScottishHistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @RowenaKinread @cathiedunn @rowenakinread @thecoffeepotbookclub

The Scots of Dalriada The Scots of Dalriada takes place in 5th century Ireland and Scotland and tells the fictional story of the legendary king Fergus Mór. Recorded Irish history begins with the introduction of Christianity and Latin literacy, beginning in the 5th century. Most of my research however, relied on sources written much later. First and foremost, Studies in the History of Dalriada by…

[roehenstart]

Fergus II, King of Scotland (404-20) by Jacob Jacobsz de Wet II.

Fergus Mór mac Eirc was a legendary king of Dál Riata. 

While his historicity may be debatable, his posthumous importance as the founder of Scotland in the national myth of Medieval and Renaissance Scotland is not in doubt. Rulers of Scotland from Cináed mac Ailpín until the present time claim descent from Fergus Mór.

[trans-cuchulainn]

what kind of stuff do you feel like people who read your fic but haven't read the tain miss out on reading in loco parentis?

hmm, good question. it's a tricky one because I'm not JUST drawing on TBC, I'm also drawing on a bunch of other stories, so even people who've read the táin might miss some details if they haven't read the others! so for example...

a lot of it's in the character relationships and stuff. everything with conchobar, dee and naoise is a reference to "longes mac nuislenn", so if you know the plot of that, you can see how i've adapted it. láeg as the designated driver and mum friend obviously comes from how he functions as charioteer in most texts. conall's motorbike is based on his horse, which mainly shows up in "brislech mór maige muirthemni" / "oidheadh con culainn". this text and others also provide the background for "conall is always away when shit goes down and turns up 15 minutes late with starbucks". cormac's characterisation is... mostly my invention, tbh, he doesn't have much of a personality in canon

a lot of things with cú chulainn and ferdia have a grounding in the texts. ferdia's moment of jealousy, when he says that there's no point competing against cú chulainn as he'll never win, echoes a similar outburst in "oileamhain con culainn", while the idea of the two of them being forced to compete in a way that doesn't allow for them both to win is drawing on the táin, specifically the "comrac fir diad" episode. emer daring cú chulainn to take on a challenge that leads to him training with scáthach comes from "tochmarc emire". cú chulainn's defence of derbforgaill comes from "aided derbforgaill", but his anger, and the way he talks about rage and dance and so on is drawing on descriptions of the ríastrad from the táin and other texts.

ferdia's flatmates being medb and ailill and the fact that fergus is sleeping with both of them is a táin detail although. well. he's not canonically sleeping with ailill as well in TBC, but... maybe he should've been lmao. the fact that they are loud and obnoxious and láeg and cú chulainn are half ready to declare war on their neighbours was at one point going to be more of a plot point, but i got distracted. that would've been a táin detail as well though, if it had happened

so that's like, plot stuff (there's probably a lot more of it that I would've forgotten about by now). but then there are small details like some of the imagery used – e.g. the use of colours in the most recent chapter, which comes from "longes mac nuislenn" again, sort of. again, the descriptions that are supposed to echo the ríastrad, which ties into the way I'm using ballet as a stand-in for cú chulainn's heroic feats and therefore leaning on some of those associations...

plus all the like, analytical levels of stuff of cú chulainn using pointework to compensate and compete when others see his position as a male dancer as dubious echoes the way he uses his feats and tricks and training to beat those who question his beardlessness and small size in the táin – turning his unconventional masculinity to his advantage

there are a lot of layers of references and some are more obvious than others. also some of them are accidental because I am often VERY immersed in the ulster cycle to the point of like. making references unconsciously that then other people point out to me. so there are probably some obvious ones. but that's like a quick rundown of some of the most obvious "easter eggs" that those with knowledge of the texts would pick up on but those who didn't, wouldn't. idk that they're essential for following the story in any way, i guess they might just explain why I made the narrative choices i made at various points.

[dwellordream]

“As contemporary debates about women in battle demonstrate, the gendering of military heroism comes into question precisely when women do enter the battlefield. And despite the recorded presence of women in battles throughout western history, the traditional exclusion of women from warfare is one of the arguments inevitably advanced for prohibiting women from combat service in the modern military: “The historical record is quite clear. War and soldiering, with few if any substantial pre-twentieth-century exceptions, have been an exclusive male preserve. One can point to the Amazons of Greek mythology but few real exceptions are recorded.” In fact, the exclusion of women from war has a long and disputed history, and premodern narratives offer many examples of women warriors. These narratives include historical chronicles, legends, and fictional accounts, but they all imagine women as warriors whose exploits deserve elaboration. 

At the same time, though, these accounts all insist on the extraordinary nature of the successful woman warrior, and they use a variety of narrative strategies to question whether women’s participation in combat is “natural.” One way in which women are shown to be inadequate or out of place in battle is through the association of women and the debilitating functions of the female reproductive body. Medieval Irish stories recount battles fought to avenge insults and wars undertaken in retaliation for transgressions against the king or against his clan, or as the result of a theft. The Táin Bó Cúalnge is one such story. Three versions of the Táin survive from the Middle Ages; they record oral sources that date from as early as the seventh or eight century. A twelfth-century redaction of the Táin, found in the Book of Leinster, is the most extensive version of the story and includes an episode absent from the other two versions of the story: the female protagonist, Medb, is unable to continue fighting during a battle because she begins to menstruate. 

The Táin Bó Cúalnge is a story about the theft of a bull and the war that results. The idea for the cattle raid is provoked by an argument between Medb and her husband, Ailill, over which of them is the richest. They assemble all their possessions and find that they are equal except for the bull possessed by Ailill, and “It was to Medb as if she owned not a penny of possessions since she had not a bull as great as that.” Medb asks if there is not another bull in Ireland to match it, and learns that the Ulstermen possess a bull than is even better than Ailill’s. When an attempt to borrow the bull fails, Medb assembles men from four provinces of Ireland to take the bull (Donn Cúailnge) from Ulster. After many battles, Medb takes the stolen bull back to Connacht, and as she defends the retreat with her forces she is suddenly incapacitated by her menstrual period.

Then Medb covered the retreat of the men of Ireland and she sent the Donn Cúailnge around to Crúachu together with fifty of his heifers and eight of Medb’s messengers, so that whoever might reach Crúachu or whoever might not, at least the Donn Cúailnge would arrive there as she had promised. Then her issue of blood came upon Medb (and she said: “O Fergus, cover) the retreat of the men of Ireland that I may pass my water.” “By my conscience,” said Fergus, “It is ill-timed and it is not right to do so.” “Yet I cannot but do so,” said Medb, “for I shall not live unless I do.” Fergus came then and covered the retreat of the men of Ireland. 

Medb passed her water and it made three great trenches in each of which a household can fit. Hence the place is called Fúal Medba. Cú Chulainn came upon her thus engaged but he did not wound her for he used not to strike her from behind. . . . Then Fergus began to survey the host as they went westwards from Áth Mór. “This day was indeed a fitting one (for those who were) led by a woman,” said Fergus. . . . “This host has been plundered and despoiled today. As when a mare goes before her band of foals into unknown territory, with none to lead or counsel them, so this host has perished today.” 

 To my knowledge this is the only representation of menstrual blood in the context of war in all medieval fiction, and even here the language of the text is not entirely clear. The passage initially describes Medb’s debility as her “urine of blood” (fúal focal, translated above by Rahilly as “issue of blood”), an ambiguous phrase that seems to name both menstruation and urine. In the two subsequent uses of “fúal” in this passage, the word is used alone and simply means “urine” (translated above as “water”). The cause of Medb’s debility seems to be both menstruation and urination and suggests that the cleric who recorded the story may have had a fairly inaccurate understanding of women’s bodies. But to the extent that the passage first links Medb’s debility to menstrual blood, it associates women’s biology and the incapacity to engage in combat: Medb has to leave off the business of war while she attends to her sudden flow of blood. 

