The Beaton medical kindred, also known as Clann Meic-bethad and Clan MacBeth, was a Scottish kindred of professional physicians that practised medicine in the classical
Gael
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
ic tradition from the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
to the
Early Modern Era.
The kindred appears to have emigrated from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in the fourteenth century, where members seem to have originally learned their craft.
[ Munro; Macintyre (2013).] According to tradition, the kindred first arrived in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in the retinue of the Áine Ní Chatháin, daughter of
Cú Maighe na nGall Ó Catháin ; Áine married
Aonghus Óg Mac Domhnaill
In Irish mythology, Aengus or Óengus is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably originally a god associated with youth, love,Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice-Hall Press ...
in about 1300.
[ Thomson (1968) p. 61.] In time the kindred came to be prominent in the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...
and
Islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
, although the earliest known member appears on record in the
Lowlands
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
, in
Dumfries, during the early fourteenth century. The kindred first came to be associated with
Islay in the early fifteenth century, and afterwards proceeded to spread to other islands.
Eventually, the kindred became the largest and longest serving of the three major mediaeval medical dynasties in Gaelic Scotland.
The kindred is commonly confused with the unrelated
Bethune or Beaton family, historically centred in
Fife. In fact, the medical kindred adopted the surname ''
Beaton'' in the fifteenth century.
By the seventeenth century, most of the seventeen or so families within the kindred had adopted the surname ''Beaton'', although two used the surname ''
Bethune''. Partly as a result members of the medical kindred mistakenly came to think of themselves as descended from the Bethunes of Balfour, the principal branch of the aforesaid Bethune or Beaton family (who were ultimately of
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
origin).
Like other learned Gaelic families, members of the kindred copied and compiled manuscripts.
[ Cheape (1993) p. 123 n. 29.] According to
Martin Martin
Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (-9 October 1718) was a Scottish writer best known for his work '' A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703; second edition 1716). This book is particularly noted for ...
, just before the turn of the eighteenth century, a member of the kindred possessed a library of manuscripts works of
Avicenna,
Averroes
Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an
Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psy ...
,
Joannes de Vigo,
Bernardus Gordonus, and
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...
.
[ Thomson (1968) p. 62.] The most substantial surviving example of such a work compiled by the kindred is an early sixteenth-century Gaelic translation of Gordonus' ''
Lilium medicinae
''Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum'', Latin: ''The Salernitan Rule of Health'' (commonly known as ''Flos medicinae'' or ''Lilium medicinae'' - ''The Flower of Medicine'', ''The Lily of Medicine'') is a medieval didactic poem in hexameter verse. It ...
'', the largest Gaelic manuscript in Scotland.
There have been as many as seventy-six physicians of the kindred identified between the years 1300 and 1750. Members were employed by every
Scottish monarch
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
between
Robert I, King of Scotland (died 1329) and
Charles I, King of Scotland (died 1649), and patronised by numerous
Scottish clan
A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...
s such as the
Frasers of Lovat
The following is a list of the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat, in chronological order. The Chiefs of Clan Fraser often use the Gaelic patronym MacShimidh, meaning Son of Simon. Simon is the favoured family name for the Chiefs of Clan Frase ...
,
MacDonald Lords of the Isles,
the
MacLeans of Duart, the
MacLeods of Dunvegan,
and the
Munros of Foulis.
[ Bannerman (1986) p. 72.] By the eighteenth century, the family ceased to produce hereditary physicians.
The last died in 1714, described as "the only scholar of his race".
See also
*
MacMhuirich bardic family
The MacMhuirich bardic family, known in Scottish Gaelic as ''Clann MacMhuirich'' and ''Clann Mhuirich'', and anglicised as Clan Currie was a prominent family of bards and other professionals in 15th to 18th centuries. The family was centred in t ...
, another major learned Gaelic kindred
Notes
In popular culture
In the television series
Outlander (season one, episode two), character
Claire Randall, a nurse, is asked if she is "a Beaton" given that she helped another character with both a dislocated shoulder and a bullet wound.
Citations
References
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Scottish families