Islay Charter

The Islay Charter or "Gaelic Charter of 1408" is a grant of lands by Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles to "Brian Bhicaire Magaodh" (Brian Vicar MacKay),[1] a resident of Islay, written in 1408.[2] The charter is unique in being the only MacDonald land charter extant to have been written in the Gaelic language. It is also notable as a very early example of this kind of document written in a vernacular language rather than Latin and is one of the earliest examples of Gaelic in public use from the 15th century.[3]

The Charter was composed and written on a piece of goatskin by Fearghas MacBeatha [4] (Fergus Beaton) personal physician to the Lord of the Isles and a member of the famous Beaton medical dynasty of the islands. The charter is also signed and holographed by the lord himself and was witnessed by a britheimh or 'judge', Pat McAbriuin. The lands granted consisted largely of the eastern portion of the island of approximately 400 acres (1.6 km2).[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Thomson, The Companion to Gaelic Scotland pp63
  2. ↑ Gaelic charter of 1408
  3. ↑ The Herald - Scotland's Leading Quality Daily Newspaper
  4. ↑ Regimen Sanitatis
  5. ↑ Thomson, The Companion to Gaelic Scotland pp64

References

Thomson, Derick S. The Companion to Gaelic Scotland (Blackwell Reference 1987)

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