The switch to urine alone in subsequent descriptions of Medb’s bodily functions may be associated with the power of her flow, which creates great trenches. But while Medb’s output is indeed prodigious, Fergus’s claim that women are unable to lead troops (“As when a mare goes before her band of foals into unknown territory, with none to lead or counsel them, so this host has perished today”) suggests that the monumental dimensions of Medb’s flow might also be seen as an exaggerated representation of the uncontrollable functions of women’s bodies. The debilitating effect of Medb’s menstruation corresponds to another prominent characterization of debility as feminine in Old Irish literature. In a story whose outcome is echoed in the Táin, Crunnchu goes to the provincial assembly of Ulster, where he boasts that his wife Macha can outrun the king’s horses. 

The pregnant Macha begs to be spared the race—she is near delivery—but because of his boast, her husband will die if she cannot win. Running alongside the chariot pulled by the king’s horses, she gives birth to twins and curses the men who would not defer the race. Then she raced the chariot. As the chariot reached the end of the Weld, she gave birth alongside it. She bore twins, a son and a daughter. The name Emain Macha, the Twins of Macha, comes from this. As she gave birth she screamed out that all who heard that scream would suffer from the same pangs for five days and four nights in their times of greatest difficulty. This affliction, ever afterward, seized all the men of Ulster who were there that day, and nine generations after them. Five days and four nights, or five nights and four days, the pangs lasted. For nine generations any Ulsterman in those pangs had no more strength than a woman on the bed of labour.

Macha’s childbirth pains are similar to Medb’s menstruation in that they are simultaneously associated with power (she wins the race) and debility (she curses the Ulstermen with incapacitating birth pains). The Táin Bó Cúalnge uses the motif of the warriors’ periodic debility: when Medb begins the cattle raid, the Ulstermen cannot fight because they are debilitated by the pangs of childbirth, the result of Macha’s curse. The Táin promotes the idea that women’s bodies are unsuited to leadership in battle through the representation of the female body’s natural functions as debilitating in the context of war: women’s blood—the blood of menstruation and the blood of parturition—is shown to be incompatible with battle.”

- Peggy McCracken, “The Amenorrhea of War.” in The Curse of Eve, the Wound of the Hero: Blood, Gender, and Medieval Literature

[niall-noigiallach]

The Nature and Extent of Irish Raids on Britain after the Retreat of Rome

Some basic background: The Roman Empire had been waning in Britain for hears and finally retreated for good in 407 AD. When Rome first conquered Britain, they of course couldn't allow them to retain an independent army, which risked revolt. Rome was their army. When Rome left the Britons were left with their warrior caste carved out of society. Laws set by the Romans had prohibited the natives from bearing arms at all outside of the military. This ban was lifted in 410 AD when Emperor Honorius told the British cities to "look after themselves." Britain was now ruled by local princes, who often petitioned Rome for military aid, begging for help against encroaching invaders. Saxons from the East, Picts from the North, and the Irish from the West, each as vicious as the other.

That is no exaggeration. We often play up the power of the Saxon at the expense of the others. Roman writer Ammianus Marcellinus called the raids a conspiratio barbarica, and the Annals record almost as many Irish and Pictish raids as Saxon ones. Outside the reach of Rome, men were still wild.

The five kingdoms of Ireland (cóiceda) were fighting amongst themselves, but like the Norwegians centuries later, internal conflict never deterred expansion. The most Irish-afflicted areas of Britain were the south west of Wales (Pembrokeshire, a.k.a. Dyfed), Cornwall (Dumnonnia), and Argyll (Dál Riata). How extensive were these raids? They were settlements. The ruling dynasty of Dyfed came from Leinster. Many places such as Dyfed or Lleyn were bilingual with Gaelic, at least among the nobility.  Many ogham stones from this area (the most in all of Britain) are written in Gaelic, not Brythonic. Many place names in Wales to this day derive from Irish or reference Ireland, such as Llyn Iwerddon, "Lake of Ireland", in Caernarvonshire. Another is Dolwyddelan (Dole-with-eh-lahn), which derives from Gwyddelan and Gwyddel, which is a Welsh term for a Gael or Goidel. Many such terms. A Welsh poet might call another poet's work "diseisnig" and "diwyddelig", that is, untainted by English or Irish. But make no mistake, the Irish in the end left no major genetic impression on the Welsh population. In this instances it was merely a temporary occupation of the upper classes by nobles funded by Irish kings.

The raids of the Irish did not begin once the Romans left. It was continuous, and the Romans and Welshmen had previously constructed defensive forts at Caerleon and Caerwent, and later at Cardiff. A fort at Segontium was used to guard the Roman copper mines on Ynys Mona from the Irish raiding parties.  Nonetheless the Irish broke through once Rome left. Cormac's Glossary tells us the following:

"The power of the Irish over Britain was great, and they divided Britain between them into estates... and the Irish lived as much east of the [Celtic] sea as they did in Ireland... and their dwellings and their royal fortresses were made there. Hence Dind Tradui... the triple rampart of Crimthann Mór, son of Fidach, king of Ireland and Britain as far as the English Channel... and they were in control for a long time, even after the coming of Patrick."

Now what could this mean, that the Irish lived as must east of the sea as west? Perhaps the Britons, like the Picts under the Gaels and the East Britons under Saxons, began to call themselves "Irish", while maintaining a Welsh underground identity. We have to remember that after Britain had been militarily and culturally dominated by Rome, it was easy for barbarians to impress a new culture onto the Britons. The Romano-Britons spoke Latin (mostly) and wanted to have Roman culture, but this was a one-sided and unstable relationship ripe for replacement with a nearer culture.

The territories of Devon and Lancashire were strongholds against the encroaching Irish powers, stopping the Gael from traveling further inland or northward. The threat of an Adventus Scottorum kept the western kings awake at night. The Severn Sea (modern Bristol Channel) was the stage for major Irish settlement into Devon. Linguistic and historical evidence shows that most of the Britons who fled to Brittany originated in Devon, contrary to Gildas' accounts of Central and Eastern Wales. The traditional narrative of Saxon invaders forcing the Britons of the Welsh Marches across the sea can't be true. The Armorican migration was occurring in the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries, but Saxon power hadn't reached Wales until the after the Battle of Mount Badon c. 500. Yet the Roman Armoricans had begun allying with and giving land to immigrant Bretons in 409 AD, to bolster their numbers against a continental Saxon scare. The eastern Anglo-Saxons could not have been the cause of the Breton migration, but the western Irish were. The Irish settlements and raids on the Cornish coast of the Severn Sea depopulated the area of its inhabitants. When the Anglo-Saxons reached the area, there were no Celts to retain place names, hence the strange preponderance of English toponymy in Devon.

North Wales and Cumbria (Rheged) formed twin kingdoms to repel Irish and Saxon raids. The south called Deheubarth meaning "the Right Hand", and the north called Gwyr y Gogledd meaning "the Left Hand." These brother peoples often relied heavily on each other for defense.

The Irish settlement of Argyll and the surrounding Isles left a much more distinct genetic and cultural mark. The raiders into Argyll and Galloway established the kingdom of Dál Riata, with its power center at the modern ruins of Dunolly Castle at Oban, and it's monastery at Iona. Before the invasions into Argyll in the 5th century, all of Alba was ruled by Picts and Pictish families. In the East, Picts ruled until the 9th century. The "Picts" (which is a Latin name) likely called themselves Cruithni, and spoke a maybe-not-Indo-European tongue, though it had much in common with Brythonic. The conquest of Pictland began when King Fergus Mór and his two brothers led a fleet of 150 men to conquer a number of Western Scottish Isles. They set up their clifftop fortress at the Rock of Dunadd, and expanded eastward from there. The next great King was Aedán Mac Gabráin, who went out to conquer the Orkneys, Hebrides, and all of mainland Scotland as far as Perthshire. These maps don't really show it, but Aedán won a battle in the Orkneys against a Pictish King in 580 AD and won. Dál Riata was powerful. A few generation after the death of Aedán, the Dál Riatic Kingdom was starting to conquer or merge with the Eastern Pictish kingdoms to form the modern kingdom of Scotland. Aedán's immediate successor, Eochaid Buide, was already called "Rex Pictorum.” Irish Gaelic (which would morph into Scots Gaelic) was the language of the royal courts in Pictland, and eventually trickled down to the lower classes, as languages usually do. Folklore also spread from Ireland into Pictland; Scottish folklore today is from the same root as Irish. And although the Ulster Irish kings left a large genetic mark on the western highlands and Galloway, the main expansion of the Irish was political, linguistic, and cultural, adopted by the Picts or Britons from above.

