For a more detailed account, the reader is referred to
Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, Robertson's _Scotland under her Early Kings_,
and Mr. Lang's _History of Scotland_.
The kingdom[94] of which Malcolm Canmore became the ruler in 1058 was
not inhabited by clans. It had been, from of old, divided into seven
provinces, each of which was inhabited by tribes. The tribe or tuath was
governed by its own chief or king (Ri or Toisech); each province or Mor
Tuath was governed by Ri Mor Tuath or Mormaer,[95] and these seven
Mormaers seem (in theory, at all events) to have elected the national
king, and to have acted as his advisers. The tribe was divided into
freemen and slaves, and freemen and slaves alike were subdivided into
various classes--noble and simple; serfs attached to land, and personal
bondmen. The land was held, not by the tribe in general, but by the
_ciniod_ or near kin of the _flath_ or senior of each family within the
tribe. On the death of a senior, the new senior was chosen (generally
with strict regard to primogeniture) from among the nearest in blood,
and all who were within three degrees of kin to him, shared in the
joint-proprietary of the proceeds of the land. The senior had special
privileges and was the representative and surety of the _ciniod_, and
the guardian of their common interests. After the third generation, a
man ceased to be reckoned among the _ciniod_, and probably received a
small personal allotment.
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