Post by King Adam Aberdeen I on Jul 16, 2008 12:03:44 GMT -6
The Chamberlain stood between the Duke and Duchess, his failing eyes looking to the images upon the tapestry. To the tapestry, he bowed, then began speaking to the images, as if they were real. "M'Lord... M'Lady... May I present the young Lord and the Changling... they have returned to yer bosum..."
Legends... Myths... The ramblings of an old man, body crooked, teeth of pale yellow... But were they ramblings?
There is one common thread that holds most monarchies together. Bloodlines, royal jewels, ceremonies, and associated pomp all boil down to a feeling of tradition that monarchies bring to their subjects. Often one, or more, of these elements become as important as the monarch themselves. The Brooch of Skye, can certainly be placed in this class. The Brooch has been a part of the Lord of the Isles coronation ceremonies for many centuries.
The Norwegian control of both the Inner and Outer Hebrides had seen almost constant warfare for centuries until being ultimately resolved by the partitioning of the Western Isles. The Outer Hebrides remained under the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles while the Inner Hebrides broke out under Somerled, the Norse-Celtic kinsman of both Lulach and the Manx royal house.
Establishing himself as the Lord of Argyll, Somerled was crowned King of the Western Isles over two centuries ago. During his reign, he indoctrinated the tartan concept for clans instead of districts, and developed a symbol, unlike any monarchy before… a brooch clasp for the tartan of the Lord of the Isles… The Brooch was as big as a woman’s fist, cast of gold, a diamond studded northern star, and a cross of cut rubies. His intent was not only to abide himself the Brooch, but to have it as a heirloom for all Skye to have as a monarch’s emblem and named it, Brooch of Skye.
Somerled’s son, Reynold, recognized by the practice of common law right of the first born son to inherit the entire estate and did so as the first to assume the title “Lord of the Isles,” and the first to receive the Brooch. It was then that Somerled gave his son, the first brooch of a tartan king…
Although Aonghus, the fourth Lord, was the first to acknowledge the independence of the Isles from the Kings of Scotland and establish unreigned peerage over the region Called Skye. Dominus Insularum - Lord of the Isles, was passed down from son to son, as was the Brooch of Skye, who each battled their own fates against the Norsemen and English for control and solidified independence, each wearing the brooch proudly as a status symbol of their reign. It was Alan MacRauri, great-grandson of Aonghus, and his wife, Lara of Aberdeen, whose fate played a great role, bore no sons for the first time in 6 generations. Skye was to be without a Lord…
Alan and Lara bore five daughters… of which Davena MacRauri, born in 1275, in Bernisdale, Isle of Skye, was the youngest. Alan sought to recognize the practice of common law right of the first born to inherit the entire estate in its purist form: that an infant female should have rule over a warrior society by right of birth alone. Alan had planned that his eldest daughter, Aila, inherit the title, along with the Brooch of Skye… But the times of Davena and her sisters were of viable age, the land was wrought with deceit and dishonor as the English intervened and Clans fought for control.
In fear of his family’s life, the impending termination of the Lord of the Isles title, and the loss of the sacred Brooch, Alan, and his wife, along with close members of the royal court devised a plan to hide the Brooch and the clan fortunes from those who wished to destroy the royal Skye lineage and impose secular clan rule.
In her infant years, Davena was forced to hide along with her sisters and their handmaids… By 1279, when she was 4, her Mother and three sisters had been killed in the fighting. By 1281, at age 6, with the Castle MacRauri under siege, Alan, her Father, sent her and Anna, her handmaid to England, along with a substantial dowry for the future.
One year later, in 1282, Anna learned that Lord Alan, and Davena’s remaining sister, had been killed at Turas Lan. Davena was the remaining sole heir to the Lordship of the Isles and believed dead. Skye and the remaining Isles fell under the rule of the Clans and the King of Scotland. The Lord of the Isles was no more…. And the Brooch and its accompanying fortune vanished.
The Clan Wars were a series of conflicts among the twelve Clans of Skye and Scotland. By the end of the wars about 13,500 people had died and the land was constantly invaded by neighboring England. What wrought such pain? such patriotism?
The Brooch of Skye is the highest symbol of royalty in Skye… to those of the Isles, it means fundamental object of leadership. It is the object which we worship our Lord of the Isles and have faith in as the basis of life there. It is only natural, then, that our lives are fundamentally determined by the object we take as our object of leaders.