Infighting between the Ulaid dynasty within Ulster, along with later Viking maritime power, eventually severed the Scottish Gaels from the Irish Gaels, and Dál Riata was free to focus its attention on uniting Scotland against Vikings and Bernicians. And for some reason, the Irish raiders never had much interest in Rheged. It was left mostly untouched, even in the early days. Though today this area has a strange preponderance of Scandinavian place names instead of Saxon ones. This is because in 902, the Irish Kings repelled the Vikings from Dublin, who then migrated across the sea into Cunbria and Rheged. So there was no difficulty in physically going there, but for some reason the Irish didn't.

[deadmomjokes]

Nothing gives you a big head like learning you’re descended from the legendary founder of Scotland, Fergus Mór, Boadicea herself, about five of the historically listed Pictish Kings, the irl Montague family, Hrolf Ganger aka Rollo the Walker aka the first Duke of Normandy aka the ancestor of William the Conqueror, Eleanor of Aquitaine, an actual Catholic saint, Philip VI of France, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and four, yes four, guys named Ranulf.

[incorrect-ulster-cycle]

How tall was cu?

smol

*** ETA wow the markdown of this post is fucked on mobile, really sorry about that, will try and fix now but idk if it'll screw it up on desktop if I do, argh. here's a better version of the post that's definitely formatted right. it seems impossible to write long posts that are equally readable on mobile and desktop! ***

Okay, actually, there’s not a lot of consistency about this. He’s a literal child in quite a few stories, so definitely small in those, but most of them are more interested in describing his hair than his size. Here are all the actual quotes I found regarding his size from the two main recensions of the Táin. It doesn’t look like he’s described much in other texts, hence the focus on TBC.

[TBC-I: Táin Bó Cúailnge Recension 1, ed and trans Cecile O’Rahilly; TBC-II: Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster, ed and trans and Cecile O’Rahilly.]

Starting with TBC-II because it has the most to say about his size:

Fergus talking about Cú Chulainn:

‘the little lad, my fosterson and the fosterson of Conchobor. Cú Chulainn na Cerdda, the Hound of Culann the Smith he is called’.

Medb compares Cú Chulainn to an ‘ingen’, or adolescent girl; she’s talking about his age, but she could easily have disparaged his youth while comparing him to the boy-troop or something, so I read the phrasing as meant to imply small size and/or failure to adequately perform masculinity (the two can be related):

‘Is áes ingini macdacht ármthir leis’ (he’s only the age of a big girl - Carson’s translation)

Of course, it’s unclear whether she’s just trash-talking him. In the context of the following quotes, though, I’d suggest probably not:

Cú Chulainn to Etarcomol:

‘But if only you knew it, the little creature you are looking at, namely, myself, is wrathful.’

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, PEEPS. Cú Chulainn is just a litel creacher… he cannot help this…

Etarcomol about Cú Chulainn:

‘I swear by the gods whom I worship never to retreat until I carry off as a trophy the head of yon little deer, Cú Chulainn’

Cúr talking about Cú Chulainn:

‘Ye think little of our valour, ye think it wonderful, when ye match me with a tender stripling such as he’

Lóch about Cu Chulainn:

‘I shall not go on such an errand for I deem it no honour to attack a youthful, beardless stripling’

(Stripling may just be a comment on his youth rather than size, but carries implications of being small)

Láeg repeatedly calls him ‘Little Cú’, ‘little Hound’ etc, but that could be ironic (alternatively, Láeg is elsewhere described as being quite tall, so maybe most people are ‘little’ to him). See also: ‘distorted little sprite’.

Moving to TBC-I:

Fedelm about Cú Chulainn:

‘I see a tall man in the plain who gives battle to the host.’

This line isn’t in her prophecy in TBC-II, where she describes him only as a ‘fair man’ and a ‘young lad’, and the Irish actually just says ‘fer mór’ which could as easily be read as ‘great man’ or ‘famous man’, and certainly doesn’t carry unambiguous height implications.

It’s the only description I can find of him as being tall and it doesn’t seem to hold up to much scrutiny.

He is briefly described as ‘broad' at the very end of the text, but he’s wearing twenty-four shirts at the time, which I think would make anybody broad. The Irish adjective in question is ‘cetherlethan’ which seems fairly ambiguous (it looks like it means ‘four-sided’?) and might just mean ‘capacious’, though what that’s meant to mean in context is unclear – probably why O’Rahilly went for ‘broad’.

Alternatively, Cú Chulainn is square.

Probably those twenty-four shirts that did it.

Láeg calls him ‘little Cú’ again, though slightly less often?

Fer Diad’s charioteer argues that ‘Cú Chulainn is no small hidden trifle’, mostly because Fer Diad was implying he might have failed to spot Cú Chulainn – implication being, ‘Look, he’s not so small I wouldn’t be able to see him,’ but might suggest not reading him as tiny.

On the whole, though, fewer descriptions of his size in the first recension.

So yeah, he’s not described in terms of size very often, but he definitely seems implied to be small based on how often others describe him as a ‘boy’, a ‘youth’, a ‘beardless boy’, a ‘little lamb’, and occasionally there are genuine suggestions of small size, including from Cú Chulainn himself (who probably wouldn’t trash-talk himself).

But while composing this answer I did discover that R1 of the Táin apparently de-emphasises this, so that’s fun. I learned me a thing. Amazing what putting too much effort into Tumblr asks can do for your academic research.

Texts other than the Táin, including ones where he seems to be an actual adult rather than a tiny rage teen:

Mesca Ulad describes him as a

‘little black-browed man, greatly resplendent’

(translation by… Hennessy, I think, but this online edition is appallingly badly formatted as it clearly can’t cope with the Gaelchló and it’s all been rendered incomprehensible; in his introduction the translator seems concerned about this description and tries to explain away why they’d suggest Cú Chulainn is ‘of small stature’.)

The only other text I can find from a cursory search that involves actual physical description of him is Tochmarc Emire, and it doesn’t say how tall he is, just calls him a “dark, sad man”, but does juxtapose this with a description of Láeg as “long-sided” (i.e. tall), so you feel like if he was also tall they’d have mentioned it.

One other consideration is the ríastrad, which makes him bigger in his distortion by stretching him to inhuman size. E.g. in Fled Bricrenn:

'he strained himself till a warrior’s foot could find room between each pair of ribs'

(Henderson’s translation)

In the main description of him in Fled Bricrenn, it also describes him as a ‘sad, melancholy man’ and juxtaposes him with the ‘very slender, tall’ Láeg, evidently drawing on the same ideas as Tochmarc Emire.

tl;dr Cú Chulainn is (probably) smol except arguably during the ríastrad, and I spent way too long pulling out quotes to back that up

[finnlongman]

Finn Reads "The Hound of Ulster" - Conclusions

Okay, I finished rereading The Hound of Ulster now, so you're free of my liveblogging. Before I go, some thoughts:

On the whole, I liked it a lot. I think it would be very enjoyable to read aloud, because stylistically it has that oral rhythm.

Rosemary Sutcliff does make a few weird choices, some of which are definitely not supported by the texts and others I'd have to research to be sure of. E.g. the conception story she uses is just... weird, and why is Láeg ginger?

