#ckan battle

[scotianostra]

September 28th 1396 saw the Battle of the Clans between clans Chattan and Kay on the North Inch, Perth, in front of King Robert III.

Also called the Battle of the North Inch, this is one of my favourite stories, this was more of a “gladiatorial” contest than a battle. They even built some sort of makeshift grandstand for the King to witness it from!

The clans in the highlands of Scotland were an unruly lot. They were constantly feuding with their neighbours and regularly raiding into the low fertile lands of Moray, Perthshire, Angus,

Aberdeenshire, and Stirlingshire. The king’s laws meant very little to this warlike, tribal society. In 1396, things were so bad between Clan Chattan and Clan Kay, who were forever raiding each other’s lands, stealing livestock, and burning down houses, that King Robert III sent an army north to deal with the problem. The commander of this army knew it was likely that when he marched into the mountains, his forces were in danger of being ambushed by the men of Chattan or Kay – or perhaps both clans would unite. The outcome could be the massacre of the royal army.

So, he came up with a plan and sent messengers to speak to the two warring clans with a proposal. This was a chance to sort out the problem in one day, sparing countless lives. The commander of the king’s army suggested that the two clans each send thirty men to Perth for a fight to the death on the city’s North Inch. The clan chiefs agreed and when the king heard of this plan, he was so delighted, he decided he and his court would come to Perth to watch the spectacle.

A large brightly coloured pavilion was put up for the royal party and benches were laid out for the people of Perth to sit on. The crowd waited expectedly in the warm summer sun as the skirl of the bagpipes drew closer and closer. Then dozens of warriors took up position on the inch in front of the king’s pavilion.

As the two clans lined up, a referee counted the men on both sides, but a problem was found. Although Clan Kay had thirty men, Clan Chattan had only twenty-nine. They must have miscounted before they left or lost a man on the way to Perth. Royal heralds walked amongst the crowd holding up a gold coin for anyone who would take up arms and fight for Clan Chattan. The city population murmured amongst themselves and fidgeted as the king, looking on like a Roman Caesar in the Colosseum, waited patiently. Just as it seemed no one would take up the offer of gold and Clan Chattan would have to forfeit the contest, a voice boomed from the benches: “I Sir Herald will take that coin and fight for Clan Chattan!”

The voice belonged to the city blacksmith, a giant of a man, strong and powerful. His name was Henry, better known as Hal o’ the Wynd. Hal was given a sword and took up his place amongst the Chattan clansmen.

The king gave the signal to start and arrows were fired between the two sides. Then the men, screaming their clan slogans in Gaelic, charged into the affray. The sunlight danced on sword and axe blades as they cut through the air, slicing into flesh and bone. The green grass became crimson red and sticky from the flow of blood as the screams of the wounded echoed around the inch. The referee called a halt to the battle and the two sides parted. Sweating, panting men, soaked in blood, gulped at the water given to them and used it to wash blood from slippery hands. They likely used their few minutes of rest to glance around, looking for friends or kinsmen, counting how many were still alive compared to the enemy. Wounds were quickly patched up with strips of torn cloth before the signal to fight came again.

The Chattan’s and Kay’s got stuck into each other once more. As the two sides slogged it out, it became clear that Clan Chattan were gaining the upper hand and in the end, all but one of Clan Kay perished. The sole surviving Kay jumped into the River Tay and swam to safety. Hal o’ the Wynd was said to have fought bravely. He was permitted to keep the gold coin and earned his place in Scottish history.

Please note some accounts say the Battle of the Clans was fought between Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron, but most say Chattan and Clan Davidson the pics show the three clan crests respectively.

The most interesting, to me anyway, is Chattan, it is distinctive in highland clan history in that it was acknowledged to be a community or confederation,of twelve separate Scottish clans. who each had their own clan chief recognized under Scottish law, but who were united under and bound to a superior chief of the confederation for mutual solidarity, sustenance and protection in the Middle Ages and early modern period in the Scottish Highlands.

Prior to the 14th century, the Clan Chattan was a conventional Scottish clan. However it evolved into an alliance or confederation of clans which was made up of several clans including firstly of the descendants of the "blood" or the original clan (Clan Cattanach, Clan MacPherson, Clan MacPhail and Clan MacBean (or McBain), secondly of the Clan Mackintosh and their cadet branches (Clan Shaw, Clan Farquharson, the Ritchies, and Clan MacThomas) and thirdly of families who were not originally related by blood (Clan MacGillivray, Clan Davidson, the Macleans of Dochgarroch ('Clan Tearlach'), the MacQueens of Strathdearn, the MacIntyres of Badenoch ('Clan an t-Saoir') and the MacAndrews ('Clan Gillandrish').

18Susan Lever, Georgia Drummond and 16 others

[kilrouhbabygottiisleeze40-oz]

So in god we trust

I believe,that i ckan,achieve,big dreams,but,there only goals,to me,as long,as,i fight,for it,may it be,love,joy,happiness,doing something,that’s always,on my,mind,what i spend every day,working on,that thing,which takes away,all my,frustration,but like i said,i believe,that i ckan,achieve,i don’t,go in to,battle,alone,for he walks,with me,savoir,the man,you told,the pastor,step away from,yes, i speak messiah,but I’ll, take those steps,toward,my big dreams,instead,of falling,away from,what,i wanna be,what,i wanna achieve,so,i being, to cklimb,but still,i say,i believe,that i ckan,achieve, Ckopyright"GottiiSleeze"July 22 2017