[1] See letter to Monroe, November 29th, 1820, Jefferson's
_Writings_, vii. 190. A quotation from this letter is given at p. 454
of the _Fifteenth Report of the U.S. Civil Service Commission_.
[2] See _Senate Report No. 576_, 47th Congress, 1st session; also
_U.S. Civil Service Commission's Third Report_, p. 16 et seq., _Tenth
Report_, pp. 136, 137, and _Fifteenth Report_, pp. 483, 484.
[3] The progressive classification of the executive civil service,
showing the growth of the merit system, is discussed, with
statistics, in the _U.S. Civil Service Commission's Sixteenth
Report_, pp. 129-137. A revision of this discussion, with important
additions, appears in the _Seventeenth Report_.
[4] For details justifying these statements, see _U.S. Civil Service
Commission's Fourteenth Report_, pp. 12-14.
[5] For the scope of these exceptions, see Civil Service Rule VI., at
p. 57 of the _U.S. Civil Service Commission's Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Reports_. A statement of the number of positions actually affected by
this action of the president appears in the _Seventeenth Report_.
[6] In the _U.S. Civil Service Commission's Fifteenth Report_, pp.
489-502, the "growth of the civil service reform in states and
cities" is historically treated, briefly, but with some thoroughness.
CIVITA CASTELLANA (anc. _Falerii_, q.v.), a town and episcopal see of
the province of Rome, 45 m. by rail from the city of Rome (the station
is 5 m. N.E. of the town). Population (1901) 5265. The cathedral of S.
Maria possesses a fine portico, erected in 1210 by Laurentius Romanus,
his son Jacobus and his grandson Cosmas, in the cosmatesque style, with
ancient columns and mosaic decorations: the interior was modernized in
the 18th century, but has some fragments of cosmatesque ornamentation.
The citadel was erected by Pope Alexander VI. from the designs of
Antonio da Sangallo the elder, and enlarged by Julius II. and Leo X. The
lofty bridge by which the town is approached belongs to the 18th
century. Mount Soracte lies about 6 m. to the south-east.
CIVITA VECCHIA, a seaport town and episcopal see of Italy, in the
province of Rome, 50 m. N.W. by rail and 35 m. direct from the city of
Rome. Pop. (1871) 8143; (1901) 17,589. It is the ancient _Centum
Cellae_, founded by Trajan. Interesting descriptions of it are given by
Pliny the Younger (_Epist._ vi. 31) and Rutilius Namat. i. 237. The
modern harbour works rest on the ancient foundations, and near it the
cemetery of detachments of the _Classes Misenensis_ and _Ravennas_ has
been found (_Corp. Inscr. Lat._ vol. xi., Berlin, 1888, pp. 3520 seq.).
Remains of an aqueduct and other Roman buildings are preserved; the
imperial family had a villa here. Procopius mentions it in the 6th
century as a strong and populous place, but it was destroyed in 813 by
the Saracens. Leo IV. erected a new city for the inhabitants on the site
where they had taken refuge, about 8 m. N.N.E. of Civita Vecchia towards
the hills, near La Farnesina, where its ruins may still be seen; the
city walls and some of the streets and buildings may be traced, and an
inscription (which must have stood over one of the city gates)
recording its foundation has been discovered. It continued to exist
under the name Cencelle as a feudal castle until the 15th century. In
the meantime, however, the inhabitants returned to the old town by the
shore in 889 and rebuilt it, giving it the name Civitas Vetus, the
modern Civita Vecchia (see O. Marucchi in _Nuovo Bullettino di
archeologia cristiana_, vi., 1900, p. 195 seq.). In 1508 Pope Julius II.
began the construction of the castle from the designs of Bramante,
Michelangelo being responsible for the addition of the central tower. It
is considered by Burckhardt the finest building of its kind. Pius IV.
added a convict prison. The arsenal was built by Alexander VII. and
designed by Bernini. Civita Vecchia was the chief port of the Papal
State and has still a considerable trade. There are cement factories in
the town, and calcium carbide is an important article of export. The
principal imports are coal, cattle for the home markets, and fire-bricks
from the United Kingdom. Three miles N.E. were the _Aquae Tauri_, warm
springs, now known as _Bagni della Ferrata_: considerable remains of the
Roman baths are still preserved. About 1 m. W. of these are other hot
springs, those of the _Ficoncella_, also known in Roman times.
CLACKMANNAN, the county town of Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Pop. 1505.
