St Matthew's Guild

Clan MacAoidh

Costume • Dance • History • Language • Song

Introduction

Clan MacAoidh (pronounced Mack Eye) is the Scottish contingent of St. Matthew's Guild. We come to Newcastle upon Tyne from the far reaches of the Scottish Highlands. We come to trade ale, cows and whatever else we can profit from. We also come to join in the revelry of the Faire.

The MacAoidhs come from the northwest corner of Scotland. This is currently known as Sutherland. It is a place of haunting beauty, with lochs, rivers, heather-covered moors and mountains. Magical and eerie are words frequently used to describe the area today. It also has the most savage and majestic of Scotland's sea cliffs, cascades, caves and capes. The MacAoidh country abounds with lochs full of trout, rivers full of salmon and forests full of great roaming herds of deer. Cattle are raised, as are crops of barely, oats and rye.

The history of the Clan MacAoidh is a long record of conflict (as is the history of most Highland Clans). The MacAoidhs were involved in almost continuous fighting, mainly against their neighbors - the Sutherlands, their most bitter and relentless foe, the Gunns, the Sinclairs and the MacLeods. It should not be supposed the MacAoidhs spent most of their time protecting themselves, far from it! Whenever the opportunity arose they indulged in foraging raids on Sutherland, Caithness and Ross. Highland pride demanded that no insult be overlooked and that attack must be met with counterattack.

Since the MacAoidhs are Highland Scots the social structure is the clan structure rather than the feudal class structure of Lowland Scotland and England. The Clan members all believe themselves related and are quite proud of this fact. It is a patriarchal society geared toward warfare. Even the lowest members of a clan were of some consequence in the community. All members of a clan were connected with each other, and their common safety depended on their united fidelity and co-operation. There were no class distinctions. Their loyalty to the clan was absolute. If a clansman were to receive conflicting orders from his Clan Laird and the King of Scotland he would follow his Laird's orders without hesitation.

The Highland Scots of this time spoke Gaelic and dressed more like the Irish than they did the Lowland Scots. The Highlanders were described as 'being different in dress and culture, Gaelic speaking, pastoral and given to fighting' (Bishop Leslie, 1578). They were referred to as 'Wild Scots.'

At Faire we focus on skits, dancing, singing and anything else we can think of to amuse ourselves and entertain the patrons. We're always open to new ideas and new members. So if you are of Scottish decent, interested in Scottish culture or just like plaid and bagpipe music, come check us out or drop us an email.