It's possible Láeg has red hair in some texts, but I'm pretty sure he's dark-haired in the Táin, because I looked it up.

However, I love Láeg. I love that he got to play a significant role in this.

I actually started shipping Cú Chulainn/Láeg somewhat which is wild.

Some of her narrative choices were very reasonable though, e.g. using the later version of Longes mac nUislenn that actually has Cú Chulainn in it.

Though I'm sad that no one acknowledges the fact that Cú Chulainn and Naoise supposedly trained together under Scáthach (according to Tochmarc Émire and Oileamhain Con Culainn). We've been deprived of their adventures together.

Cú Chulainn is repeatedly described as small, slight, and at one point, even as "bird-boned". GOOD. Team small Cú forever.

Literally every time Fer Diad is mentioned it gets gayer.

Everything about their first meeting is just ridiculously adorable and also made me cry because FORESHADOWING.

She somehow made bits of Comrac Fir Diad actually gayer than the original? E.g. they wash/tend each other's wounds, rather than being treated by healers.

Having said that... I expected to cry more at that scene and I didn't. Maybe I am just too used to it. Maybe because the way I wrote it in TRWTH was so much worse and I'm desensitised now.

And the mourning verses should have been longer.

But Láeg taking care of Cú Chulainn afterwards? GOOD.

Conall Cernach is a weirdo and I can see why @ad-ciu is so invested in him. A highlight was seeing the events of Togail Bruidne Da Derga alluded to, first right after they've happened, and later when Bricriu is throwing shade at Conall for not being able to save Conaire Mór.

Sutcliff is obviously aiming to make Cú Chulainn more likeable than the original texts do (which, frankly, is a pretty low bar). Mostly, I think she succeeds, without robbing him of too much of his strangeness and violence.

I got intensely emotional about Láeg's death. That one I am not overly familiar with, having written neither a dissertation not a novel about it, so... it got me. My son :'(

Pretty sure Emer's mourning verses hinted at Láeg/Emer/Cú Chulainn being a thing and honestly, headcanon accepted. They would roast him mercilessly. It would be hilarious. I'm here for it. Once I've stopped crying about the fact that everyone is dead.

Finally... I wish she didn't Anglicise the names, even though she acknowledges that in the foreword and makes it clear it's a conscious decision. "Lugy" is bad. "Quelgney" is extremely cursed. And I cannot take "Fergus mac Roy" seriously.

Anyway. I'm done.

Conclusions: The Hound of Ulster is very enjoyable on some levels and by far not the most inaccurate of retellings out there. It's definitely not the best place to start if you're hoping to learn more about the stories, though - I think it would be quite misleading in places. You'd be better off reading the original.

BUT if I ever find myself in an educational/family setting in which I'm reading stories to children... I could see myself reading bits of this. It's got that oral storytelling style to it.

Also, according to Goodreads I last read this in December 2017. You'd think, if it's that recent, that I'd remember doing so. You would be wrong.

EDIT: Turns out Goodreads was lying and is now saying I read it in the summer of 2015. That makes a lot more sense and explains why I didn’t remember the details. I felt sure that couldn’t be right.

[kaijuno]

I couldn’t fucking believe it but after looking through other genealogical accounts and archives it seems everything is correct. My 51st great grandfather was Fergus Mór, founder of Scotland and the first royal Scottish family.

[fountainpenguin]

Wanted to actually outline the hierarchy system in my FOP fanfics rather than juggling it all in my head. Those on the same line are more or less considered to be of equal rank. Fuzzy gray areas may apply. Details under the cut.

Fairy Elder - Only mentioned in the Season 8 episode “Timmy’s Secret Wish”, although no details were given about her apart from the fact that she “had [the Hocus Poconos] totally redone”, and turned the Giant French Doors of Time into the Window of Time. She wears yellow robes. She appeared in my one-shot, “Minion”, and will later appear in Origin of the Pixies.

Wise Ancients - Extremely powerful nature spirits. Some of these would be Mother Nature (“Balance of Flour”), Father Time (“Timmy’s Secret Wish”), The Darkness (“Wishology”), the Grim Reaper (“Man’s Worst Friend”), and the Cycling Hen (“Chicken Poofs”). The spirit bears are also considered Wise Ancients. They were most notably discussed in “This Is Halloween”.

Zodiac spirits - The seven nature spirits who represent the seven elements on the Fairy zodiac. I discussed them each in detail HERE. The days of the week are named after them. They were first mentioned during Sanderson’s shrine song in “Grand Father” and are frequently mentioned in Frayed Knots.

Supreme Fairy Council - Four Fairies and three Anti-Fairies who are elected to sit on either the Fairy Council or Anti-Fairy Council. The seven are collectively referred to as the Supreme Fairy Council. Each member is called a Robe, and wears a robe in the color of the region (political state) they represent. I named and briefly discussed them HERE.

Eros family - Cupid’s bloodline. Always cherubs, always triplets, and allegedly tasked by the gods to maintain Fairy genealogies and prevent any species in the universe from truly going extinct. I discussed their social status HERE. In Origin, H.P. was captured by the Eroses for study for several chapters starting in “The Chapter With Nine Snakes In It”.

Keeper of Da Rules - Jorgen’s position, obviously. The Keeper of Da Rules maintains order in the cloudlands by ensuring Da Rules are followed. Following the War of the Angels (“Balance of Flour”), the Keeper of Da Rules also became ambassador for the common fairy subspecies. H.P. and Sanderson encountered Adelinda von Strangle, the former Keeper of Da Rules, in “Minion”.

Lower-ranked nature spirits - The children and grandchildren of the zodiac spirits. Some are more powerful than others. Some notable ones include Twis and Sunnie’s daughter, the winter goddess Beira (Wikipedia / Fanfic mention), and Sunnie’s grandson, Fergus Mór mac Eirc (Wikipedia / Fanfic mention).

Alien ambassadors - Aliens who represent other worlds, including entire planets. Venus Eros hosted several alien ambassadors during “Snowflake”. Technically speaking, Jimmy Neutron is also recognized as one of these due to the events of “Power Hour”.

High Count and High Countess - Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda’s positions. Politically, they are complete legal equals, and have the authority to override each other’s orders. In practice, Anti-Cosmo is more commanding, and is widely considered to be ranked above Anti-Wanda (especially by Fairies). While the titles imply separate male and female positions, they can be filled by a same-sex pair. Although equals from a political standpoint, the High Count is still considered head of the household, mirroring the creche father rank in actual bat colonies.

Head Pixie - Obviously, the rank from the show. The title is often abbreviated H.P. Only the reigning Head Pixie has the authority to make drastic changes to the Pixie social structure, and he rules until his death. Following his death, he is succeeded by the Vice President of Pixies Inc. H.P. set the social structure precedent in “Playing With the Big Kids”.

Fairy subspecies ambassadors - Ambassadors of various races under the Fairy umbrella who attend Council meetings. Some are elected, while others are kings and queens born and raised in royal families.

First General - The follower drake of the High Count- AKA, a high-ranking male Anti-Fairy who was allowed to stay in the Blue Castle colony upon coming of age instead of being run off, or choosing to leave and join a bachelor colony. As the High Count’s follower drake, the First General organizes and oversees troops in war. In times of peace, he also performs ceremonies, and breaks gridlock arguments among the camarilla. This position is always filled by a male.

Temple acolytes - High-ranking Anti-Fairies seemingly akin to shamans who reside in and care for the Zodiac Temples. Considered experts in matters of architecture and feng shui. They spend decades studying such things in Zodiac Temples before they can design monuments to the nature spirits or offer their designing services to clients. They’re so renowned for their skill that hopeful Fairy architects will train beneath them instead of attending the Academy.

Head Anti-Pixie - Leader of the anti-pixie race. Generally given the cold shoulder and not taken seriously considering that anti-pixies are stereotyped as constantly-drunk party-loving lunatics. Holds very little political power.

