The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

io6 THE HIGHLANDERS [parti
the aige of fourteen ziers, that he of the hliide wha wes nerrest,
beand worthie and capable, suld be elected to reign dureing
his lyffe, without prejudice of the richteous heretouris whan
they atteinit the parfite aige." From this passage we learn,
that fourteen was the ancient Highland period of majority,
and that if the lawful heir had not attained that age, then
the nearest relation succeeded for the period of his life, after
which it returned to the proper heir. This remarkable property
was also illustrated in the succession of the Maormors of Moray;
for although Gillcomgain had a son Lulach, he is succeeded
by Macbeth, the son of his uncle Finlay, and therefore his
nearest heir failing his own son, and after Macbeth's death
Lulach succeeded him.
Every instance of Highland succession which has hitherto
been thought to have proceeded from loose ideas on this subject,
will be found upon examination to accord with this system ;
and it is manifest that the law of Tanistry, although opposed
in a remarkable degree to the feudal notions of later days,
yet proceeds naturally from the principles of the patriarchal
constitution of society, and was in fact peculiarly adapted to
a people whose habits of warfare required at all times a competent
chief to lead them. But if the law of Tanistry was
opposed to the principles of the feudal system, still more so
was the law of Gavel, or the succession to property
Gavel. ...
among the Highlanders. The feudal law implied
the right of the eldest son not only to the superiority over
the rest of the family, but also to the whole of the property
itself, and the younger branches were driven to seek advancement
in war or in other courses of life. In the Highland.: it
was quite different, fcjr there the property of the clan was by
the law of Gavel divided in certain proportions among the
whole of the male branches of the family, while females were
altogether excluded fnjm succession either to chiefship
or to
property.
What the exact proportions were into which the property
was divided, it is impossible to ascertain, but it would appear
that the principal seat of the famil}', together with a certain
extent of property around it, was not included in the division
and always remained the propert}- of the chief of the clan for