The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

114 THE HIGHLANDERS [part i
After the famih* of the chief came the Ceanntighes, or heads
of the houses into which the clan was divided, among whom the
most powerful was the oldest cadet or Toisich. It naturally
followed from the law of Gavel, which produced a constant
subdivision of the chief's estate, until in actual extent of
property he not unfrequently came to possess less than any of
the other branches of the family, that that branch which had
been longest separated from the main stem became the most
powerful. In this respect the Highland system exhibits a
striking contrast to that of the feudal, and from the earliest
period it was the oldest cadet who appears to have enjoyed, next
to the chief, the highest dignity in the clan, and the principal
of honour when called into the field. His station was that
post
of leading the van in the march, and in battle to occupy the
and in the absence
right pf the line when the chief was present ;
of the chief to command the whole clan. Hence in Gaelic he
was called Toisich, or the first, for there can be little doubt
that the ancient Gaelic title of Toisich was peculiar to the oldest
cadet. Dr. Macpherson, who was intimately acquainted with
the exact meaning of ancient Gaelic phraseology and usages,
says, " Toisich was another title of honour ^^•hich obtained
among the Scots of the middle ages ; Spelman imagined that
this dignity was the same with that of Thane. But the Highlanders,
among whose predecessors the word was once common,
distinguished carefully in their Tanistair or the Tieiiia.
language the Toisich
When they enumerate the
from the
different
classes of their great men, agreeabh' to the language of former
times, they make use of these three titles in the same sentence,
with a disjunctive particle between them.
" In Gaelic, Tiis., Tos, and TosicJi signify the beginning or
first part of any thing, and sometimes the front of an army or
battle. Hence the name Toshichy—
(p. 185.)
It is remarkable that the signification given to the name
Toshich by Dr. Macpherson implies the very post of honour
which the oldest cadet klways occupied as his peculiar privilege.
Another character of the oldest cadet was that of maor or
steward, in which his duties were to collect the revenues of the
chief When the feudal customs were introduced into the
Highlands, this office became identified with the feudal baron-