Vice President of Pixies Inc. - The pixie intended to be the Head Pixie’s successor; until then, he helps the Head however he is instructed to. He’s also a forager who keeps the grocery stores stocked, and he takes on a lot of child-rearing duties. Only pixie gynes are intended to hold this rank, although if no gyne pixies can be found, a drone can take up the position instead. This is Longwood’s current rank, much to Sanderson’s chagrin.

Chief Pixie of PixieCo - The gyne who oversees pixies in the Hawthorn Haven cloudland colony. The title is also abbreviated C.P. of PixieCo; as there are no other Chief Pixies at this time, the title “Chief Pixie” can be used without the PixieCo clarification. The C.P. is still subject to the Head, like a manager to a larger company. We’ll hear about this position for the first time in the upcoming “The Other One” Prompt.

Pixie ambassador - H.P. became Pixie ambassador to the Supreme Fairy Council by default. However, he can elect to pass the position to someone else if he wants to. He attended his first Council meeting in “Cotton Candy Oatmeal”.

Keepers [of Da Rules] - Not to be confused with the singular position. These would be the folks dressed in light blue uniforms whom we saw assisting Jorgen in “Fairly Odd Baby”. They’re essentially the Fairy World police force, and are trained to organize as militia if necessary.

Camarilla court - Six Anti-Fairies selected by the High Count and six selected by the High Countess who weigh in on matters of political and social importance. While the High Count and High Countess technically hold seats on the camarilla too, the name “camarilla” is colloquially used to encompass everyone else. In total, there are two people on the camarilla court representing each of the seven elements on the Fairy zodiac. Most of the Anti-Fairies seated around the dining table in “Fairly Odd Baby” are on the camarilla. I identified them HERE.

Heir to the High Seat / “High heir” - A child of either the High Count or Countess (sometimes both) born with the “iris virus”- colorful eyes instead of dull red. A potential heir born without the iris virus would automatically be rejected as the heir for not carrying “the sacred blessing of the nature spirits”. Foop is the heir to the High Count seat in present day, although his title could be revoked if he is deemed unsuitable before his coronation. In times of desperation when no legitimate heir can be produced, another color-eyed child of nobility (most likely an extended family member) could be adopted into the bloodline instead. As the iris virus is actually an STD, it can be transmitted to intimate partners.

H.P.’s alpha retinue drone - A gyne’s primary drone; the drone who oversees the other drones, and can assist his gyne in distributing his pheromones through the ranks. This is Sanderson’s current position. He was given this title in “Cotton Candy Oatmeal”, and he discussed it more in “Grooming”. An alpha retinue drone ~technically~ has the same rights as a service animal regarding where he can and can’t go.

Vice President of PixieCo - Simply, the pixie who succeeds the Chief Pixie of PixieCo, and assists him until then. Like the Vice President of Pixies Inc., the V.P. of PixieCo should be a gyne. Again, we’ll be introduced to this position in “The Other One”.

Other von Strangle family members - Nana Boom-Boom. Invisible Leonard. People we saw in “Cosmo Rules”. You know what I mean.

Creche fathers of other colonies - While there are some exceptions, colonies of Anti-Fairies are naturally patriarchal; the creche father is the highest-ranking male in the colony. While leadership skills are valued, his main role consists of caring for the young pups in the colony. If you’re a lower rank than they are, it’s polite to greet them with an honorary rather than expecting them to greet you. It’s worth noting that a creche is a group of baby bats.

Heir’s betrothed - The intended mate to the “High heir”, and therefore the assumed new High Count or Countess. This person doesn’t hold real legal authority, but is treated with respect. As it stands right now, Anti-Coriander seems to hold this position unofficially; while not officially betrothed to Foop, she is certainly the girl his parents have urged him to woo.

Chief Sunchosen - A self-proclaimed, unofficial title currently held by Dame Artemis Cairo. The intention is that one day, this position will be for Refracts what the High Count and Countess are for Anti-Fairies. There’s still a long way to go. Dame Artemis first appeared in “Think Positive”.

C.P.’s alpha retinue drone - Same as H.P.’s alpha retinue drone, but he belongs to the Chief Pixie of PixieCo.

Other celebrities - The Tooth Fairy, famous actors like Blonda, TV show hosts like Billy Crystal Ball, successful writers, and so on.

Mates of camarilla members - Nobles simply as a result of who they marry. Obviously, they lose this title if their mate is removed from the camarilla. Generally, camarilla mates will contract the iris virus from their mate.

Other irises - Other carriers of the iris virus. Generally nobles and former nobles who are treated with a hint more respect than commoners. This is actually sort of a fuzzy area; prostitutes selling the iris virus are an actual problem that causes headaches for the higher-ups.

Successful farmers - If you lived in a magical cloud world with limited ability to farm nutritious food, you would value farmers who provided you with high-quality crops too.

Most Refracted - An angelic, pious race of gold and white bird-based people, quite opposite of the stereotype of the evil blue and black Anti-Fairy. The Refracted manage many of the Daoist shrines and ceremonies, and are generally well-liked even though they can be pompous and annoying.

Gynes - Large, freckled Fairies - always male - who ate a lot of jelly as children. In actual insect colonies, gynes are the “princesses” who take over from the queen, often by killing her in a battle to the death. Likewise, Fairy gynes are naturally very territorial and often fight each other. Gynes with more dominant pheromones have the ability to suppress the reproductive systems of subordinate gynes. Gynes with many dark freckles are considered more attractive than those with few. The actual rank of a gyne varies in regard to other social status factors, but people generally give them respect.

Upper-class Fairy citizens - High-ranking people who aren’t considered celebrities, per se. The Whimsifinado family would fall into this category. I suppose the Fairywinkles would too.

Kids of camarilla members and their mates - Children of nobility, often considered nobles themselves. They’re likely to carry the iris virus.

Average Fairy citizens - Self-explanatory. Regular, non-celebrity folk. Fairy culture is still largely dominated by their caste system / social ladder, although they’re starting to move away from it in present day. (Ladder Part 1 / Part 2)

Anti-Fairy commoners - Average Anti-Fairies who aren’t considered nobility; as a result, they’re highly unlikely to carry the iris virus, and probably have red eyes. Those who live in colonies are considered more socially acceptable than rogues. Many males travel in bachelor colonies during their adolescent years.

Tourists (Aliens) - Cloudland foreigners. Aliens don’t typically settle in the cloudlands since there’s really nothing to do there if you’re not magical, and the buildings tend to be very small. Several tourists were seen in “Think Positive”.

Genies - Generally looked down upon; profiled as dirty, manipulative trouble-makers who enjoy laughing at the expense of others. Technically, it’s difficult to officially rank them since there just aren’t very many in the first place, let alone freely wandering the cloudlands.

Drones - Stereotyped as natural-born servants, always male, and born only if their father is either a gyne or a drone. Despite the name “drone”, their natural behaviors are most similar to those of worker bees. They’re attracted to gyne pheromones, so gynes tend to form retinues of drones who take pride in serving him. A drone will be born sterile approximately 75% of the time. Pixie drones, being infected with Wolbachia pipientis, are an exception to this rule.

Will o’ the wisps - Stereotyped as gorgeous temptresses akin to sirens who seduce males and keep harems. Universally, they fear floods and come out of their underground tunnels when it rains. Goldie Goldenglow is a wisp.

Anti-will o’ the wisps - Stereotyped as prostitutes (“Mistresses” in Anti-Fairy World) and generally looked down upon for having insect wings instead of bat ones; also known as mothdames. Foop’s friend Anti-Marigold is an anti-wisp.

Finfolk - Very similar to will o’ the wisps, although they live underwater. They capture potential spouses from land and drag them underwater, where they’re often treated like servants. That’s the stereotype, anyway. Sort of like reverse selkies.

Redcaps - Stereotyped as psychotic hillbillies. They’re looked down upon because they need to coat their hats in blood regularly in order to survive, or they’ll die. Kind of like vampires. They have five eyes and are immune to all poisons and venoms, and are just generally considered really creepy.

