The Islay Charter or ''"Gaelic Charter of 1408"'' is a grant of lands by

Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles Donald, Lord of the Isles ( gd, Dómhnall; died 1423), was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but under ...

to "Brian Bhicaire Magaodh" (''Brian Vicar MacKay''), a resident of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

, written in 1408. The charter is unique in being the only MacDonald land charter extant to have been written in the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

language. It is also notable as a very early example of this kind of document written in a vernacular language rather than

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and is one of the earliest examples of Gaelic in public use from the 15th century. The Charter was composed and written on a piece of goatskin by Fearghas MacBeatha (Fergus Beaton) personal physician to the

Lord of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...

and a member of the famous Beaton medical kindred of the isles. The charter is also signed and holographed by the lord himself and was witnessed by a '' britheimh'' or 'judge', Pat McAbriuin. The lands granted consisted largely of the eastern portion of the island of approximately .Thomson, The Companion to Gaelic Scotland pp64 An edition of the charter appears in Jean Munro and R. W. Munro (ed.), ''The Acts of the Lords of the Isles'' (Edinburgh, 1986), together with notes on the form of the manuscript and the locations of the lands granted.

Notes

References

Thomson, Derick S. ''The Companion to Gaelic Scotland'' (Blackwell Reference 1987) {{Islay Islay Scottish manuscripts Scottish Gaelic literature 1400s in Scotland 1400s in law 1408 in Europe 1408 History of Argyll and Bute Legal history of Scotland Medieval legal texts Medieval Scottish literature Medieval documents of Scotland Medieval Scots law Early Gaelic law

See also

Notes

References