It lies near the north bank of the Forth, 2 m. E. of Alloa, with two
stations on the North British railway. Among the public buildings are
the parish church, the tower of which, standing on a commanding
eminence, is a conspicuous landmark. Clackmannan Tower is now a
picturesque ruin, but at one time played an important part in Scottish
history, and was the seat of a lineal descendant of the Bruce family
after the failure of the male line. The old market cross still exists,
and close to it stands the stone that gives the town its name (Gaelic,
_clach_, stone; Manann, the name of the district). A large spinning-mill
and coalpits lend a modern touch in singular contrast with the quaint,
old-world aspect of the place. About 1 m. to the S.E. is Kennet House,
the seat of Lord Balfour of Burleigh, another member of the Bruce
family.
CLACKMANNANSHIRE, the smallest county in Scotland, bounded S.W. by the
Forth, W. by Stirlingshire, N.N.E. and N.W. by Perthshire, and E. by
Fifeshire. It has an area of 35,160 acres, or about 55 sq. m. An
elevated ridge starting on the west, runs through the middle of the
county, widening gradually till it reaches the eastern boundary, and
skirting the alluvial or carse lands in the valleys of the Forth and
Devon. Still farther to the N. the Ochil hills form a picturesque
feature in the landscape, having their generally verdant surface broken
by bold projecting rocks and deeply indented ravines. The principal
summits are within the limits of the shire, among them Ben Cleuch (2363
ft.), King's Seat (2111 ft.), Whitewisp (2110 ft.), the Law (above
Tillicoultry, 2094 ft.) and Blairdenon (2072 ft.), on the northern
slope, in which the river Devon takes its rise. The rivers of importance
are the Devon and the Black or South Devon. The former, noted in the
upper parts for its romantic scenery and its excellent trout-fishing,
runs through the county near the base of the Ochils, and falls into the
Forth at the village of Cambus, after a winding course of 33 m.,
although as the crow flies its source is only 5 1/4 m. distant. The
Black Devon, rising in the Cleish Hills, flows westwards in a direction
nearly parallel to that of the Devon, and falls into the Forth near
Clackmannan. It supplies motive power to numbers of mills and
collieries; and its whole course is over coal strata. The Forth is
navigable as far as it forms the boundary of the county, and ships of
500 tons burden run up as far as Alloa. The only lake is Gartmorn, 1 m.
long by about 1/3 of a mile broad, which has been dammed in order to
furnish water to Alloa and power to mills. The Ochils are noted for the
number of their glens. Though these are mostly small, they are well
wooded and picturesque, and those at Menstrie, Alva, Tillicoultry and
Dollar are particularly beautiful.
_Geology._--This county is divided geologically into two areas, the
boundary line skirting the southern margin of the Ochils and running
westwards from a point north of Dollar by Alva in the direction of
Airthrev in Stirlingshire. The northern portion forms part of the
volcanic range of the Ochils which belongs to the Old Red Sandstone
period, and consists of a great succession of lavas--basalts and
andesites--with intercalations of tuff and agglomerate. As the rocks
dip gently towards the north and form the highest ground in the county
they must reach a great thickness. They are pierced by small intrusive
masses of diorite, north of Tillicoultry House. The well-marked
feature running E. and W. along the southern base of the Ochils
indicates a line of fault or dislocation which abruptly truncates the
Lower Old Red volcanic rocks and brings down an important development
of Carboniferous strata occupying the southern part of the county.
These belong mainly to the Coal-measures and comprise a number of
valuable coal-seams which have been extensively worked. The
Clackmannan field is the northern continuation of the great
Lanarkshire basin which extends northwards by Slamannan, Falkirk and
the Carron Ironworks to Alloa. Along the eastern margin between
Cairnmuir and Brucefield the underlying Millstone Grit, consisting
mainly of false-bedded sandstones, comes to the surface. Close to the
river Devon south of Dollar the Vicars Bridge Limestone, which there
marks the top of the Carboniferous Limestone series, rises from
beneath the Millstone Grit. The structure of the Clackmannan field is
interesting. The strata are arranged in synclinal form, the highest
seams being found near the Devon ironworks, and they are traversed by
a series of parallel east and west faults each with a downthrow to the
south, whereby the coals are repeated and the field extended. During
mining operations evidence has been obtained of the existence of a
buried river-channel, filled with boulder clay and stratified deposits
along the course of the Devon, which extends below the present
sea-level and points to greater elevation of the land in pre-glacial
time. An excellent example of a dolerite dyke trending slightly north
of west occurs in the north part of the county where it traverses the
volcanic rocks of Lower Old Red Sandstone age.
_Industries._--The soil is generally productive and well cultivated,
though the greater part of the elevated range which is interposed
between the carse lands on the Forth and the vale of Devon at the base
of the Ochils on the north consists of inferior soils, often lying upon
an impervious clay. Oats are the chief crop, but wheat and barley are
profitably grown. Sheep-farming is successfully pursued, the Ochils
affording excellent pasturage, and cattle, pigs and horses are also
raised. There is a small tract of moorland in the east, called the
Forest, bounded on its northern margin by the Black Devon. Iron-ore
(haematite), copper, silver, lead, cobalt and arsenic have all been
discovered in small quantity in the Ochils, between Alva and Dollar.
