Some Notes on Highland Daily Life
by T. McCall
Introduction and Bylaws
Interpretive
Clothing
Scottish Culture
History
Music and Dance
Military Life
Language
Bibliography, Sources
and Library Materials
The chiefest commodities whereof transported by sea are these: wheat, corns, hides, skins, tallow, yarn, linen, salt, coal, herrings, salmon, wool, keiling, ling, turbot, and saitthes. And last and worst, all the gold in the kingdom is daily transported away with superfluous posting for court."
-William Lithgow, a few years after King James' death.
Some Notes on Highland Daily Life
During the period 1570-1650
T. McCall
What was Scotland like during this period?
Scotland was (and is) a small country, a little smaller than the state of South Carolina. The Highlands comprise approximately two-thirds of the land area. Even today, much of the country is inaccessible by car, and during this time, the difficulties were considerably greater. In addition to bad roads, there were many more lakes and forested areas, most of which have disappeared in the intervening centuries. The woods were also rather different than today's imported conifer forests, comprising much oak and alder, as well as great stands of Scots pine. The weather during this time was markedly different, for western Europe had entered the "Little Ice Age" which lasted until 1700 - meaning that summers were wetter and colder than usual, and winters were consequently more severe.
How many people were in Scotland?
The best estimates judge that at the beginning of the 1570's there were perhaps 500,000 to 600,000 individuals above the Tweed. However, by the end of the period, the population more than doubled. Still, compared to other countries at the time (France with 13 million), the numbers were not impressive. The estimates for the principle cities vary from source to source, but range from 9000 to 21,000 in Edinburgh (the largest), 3000 to 5000 in Aberdeen, 7000 in Perth and Glasgow, Dundee, and St. Andrew's. In total, no more than 50,000 people lived in these towns, most of the population was spread through the countryside.
What kind of living did most people make?
Most of the population was agricultural, living as short-term tenants on the land. However, the level of agriculture was very low, and most were only at a subsistence level - rising only enough to feed themselves. In the Highlands where fertility was low, many tended cattle for the trysts at Falkirk and elsewhere (and participated in the constant rounds of cattle raids on each other.) The towns were the focus of a slowly rising merchant and industrial class, but all through this period, this involved only a small percentage of the population.
What kind of crops did they raise?
Barley and oats for local consumption, as well as flax, mainly for domestic use. The methods of production were very crude, ranging from the primitive foot spade-plow called a chas-crom, to an eight-yoke ox plow. Cattle, sheep and some goats were pastured above the fertile parts.
Did Scotland export anything?
Yes, the great export staples were wool, woolen cloth, hides and salted beef - the latter providing much of the wealth of many lairds, as well as the most important part of the social within Scotland. The western Highlands and the Isles also exported much salted fish - herring, and salmon dried and smoked. There was also much timber still standing, and many fur-bearing animals, though by the end of our period these two resources were greatly depleted.
Small efforts at other industries began to stir during this time, especially coal and lead mining, slat-panning, and linen weaving, as well as the first faint manufacturing activities that were to develop into the industrial revolution. Scotland, by now, had a long history of ship-building, but compared to other nations this was still rather small scale.
How did people live? What were their dwelling like?
Terrible, most families lived in various degrees of feudal tenancy, which meant that they did not own the land they worked, and could not count on remaining in one spot for more than five years. Although, in practice families could and did dwell for generations on their plots. Houses were small and cramped, especially the notorious "black houses" which were small stone dwellings without windows, or chimneys. One interesting aspect about house-renting was that the house might belong to the landlord, but the roof covering (mostly thatch) was the possession and responsibility of the tenant. It was not at all unusual for the tenant to remove the thatch, when giving up the lease, and take it to his new home, leaving his replacement to come up with a new roof.
Houses and families tended to cluster together for protection and social contingencies; thus, most of the population could not be said to be truly "isolated," Yet, these small clusters could hardly be said to amount to what we think of as a village. Typically, only one family lived in each house, though that family might comprise three, or more generations, or sub-families, depending on circumstances. Privacy was unknown. There is little to tell about such matters as sanitation, or water supply, but it can be assumed that such conditions were primitive at best.
During the summers, people spent as much time as they could outdoors, frequently living in the temporary dwellings known as shielings, in order to tend the cattle, or sheep in the summer pastures. In the winter most individuals remained in their cottages for months on end. There would be little to do, except for crafts, weaving, storytelling, etc.
What did women do?
Weaving was their great contribution to the Scottish economy - while the men tended the land and young of both sexes wandered with the cattle, the married and older women wove the yards and yards of coarse woolen and linen cloth that was in demand on the Continent. They performed all stages of the preparation, from shearing the sheep (which men did also) to washing and carding the wool, spinning and dying the threads, weaving wauking, an fulling the cloth.
The women also did all the cooking and much of the preparation and preserving the food, as well as making the household's clothing and small equipment. They also gathered peat and bracken for fuel, scavenged for bits of torn wool on the heather, an in summer went berrying and searching for other plants and herbs for food and medicine.
What did people do for fun?
A good variety of activities - sports such as golf and curling, horse racing and the various athletic events still done in the Highland games: tossing the caber, throwing the hammer, etc. Gambling was widespread, ranging from bets on racing to dice and cards (the latter, largely confined to the nobility), as well as more obscure Gaelic types. Music, dancing and storytelling was also much indulged, as well as the remnants of the bard's traditions of epics and ballads. Adults also participated in seeming children's games such as versions of king-on-the-mountain, Fox-in-the-hole, tug of war, etc. Social gathering for politics, etc, were also important as well as weddings, and particularly funerals. The last were prone to be elaborate and prolonged, with mourners, processions, wakes, heavy drinking, and not-infrequently, inter-clan disturbances.
What about religion?
