Judicial Assembly Sites in Scotland: Archaeological and Place-Name Evidence of the Scottish Court Hill

Abstract

A NEW COUNTRYWIDE SURVEY of traditional medieval court sites in northern Britain, using place names, historical records and historic landscape analysis, has identified distinct archaeological characteristics of this widespread, though previously underexamined site type. Natural hills are revealed as the most common venue for local judicial gatherings in Scotland. Place names derived from Gaelic, Scots and English are utilised to illustrate that mounds and reused prehistoric monuments also acted as venues for court sites. Findings from several recent studies have illustrated rich and comparable traditions of legal assembly for Anglo-Saxon England, early Gaelic Ireland and Viking-Age Scandinavia. In the light of these the Scottish sites presented in this article are considered in terms of legal assembly practices derived from the late 1st millennium ad. Evidence for the continued use of court sites into the high medieval period is also discussed.

Résumé

Une nouvelle étude d’envergure nationale portant sur les sites médiévaux de tribunaux traditionnels dans le nord de la Grande-Bretagne, réalisée à partir de leur désignation toponymique, de documents historiques et de l’analyse du paysage historique, a permis d’identifier des caractéristiques archéologiques distinctes de ce type de site, peu examiné jusqu’ici bien que répandu. Elle révèle que les collines naturelles sont le lieu de rassemblements locaux le plus communément utilisé pour rendre la justice en Écosse. Les désignations toponymiques dérivées du gaélique, de l’écossais et de l’anglais servent à illustrer que les buttes et monuments préhistoriques réutilisés étaient également le siège de tribunaux. Les résultats de plusieurs études récentes ont mis en évidence des traditions riches et comparables d’assemblées judiciaires dans l’Angleterre anglo-saxonne, en Irlande au début de la période gaélique et en Scandinavie à l’âge des Vikings. En se basant sur ces dernières études, les sites écossais présentés dans cet article sont examinés dans le contexte des pratiques d’assemblée judiciaire provenant de la fin du premier millénaire. Des éléments montrant que les sites judiciaires étaient toujours en usage au Haut Moyen Âge sont également évoqués.

Zusammenfassung

Eine neue landesweite Untersuchung traditioneller mittelalterliche Gerichtsstätten in Nordbritannien anhand von Ortsnamen, historische­n Aufzeichnungen und historischer Landschaftsanalyse hat ausgeprägte archäologische Merkmale dieses weit verbreiteten, wenn auch bishe­r nicht ausreichend untersuchten Stättentypus’ identifiziert. Natürliche Anhöhen werden als häufigste Stätten für örtliche gerichtliche Versammlungen in Schottland aufgezeigt. Aus dem Gälischen, dem Scots und dem Englischen abgeleitete Ortsnamen wurden benutzt, um zu illustrieren, dass Anhöhen und wiederbenutzt­e historische Denkmäler auch als Gerichtsstätten fungierten. Die Ergebnisse verschiedener neuerer Studien haben reiche und vergleichbare Traditionen für gerichtliche Versammlungen im angelsächsischen England, im frühen gälischen Irland und im Skandinavien der Wikingerzeit aufgezeigt. Angesichts dieser Traditionen wird vermutet, dass die in diesem Artikel präsentierten schottischen Stätten im Zusammenhang mit den Praktiken der gerichtlichen Versammlungen des späten ersten Jahrtausends stehen. Es werden auch Belege für die fortgesetzte Nutzung der Gerichtsstätte­n bis ins Hochmittelalter diskutiert.

Riassunto

Attraverso una nuova indagine, estesa a tutto il paese, sui siti dei tradizionali tribunali medievali nella Gran Bretagna settentrionale, ricorrendo alla toponomastica, ai documenti storici e all’analisi del paesaggio, si sono identificate nette caratteristiche archeologiche nella tipologia dei siti che, pur essendo diffusa, non era stata finora sufficientemente esaminata. In Scozia le colline naturali si sono rivelate come il luogo più comune per le assemblee dei tribunali locali. Nomi di luoghi, derivati dal gaelico, dallo scozzese e dall’inglese sono usati per spiegare che anche le alture e i monumenti preistorici riutilizzati svolsero la funzione di sedi delle assemblee dei tribunali. Le conclusioni di diversi studi recenti hanno illustrato analoghe e abbondanti tradizioni di assemblee giudiziarie nell’Inghilterra anglosassone, nell’Irlanda gaelica e nella Scandinavia di epoca vichinga. Alla luce di questi studi i siti scozzesi presentati in questo articolo vengono considerati in termini di pratiche di assemblee legali derivate dal tardo primo millennio. Si discute inoltre delle testimonianze sull’uso continuato dei siti dei tribunali fino all’alto medioevo.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The majority of the research for this article was undertaken during study for the author’s doctoral degree, which was supported by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Thanks go to Simon Taylor for kindly allowing the author to read his forthcoming paper about Cowden and Coldon place names. The author also wishes to thank John O’Grady for commenting on a draft of this article.