Brownies - Highly shunned for their venomous saliva. Generally considered meek servants without much brain power; to call someone a brownie-kisser implies that they’re so incapable of wooing anyone that they took advantage of a poor, dumb, innocent creature instead. However, brownies aren’t inherently less intelligent than other Fairies- they just keep ending up in disadvantaged situations. Still not the type of person you’d want your child to marry, considering their deadly kisses and all.

... That is that. Thanks for playing!

[mytwisteddaheadcanon]

Name Meanings Origins/Awakening

Elissa - In Greek from the Hebrew Elisheba, meaning either oath of God, or God is satisfaction

Alistair - Scottish Gaelic from the Greek meaning defender of man

Morrigan - Derived from Irish Mór Ríoghain meaning “great queen”. In Irish myth she was a goddess of war and death who often took the form of a crow.

Leliana - English variant of the name Liliana; Spanish variant of the name Eliana. Meaning Lily flower; My God is an oath (English); The sun (Spanish)

Wynne- In Gaelic wind

Connor - In Irish Strong willed or wise 'Hound-lover.’ Also from the Irish 'Coachuhhar’, meaning high desire

Anora - In Hebrew grace

Isolde - In Welsh beautiful. fair.

Anders - In Greek the name Ander means “man, warrior; lion man”

Marjolaine - in French for Marjoram a minty herb. Marjolaine is also a type of cake that combines almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream.

Nathaniel - derived from the Greek form of the Hebrew (Netan'el), meaning "God has given".

Velanna – Variation of Vel Anna of Indian origin and generally means Lord Murugan. Lord Murugan is the Hindu God of War

Justice - In Latin just; upright; righteous. Form of New Testament Biblical name Justus.

Eamon - In Irish guardian.

Mhairi -Scottish female given name, ultimately derived from the name Mary

Wade - In English ford (as in river crossing); 'Advancer'

Herren - German: byname for someone in the service of a lord and his family, from a genitive plural form of Middle High German her 'nobleman', 'lord'

Sigrun - Derived from the Old Norse elements sigr "victory" and rún "secret". This was the name of a Valkyrie in Norse legend.

Rendon - Spanish (Rendón): unexplained; possibly connected with the adverb (de) rendón 'bold', 'daring', old variant of Spanish rondón

Bryce - In Celtic swift

Eleanor - Greek for "bright, shining one." English version of the Provençal name Alienor.

Fergus - derives from the Proto-Celtic elements *wiros ("man") and *gustus ("vigour", "force", or "choice").

Oren - It is of Hebrew, Irish and Gaelic origin, and the meaning of Oren is "pine tree; fair, pale"

Oriana - In Latin to rise; sunrise; dawn; golden.

Duncan- Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Donnchadh meaning "brown warrior", derived from Gaelic donn "brown" and cath "warrior".

[afishtrap]

The literature that takes these women as its subject consistently ascribes agency to their actions, depicts them with a will to participate in (or orchestrate) their movements. This, I think, is an instance of what Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe has called “phantom agency.” In her discussion of Gunhild, a silent abducted abbess from the late eleventh century,5 O’Brien O’Keeffe cites Anselm of Canterbury, who wrote two letters to Gunhild after her abduction by Count Alan Rufus, in order to present “Gunhild to herself as a woman who has chosen an inappropriate love, having abandoned her true spouse, Christ, for a mortal lover.”6 O’Brien O’Keeffe argues that this constitutes a “‘phantom agency,’ an agency that has only a rhetorical existence and functions solely to indict her for collusion in her own rape.”7 The writers of the texts which feature Derbforgaill and the three Gormlaiths as characters attempt something similar: while they argue that the women have been complicit in their abductions, this is the authors’ own fictional construct, and one designed not simply to blame the women for collusion in these movements, but also to ascribe responsibility for actions that have “national” consequences. This article is an attempt to separate the literary representations of constructed female characters from the historical reality of the four women. As part of that historical reality, I further propose that Derbforgaill and the three Gormlaiths were used as political hostages, thus making the “phantom agency” ascribed to them in literary texts even more spectral.

Lahney Preston-Matto, “Queens as Political Hostages in Pre-Norman Ireland: Derbforgaill and the Three Gormlaiths”, The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 109, No. 2 (April 2010), pp. 141-161.

Generally, hostages were male, but there are several examples of females being used as political hostages in the medieval period. In the early ninth century, Kosto mentions that the mother of Andrew, Duke of Naples, was used as a hostage.9 In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, there are more examples of women and girls being used as hostages. During the first Crusade, King Coloman of Hungary allowed the Crusaders to cross his territory only if he had as hostage Baldwin of Boulogne, along with his wife and family.10 Count Joscelin II of Edessa handed over his daughter Isabella to the Emperor John II Comnenus in 1142; Balduk was killed by Baldwin of Edessa in 1190 when he delayed in handing over his wife and children as hostages; and King Baldwin of Jerusalem handed over his four-year-old daughter Iveta as a hostage in exchange for his own ransom from captivity.11 Closer to Ireland, John Gillingham notes that Henry II castrated and/or mutilated both the sons and daughters of Welsh princes as political hostages in 1165.12 And there is the famous case of Nest, the Welsh princess who was abducted from her husband Gerald Fitzwalter by Owain ap Cadwgan and held by him in the early twelfth century.13

In Ireland itself, only one female political hostage is mentioned explicitly in the annals: in 1165, the daughter of Eochaid Mac Dunnshléibhe was given as a hostage, along with a son of every chieftain in Ulster, to Muircertach Mac Lochlainn, an aspirant to and sometime high-king with opposition of Ireland.14 But Anthony Candon has recently argued that in the eleventh century, Mór, wife of Conchobar Ua Mael Sechlainn, king of Mide (Meath), was also used as a political hostage in Conchobar’s ongoing contention with Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, the king of Laigin. Candon argues that Mór was being held as a hostage for Diarmait mac Máel na mBó by Gilla Pátraic Mac Donnchada, king of Osraige, and that when Conchobar Ua Mael Sechlainn retook his wife in 1053, this was in violation of Mide’s fealty to Laigin.15

In early Ireland, hostages were mainly used by Irish kings as markers of their status and to reinforce the hierarchical nature of the various kingships in Ireland: for example, the high king of Ireland would take the hostages of the king of Mide to ensure Mide’s continuing submission to him. If the king of Mide rebelled against or otherwise broke any contract with the high king, the high king could enforce a penalty. Fergus Kelly claims that this penalty included killing, blinding, or ransoming the hostages in question. The annals do show evidence of this, but the entries referencing these punishments are fairly late, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.16 Still, regardless of the severity of the penalties, the taking of hostages was “a means of asserting political power” from the ninth to the eleventh centuries (and perhaps later).17 In essence, a hostage was a physical symbol of political subordination, held by the subordinator. One law text, as Robin Chapman Stacey remarks, “equates the taking of hostages with the ability to claim royal rank: Ni rig laisna biad geill i nglaisib. [. . .] He is no king who does not have hostages in fetters.”18 The Irish law text on hostages, De Gnímaib Gíall, is fragmentary, but the parts still extant do not specify that hostages must be male, and therefore do not rule out women being used as hostages.