The common people became familiar with the image of the brooch through Skye tapestries and paintings, and they aroused patriotism in the land and reverence for the Lord of the Isles through such works of art.
The artifact is mysterious. It's legended to hold tremendous power. The brooch is worn by the ruler. In it is included his personality, his position in the world, his strengths, his mental and physical state, his past, the causes and effects that made him what he is.
In actuality, a person and a country are always changing, moment to moment, without a moment’s pause. The name of a person or country is the single phrase that expresses and encompasses all of those activities and functions. The Brooch of Skye is that single phrase.
The mysticism of the Brooch is which it operates as both good and evil.
The power of the brooch is in the symbolism that has served as powerful protection against harm and evil both on earth and in the afterlife, given to the first Lord of the Isles many centuries ago. The brooch was believed by many to fulfill almost any wish, even for tangible goods and its ability to bring protection, success, good luck, security, wealth, and health to it’s wearer. The brooch has its own unique mystical powers and special meaning, allowing the best needs of the wearer.
It is said that Kings and Tanists have been toppled for the sake of the brooch and what it provides to the wearer. Little is known of true fact of the brooch, but stories, conjecture, and rumor is more deadly, more damaging than the truth.
The Search for the Brooch is what makes the future. It explores the fate of possibly the greatest treasure in history. The Brooch survived years of turbulent history and the rule of five different clan leaders; only an intriguing trail of clues betrays their ever-changing destiny. The treasure is a priceless hoard, but it has yet greater significance as the ultimate symbol of Skye’s independence.
One thing is a certainty; the Brooch of Skye has become a Holy Grail in its own right. Men and women have fought to possess it or to obscure it from those unworthy to lay claim to the Brooch. In the end, only the true Lord of the Isles would, or should, wear the Brooch.
Legends... Myths... The ramblings of an old man, body crooked, teeth of pale yellow... But were they ramblings?
"Whence the brooch of burning gold,
That clasps the chieftain's mantle fold,
Wrought and chased with rare device,
Studded fair with gems of price;
On the varied tartans beaming.
As, thro' night's pale rainbow gleaming,
Fainter now, now seen afar.
Fitful shines the northern star."
Gem! ne'er wrought on Highland mountain,
Did the fairy of the fountain,
Or the mermaid of the wave,
Frame thee in some coral cave?
Did in Norway’s darksome mine,
Dwarfs' swarthy hands thy metal twine'
Or, mortal moulded, come't thou here,
From England's love or France's fear?
No! thy splendors nothing tell
Foreign art or faery spell,
Moulded thou for monarch's use.
When the royal robe he tied
O'er a heart of wrath and pride;
Thence in triumph wert thou sat on high
By the victor hand of Skye!
The Church of God saw Lord fall !
On God's own altar streamed his blood,
While o'er my prostrate kinsman stood
The ruthless murderer e'en as now
With armed hand and scornful brow.
Up, all who love me ! blow on blow !
And lay the outlawed felons low !"
While the gem was won and lost,
Widely was the war-cry toss'd!
Rung aloud
MacRauri Fell,
Answering
Obar Dheathain's sounding dell,
Fled the deer from wild Tyndrum,
When the genocide o'ercome,
Hardly 'scaped with scathe and mock,
Left the pledge with conquering Skye stock !
Vain was then the Douglas brand,
Vain the Campbell's vaunted hand,
Vain Kilpatrick's bloody dirk,
Making sure of murder's work:
Harper fled fast away,
Fled the fiery De la Hay,
When this brooch, triumphant nigh,
Beam'd upon the breast of Skye.
Farthest fled its former lord,
Left his men to brand and cord,
Bloody brand of English steel,
Gibbet, axe, sword and wheel,
Let him fly from coast to coast,
Dogg'd by Alan's vengeful ghost.
While his spoils, in triumph worn,
Long shall grace victory born!
As glares the tiger on his foes,
Heram'd in by hunters' spears and bows,
And, ere he bounds upon the ring,
Selects the object of his spring
Now on the bard, now on his Lord,
So the young Green Knight glared and grasped his sword;
Well hast thou framed, old man, thy strains,
To praise the hand that pays thy pains.
Yet something might thy song have told
Of Skye's three vassals, true and bold.
