Scottish chief

The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder and represents the clan as well. In the Scottish clan system, the term chief denotes a greater chief than that of a chieftain. In consequence, branch chiefs (heads of branches of a clan) are designated chieftains. Scottish clans who no longer have a clan chief are referred to as armigerous clans.

Historically the principal function of the chief was to lead his clan in battle on land and sea. The chief and the chieftain were at one time in the Scottish Highlands influential political characters, who wielded a large and often arbitrary authority. However, none of this authority now remains. Highland chiefship or chieftainship in the modern sense is no more than a high social dignity. The existence of chiefship and chieftainship has been recognized by Scottish law, however, the disarming of the Highland clans after the 1745 Jacobite rising effectively eliminated clanship from ordinary civil or statutory law. Most notable was the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act, of 1746 that abolished traditional rights of jurisdiction afforded to Scottish clan chiefs.

While Scottish law recognizes the existence of Scottish clans, chiefs and chieftains, this recognition is only one of social dignity or precedence, and as such does not involve any interest for which the law has jurisdiction. The Lyon Court can make a recording of the dignity of a chiefship acknowledged by attestation, but can not declare judicially a chiefship. Further, no Scottish court can exercise a jurisdiction to determine disputes of competing claimants to a chiefship or chieftainship; to quote Lord Aitchinson in the Court of Session: "Historically the idea of a chief or chieftain submitting his dignity to the arbitrament of it Court of law is really grotesque. The chief was the law, and his authority was derived from his own people".

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