Ironstone--found either in beds, or in oblate balls embedded in slaty
clay, and yielded from 25 to 30% of iron--is mined for the Devon
iron-works, near Clackmannan. Coal has been mined for a long period. The
strata which compose the field are varieties of sandstone, shale,
fire-clay and argillaceous ironstone. There is a heavy continuous output
of coal at the mines at Sauchie, Fishcross, Coalsnaughton, Devonside,
Clackmannan and other pits. The spinning-mills at Alloa, Tillicoultry
and Alva are always busy, Alloa yarns and fingering being widely famous.
The distilleries at Glenochil and Carsebridge and the breweries in Alloa
and Cambus do a large export business. The minor trades include
glass-blowing, pottery, coopering, tanning, iron-founding, electrical
apparatus making, ship-building and paper-making.
The north British railway serves the whole county, while the Caledonian
has access to Alloa.
_Population and Government._--The population was 33,140 in 1891 and
32,029 in 1901, when 170 persons spoke Gaelic and English and one person
Gaelic only. The county unites with Kinross-shire in returning one
member to parliament. Clackmannan (pop. 1505) is the county town, but
Alloa (14,458), Alva (4624), and Tillicoultry (3338) take precedence in
population and trade. Menstrie (pop. 898) near Alloa has a large
furniture factory and the great distillery of Glenochil. To the
north-east of Alloa is the thriving mining village of Sauchie.
Clackmannan forms a sheriffdom with Stirling and Dumbarton shires, and a
sheriff-substitute sits at Alloa. Most of the schools in the shire are
under school-board control, but there are a few voluntary schools,
besides an exceptionally well-equipped technical school in Alloa and a
well-known academy at Dollar.
See James Wallace, _The Sheriffdom of Clackmannan: a Sketch of its
History_ (Edinburgh, 1890); D. Beveridge, _Between the Ochils and the
Forth_ (Edinburgh, 1888); John Crawford, _Memorials of Alloa_ (1885);
William Gibson, _Reminiscences of Dollar, Tillicoultry_,
CLACTON-ON-SEA, a watering-place in the Harwich parliamentary division
of Essex, England; 71 m. E.N.E. from London by a branch from Colchester
of the Great Eastern railway; served also by steamers from London in the
summer months. Pop. of urban district (1901) 7456. Clay cliffs of slight
altitude rise from the sandy beach and face south-eastward. In the
neighbourhood, however, marshes fringe the shore. The church of Great
Clacton, at the village 11/2 m. inland, is Norman and later, and of
considerable interest. Clacton is provided with a pier, promenade and
marine parade; and is the seat of various convalescent and other homes.
CLADEL, LEON (1835-1892), French novelist, was born at Montauban
(Tarn-et-Garonne) on the 13th of March 1835. The son of an artisan, he
studied law at Toulouse and became a solicitor's clerk in Paris. He made
a reputation in a limited circle by his first book, _Les Martyrs
ridicules_ (1862), a novel for which Charles Baudelaire, whose literary
disciple Cladel was, wrote a preface. He then returned to his native
district of Quercy, where he produced a series of pictures of peasant
life in _Eral le dompteur_ (1865), _Le Nomme Qouael_ (1868) and other
volumes. Returning to Paris he published the two novels which are
generally acknowledged as his best work, _Le Bouscassie_ (1869) and _La
Fete votive de Saint Bartholomee Porte-glaive_ (1872). _Une Maudite_
(1876) was judged dangerous to the public morals and cost its author a
month's imprisonment. Other works by Cladel are _Les Va-nu-pieds_
(1873), a volume of short stories; _N'a qu'un oeil_ (1882), _Urbains
et ruraux_ (1884), _Gueux de marque_ (1887), and the posthumous _Juive
errante_ (1897). He died at Sevres on the 20th of July 1892.
See _La Vie de Leon Cladel_ (Paris, 1905), by his daughter Judith
Cladel, containing also an article on Cladel by Edmond Picard, a
complete list of his works, and of the critical articles on his work.