Who rent their Lord from England's hold,
As underneath his knee he lay,
And died to save him in the fray.
I've heard the Lord's cloak and clasp
Were clench'd within their dying grasp,
What time a hundred foemen more
Rush'd in and back the victor bore,
Long after Skye had left the strife,
Full glad to 'scape with limb and life.
That clasps the chieftain's mantle fold,
Wrought and chased with rare device,
Studded fair with gems of price;
On the varied tartans beaming.
As, thro' night's pale rainbow gleaming,
Fainter now, now seen afar.
Fitful shines the northern star."
Gem! ne'er wrought on Highland mountain,
Did the fairy of the fountain,
Or the mermaid of the wave,
Frame thee in some coral cave?
Did in Norway’s darksome mine,
Dwarfs' swarthy hands thy metal twine'
Or, mortal moulded, come't thou here,
From England's love or France's fear?
No! thy splendors nothing tell
Foreign art or faery spell,
Moulded thou for monarch's use.
When the royal robe he tied
O'er a heart of wrath and pride;
Thence in triumph wert thou sat on high
By the victor hand of Skye!
The Church of God saw Lord fall !
On God's own altar streamed his blood,
While o'er my prostrate kinsman stood
The ruthless murderer e'en as now
With armed hand and scornful brow.
Up, all who love me ! blow on blow !
And lay the outlawed felons low !"
While the gem was won and lost,
Widely was the war-cry toss'd!
Rung aloud
MacRauri Fell,
Answering
Obar Dheathain's sounding dell,
Fled the deer from wild Tyndrum,
When the genocide o'ercome,
Hardly 'scaped with scathe and mock,
Left the pledge with conquering Skye stock !
Vain was then the Douglas brand,
Vain the Campbell's vaunted hand,
Vain Kilpatrick's bloody dirk,
Making sure of murder's work:
Harper fled fast away,
Fled the fiery De la Hay,
When this brooch, triumphant nigh,
Beam'd upon the breast of Skye.
Farthest fled its former lord,
Left his men to brand and cord,
Bloody brand of English steel,
Gibbet, axe, sword and wheel,
Let him fly from coast to coast,
Dogg'd by Alan's vengeful ghost.
While his spoils, in triumph worn,
Long shall grace victory born!
As glares the tiger on his foes,
Heram'd in by hunters' spears and bows,
And, ere he bounds upon the ring,
Selects the object of his spring
Now on the bard, now on his Lord,
So the young Green Knight glared and grasped his sword;
Well hast thou framed, old man, thy strains,
To praise the hand that pays thy pains.
Yet something might thy song have told
Of Skye's three vassals, true and bold.
Who rent their Lord from England's hold,
As underneath his knee he lay,
And died to save him in the fray.
I've heard the Lord's cloak and clasp
Were clench'd within their dying grasp,
What time a hundred foemen more
Rush'd in and back the victor bore,
Long after Skye had left the strife,
Full glad to 'scape with limb and life.
There is one common thread that holds most monarchies together. Bloodlines, royal jewels, ceremonies, and associated pomp all boil down to a feeling of tradition that monarchies bring to their subjects. Often one, or more, of these elements become as important as the monarch themselves. The Brooch of Skye, can certainly be placed in this class. The Brooch has been a part of the Lord of the Isles coronation ceremonies for many centuries.
The Norwegian control of both the Inner and Outer Hebrides had seen almost constant warfare for centuries until being ultimately resolved by the partitioning of the Western Isles. The Outer Hebrides remained under the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles while the Inner Hebrides broke out under Somerled, the Norse-Celtic kinsman of both Lulach and the Manx royal house.
Establishing himself as the Lord of Argyll, Somerled was crowned King of the Western Isles over two centuries ago. During his reign, he indoctrinated the tartan concept for clans instead of districts, and developed a symbol, unlike any monarchy before… a brooch clasp for the tartan of the Lord of the Isles… The Brooch was as big as a woman’s fist, cast of gold, a diamond studded northern star, and a cross of cut rubies. His intent was not only to abide himself the Brooch, but to have it as a heirloom for all Skye to have as a monarch’s emblem and named it, Brooch of Skye.
