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Early Origins

Our Kirkpatrick ancestors descend from one of the many tribes who inhabited southwest Scotland around 300-400 AD. They were probably part of an earlier migration from Ireland, perhaps to avoid either a famine, or perhaps some dynastic struggle .To understand where this tribe came from, we must explore anthropology ,or the study of population development and migration , as chronicled in the Celtic legends. Contrary to popular belief the legends can oft times be seen as an oral narrative of bygone events. The difference between myths and legends being, myths explained the natural environment, ie: why the sun sets etc, while legends related tales of actual events, (even if they're exaggerated through time). These are not physical written history but remembered from an older type of history - that of oral tradition, or word of mouth, only written down years later by the blessed hand of St Patrick, who, as legend would have it, learned the tales from one Ossian, poet, son of the legendary Finn McCool (Fingal) of whom more anon. Direct bloodlines cannot be accurately placed from these texts, but general people movements can. The Celtic legends come in three main periods, or cycles: the invasion cycle - set in prehistory ,and about the times before maybe during the bronze age 3000 - 500 BC. It relates, in general terms ,how Ireland was populated. A race known as the Firbolgs, lived there( c6000 - 3000BC). Around this time stones were erected ie: Callanish and stonehenge possibly status symbols of a wealthier cattle tribe ,or individual.Legends tell of a strange mist enveloping Ireland for centuries and when it cleared, a strange people appeared ,these were the Danaans, so called because they were followers of Dana (the Earth mother) , accepting natures bounties as they came. They were also a cattle economy, but also seem to have discovered bronze this giving them a technological advantage over the Firbolgs .They held nature in reverence they hunted, and gathered natures fruits they loved art, music, fineries, poetry ,well-made bronze ornaments and utilities, swords etc.. Legends tell that both peoples seem to have met and fallen out over land, possibly over resources. Eventually the Danaans took the whole of Ireland, except Northern Ireland, County Antrim, where the Firbolg ended up. At this time, the Firbolgs began the steady stream of traffic between Ireland and Scotland. So from as early as 6000BC, people have been coming to Scotland and merging with the people already here.. Then came the iron age. The strange mist referred to above, would possibly have been relating to prehistory or unrecorded time, so it means that no one really knows where the Danaans came from or when. Miled brought the Milesians and the iron age. This was the era of the Celts. The Celts were a technolgically advanced race .They also revered nature , but also knew how to exploit the land for resources .They mined for iron ore ,refining it to make Iron. Also mining and producing salt this giving them not only tradable commodities but also a military advantage over other less equipped peoples , They brought sustainable agriculture which means they ploughed up vast areas of field and woodland to grow crops .They were no doubt attracted by the vast acreage of cleared grazing land ,to cultivate. When the Celts came the Danaans were horrified at them for cutting the woods down, ploughing up the fields and desecrating all things that they held sacred (the earth was their mother). They were not a match for the iron age Celts, who were war-loving barbarians to the Danaans, and the Danaans vanished without trace. Some say that by their magical arts, they cast a spell and became invisible to the eyes of mortals and they created an invisible land, maybe inside the land in the hills and lochs.It is more likely they merged with the Celts or headed for the hills, where they were forgotten about for generations. When future generations glimpsed these people in the hills, hysteria and superstition soon fired imaginations , turning them into the fairy folk of popular legend. They feature in the next cycle, the ultonian cycle, as the mystical other world beings. This, then, was the invasion cycle, telling how the iron age Celts came to people Ireland and Scotland The ultonian cycle the - which tells of the coming of the iron age Celts and relates stories about the ancient heroes of the Celts ( or the Milesians, named after their main leader, Miled ), set about the time of Christ.- this describes the history of the Celts. The Celts were also a cattle economy. These were the days of kingdoms rather than a high king, so a country ran as independent mini-kingdoms with constant war with neighbours , and cattle raids considered a part of every day life. They built hill forts or ring forts. This was a round stockade wall surrounding the main buildings (very early castles), they built them generally on hills, either natural feature or man-made. It was to a place such as this that St Patrick was held in captivity (mentioned in St Patrick). It tells of barons or kings of Ulster. Since there were so many kingdoms there were a lot of kings, meaning lots of princes and princesses ( this is the era when most stories you hear "once upon a time in a faraway kingdom lived a princess named .....come from"). They are based around 1000 BC -300AD . The ossianic cycle - set about 3rdC. These relate to the stories, chronicled by Ossian, and written and documented by St Patrick, about the times of Finn McCool and the Fianna (or Fenians), warrior elite defenders of Ulster.- set in the 3rdC when the smaller kingdoms were united under a single or high king. It features Finn McCool and the Fianna. The Fianna were the elite bodyguard and personal army of the high king of Tara (Ireland). The more powerful the high king, Connor Mac Art, the more powerful the Fianna became. Soon they became so powerful that even the king felt threatened. The Fianna were mostly "chosen" from two major tribes or clans - Clan Baiscne and Clan Morna. Their supreme leader was named Finn Mac Cool of the clan baiscne who took over the Fianna after his father, Cool ( cumhail ) his mother being known as Morna , of the white neck she of the clan Morna .His parents marriage cemented relations between the two tribes uniting them. Perhaps this is who the Closeburn Kirkpatricks represented by the swans head and neck of their early crest.(of more anon). A degree of historic accuracy can be taken from the ossianic cycle since it was Finn Mac Cool's son, Ossian, who related the cycle to St Patrick ,himself a very important historic character because we know when he lived ,early 400's . Since records after this era contain his name, we know the dates they are referring to. Before Patrick, time was recorded by how long kings had reigned this was known as the chronology of kings. (i.e. Fergus reigned for 10 years Eric reigned for 20 years before him, Connor reigned for 10 years before him, etc.This was how time was remembered before Patrick.