Beaton Medical Kindred
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The Beaton medical kindred, also known as Clann Meic-bethad and Clan MacBeth, was a Scottish kindred of professional physicians that practised medicine in the classical
Gael The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic ...
ic tradition from the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
to the
Early Modern Era The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...
. The kindred appears to have emigrated from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in the fourteenth century, where members seem to have originally learned their craft. Munro; Macintyre (2013). According to tradition, the kindred first arrived in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in the retinue of the Áine Ní Chatháin, daughter of
Cú Maighe na nGall Ó Catháin Cumee na Gall O'Cahan ( Irish: ''Cú Maighe na nGall Ó Catháin'') was a chief of the O'Cahan of Keenaght, Fir-na-Creeve and Fir Lee in modern-day County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The family first appears on record in 1138. Cumee was a son of ...
; Áine married
Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press, ...
in about 1300. Thomson (1968) p. 61. In time the kindred came to be prominent in the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
and
Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...
, although the earliest known member appears on record in the
Lowlands Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...
, in
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
, during the early fourteenth century. The kindred first came to be associated with
Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...
in the early fifteenth century, and afterwards proceeded to spread to other islands. Eventually, the kindred became the largest and longest serving of the three major mediaeval medical dynasties in Gaelic Scotland. The kindred is commonly confused with the unrelated Bethune or Beaton family, historically centred in
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
. In fact, the medical kindred adopted the surname '' Beaton'' in the fifteenth century. By the seventeenth century, most of the seventeen or so families within the kindred had adopted the surname ''Beaton'', although two used the surname '' Bethune''. Partly as a result, members of the medical kindred mistakenly came to think of themselves as descended from the Bethunes of Balfour, the principal branch of the aforesaid Bethune or Beaton family (who were ultimately of
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
origin). Like other learned Gaelic families, members of the kindred copied and compiled manuscripts. Cheape (1993) p. 123 n. 29. According to
Martin Martin Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (–9 October 1718) was a Scotland, Scottish writer best known for his work ''A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (Martin), A Description of the Western Islands of Scotlan ...
, just before the turn of the eighteenth century, a member of the kindred possessed a library of manuscripts of works of
Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...
,
Averroes Ibn Rushd (14 April 112611 December 1198), archaically Latinization of names, Latinized as Averroes, was an Arab Muslim polymath and Faqīh, jurist from Al-Andalus who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astron ...
,
Joannes de Vigo Joannes or John (; died 425) was Western Roman emperor from 423 to 425. On the death of the Western emperor Honorius, Theodosius II, the last remaining ruler of the Theodosian dynasty, did not immediately announce a successor. In the ''interr ...
, Bernardus Gordonus, and
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...
. Thomson (1968) p. 62. The most substantial surviving example of such a work compiled by the kindred is an early sixteenth-century Gaelic translation of Gordonus' ''
Lilium medicinae ''Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum'', Latin: ''The Salernitan Rule of Health'' (commonly known as ''Flos medicinae'' or ''Lilium medicinae'' - ''The Flower of Medicine'', ''The Lily of Medicine''), full title: ''Regimen sanitatis cum expositione m ...
'', the largest Gaelic manuscript in Scotland. There have been as many as seventy-six physicians of the kindred identified between the years 1300 and 1750. Members were employed by every
Scottish monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...
between
Robert I, King of Scotland Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully dur ...
(died 1329) and Charles I, King of Scotland (died 1649), and patronised by numerous
Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...
s such as the
Frasers of Lovat The following is a list of the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. The Chiefs of Clan Fraser often use the Gaelic patronym MacShimidh. Two Chiefs dispute On 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the 21st Lady Saltoun was made'' "C ...
, MacDonald Lords of the Isles, the
MacLeans of Duart Clan Maclean (; Scottish Gaelic: ' ) is a Highlands Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early Macleans became famous for their honour, stre ...
, the
MacLeods of Dunvegan Clan MacLeod ( ; ) is a Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan, known in Gaelic as ' ("seed of Tormod") and the Clan MacLeod of Lewis Assynt and Raasa ...
, and the Munros of Foulis. Bannerman (1986) p. 72. By the eighteenth century, the family ceased to produce hereditary physicians. The last died in 1714, described as "the only scholar of his race".


See also

*
MacMhuirich bardic family The MacMhuirich bardic family, known in Scottish Gaelic as ''Clann MacMhuirich'' and ''Clann Mhuirich'', and anglicised as Clan Currie was a prominent family of bards and other professionals in the 15th to 18th centuries. The family was centred ...
, another major learned Gaelic kindred *
Ó Cuindlis was the name of an Irish people, Irish family of brehons and scholars from Uí Maine, located in present-day County Galway and County Roscommon, in Connacht. It means 'Descendant of Cuindleas' (a given name of uncertain meaning). It was also spel ...
, a learned Gaelic kindred of Ireland


Notes


In popular culture

In the television series Outlander (season one, episode two), character
Claire Randall Claire Beauchamp (who adopts the surnames Randall, Fraser, and Grey at various times) is a fictional character in the ''Outlander'' series of multi-genre novels by American author Diana Gabaldon, and its television adaptation. In the series, Cl ...
, a nurse, is asked if she is "a Beaton" given that she helped another character with both a dislocated shoulder and a bullet wound. The scene is taken from the eponymous first book in the series of historical novels on which the television programs are based. In Chapter 7, Claire goes through the workspace of a fictional Davie Beaton, the now-deceased physician of Castle Leoch, providing the reader with a harrowing view of cutting-edge 18th-century medicine.


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Scottish families