CLAFLIN, HORACE BRIGHAM (1811-1885), American merchant, was born in
Milford, Massachusetts, on the 18th of December 1811. He was educated at
Milford Academy, became a clerk in his father's store in Milford, and in
1831, with his brother Aaron and his brother-in-law Samuel Daniels,
succeeded to his father's business. In 1832 the firm opened a branch
store in Worcester, Mass., and in 1833 Horace B. Claflin and Daniels
secured the sole control of this establishment and restricted their
dealing to dry goods. In 1843 Claflin removed to New York City and
became a member of the firm of Bulkley & Claflin, wholesale dry goods
merchants. In 1851 and in 1864 the firm was reorganized, being
designated in these respective years as Claflin, Mellin & Company and
H.B. Claflin & Company. Under Claflin's management the business
increased so rapidly that the sales for a time after 1865 probably
exceeded those of any other mercantile house in the world. Though the
firm was temporarily embarrassed at the beginning of the Civil War, on
account of its large business interests in the South, and during the
financial panic of 1873, the promptness with which Mr Claflin met these
crises and paid every dollar of his liabilities greatly increased his
reputation for business ability and integrity. He died at Fordham, New
York, on the 14th of November 1885.
CLAIRAULT (or CLAIRAUT), ALEXIS CLAUDE (1713-1765), French
mathematician, was born on the 13th or 7th of May 1713, at Paris, where
his father was a teacher of mathematics. Under his father's tuition he
made such rapid progress in mathematical studies that in his thirteenth
year he read before the French Academy an account of the properties of
four curves which he had then discovered. When only sixteen he finished
a treatise, _Recherches sur les courbes a double courbure_, which, on
its publication in 1731, procured his admission into the Academy of
Sciences, although even then he was below the legal age. In 1736,
together with Pierre Louis Maupertuis, he took part in the expedition to
Lapland, which was undertaken for the purpose of estimating a degree of
the meridian, and on his return he published his treatise _Theorie de la
figure de la terre_ (1743). In this work he promulgated the theorem,
known as "Clairault's theorem," which connects the gravity at points on
the surface of a rotating ellipsoid with the compression and the
centrifugal force at the equator (see EARTH, FIGURE OF THE). He obtained
an ingenious approximate solution of the problem of the three bodies;
in 1750 he gained the prize of the St Petersburg Academy for his essay
_Theorie de la lune_; and in 1759 he calculated the perihelion of
Halley's comet. He also detected singular solutions in differential
equations of the first order, and of the second and higher degrees.
Clairault died at Paris, on the 17th of May 1765.
CLAIRON, LA (1723-1803), French actress, whose real name was CLAIRE
JOSEPH HIPPOLYTE LERIS, was born at Conde sur l'Escaut, Hainaut, on the
25th of January 1723, the natural daughter of any army sergeant. In 1736
she made her first stage appearance at the Comedie Italienne, in a small
part in Marivaux's _Ile des esclaves_. After several years in the
provinces she returned to Paris. Her life, meanwhile, had been decidedly
irregular, even if not to the degree indicated by the libellous pamphlet
_Histoire de la demoiselle Cronel, dite Fretillon, actrice de la Comedie
de Rouen, ecrite par elle-meme_ (The Hague, 1746), or to be inferred
from the disingenuousness of her own _Memoires d'Hippolyte Clairon_
(1798); and she had great difficulty in obtaining an order to make her
_debut_ at the Comedie Francaise. Succeeding, however, at last, she had
the courage to select the title-role of _Phedre_ (1743), and she
obtained a veritable triumph. During her twenty-two years at this
theatre, dividing the honours with her rival Mlle Dumesnil, she filled
many of the classical roles of tragedy, and created a great number of
parts in the plays of Voltaire, Marmontel, Saurin, de Belloy and others.
She retired in 1766, and trained pupils for the stage, among them Mlle
Raucourt. Goldsmith called Mlle Clairon "the most perfect female figure
I have ever seen on any stage" (_The Bee_, 2nd No.); and Garrick, while
recognizing her unwillingness or inability to make use of the
inspiration of the instant, admitted that "she has everything that art
and a good understanding with great natural spirit can give her."
CLAIRVAUX, a village of north-eastern France, in the department of Aube,
40 m. E.S.E. of Troyes on the Eastern railway to Belfort. Clairvaux
(_Clara Vallis_) is situated in the valley of the Aube on the eastern
border of the Forest of Clairvaux. Its celebrity is due to the abbey
founded in 1115 by St Bernard, which became the centre of the Cistercian
order. The buildings (see ABBEY) belong for the most part to the 18th
century, but there is a large storehouse which dates from the 12th
century. The abbey, suppressed at the Revolution, now serves as a
prison, containing on an average 800 inmates, who are employed in
agricultural and industrial occupations. Clairvaux has iron-works of
some importance.
CLAIRVOYANCE (Fr. for "clear-seeing"), a technical term in psychical
research, properly equivalent to lucidity, a supernormal power of
obtaining knowledge in which no part is played by (_a_) the ordinary
processes of sense-perception or (_b_) supernormal communication with
other intelligences, incarnate, or discarnate. The word is also used,
sometimes qualified by the word _telepathic_, to mean the power of
gaining supernormal knowledge from the mind of another (see TELEPATHY).
