A ''toísech'' or ''toísech clainne'' was the head of a local kin-group in medieval

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 ...

. The word, meaning "first" or "leader" in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

, is first attested in the property records written into the ''

Book of Deer The ''Book of Deer'' () (Cambridge University Library, MS. Ii.6.32) is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It contains the earliest surviving Gaelic writing from Scotland ...

'' some time between the 1130s and the 1150s. The ''toísech'' held and extracted tribute from specific settlements within the kindred's territory, while other settlements provided tribute to the ''

mormaer In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...

'' or king. The ''Book of Deer'' property records describe multiple lands whose tribute was granted to Deer Abbey by the ''mormaer'' and the ''toísech'', each granting their respective renders, while one land was given by a lord "who was ''mormaer'' and was ''toiseach''". showing that ''mormaers'' could themselves also be ''toiseachs''. The position of the ''toísech'' in the ''Book of Deer'' closely matches that of the

thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

given in the

Leges inter Brettos et Scottos The Leges inter Brettos et Scottos or Laws of the Brets and Scots was a legal codification under David I of Scotland (reigned 1124 – 1153). Only a small fragment of the original document survives, describing the penalties for several offenc ...

, a law code from the reign of

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...

that includes descriptions of the kingdom's social hierarchy, suggesting that the two roles were equivalent.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{cite book , last=Taylor , first=Alice , year=2016 , title=The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, 1124–1290 , publisher=Oxford University Press , location=Oxford , isbn= 9780198749202 Scottish clans 12th century in Scotland Feudalism in Scotland Scottish titles