Somerled’s son, Reynold, recognized by the practice of common law right of the first born son to inherit the entire estate and did so as the first to assume the title “Lord of the Isles,” and the first to receive the Brooch. It was then that Somerled gave his son, the first brooch of a tartan king…
Although Aonghus, the fourth Lord, was the first to acknowledge the independence of the Isles from the Kings of Scotland and establish unreigned peerage over the region Called Skye. Dominus Insularum - Lord of the Isles, was passed down from son to son, as was the Brooch of Skye, who each battled their own fates against the Norsemen and English for control and solidified independence, each wearing the brooch proudly as a status symbol of their reign. It was Alan MacRauri, great-grandson of Aonghus, and his wife, Lara of Aberdeen, whose fate played a great role, bore no sons for the first time in 6 generations. Skye was to be without a Lord…
Alan and Lara bore five daughters… of which Davena MacRauri, born in 1275, in Bernisdale, Isle of Skye, was the youngest. Alan sought to recognize the practice of common law right of the first born to inherit the entire estate in its purist form: that an infant female should have rule over a warrior society by right of birth alone. Alan had planned that his eldest daughter, Aila, inherit the title, along with the Brooch of Skye… But the times of Davena and her sisters were of viable age, the land was wrought with deceit and dishonor as the English intervened and Clans fought for control.
In fear of his family’s life, the impending termination of the Lord of the Isles title, and the loss of the sacred Brooch, Alan, and his wife, along with close members of the royal court devised a plan to hide the Brooch and the clan fortunes from those who wished to destroy the royal Skye lineage and impose secular clan rule.
In her infant years, Davena was forced to hide along with her sisters and their handmaids… By 1279, when she was 4, her Mother and three sisters had been killed in the fighting. By 1281, at age 6, with the Castle MacRauri under siege, Alan, her Father, sent her and Anna, her handmaid to England, along with a substantial dowry for the future.
One year later, in 1282, Anna learned that Lord Alan, and Davena’s remaining sister, had been killed at Turas Lan. Davena was the remaining sole heir to the Lordship of the Isles and believed dead. Skye and the remaining Isles fell under the rule of the Clans and the King of Scotland. The Lord of the Isles was no more…. And the Brooch and its accompanying fortune vanished.
The Clan Wars were a series of conflicts among the twelve Clans of Skye and Scotland. By the end of the wars about 13,500 people had died and the land was constantly invaded by neighboring England. What wrought such pain? such patriotism?
The Brooch of Skye is the highest symbol of royalty in Skye… to those of the Isles, it means fundamental object of leadership. It is the object which we worship our Lord of the Isles and have faith in as the basis of life there. It is only natural, then, that our lives are fundamentally determined by the object we take as our object of leaders.
The common people became familiar with the image of the brooch through Skye tapestries and paintings, and they aroused patriotism in the land and reverence for the Lord of the Isles through such works of art.
The artifact is mysterious. It's legended to hold tremendous power. The brooch is worn by the ruler. In it is included his personality, his position in the world, his strengths, his mental and physical state, his past, the causes and effects that made him what he is.
In actuality, a person and a country are always changing, moment to moment, without a moment’s pause. The name of a person or country is the single phrase that expresses and encompasses all of those activities and functions. The Brooch of Skye is that single phrase.
The mysticism of the Brooch is which it operates as both good and evil.
The power of the brooch is in the symbolism that has served as powerful protection against harm and evil both on earth and in the afterlife, given to the first Lord of the Isles many centuries ago. The brooch was believed by many to fulfill almost any wish, even for tangible goods and its ability to bring protection, success, good luck, security, wealth, and health to it’s wearer. The brooch has its own unique mystical powers and special meaning, allowing the best needs of the wearer.
It is said that Kings and Tanists have been toppled for the sake of the brooch and what it provides to the wearer. Little is known of true fact of the brooch, but stories, conjecture, and rumor is more deadly, more damaging than the truth.
The Search for the Brooch is what makes the future. It explores the fate of possibly the greatest treasure in history. The Brooch survived years of turbulent history and the rule of five different clan leaders; only an intriguing trail of clues betrays their ever-changing destiny. The treasure is a priceless hoard, but it has yet greater significance as the ultimate symbol of Skye’s independence.
One thing is a certainty; the Brooch of Skye has become a Holy Grail in its own right. Men and women have fought to possess it or to obscure it from those unworthy to lay claim to the Brooch. In the end, only the true Lord of the Isles would, or should, wear the Brooch.