Notes

1 Affiliate staff member, Centre for Open Studies, University of Glasgow, St Andrew’s Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow G3 6NH, UK. Oliver.O’[email protected]

2 Pantos and Semple 2004; The Assembly Project (University of Oslo); Landscapes of Governance Project (University College London); The THING Project; The Óenach Project (University College Cork).

3 See also Barnwell 2003, 1.

4 Anderson 1934; Barrow 1981; 1992; cf Driscoll 2004.

5 FitzPatrick 2004; Gomme 1880.

6 Cf Neville 2010, 13; Sellar 1989.

7 Pantos and Semple 2004.

8 Taylor 2009.

9 Barrow 1992, 9–11; Oram 2003, 46.

10 Barrow 2003, 69–82; Sellar 1989, 3.

11 Grant 2000; 2007, 98–9; Neville 2005; 2010; Oram 2003, 46; 2004.

12 Neville 2010, 13–14; Taylor 2011, 222–3.

13 Taylor 2009; 2011; 2012.

14 Ibid, 213, 224, 236, 282, n 922; 2012 218, 223–5.

15 Ibid, 224, n 63, 235–6, 282, n 922, 282–3, 285; 2011, 221; 2012, 223–5, 230.

16 Taylor 2009.

17 Cf Oram and Stell 2005.

18 Taylor 2012.

19 Barrow 1992, 220; Watson 1926, 492.

20 Innes 1872, 97–8; Barrow 1992, 217–18.

21 Barrow 1981; 1992.

22 Barrow 1992, 223.

23 Ibid, 219–20; Taylor forthcoming provides a useful re-assessment of this material; cf Grant 2008, 22.

24 Taylor forthcoming.

25 Barrow 1992.

26 Ibid, 224–7.

27 Ibid, 1992, 226.

28 Ibid, 992, 225–7.

29 Nos 15, 21, 37, 43, 58.

30 McNiven 2011, 97, 274–5; Taylor forthcoming.

31 Barrow 1992, 236, no 2.6; Innes 1845, vol 1, 79; NMRS no NJ62NE 1.

32 No 23, no 55.

33 Taylor forthcoming, 7.

34 Ibid, 6–7.

35 Hall and Campbell 2011, 153; Treasure Trove Scotland case nos TT 161.09 and TT36/06.

36 No 54; the place name Coldrain contains Gaelic droigheann ‘thorn’, see Barrow 1992, 1.26; NMRS no NO00SE 6; Taylor forthcoming, 11.

37 No 31.

38 Barrow 1992, 232–3, no 1.19.

39 Adkins and Petchey 1984; O’Grady 2013.

40 Nos 1, 5, 19, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 39, 44, 47, 56.

41 No 36.

42 Taylor 2006, 67–8.

43 Nos 1, 5, 8, 13, 19, 21, 28, 30, 31, 32, 35, 40, 41, 46, 52.

44 Alexander 1952, 106, 249–50; Barrow 1992, 221, no 2.5, 235–6.

45 Barrow 1992, 221, no 2.5, 235–6.

46 Ibid, 1992, 227.

47 Rogers 1992.

48 Old Gaelic tulach / tilach from the root tu, ‘swell’; MacBain 1911.

49 No 15.

50 National Archives of Scotland no GD430/129; RCAHMS 1979, 9, no 29.

51 No 1.

52 Cameron 2002, 3; Ferguson 1949, 79; NMRS no NJ90NW 8.

53 Neville and Simpson 2012, no 160.

54 Nicolaisen 1969, 162.

55 Nicolaisen 2001, 189.

56 Goblet 1932, 370–4; Nicolaisen 1969, 166, n 1.

57 FitzPatrick 2004, 30–1; Swift 1996, 19–20.

58 FitzPatrick 2004, 31.

59 Ibid, 2004, 30–1.

60 Swift 1996, 19–20.

61 Hall et al 2005, 309; cf McNiven 2005.

62 Taylor 2006.

63 Ibid, 2006.

64 Simon Taylor, pers comm.

65 McNiven 2005.

66 No 2.

67 Cowan 1967, 201.

68 Ibid; Gibb 1878, 196.

69 Gibb 1878, 196.

70 Michie 1910, 111–23.

71 No 5; Cowan 1967, 199, 202.

72 Cowan 1967, 199; NMRS no NJ61SW 2.

73 No 4; Cowan 1967, 202.

74 No 5.

75 No 13; Innes 1843, 35–6, no 55.

76 Taylor 2009, 234–5.

77 Gillies 1996, 132; MacNeill and MacQueen 1996, 190; Sellar 1989, 10.

78 Dickinson 1941.

79 Innes 1872, 84; Sellar 1989, 9–11.

80 Márkus 2009.

81 Innes 1848–56, vol 1, no 227.

82 Tulielte 1234 and Tulenahilt 1474, see Nicolaisen 2001, 189; NMRS no NJ83SW; Watson 1926, 242.

83 Alexander 1952, 136; Barrow 1983; NMRS no NJ61NE 6.

84 Den of Tulloch in the parish of Meldrum, Aberdeenshire: hosts the remains of St Mary’s chapel and Lady’s well, a spring visited by local people until the 19th century.

