The Mairs name was a derivitive of the Mar name which traces back to the Clan Mar...
One of the 7 ancient kingdoms of Scotland, the rulers of this kingdom were known as ‘Mormaer’ an ancient Pictish form of Earl. The Earldom of Mar lies in Aberdeenshire between Dee and Don among spectacular scenery.
Donald Mormaer of Mar fought alongside the great Irish King Brian Boru against Norse invaders in 1014. ‘Rothri’ a later Mormaer is named in the charter erecting the abbey of Scone in 1114.
Ruadrí of Mar is the first known Mormaer or Earl of Mar from the 12th century, although that the mormaerdom was much older. For instance, there was a Mormaer of Mar at the Battle of Clontarf, 1014.
In Cullen the next coastal village stands the green castle dating back to 1,000BC.
Writing in around 139-161, Ptolemy, of Egypt in his Geography mentions the River Celnius-Cullen- in the North East of Scotland and the fierce Pict warriors that defended the area known as Caledones.
The Caledonians,who had defended against the Vikings for hundreds of years-never allowing the Vikings to take that part of Scotland-
Due to the Caledonians inflicting defeat after defeat on the Romans after their invasion of Britain,,the Ninth legion was despatched to deal with them in AD117..they never returned.
The loss of the Ninth legion-essentially the crack division of the Roman forces- was a truly catastrophic event: the devastating news was suppressed by Hadrian to safeguard his reign in a classic conspiracy cover up.
It was the first in a chain reaction of disasters which forced Rome to halt expansion and to create the only two massive frontier walls ever built in the Roman Empire.
Still,the Caledonians were responsible for driving the Romans back to Hadrians wall by their use of Guerilla tactics-inflicting 50,000 casualties to the Romans in one battle alone...
In short,this was the only area of Scotland that for thousands of years had repelled all attempts of conquest-notably by the Romans and the Vikings,and indeed chased them out of Scotland forever.
The Romans called Scotland..Caledonia...
The Picts ( Caledones) were a very mysterious people with no origin story known other than they first appeared in Scotland in 7,000BC at the same time as agriculture started to spread through Europe...
Their language is a mystery; the meaning of the symbols stones they left remains an enigma.
The word "Pict" means "painted people", probably referring to the Pictish custom of either tattooing their bodies or embellishing themselves with "warpaint".
However, their Irish term "Cruithni", meaning "the people of the designs", seems to parallel the Roman name, so it may be that "Picti" was an adaptation of the name they called themselves.
Living in small settlements These settlements were usually made up of about six huts surrounded by wooden palisades. In the north and west, where trees were scarce, they built with stone, though in the same style.
They were farmers, cultivating wheat, oats and barley, and keeping pigs, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats. They depended on their livestock for food much more than they did their crops.
The Celts knew the skill of weaving, using a strong wooden frame called a loom and threads hung from its top cross bar, each pulled taut by a weight of baked clay or stone hanging near the floor. Fleece, shorn from their sheep using a sharp knife and spun into yarn, was woven to make woolen fabric. They used a wooden shuttle to pass the weft threads under one and over the next of the weighted warp threads, which were raised and lowered to let the shuttle pass easily.
They also wove other materials, basketwork and matting from rushes, wattle hurdles from thin or split branches, which they used for walling. Leather working was common, making clothing and harnesses, and even containers, which were easier to carry than the pottery ones previously used.
The people of ancient Scotland were energetic seamen -- traveling to Ireland (Hibernia), the Outer Hebrides and mainland Europe. The most powerful were fond of displaying their wealth. Beautiful gold and silver, arm, neck and ankle decorative bands have been found all over Britain.
They were highly skilled in working iron. Armor and weaponry took an evolutionary leap forward due to their iron working abilities. The Celts were the first race to use the long sword and small shield (a type of buckler shield) in Europe. Previously, knives, daggers, short swords, axes, etc., were the accepted weapons of war. This three and one-half foot long sword later put fear into the invading Romans. The great Roman historian, Tacitus wrote of the Celtic weapon -- "...their (Celts) swords of this iron materials, and extreme length seemed a poor choice of sword to the legions until they saw that these monstrosities could actually be used quickly and efficiently with proper training. The Ninth Legion under Agricola, in Britain, feared the barbaric Caledonians extreme advantage in reach, with this overly long sword."
