The Tánaiste

It was usual for the brothers to hunt stags. Together on the open green sward of Clach Mhor Nan Carrachan, their deer hounds had cornered a stag, a twelve pointer.

Clad in hodden tartan and doublets they sported dirks and sgian dubhs. Each brother carried a bow and quiver, each took aim. Cathal’s arrow brought it down though Red Hugh was a close second. To make matters worse the arrows they carried were identical.

Red Hugh was bombastic, manipulative. He hoped by bluster to get his brother to concede the kill.

But Cathal would not. Words were exchanged. Red Hugh grew grim, his face set, and he drew his dirk lunging at Cathal. It seemed Cathal had avoided the blow but Red Hugh had made a low swipe up into the stomach of Cathal. Blood and entrails oozed through the rent in his kilt.

As he lay dying Cathal’s thoughts were for his wife and children.

“I place a geis upon you. Do not harm my wife Catriona or ma bairns”, were his dying words for he feared Red Hugh in his blood haze would kill them too. Yet then and there Red Hugh swore to uphold the geis before the accompanying ghillies that he would honour Cathal’s dying wish.

“The fight was fair men, ye saw that; he had his weapon drawn. Wrap him in his plaid and tie him to thon pony.”

The men stood silent and, when they moved, slow was the progress of the two garrons carrying the stag and the body of Cathal back down the wooded slopes to Duart Castle.

Cathal Mhor, the eldest, and the former tánaiste had assumed the chieftainship. His brother Hugh of the red hair was jealous of him. Cathal was smarter than him and had secured for himself a beautiful bride, Catriona of the powerful MacDougall clan.

Under the tánaiste system either brother could have been elected tánaiste from the candidates but the electors had elected Cathal because he was clear headed, articulate and already had a powerful alliance, through his wife, with  Clan Macdougall. Cathal became chief suddenly on the death of Lachlan, a cousin. The electors had not yet appointed a tánaiste to Cathal.

As for the killing of a chief, under tánaism, in such a situation, the victor could claim the wife of the vanquished. Otherwise she would be demoted, perhaps become homeless, herself and her children vulnerable to the dangerous times. For her, under tánaism such a union with the victor would help to legitimise her line and lessen future claims. But crucially the victor could never be seen as totally legitimate if he cast off the Queen or Lady as she was seen as having a sacred relationship with the land

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: alastair macleod
Bildmaterialien: alastair macleod : woman near drowned in the seaweed, photo purchased from Dreamstime royalty free photos ; photo credit differentnata.
Lektorat: alastair macleod
Übersetzung: cover typeset in effloresce
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 13.12.2016
ISBN: 978-3-7396-8849-7

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
To Lady MacLean, a woman of great courage and resolve. The story is based on a later legend from the 15th century; all names, characters, and incidents, portrayed in this production are therefore deemed fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.