The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

CHAP. VII] OF SCOTLAND 115
bailie, and as the feudal law required that there should be a
bailie for every barony, it soon ceased to be the peculiar office
of any particular branch of the clan. The Gaelic name, how-
ever, retained for the office of Tosheadorach, sufficiently indicates
that prior to the introduction of feudal customs it was the
this
peculiar privilege of the Tosheach, or oldest cadet ; and
is confirmed by every
notice of the ancient Gaelic maors or
seneschalli which have come down to us.
There was one remarkable result which followed from the
power and consequence of this branch of the family, that when
that of the chief, through peculiar circumstances, had become
reduced so as not to be able to afford the clan the protection
required from him, the clan frequently followed the oldest cadet
instead of the chief, as on such occasions he became the most
powerful person in the sept, and he thus often for a length of
time enjoyed the possession of the dignity, consequence, and
privileges of chief, without either possessing a right of blood to
that station or acquiring the title of chief It is plain that
while clanship remained in its original and perfect state this
could never be the case ; but when the introduction of the
feudal system had broken in upon the purity of clanship, and
the territory of the chief had probably come into the possession
of a Lowland baron by means of the feudal succession, or the
chief had by some unsuccessful opposition to the government
brought ruin upon himself, or any other cause which the introduction
of the Lowland barons might have occasioned, had
rendered him incapable of maintaining his station, the clan
naturally sought the protection of the only family
able to
occupy the position of that of their chief, and accordingly this
duty was necessarily sought for at the hands of the oldest cadet
On such occasions he did not assume the title of chief, but was
known by that of captain, or leader of the clan.
As the term captain has generally been held to be synonymous
with that of chief, and to import the head of a clan by
right of blood as well as by possession, it may be necessary to
say a few words regarding the nature of the title. It is plain
that this dignity was one called forth by circumstances, and
that it was not usual in the Highlands, because it appears to
have been altogether unknown until a late period, and then