The Tuath of Shadows is a tuath (Duchy) of the Kingdom of Dalriada.
Overview[]
The warm waters of the Little Minch separate the Inner and Outer Hebrides. The Inner Hebrides include Skye, Mull, Islay, and Jura. The Outer Hebrides, or Western Isles, include Lewis and Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, Saint Kilda, and the Flannan Islands. Although most of the 500 or more islands are rocky and wet, others, like Skye and Lewis, are so large that their topography cannot be pigeonholed. Skye contains hill, moor, mountain, and hundreds of miles of rocky coastline.
The Tuath of Shadows is ruled not by a noble, but by Ross' warlord, Bethag of House Scathach. Her tale begins during The '69 when she personally pulled Ross' bannock out of the fire when a Glaswegian nocker sicced a steam bull on him. The chimerical bull had backed Ross into one of the defunct iron refineries of Govan when Bethag showed up and gelded it. Her story continues later.
Ross initially only ruled the Kingdom of Iron, but cast his eyes on the Hebrides and the Western Isles. For years the Isles had been home to commoner clanns. He wanted to change that.
Ross sent Leyden and tried a new tactic of conquest. Count Leyden tried to make pacts with the commoner lairds, hoping to eventually convert them into his vassals, and then replace them with sidhe nobles. Ross never understood the clanns. The clanns had their own squabbles, but things were relatively peaceful at the time. With all of the resulting alliances, the scales were balanced. Ross' stupidity knocked everything out of kilter and threw open the doors to the hounds of slaughter.
One of the clanns from Lewis, Clann Eye, accepted Ross' help and managed to evict most of its rivals from the islands in general. As a good-will gesture, Ross sent 10 of his personal guards to mark the Pennons Festival in the hall of the laird of Clann Eye. The guards were to joust, showing the poor commoners how pretty and dangerous they were. Funny, a knight still can't outrun a bomb. Everyone in the hall was killed in the blast.
When he heard the news, Ross lost his head and said he would knight and give title to any sidhe who could subdue the Isles. For months the ambushes and battles raged from Mull to Lewis. Suddenly, the sidhe nobles who were trying to subdue all those fearsome childlings and grumps were called out, one-by-one, by an unknown sidhe warrior (in single combat, no matter the weapons). The gray-haired woman defeated them all and sent them home in shame without their swords. The commoners went wild and the clanns threw in behind her, but she refused to lead an army. Instead, the wandering knight delivered the arms of all the warriors she had defeated to Ross. Bethag had come back to collect her boon.
Bethag, standing amid the swords of 13 sidhe warriors, asked to be put in charge of the Isles. Much to the noble's surprise, Ross granted her request without hesitation. After all, she subdued the Isles. He made her Countess of the Tuath of Shadows, Warlord of the Isles. The fact that she took a position as one of Ross' vassals makes her one of the most unpopular members of her already shunned house.
Sites[]
Dunvegan Castle[]
On the isle of Skye, Dunvegan castle was once only entered via the sea, but the present structure, extensively rebuilt in the 1800s, now has a bridge from the mainland. A well-groomed garden stretches behind the rectangular-shaded castle and its mock pepperpot turrents. Although the MacLeod chieftain still dwells there, the castle is now also the temporary home to the many tourists who visit.
Fae blood still runs strong in the MacLeods. This may have influenced the MacLeod lairds who never participated in the Highland Clearances.
The Fairy Flag[]
Many different stories exist about the Braolauch shi (Fairy Flag). Some say it was given to a MacLeod when his fae wife had to depart (to Arcadia?). Other legends say it was given to the MacLeods by the queen of the fae. Whatever the source, the legends of its powers are more constant. The flag summons aid from the otherworld, conferring victory to the MacLeods. The MacLeods were only granted three uses of its power. After the third and final use, the standard and its hearer are to be home hack to the land of the fae. Common legend holds that the flag has been used twice: during the battle of Glendale in 1490, and at the Battle of Trumpan in 1580. Both times the MacLeods were victorious. The nature of the aid is not set. Once it is said to have doubled the number of warriors on the MacLeods' side. Other accounts state that the MacLeods' skill and fierceness were doubled. The Flag's mystique has lasted into modem times. During World War II, MacLeod pilots carried pictures of it into battle to protect them.
See also Coruisk
Fir Chreig (The False Men): The Callanish Standing Stones[]
This site is one of the most interesting in all Britain. It is relatively unknown, and therefore one of the most remote and best-preserved mystic sites. The locals still visit on May Day and Midsummer's Day, despite the Kirk's protestations.
The ruins consists of 27 stones that form a rough cross. The center of the cross is a circle of 13 stones with a center stone. Other stone circles and two caems are nearby.
On Midsummer's Day it is said the "Shining One" will stride the avenue of stone. Other traditions speak of a priest-king from a foreign land, all clad in feathers, whose dark-skinned servants came and raised the stones for some arcane purpose. Still others tell of the giants who came to this spot when too many of the people turned from the old ways. They turned themselves to stone until the old faith returned.
The Bardic College[]
See the article Bardic College.
References[]
- CTD. Isle of the Mighty, pp. 98-101.