In the annals, hostages are referenced using two main terms: aitiri (singular aitire) or gíall (singular géill). For many years, scholars did not make a distinction between these two terms. The texts discussing hostages are fragmentary and remain obscure; further, the distinction between the two terms seems to have collapsed by the eleventh century or so, meaning that many of the annalists referencing hostages after the eleventh century (and possibly before) may not have been particular about which term they used. Robin Chapman Stacey, however, has argued that these two terms had distinctive semantic values before the eleventh century and that the aitire and the géill would have been used to enforce different kinds of contracts between kings and their over-kings. The aitire, she argues, was a high-status member of the community who would have been associated with a kind of contract called a cairde, a compact that existed between two kings or two túatha which involved no loss of status to either party. “[T]he aitire developed out of a need for a hostage-surety who could stand ‘between’ tribes or kindreds of relatively equal status—who could, in other words, guarantee the terms of relationships in which political subordination was not to be implied.”19 On the other hand, the géill implied a loss of political status; gíall were more often associated with contracts known as cána, which could be statutes on the local or inter-túath level, or they could be a type of tribute owed by one túath and its king to another. As Stacey argues, “the obligations for which the gíall stood surety were those associated with subordinating political relationships that were conceptualized, both on the domestic (aicillne) and intertribal level, as forms of base clientship, and that therefore entailed a certain loss of independent status for the client or client-tribe involved.”20 That loss of independent status could be made manifest by shackles: gíall could be held in chains, but this was not acceptable for aitiri.21

Stacey goes on to argue that since so many Irish kings lost their independence during the ninth to the twelfth centuries and were encompassed within larger kingdoms, it is hardly surprising that the distinction between gíall and aitiri disappeared.22 The disappearance of a people’s free status should mean an increase in the exchange of gíall rather than aitiri, although the annalists sometimes seem to use the terms interchangeably. But if gíall are indeed representative of a loss of independent status, then using women as gíall can be seen as an overdetermined literalization of a political metaphor. In the same way that females were legally dependent upon males, “defined as ‘legally incompetent, senseless’ (báeth, éconn),”23 and therefore domestically dependent, so were the gíall representative of political dependence.

[...]

The second Gormlaith has a better-developed literary character than the first Gormlaith; historically, she was the daughter of high king Flann Sinna mac Máelsechnaill, who reigned from 879–916. She was certainly married twice—to Cerball mac Muirecáin of Laigin and Niall Glúndub, high king of Ireland—but those marriages may have been preceded by another, to Cormac mac Cuilennáin, the king-bishop of Cashel, who supposedly sent her back to her father because he chose the Church over her.29 With the assistance of Cerball, Flann Sinna then attacked Cormac in 908 and defeated and killed him at the Battle of Belach Mugna.30 According to the Book of Leinster, Cerball took great delight in reliving the defeat of Cormac to Gormlaith, his current and Cormac’s former wife, upon which she uttered a mild reproof. Cerball’s response was to kick her to the ground. She left Cerball and went to her father’s house, but Flann Sinna returned her. At this, another king, Niall Glúndub, son of Áed Findliath, gathered an entourage to remove her, an action negated because she initiated divorce proceedings. Sometime after her divorce, she married Niall Glúndub, who went on to become high king.31

As opposed to the first Gormlaith, who is referenced only in annals and the Banshenchas, a text that takes as its focus the famous noblewomen of Ireland and their illustrious progeny, the second Gormlaith was the subject and potential source of contemporary and later literature. The second Gormlaith appears as a character in the Book of Leinster (twice), as mentioned above, and several poems collected in Osborn Bergin’s Early Bardic Poetry are attributed to her.32 Most of the literary texts that refer to her are dated to the twelfth century or later. Máire Ní Mhaonaigh has catalogued the many references to and by Gormlaith in the various texts, in order to shed light on how these references helped create a complex literary figure out of a historical woman.33 The literary character created is active, critical, and ethically-minded. She is also represented as a political thinker, one who understands the cascade of reactions that can follow one small action. While none of the literature mentions hostages, one poem attributed to Gormlaith depicts her as cognizant of the responsibilities due a family member held captive...

[...]

Thinking of Gormlaith as Cormac’s hostage instead of his wife offers an attractive and plausible solution to the many questions raised about the actuality of their liaison. It explains why she may have gone to him in the first place; here, Gormlaith may have embodied her father’s political authority in the same way that the first Gormlaith carried her husband’s authority with her when she was taken. Fundamentally, hostages are embodied promises, speech acts made physical. Gormlaith might represent her father’s brief submission to Cormac, which could then also explain her return to Flann Sinna; there needn’t have been any repudiation involved if the prescribed terms of her hostageship were met. This does not explain, though, why later interpreters desired Gormlaith to have some agency as shown in the characterizations of her as active figure. These interpreters wanted her to be responsible for her own actions, to have chosen her movements from Cerball back to her father or from Cerball to Niall Glúndub. But this is not in keeping with the status of the gíall. Since her movements mirror those of gíall exchanges so precisely, it is more likely that she had little choice about where she went. The “phantom agency” ascribed to her in the literary sources was mirrored in her lack of agency as a hostage.

[lilacs-in-space]

The more I learn about pre-colonial Irish poetry the more I realise we have always been a gigantic shower of perverts. Case in point: Is mór ní súigios lesrach banscáile!

Roughly translated, this means: A woman's thighs can absorb a lot!

In the tale "Aided Fergusa" found in "Silva Gadelica", Fergus falls in lust with Bébó, the queen of a very small race of Otherworld folk. The tale then relates the following:

Ocus in uair ro búi Fergus ic comriachtain ria tug lám ar mullach a cinn ocus ro fhiarfaig in rigan de cid imar chuir in lám ar a bathais. "Ingnam lium," arsé, "in ball ferrda ina bfuilit secht nduirn ocus gan innatsa acht trí duirn gan a dhul trét chenn sechtair. Ocus is uime sin do chuires mo lám ar do chenn." "Léig as alé, a Ferguis," ar sí. "Is mór ní súigios lesrach banscáile! "

And while Fergus was having sex with her he put a hand on the top of her head and the queen asked him why he put the hand on the crown of her head. "I'm amazed," he said, "my manly part being seven handwidths and you being only three handwidths that it doesn't go right out through your head. That's why I put my hand on your head." "Well, stop it, Fergus," she said. "A woman's loins can absorb a lot!"

http://www.sengoidelc.com/node/241

[akissatmidnight]

We received so much interest in our last clan history post, which you can read here, that we thought it was a good idea to do a second. This installment is made entirely of clans that you readers wanted to know more about! In fact, so many of our followers asked to learn more about their personal clans, a part 3 is currently in the works, so make sure to check back in!

Clan Armstrong

Clan Motto: Invictus Maneo- I Remain Unvanquished

Let’s learn some fun clan facts!

There hasn’t been an Armstrong chief since the clan was outlawed by the British in the 17th century, after decades of unrest between them.

Neil Armstrong took a piece of the Armstrong tartan up to him when he went to the moon!

The Armstrong clan was so wild with their raids and battles, it is said that in 1524 the Bishop of Glasgow cursed them. He said something like this…

“I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their eyes, their mouth, their nose, their tongue, their teeth, their neck, their shoulders, their breast, their heart, their stomach, their back, their belly, their arms, their legs, their hands, their feet, and each and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, before and behind…”

Lord John Grey’s full name is John William Bertrand Armstrong Grey!

Clan Fergusson

Clan Motto: Dulcius Ex Asperis- Sweeter After Difficulties

War Cry: Clann Fhearghuis gu brath!- Clan Fergusson goes on forever!

Here are some interesting things about this clan…

They are widely known as “The Sons of Fergus”.

They claim to be descended from Fergus Mór, the king of Dál Riata (an area that encompass parts of Scotland and Ireland. In turn, King Fergus claimed to be descended from King Arthur, the legendary British leader. So if you’re a Fergusson, there’s a chance you could be double royal!

There aren’t any Fergussons in Outlander, but here’s a wee Fergus to tide you over!

Clan Donnachiadh/Clan Robertson

Clan Motto: Virtutis Gloria Merces- Glory is the reward for valor

War Cry: Garg ‘nuair dhùisgear!- Fierce when roused!

hunting tartan

modern tartan

Let’s learn a few fun things about this clan…

One of the oldest clans, the Donnachiadhs took on the secondary name of Robertson when they were hearty supporters of Robert the Bruce, AKA King Robert I, in the 1300s.