It is further commonly used by spiritualists to mean the power of seeing
spirit forms, or, more vaguely, of discovering facts by some supernormal
means.
_Lucidity._--Few experiments have been made to test the existence of
this faculty. If communications from discarnate minds are regarded as
possible, there are no means of distinguishing facts obtained in this
way from facts obtained by independent clairvoyance. In practice no
evidence has been obtained pointing to the possession by a discarnate
spirit of knowledge not possessed by any living person (see MEDIUM). As
explanation of the few successful experiments in independent
clairvoyance we have the choice of three explanations: (1) lucidity; (2)
telepathy from living persons; (3) hyperaesthesia. The second
possibility was overlooked in Richet's diagram experiments; it cannot be
assumed that a picture put into an envelope and not consciously recalled
has been in reality forgotten. Similarly the clairvoyant diagnosis of
diseases may depend on knowledge gained telepathically from the patient,
who may be subliminally aware of diseased states of the body. The most
elaborate experiments are by Prof. Richet with a hypnotized subject who
succeeded in naming twelve cards out of sixty-eight. But no precautions
were taken against hyperaesthesia further than enclosing the card in a
second envelope. There is a power possessed by a certain number of
people, of naming a card drawn by them or held in the hand face
downwards, so that there is no normal knowledge of its suit and number.
Few thorough trials have been made; but it seems to point to some kind
of hyperaesthesia rather than to clairvoyance; in the Richet experiments
even if the envelopes excluded hyperaesthesia of touch on the part of
the medium, there may have been subliminal knowledge on Prof. Richet's
part of the card which he put in the envelope. The experience known as
the _deja vu_ has sometimes been explained as due to clairvoyance.
_Telepathic Clairvoyance._--For a discussion of this see TELEPATHY and
CRYSTAL-GAZING. It may be noted here that some curious relation seems to
exist between apparently telepathic acquisition of knowledge and the
arrival of a letter, newspaper, &c, from which the same knowledge could
be directly gained. We are confronted with a similar problem in
attempting an explanation of the power of mediums to state correctly
facts relating to objects placed in their hands. Of a somewhat different
character is retrocognition (_q.v._), where the knowledge in many cases,
if telepathic, must be derived from a discarnate mind.
Clairvoyance, as a term of spiritualism, with its correlative
_clairaudience_, is the name given to the power of seeing and hearing
discarnate spirits of dead relatives and others, with whom the living
are said to be surrounded. More vaguely it includes the power of gaining
knowledge, either through the spirit world or by means of psychometry
(i.e. the supernormal acquisition of knowledge about owners of objects,
writers of letters, &c). Some evidence for these latter powers has been
accumulated by the Society for Psychical Research, but in many cases the
piecing together of normally acquired knowledge, together with shrewd
guessing, suffices to explain the facts, especially where the
investigator has had no special training for his task.
See Richet, _Experimentelle Studien_ (1891); also in _Proc. S.P.R._
vi. 66. For a criticism see N.W. Thomas, _Thought Transference_, pp.
44-48. For Clairvoyance in general see F.W.H. Myers, _Human
Personality_, and in _Proc. S.P.R._ xi. 334 et seq. For a criticism of
the evidence see Mrs Sidgwick in _Proc. S.P.R._ vii. 30, 356.
(N. W. T.)
CLAMECY, a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the
department of Nievre, at the confluence of the Yonne and Beuvron and on
the Canal du Nivernais, 46 m. N.N.E. of Nevers on the Paris-Lyon
railway. Pop. (1906) 4455. Its principal building is the church of St
Martin, which dates chiefly from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The
tower and facade are of the 16th century. The chevet, which is
surrounded by an aisle, is rectangular--a feature found in few French
churches. Of the old castle of the counts of Nevers, vaulted cellars
alone remain. A church in the suburb of Bethlehem, dating from the 12th
and 13th centuries, now serves as part of an hotel. The public
institutions include the sub-prefecture, tribunals of first instance and
of commerce and a communal college. Among the industrial establishments
are saw-mills, fulling-mills and flour-mills, tanneries and
manufactories of boots and shoes and chemicals; and there is
considerable trade in wine and cattle and in wood and charcoal, which is
conveyed principally to Paris, by way of the Yonne.
In the early middle ages Clamecy belonged to the abbey of St Julian at
Auxerre; in the 11th century it passed to the counts of Nevers, one of
whom, Herve, enfranchised the inhabitants in 1213. After the capture of
Jerusalem by Saladin in 1188, Clamecy became the seat of the bishops of
Bethlehem, who till the Revolution resided in the hospital of Panthenor,
bequeathed by William IV., count of Nevers. On the _coup d'etat_ of 1851
an insurrection broke out in the town, and was repressed by the new
authorities with great severity.