Recent dna tests have proven the Scots are closely related to the Berbers of North Africa, whose own ancestry is still also unknown.
It is theorized that the heartland of the Celts was transalpine area in what is now Austria in the forth and fifth centuries B.C., when they achieved their greatest prosperity and expansion across Europe. They subjugated all those before them from Spain to the eastern Steppes, and certainly enjoyed the more temperate climate of western Europe, compared to the more severe climate of their Asiatic fatherland.
It is theorized that the heartland of the Celts was transalpine area in what is now Austria in the forth and fifth centuries B.C., when they achieved their greatest prosperity and expansion across Europe. They subjugated all those before them from Spain to the eastern Steppes, and certainly enjoyed the more temperate climate of western Europe, compared to the more severe climate of their Asiatic fatherland.
They pillaged Rome, invaded Persia and Macedonia, and developed contacts with Greeks, and have been: officially recorded by many distinguished historians as having originated from westward flowing Scythians, either through merchants or entire clans fleeing the marauding Sarmatians, themselves an eastern fringe element of the Scythian culture.
But similar dna has shown up in Lapland in Finland,Norway,etc..and it seems likley that the people who inhabited this arctic region pre 10,000BC left before the great flood or possibly after the great flood..these people were called the Sami and were great sailers/fishers...
Interestingly,the Sami flag bears strong colour similarities to the Clan Mar tartan...
some
some
The Sami people were from the Komsa culture,great fishermen,seal hunters and boatbuilders.
They wore a "kilt" known as a Lap..so Lapland literally means Land of the Kilts....with their great seafaring skills they were able to leave other mesolithic stone tool cultures behind as they sailed for warmer climates..
FAMOUS RELATIVE.......
Isabella of Mar (Isabella Mair) (c. 1277 – 12 December 1296) was the first wife of Robert the Bruce and the grandmother of Robert II of Scotland, founder of the royal House of Stuart. She died before Robert was crowned King of Scots, and never became the Queen.
She was the daughter of Domhnall I, Earl of Mar and Helen (or Ellen) of Wales (1246–1295), the illegitimate daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ("the Great") Prince of Wales; she had previously been the wife of Maol Choluim II, Earl of Fife. Her father was one of the seven guardians of Scotland who believed Robert Bruce to be the rightful King of Scotland. Despite the considerable risks, the Earl of Mar could foresee the advantage of the two families joining in marriage and bearing an heir to the throne, and the marriage of Isabella and Robert was arranged. Mar was the first to sign over the estates of his family to the Bruce.
Isabella was married to Robert at the age of 18 and legend has it that they were much in love. Shortly after their marriage Isabella became pregnant. She had a healthy pregnancy but she died soon after giving birth to a daughter, Marjorie Bruce in 1296. She is buried at Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire.[2]
But her organs are said to have been buried in Cullens old kirk (church) after her death in the area. Robert the Bruce made an annual payment to the village in gratitude for the treatment of his wife's body and its return south for burial.
A recent non-payment of this sum by the government was challenged and settled to the village's favour.
Septs
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish.
In the context of Scottish clans, septs are families that followed another family’s chief. These smaller septs would then comprise, and be part of, the chief’s larger clan. A sept might follow another chief if two families were linked through marriage; or, if a family lived on the land of a powerful laird, they would follow him whether they were related or not. Bonds of manrent were sometimes used to bind lesser chiefs and his followers to more powerful chiefs.
Today, sept lists are used by clan societies to recruit new members. Such lists date back to the 19th century, when clan societies and tartan manufacturers attempted to capitalise on the enthusiasm and interest for all things Scottish. Lists were drawn up that linked as many surnames as possible to a particular clan. In this way, individuals without a “clan name” could connect to a Scottish clan and thus feel “entitled” to its tartan.