85 In the upland medieval parish of Navar in Angus are various place names derived from tulach. It may be significant that the place name Navar derives from Celtic nemeton, suggesting a possible link to ancient assemblies or a sanctuary, see Watson 1926, 247.

86 Further north in Ross and Cromarty, Tullich farm is west of Hilton of Cadboll, site of a chapel and the well-known Pictish cross slab. Tillytarmont, Tulach an Tearmaind meaning ‘hill of the termon’, is on the border between Aberdeenshire and Morayshire, where four Pictish Class I symbol stones were discovered. Here the termon place name may again indicate the presence of a medieval church.

87 Hall et al 2005, 139.

88 No 15.

89 Woolf 2007, 300.

90 Cowan 1967, 152; see Woolf 2007 for a recent and thorough discussion.

91 Innes 1845, vol 1, 3, 5–7; Cowan 1967, 152; Donaldson 1953, 115–16.

92 Anderson 1922, vol 1, 433, citing Fordun’s chronicle vol 4, 40.

93 Saint Moloc or Moluag died 592, Lismore; Simpson 1926.

94 Anderson 1922, vol 1, 433, 525; Woolf 2007, 300.

95 Woolf 2007, 302.

96 Simpson 1926, 275; Woolf 2007, 309–10.

97 Woolf 2007, 309–10.

98 Nicolaisen 1969, 162; Taylor 2006.

99 FitzPatrick 2004, 173–93; Swift 1996, 18–19.

100 Pantos 2004, 181–2.

101 Jakobsen 1993, 82.

102 Pantos 2004, 181–2.

103 See for example Christison 1898, 15–17.

104 Pearsall 1999, 929.

105 Nos 6–8; Nicolaisen 2001, 88–9.

106 Nos 8, 10, 16.

107 No 15; Hall et al 2005, 309; Innes 1831, 312.

108 Hall et al 2005, 307–8.

109 No 17; RMS 1882–1914, vol 7, 502, no 1388.

110 Ibid.

111 Woolf 2010, 99.

112 RCAHMS 1994, 89–90, 96–7, 124.

113 No 11; Robertson 1846, 69, 87, 116, 174, 200.

114 Murray 1924–32, vol 1, vii, 186, n 3.

115 Mann 1938, 7; NMRS no NS56SE 13.

116 NMRS no NS56SE 115.

117 No 10.

118 Dickinson 1928, xiii, fn 5; Fraser 1888, no 31; Sibbald 1710, 100.

119 Simpson and Stevenson 1981, 3–4.

120 Jakobsen 1993, 64.

121 Cooper 1947, 88–9.

122 Cf Simpson and Stevenson 1981, 13.

123 1st edn OS 6inch map of Kirkcudbright 1854.

124 NMRS no NX64NE 20.

125 NMRS no NX65SE 40.

126 No 21.

127 Smith 1886, 18.

128 Driscoll 2003, 128; NMRS no NS57NW 2.

129 Nos 19, 20.

130 Jakobsen 1993, 81–2, 213, 237.

131 Dickinson 1928, xiv, fn 2; Thomson and Innes 1814–75, vol 1, 377, c 19.

132 MacBain 1911, 252; Pantos 2004, 181–2.

133 MacBain 1911, 252.

134 Ibid, 371.

135 Nos 5, 6, 13, 15, 16; MacBain 1911, 253.

136 No 5.

137 Donaldson 1923, 178.

138 Neville 2005.

139 Nos 2–7, 12–13, 15, 17.

140 No 11.

141 MacBain 1911, 85.

142 Innes 1837, 183–7; NMRS no NH70SE 4.

143 No 16; National Archives of Scotland no GD15/87 1747–85.

144 Nos 5 and 6.

145 No 3.

146 No 4; Watson 1926, 246–7; Barrow 1998a; 1998b, 56, 58, fig 2.2.

147 Barrow 1992, 228; Watson 1926, 491–2.

148 Watson 1926, 304, 491.

149 Barrow 1992, 228, 241–2, 245, fig 3; Watson 1926, 491.

150 Barrow 1992, 228; Campbell and Sandeman 1964, 89, no 547; Donaldson 1923, 178; NMRS no NG47SW 3; Pennant 1774, 350; RCAHMS 1928, 168, no 538.

151 Barrow 1992, 228; Black 1999, 16–18; Watson 1926, 491–2.

152 Barrow 1998a; Barrow 1998b, 68; Taylor 2006.

153 Coolen and Mehler 2011; Fellows-Jensen 1996; O’Grady 2011; 2013; cf Brink 2004, 205–6; Crawford 1987; Gordon 1963; Thorson 1965; Fitzhugh and Ward 2000, 175, 178, 181; Graham-Campbell 1980, 78–79.

154 Taylor 2006; Alex Woolf, pers comm.

155 Brooke 1996, 115; Charles-Edwards 2004, 95–105; FitzPatrick 2004, 50–1; MacQueen 2002, 93; Watson 1926, 180.

156 Clancy 1998; Driscoll 1998.

157 As attempted recently for Clydesdale, see Grant 2007.