CLAN (Gaelic _clann_, O. Ir. _cland_, connected with Lat. _planta_,
shoot or scion, the ancient Gaelic or Goidelic substituting k for p), a
group of people united by common blood, and usually settled in a common
habitat. The clan system existed in Ireland and the Highlands of
Scotland from early times. In its strictest sense the system was
peculiar to those countries, but, in its wider meaning of a group of
kinsmen forming a self-governing community, the system as represented by
the village community has been shown by Sir H. Maine and others to have
existed at one time or another in all lands.
Before the use of surnames and elaborate written genealogies, a tribe in
its definite sense was called in Celtic a _tuath_, a word of wide
affinities, from a root _tu_, to grow, to multiply, existing in all
European languages. When the tribal system began to be broken up by
conquest and by the rise of towns and of territorial government, the use
of a common surname furnished a new bond for keeping up a connexion
between kindred. The head of a tribe or smaller group of kindred
selected some ancestor and called himself his _Ua_, grandson, or as it
has been anglicized _O', e.g. Ua Conchobair_ (O' Conor), _Ua
Suilleabhain_ (O'Sullivan). All his kindred adopted the same name, the
chief using no fore-name however. The usual mode of distinguishing a
person before the introduction of surnames was to name his father and
grandfather, e.g. Owen, son of Donal, son of Dermot. This naturally
led some to form their surnames with _Mac_, son, instead of _Ua_,
grandson, e.g. _MacCarthaigh_, son of _Carthach_ (MacCarthy),
_MacRuaidhri_, son of Rory (Macrory). Both methods have been followed in
Ireland, but in Scotland _Mac_ came to be exclusively used. The adoption
of such genealogical surnames fostered the notion that all who bore the
same surname were kinsmen, and hence the genealogical term _clann_,
which properly means the descendants of some progenitor, gradually
became synonymous with _tuath_, tribe. Like all purely genealogical
terms, _clann_ may be used in the limited sense of a particular tribe
governed by a chief, or in that of many tribes claiming descent from a
common ancestor. In the latter sense it was synonymous with _sil, siol_,
seed e.g. _Siol Alpine_, a great clan which included the smaller clans
of the Macgregors, Grants, Mackinnons, Macnabs, Macphies, Macquarries
and Macaulays.
The clan system in the most archaic form of which we have any definite
information can be best studied in the Irish _tuath_, or tribe.[1] This
consisted of two classes: (1) tribesmen, and (2) a miscellaneous class
of slaves, criminals, strangers and their descendants. The first class
included tribesmen by blood in the male line, including all illegitimate
children acknowledged by their fathers, and tribesmen by adoption or
sons of tribeswomen by strangers, foster-sons, men who had done some
signal service to the tribe, and lastly the descendants of the second
class after a certain number of generations. Each _tuath_ had a chief
called a _rig_, king, a word cognate with the Gaulish _rig-s_ or _rix_,
the Latin _reg-s_ or _rex_, and the Old Norse _rik-ir_. The tribesmen
formed a number of communities, each of which, like the tribe itself,
consisted of a head, _ceann fine_, his kinsmen, slaves and other
retainers. This was the _fine_, or sept. Each of these occupied a
certain part of the tribe-land, the arable part being cultivated under a
system of co-tillage, the pasture land co-grazed according to certain
customs, and the wood, bog and mountains forming the marchland of the
sept being the unrestricted common land of the sept. The sept was in
fact a village community.
What the sept was to the tribe, the homestead was to the sept. The head
of a homestead was an _aire_, a representative freeman capable of acting
as a witness, compurgator and bail. These were very important functions,
especially when it is borne in mind that the tribal homestead was the
home of many of the kinsfolk of the head of the family as well as of his
own children. The descent of property being according to a gavel-kind
custom, it constantly happened that when an _aire_ died the share of his
property which each member of his immediate family was entitled to
receive was not sufficient to qualify him to be an _aire_. In this case
the family did not divide the inheritance, but remained together as "a
joint and undivided family," one of the members being elected chief of
the family or household, and in this capacity enjoyed the rights and
privileges of an _aire_. Sir H.S. Maine directed attention to this kind
of family as an important feature of the early institutions of all
Indo-European nations. Beside the "joint and undivided family," there
was another kind of family which we might call "the joint family." This
was a partnership composed of three or four members of a sept whose
individual wealth was not sufficient to qualify each of them to be an
_aire_, but whose joint wealth qualified one of the co-partners as head
of the joint family to be one.