Septs of the Tribe:
Marr, Marrs, Mars Mair, Mairs, Morren, Strachan and Tough
Marr, Marrs, Mars Mair, Mairs, Morren, Strachan and Tough
Portknockie Scotland...
Tartessian language
Main article: Tartessian language
The Tartessian language is an extinct pre-Roman language once spoken in southern Iberia and has recently been classified as a Celticlanguage. The oldest known indigenous texts of Iberia, dated from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, are written in Tartessian. The inscriptions are written in a semi-syllabic writing system and were found in the general area in which Tartessos was located and in surrounding areas of influence. Tartessian language texts were found in Southwestern Spain and Southern Portugal (namely in the Conii areas of the Algarve and southern Alentejo. This variety is often referred as Southwest script). According to John T. Koch and others, Tartessian may have been the earliest written Celtic language.[21][22] ["Classical" Tartessian is thus a subsection of Celtiberian, and in the preceeding age the language would probably have been more like Basque, according to the opinions of several authors. Basque also has a large proportion of words which are close to their Celtic counterparts-DD]
"Atlantis"
Main article: Tartessian language
The Tartessian language is an extinct pre-Roman language once spoken in southern Iberia and has recently been classified as a Celticlanguage. The oldest known indigenous texts of Iberia, dated from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, are written in Tartessian. The inscriptions are written in a semi-syllabic writing system and were found in the general area in which Tartessos was located and in surrounding areas of influence. Tartessian language texts were found in Southwestern Spain and Southern Portugal (namely in the Conii areas of the Algarve and southern Alentejo. This variety is often referred as Southwest script). According to John T. Koch and others, Tartessian may have been the earliest written Celtic language.[21][22] ["Classical" Tartessian is thus a subsection of Celtiberian, and in the preceeding age the language would probably have been more like Basque, according to the opinions of several authors. Basque also has a large proportion of words which are close to their Celtic counterparts-DD]
"Atlantis"
Schulten gave currency to a view of Tartessos that made it the Western, and wholly European source of the legend of Atlantis.[23] A more serious review, by W.A. Oldfather, appeared in The American Journal of Philology.[24] Both Atlantis and Tartessos were believed to be advanced societies which collapsed when their cities were lost beneath the waves; supposed further similarities with the legendary society make a connection seem feasible, though virtually nothing is known of Tartessos, not even its precise site. Other Tartessian enthusiasts imagine it as a contemporary of Atlantis, with which it might have traded.
Recently, the professor of religion Richard Freund identified Tartessos as Atlantis, identifying the remains of a circular island and circular rivers flowing around it,[25] although Spanish archaeologists involved in that investigation from the beginning deny that the site was the location of Atlantis.[26]
The enigmatic Lady of Elx, an ancient bust, of a high artistic quality, of a woman found in southeastern Spain, has been tied with Atlantis and Tartessos, though the statue displays clear signs of being manufactured by later Iberian cultures.
"Tarshish"Since the classicists of the early 20th century, biblical archeologists often identify the place-name Tarshish in the Hebrew Bible with Tartessos, though others connect it to Tarsus in Anatolia or other places as far as India. (See entry for Jonah in the Jewish Encyclopedia.) Tarshish, like Tartessos, is associated with extensive mineral wealth (Iberian Pyrite Belt)
Recently, the professor of religion Richard Freund identified Tartessos as Atlantis, identifying the remains of a circular island and circular rivers flowing around it,[25] although Spanish archaeologists involved in that investigation from the beginning deny that the site was the location of Atlantis.[26]
The enigmatic Lady of Elx, an ancient bust, of a high artistic quality, of a woman found in southeastern Spain, has been tied with Atlantis and Tartessos, though the statue displays clear signs of being manufactured by later Iberian cultures.
"Tarshish"Since the classicists of the early 20th century, biblical archeologists often identify the place-name Tarshish in the Hebrew Bible with Tartessos, though others connect it to Tarsus in Anatolia or other places as far as India. (See entry for Jonah in the Jewish Encyclopedia.) Tarshish, like Tartessos, is associated with extensive mineral wealth (Iberian Pyrite Belt)