This was the time of the Reformation in Scotland - however, for a long time it had little effect on the Highlands, due to their considerable isolation from the towns and counties of the Lowlands. Much of the area remained Catholic, although the Mass was officially outlawed in 1560. Feeling for religion were often bound up strongly with politics; individuals, from lairds to carls, moved back and forth from Protestant to Catholic loyalties as circumstances seemed to require. Gradually, however, the Catholics gave way to the increasing pressure of the Presbyterians. This process was not completed, however, until well after Culloden.
What of the "Old Religion?"
As for pre-Christian religion, there are hundreds, probably thousands, of Pagan traditions that survive down to modern times. These range from images of the "green man" found carved in the architecture of churches, Halloween traditions, Morris Dancing and any number of seasonal celebrations kept alive throughout Europe. However, while covering your mouth during a yawn was once done to keep the devil out, today, we simply do it to be polite. Similarly, while traditions continued, there is no evidence that any organized, pre-Christian religion survived into the period we portray. In the words of George Kittredge, a scholar often quoted on the witch trials, "the theory that English witches were keeping alive a pagan ritual, and were meeting in orgiastic mysteries that had descended from pre-Christian times, will not stand the test of the most elementary historical criticism."
But what of the witch trials themselves, and the witches' sabbaths that people were accused of attending? The trials are, on occasion, suggested as Christian persecution of an underground pagan minority. Actually, it was not until 1612 that the concept of the sabbath appeared in any English witch trial. Prior to this date, all trial records show that the witches were accused merely of using magic to commit some crime, never of gathering for infernal rituals. Early witches simply were not accused of belonging to some other religion. They were accused of making their neighbors barren, or spoiling their milk. Even though the concept of a witches' sabbath did appear sooner in Scottish trials, (During 1500's, it seems, possibly through French influences under Mary Stuart) early Scottish trials fit the same pattern as England. The idea of the witches' sabbath was a continental European concept that was imported to the British Isles during the Reformation, and can in no way be used as evidence of pre-Christian religions surviving to our period.
- C. Knutson 1992.
Source: Witchcraft in Old and New England, by George Kittredge.
What were they like to know?
They were well known for their independence if character; far more than similar classes abroad, the Highlanders stood up as equals to their lairds. Class consciousness was not well developed. English, Spanish, and Italian nobility visiting Scotland were continually disconcerted, and not only by the men - the women seemed equally free.
The were largely described as brave, fearless, brash and boastful, and yet splendid fighters. Again, the women were similarly described. At times, though, descriptions of the Scots tended to contradict one another. Some sources had praise for their rough, yet plentiful hospitality, while others describe them as supremely suspicious, or hostile to strangers. Presumably, much would depend on circumstances; it would seem that once a stranger had been accepted, his welcome would be considerable indeed.
How secure was life in the Highlands?
Not very. Apart from the difficulties of the climate, most people had to contend with their short leases on land of four to five years. Given the poor fertility, many were not inclined to stay in one place and try to improve the land, but preferred to try afresh at some new location. In addition, feuds between landlords could devastate the tenant's holdings, particularly in lands bordering England. A refusal to fight for the clan when time arose would result in the home being burned by the chief's men. Any conflict of loyalty to one laird, or another might mean that a move would by judicious; or else, a family would be forced to leave to make place for a favored stranger coming in. The great Highland Clearances were yet in the future, however the seeds had been sown. In England, similar, those lesser clearances were beginning with the enclosures of commons and their reservation for sheep herds. The Scots lairds, with their hunger for cash did not fail to learn the lesson of the southrons and their sheep, and found they could begin to dispense with the loyalties of their clansmen.
So, the tradition of restlessness that exemplified the pioneers in the States, had its origins even before this period, continuing down via the forced immigrations to Ireland and beyond, through the Clearances, down to the voluntary immigrations that continue to trickle even today.
Didn't the Scots drink?
They certainly did - beer and ale for the most part, but they did begin widespread distilling during this time and began rudimentary manufacturing of whisky. Their drunkenness became a byword in Europe, and was of considerable concern to the Scottish Parliament, which tried in vain to contain it.
Sources:
Moncrieffe, Sir Iain. The Highland Clans. Barrie & Jenkins Ltd., 1982.
MacKinnon, James. The Social and Industrial History of Scotland from earliest times to the Union. London: Blackie & Sons, 1920.
Rae, T.I. Scotland in the Time of Shakespeare. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1965.
MacKenzie, W.C. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Edinburgh &London:Moray Press, 1937.
MacMillan, Donald. Short History of the Scottish People. NY & London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Fraser, Antonia. Mary, Queen of Scots. NY: Dell, 1969.
A Band of Manrent
The formal adoption of a chief and agreement to serve him, 1519.
"Be it known to all men by the present letters, me Robert Orrok, son to a honorable man James Orrok of that ilk, binds and obliges me by the faith in my body to stand for all the days of my life true man and servant to a honorable man John Melvill of the Rayth, knight, against all others, the King's Grace, my Lord Governor, my Lord Sanctandrois, now present, the Abbots and Convent of Dunfermling and their successors; and shall take hisaefauld part wih my person friends, and servants; and I shall not hear his harm or dishonor, but I shall advertise him of the same; And I shall give him my council in all matters to his weal and honor as if to myself; And if this manrent be not sufficient, it shall be extended as the said John, knight, thinks expedient and the said Robert, in the best form.
At the Rayth, subscribed with my hands the second day of January in the year of God 1500 and 19 years, before this witness, William Schevez, Jorge Balfour, William Mailville with others diverse.
Robert Orrok, son to the late James Orrok of that Ilk, with my hand."
Source:
The Scottish Pageant 1513 - 1625. MacKenzie, Agnes Mure. Oliver and Boyd: Edinburgh & London, 1948.