So long as there was abundance of land each family grazed its cattle
upon the tribe-land without restriction; unequal increase of wealth and
growth of population naturally led to its limitation, each head of a
homestead being entitled to graze an amount of stock in proportion to
his wealth, the size of his homestead, and his acquired position. The
arable land was no doubt applotted annually at first; gradually,
however, some of the richer families of the tribe succeeded in evading
this exchange of allotments and converting part of the common land into
an estate in sevralty. Septs were at first colonies of the tribe which
settled on the march-land; afterwards the conversion of part of the
common land into an estate in sevralty enabled the family that acquired
it to become the parent of a new sept. The same process might, however,
take place within a sept without dividing it; in other words, several
members of the sept might hold part of the land of the sept as separate
estate. The possession of land in sevralty introduced an important
distinction into the tribal system--it created an aristocracy. An _aire_
whose family held the same land for three generations was called a
_flaith_, or lord, of which rank there were several grades according to
their wealth in land and chattels. The _aires_ whose wealth consisted in
cattle only were called _bo-aires_, or cow-_aires_, of whom there were
also several grades, depending on their wealth in stock. When a
_bo-aire_ had twice the wealth of the lowest class of _flaith_ he might
enclose part of the land adjoining his house as a lawn; this was the
first step towards his becoming a _flaith_. The relations which
subsisted between the _flaiths_ and the _bo-aires_ formed the most
curious part of the Celtic tribal system, and throw a flood of light on
the origin of the feudal system. Every tribesman without exception owed
_ceilsinne_ to the _rig_, or chief, that is, he was bound to become his
_ceile_, or vassal. This consisted in paying the _rig_ a tribute in
kind, for which the _ceile_ was entitled to receive a proportionate
amount of stock without having to give any bond for their return, giving
him service, e.g. in building his _dun_, or stronghold, reaping his
harvest, keeping his roads clean and in repair, killing wolves, and
especially service in the field, and doing him homage three times while
seated every time he made his return of tribute. Paying the "_calpe_" to
the Highland chiefs represented this kind of vassalage, a _colpdach_ or
heifer being in many cases the amount of food-rent paid by a free or
_saer ceile_. A tribesman might, however, if he pleased, pay a higher
rent on receiving more stock together with certain other chattels for
which no rent was chargeable. In this case he entered into a contract,
and was therefore a bond or _daer ceile_. No one need have accepted
stock on these terms, nor could he do so without the consent of his
sept, and he might free himself at any time from his obligation by
returning what he had received, and the rent due thereon.
What every one was bound to do to his _rig_, or chief, he might do
voluntarily to the _flaith_ of his sept, to any _flaith_ of the tribe,
or even to one of another tribe. He might also become a bond _ceile_. In
either case he might renounce his ceileship by returning a greater or
lesser amount of stock than what he had received according to the
circumstances under which he terminated his vassalage. In cases of
disputed succession to the chiefship of a tribe the rival claimants were
always anxious to get as many as possible to become their vassals. Hence
the anxiety of minor chieftains, in later times in the Highlands of
Scotland, to induce the clansmen to pay the "_calpe_" where there
happened to be a doubt as to who was entitled to be chief.
The effect of the custom of gavel-kind was to equalize the wealth of
each and leave no one wealthy enough to be chief. The "joint and
undivided family" and the formation of "joint families," or gilds, was
one way of obviating this result; another way was the custom of
tanistry. The headship of the tribe was practically confined to the
members of one family; this was also the case with the headship of a
sept. Sometimes a son succeeded his father, but the rule was that the
eldest and most capable member of the _geilfine_, that is, the relatives
of the actual chief to the fifth degree,[2] was selected during his
lifetime to be his successor--generally the eldest surviving brother or
son of the preceding chief. The man selected as successor to a chief of
a tribe, or chieftain of a sept, was called the tanist, and should be
"the most experienced, the most noble, the most wealthy, the wisest, the
most learned, the most truly popular, the most powerful to oppose, the
most steadfast to sue for profits and (be sued) for losses." In addition
to these qualities he should be free from personal blemishes and
deformities and of fit age to lead his tribe or sept, as the case may
be, to battle.[3] So far as selecting the man of the _geilfine_ who was
supposed to possess all those qualities, the office of chief of a tribe
or chieftain of a sept was elective, but as the _geilfine_ was
represented by four persons, together with the chief or chieftain, the
election was practically confined to one of the four. In order to
support the dignity of the chief or chieftain a certain portion of the
tribe or sept land was attached as an apanage to the office; this land,
with the _duns_ or fortified residences upon it, went to the successor,
but a chief's own property might be gavelled. This custom of tanistry
applied at first probably to the selection of the successors of a _rig_,
but was gradually so extended that even a _bo-aire_ had a tanist.