This clan is in possession of the Clach na Bratach, a sacred quartz stone that is said to have been pulled from the ground by their King Duncan in the 1300s on the eve of a battle. They say it has healing powers and has been carried into battle by every chief since.

Clan Ross

Clan Motto: Spem suvvessus alit- Success nourishes hope

Here are a few things to know about this clan…

In 1689, a hundred Ross men were sent to spy on the Mackenzies at Castle Leod to ensure there wasn’t any Jacobite uprisings in the works.

Their traditional seat, Balnagowan Castle, is now owned by Mohammed Al-Fayed, former owner of the Harrod’s Department Store. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because his son Dodi was killed with Princess Diana in 1997. Thankfully, Al-Fayed is in the process of restoring it.

Shout out to Ross!

Clan Gordon

Clan Motto: Bydand- Steadfast

Clan War Cry: A Gordon! A Gordon!

dress tartan

traditional tartan

Here are a few facts about the Gordon clan:

They supported Robert the Bruce and William Wallace in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Clan Forbes were their bitter enemies and they spend decades killing each other. Like the Forbes once invited some Gordons to dine, only to murder them and then the Gordons turned right around and slaughtered a tower full of Forbes. It took two Acts of Parliament to get them to stop killing each other every other week.

then chief of Clan Gordon is always known as the “Cock o’ the North”.

And here’s Sir Fletcher Gordon, the governor of Wentworth Prison!

Clan MacNeil

Clan Motto: Cuaidh No Bas- Victory or Death

Macneil of Barra tartan

MacNeil of Collonsay tartan

Let’s learn about the MacNeil Clan!

They are said to be descendents of the Irish King Niall of the Nine Hostages, who lived in the 300s. In the legend of his birth, it’s said that his dad was such a d*ick, he forced Niall’s mom to do hard labor, hoping she would miscarry. When Niall was finally born, his mother abandoned him out of fear and he was brought up by a poet. He later returns to his rightful home and rescues his mom. When it comes time for his bio-dad to name his successor, he gives his sons, including Niall, different tasks. One was kissing a hideous monster. The other guys chickened out, but old Niall gave that nasty beast the time of her life and was rewarded by her turning into a beautiful maiden and giving him the fealty of the people for many generations.

There is also a large number of MacNeil’s of African descent, more so than any other clan name. It came from the Scotch-Irish servants who served with them or the MacNeil slave masters. While there is no data showing exactly how many, a DNA test could prove to almost any MacNeil, regardless of race, if they had come from the historic MacNeil clan.

The Grant Clan

Clan Motto: Craig Elachie- this was the name of the rallying point for the Grants. They would light signal fires at the bottom of Craig Elachie, also known as “The Rock of Alarm” to call the clan.

Clan War Cry: Stand fast, stand sure!

New tartan

old tartan

Here are some fun things about the Grant clan!

They most likely descended from Normans who came to Scotland with the British.

During the 1600s, the Grants hid a number of MacGregor outlaws from the British crown, resulting in fines and threats.

After the Battle of Culloden, eighty-four Grants were taken to Barbados and sold as slaves.

Clan Grant was affected little by the great Highland clearance that affected many other clans. This is because their chief during that time cultivated a town called Granton-on-Spey that provided enough work to sustain the clan.

Clan Stewart

Clan Motto: Virescit Vulnere Vistus- Courage Grows Strong at a Wound

The Stewarts originally came from Brittany, France, during the Norman conquest of England.

During the Wars of Independence, they were originally sided with the British, then quickly turned to support Robert the Bruce.

The Stewarts took the crown of Scotland when Walter Stewart married Robert the Bruce’s daughter, Marjorie. When Robert died, the crown passed to Water and Marjorie’s son, also named Robert. The Stewarts firmly held the crown until 1714.

There are 21 sub-clans of Stewarts.

Mary Queen of Scots and “Bonnie” Prince Charles Stuart descended from this line.

Here are some lovely Charlie gifs…

The MacDougall Clan

Clan Motto: Buaidh no bàs– Victory or Death

Let’s get a little historical up in here…

They got their name from their first chief Dougall, who descends from the royals of Norway. In fact, one of his sons, was given the title “King of the Isles” by the King of Norway in the 1200s.

The MacDougalls kept the vikings out of Scotland and even won the country the Hebrides from the Norse in the 1260s.

The Bruces and MacDougalls hated each other, which made things pretty awkward during the Scottish Wars for Independence, when they both supported William Wallace and independence from England. The MacDougalls kept things chill until Robert the Bruce was crowned king, then they went wild and ambushed him, defeating the Bruces in battle and taking some rather expensive jewelry for their troubles. But Robert was like, “nah, f*uck this,”and overtook the MacDougals three years later. Robert gave all their lands to the Campbells, who have always been loyal to him.

Clan Shaw

Clan Motto: Fide et Fortitudine- By Fidelity and Fortitude

War Cry:Na Bean Ris A Chat! Touch not the cat! (Because even the Scots know that cats can be as*holes)

Clan Chattan tartan

Green Shaw

Red Shaw (most common)

The history of how Clan Shaw came to be is fuzzy, and it seems to be as a result of a mixture of marriages, chiefs, and second sons wishing for power, but they’re greatly connected to the Macintosh clan.

They are a part of Chattan Confederation, a federation of twelve smaller clans, who often worked together. The Shaws were known for their strength and bravery in battle.

Mackintosh Clan

Clan Motto: Touch not the cat bot a glove-Touch not the cat without a glove (Scots and their cats…)

Clan War Cry: Loch Moigh- the name of a lake where the clan would rally

They are the chiefs of the Chattan Confederation.

They are descendents from Shaw MacDuff, making them the “cousins” of the Shaw Clan.

They were heavily involved in an ongoing feud with Clan Cameron that lasted 250 years.

The clan saved Prince Charlie during the Jacobite Rebellion. When she heard that the British were coming to get Charlie, Lady Macintosh rallied the men to hide along the road. When the British troops passed, the Macintosh men began shooting and calling for the Cameron and Donald men to advance. It was a buff, neither of those clans were there, but it worked and British retreated.

The Forbes Clan

Clan Motto: Grace, me guide

Clan War Cry: Lonach!- a mountain on their lands where they would rally

The name “Forbes” refers more to an area than a family name. The first record of Forbes referring to a person was in 1271.

The Forbes, who were Protestant, were really salty that the Gordons remained Catholic after the reformation. So, naturally, the Fobes killed a bunch of Gordons then the Gordons killed the Forbes…they stopped, eventually, but it took two Acts of Parliament.

Clan Bruce

Clan Motto: Fuimus- We Have Been

Ancient tartan

Modern tartan

Lets learn about the Bruce clan!

This clan came from the French de Brus in Normandy.

in 1219 Robert the Bruce married the wealthy Isobel of Huntingdon, the niece of King William the Lion, who has a king of Scotland. When King Edward I of England forced the King of Scotland, John, to abdicate, the Scots were left without a king. Robert, who was made the ‘Guardian of Scotland’ along with John Comyn after Willaim Wallace was executed was all, “hey, you know what Isobel? I should be king, not just guidian. I gotta ditch Comyn. He’s cramping my style!” So Robert stabbed him, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church, and crowned king. But the Bruce reign ended when Robert’s son David died without an Heir.

Robert the Bruce  was the real “Braveheart” and had his heart removed from from his body after he died, because he wanted his heart to go on a crusade, because who said adventure ends when you die? It was taken for a ride, but the holder died in battle and Robert’s heart was sent back to Scotland all willy nilly. It finally found a resting place in Melrose, Scotland.

A reconstruction of what Robert the Bruce looked like.

Are you a member of any of those clans? Didn’t see your clan? Let us know, because a third installment of Outlandish Clan History is in the works and we can add your family name to the list!

Look what contemporary romances Sarah is working on here and read about Kelsey’s Contemporary and Scottish historical romances here!

An Outlandish Clan History Part2 We received so much interest in our last clan history post, which you can read here…