A Tulchan (from the

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 ...

, ''tulachan'') was in Scotland a man appointed as

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, who was a bishop in name only and whose revenue was drawn by his patron. The term originally referred to a calfskin stuffed with

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...

and presented to a cow, as if living, to induce her to give

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

. The epithet Tulchan applied to the bishops is usually ascribed to the reformer and collector of Scottish proverbs David Fergusson. Mr. Gladstone, during his electioneering raid into

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

in November 1879, explained the meaning of "tulchan", which he spelt "tulcan": :"My noble friend, Lord Rosebery, speaking to me of the law of

hypothec Hypothec (; , , from Lat. ''hypotheca'', from Gk. : hypothēkē), sometimes tacit hypothec, is a term used in civil law systems (e.g. the law of most of Continental Europe) to refer to a registered real security of a creditor over real estate ...

, said that the bill of Mr. Vans Agnew on hypothec is a ''Tulcan Bill''. A ''tulcan'', I believe, is the figure of a calf stuffed with straw, and it is, you know, an old Scottish custom among farmers to place the tulcan calf under a cow to induce her to give milk." Jamieson writes the word "tulchane", and cites the phrase, "a tulchane bishop", as the designation of one who received the episcopate on condition of signing the temporalities to a secular person. One of them, Robert Montgomery (before 1550–1609), was prosecuted by the religious reformer Andrew Melville (1545–1622). In some parts of Scotland, the people say a "tourkin calf" instead of a "tulcan calf". Jamieson further states: :"A tourkin calf, or lamb, is one that wears a skin not its own. A tourkin lamb is one taken from its dam, and given to another ewe which has lost her own. In this case, the

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

takes the skin of the dead lamb, and puts it on the back of the living one, and thus so deceives the ewe that she allows the stranger to suck". In other words, a "tulchan" can also be a living animal, and the usage is of one who gains profit by pretending to be someone, or something else.

References

* (Tulachan) * MacKay, Charles – ''A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch'' (1888) * History of the Church of Scotland Agriculture in Scotland Political history of Scotland Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Reformation {{Presbyterianism-stub

See also

References