A sept might have only one _flaith_, or lord, connected with it, or
might have several. It sometimes happened, however, that a sept might be
so broken and reduced as not to have even one man qualified to rank as a
_flaith_. The rank of a _flaith_ depended upon the number of his
_ceiles_, that is, upon his wealth. The _flaith_ of a sept, and the
highest when there was more than one, was _ceann fine_, or head of the
sept, or as he was usually called in Scotland, the chieftain. He was
also called the _flaith geilfine_, or head of the _geilfine_, that is,
the kinsmen to the fifth degree from among whom should be chosen the
tanist, and who, according to the custom of gavel-kind, were the
immediate heirs who received the personal property and were answerable
for the liabilities of the sept. The _flaiths_ of the different septs
were the vassals of the _rig_, or chief of the tribe, and performed
certain functions which were no doubt at first individual, but in time
became the hereditary right of the sept. One of those was the office of
_maer_, or steward of the chief's rents, &c.;[4] and another that of
_aire tuisi_, leading _aire_, or _taoisech_, a word cognate with the
Latin _duc-s_ or _dux_, and Anglo-Saxon here-_tog_, leader of the
"here," or army. The _taoisech_ was leader of the tribe in battle; in
later times the term seems to have been extended to several offices of
rank. The cadet of a Highland clan was always called the _taoisech_,
which has been translated captain; after the conquest of Wales the same
term, _tywysaug_, was used for a ruling prince. Slavery was very common
in Ireland and Scotland; in the former slaves constituted a common
element in the stipends or gifts which the higher kings gave their
vassal _sub-reguli_. Female slaves, who were employed in the houses of
chiefs and _flaiths_ in grinding meal with the hand-mill or quern, and
in other domestic work, must have been very common, for the unit or
standard for estimating the wealth of a _bo-aire_, blood-fines, &c., was
called a _cumhal_, the value of which was three cows, but which
literally meant a female slave. The descendants of those slaves,
prisoners of war, forfeited hostages, refugees from other tribes, broken
tribesmen, &c., gathered round the residence of the _rig_ and _flaiths_,
or squatted upon their march-lands, forming a motley band of retainers
which made a considerable element in the population, and one of the
chief sources of the wealth of chiefs and _flaiths_. The other principal
source of their income was the food-rent paid by _ceiles_, and
especially by the _daer_ or bond _ceiles_, who were hence called
_biathachs_, from _biad_, food. A _flaith_, but not a _rig_, might, if
he liked, go to the house of his _ceile_ and consume his food-rent in
the house of the latter.
Under the influence of feudal ideas and the growth of the modern views
as to ownership of land, the chiefs and other lords of clans claimed in
modern times the right of best owing the tribe-land as _turcrec_,
instead of stock, and receiving rent not for cattle and other chattels
as in former times, but proportionate to the extent of land given to
them. The _turcrec_-land seems to have been at first given upon the same
terms as _turcrec_-stock, but gradually a system of short leases grew
up; sometimes, too, it was given on mortgage. In the Highlands of
Scotland _ceiles_ who received _turcrec_-land were called "taksmen." On
the death of the chief or lord, his successor either bestowed the land
upon the same person or gave it to some other relative. In this way in
each generation new families came into possession of land, and others
sank into the mass of mere tribesmen. Sometimes a "taksman" succeeded in
acquiring his land in perpetuity, by gift, marriage or purchase, or even
by the "strong hand." The universal prevalence of exchangeable
allotments, or the rundale system, shows that down to even comparatively
modern times some of the land was still recognized as the property of
the tribe, and was cultivated in village communities.
The chief governed the clan by the aid of a council called the _sabaid_
(_sab_, a prop), but the chief exercised much power, especially over the
miscellaneous body of non-tribesmen who lived on his own estate. This
power seems to have extended to life and death. Several of the
_flaiths_, perhaps, all heads of septs, also possessed somewhat
extensive powers of the same kind.
The Celtic dress, at least in the middle ages, consisted of a kind of
shirt reaching to a little below the knees called a _lenn_, a jacket
called an _inar_, and a garment called a _brat_, consisting of a single
piece of cloth. This was apparently the garb of the _aires_, who appear
to have been further distinguished by the number of colours in their
dress, for we are told that while a slave had clothes of one colour, a
_reg tuatha_, or chief of a tribe, had five, and an _ollamh_ and a
superior king six. The breeches was also known, and cloaks with a cowl
or hood, which buttoned up tight in front. The _lenn_ is the modern
kilt, and the _brat_ the plaid, so that the dress of the Irish and Welsh
in former times was the same as that of the Scottish Highlander.
By the abolition of the heritable jurisdiction of the Highland chiefs,
and the general disarmament of the clans by the acts passed in 1747
after the rebellion of 1745, the clan system was practically broken up,
though its influence still lingers in the more remote districts. An act
was also passed in 1747 forbidding the use of the Highland garb; but the
injustice and impolicy of such a law being generally felt it was
afterwards repealed. (W. K. S.)