Clan Shaw - Heraldry and Tribal Totems

I was lucky enough to be able to accompany my grandmother on a trip to England, Wales and Scotland (our ancestral land) nearly 20 years ago. Already interested in gardening, I was looking forward to seeing the lush and tended lawns of Chattsworth House, the flowers sure to be encircling each tiny yard and the thick hedges along every twisting country lane ... Sadly, I was there in the midst of the driest summer since official records-keeping began sometime in the 1500s. The lawns were brown, the fountains turned off as a conservation measure and the early fall temperatures in the 90s. None the less, I still did see plenty of flora. I also learned to appreciate the hardy thistles, heather's and stone that make up the harsh Scottish countryside.

One of my fondest memories was a rare afternoon when I escaped the tour bus during our carefully choreographed visit and hiked into the hills of a glen (I forget which one now, it has run together with the names of many fine scotches I have enjoyed in the years since) There, I sat beside a small stream trickling through the boulders, admiring the golden grasses and tiny alpine flowers, and felt a shared connection with generations of Shaw's before me. I have ever since admired the tenacity of those plants and the Scottish heritage they represent.

I recently visited a website featuring my Clan heritage and was surprised to learn that each Highland Family had a designated Suaicheantas, or Badge Plant its members are suppose to wear in their bonnet or helmet to indicate which clan they belong to. According to the site:

"This continuing tradition of having a venerated or lucky clan plant symbol or badge again goes back to the early Dawn Religions that held that certain plants contained a stronger essence or lucky spirit. Strongly connected with the environment, in mind, body and soul, our ancestors felt the tribal spirit was enhanced by a near worship of the sacred or lucky plant or tree." 

Apparently Clan Shaw is identified by the Red Whorleberry (Vaccinum vitus-idea) which they know as "lus nam braoileag" and though I can't say for certain if there was one nearby, maybe there was something more to the way I felt that day. The botanical connections of my Clan do not end there, the site goes on the describe the importance of totem plants and animals (ours is the wolf) in the ancient Scottish Law by saying:

"Since the dawn of humankind, our ancestors' inherit links to the environment go well beyond the obvious physical and tangible aspects necessary for mere survival. Whether as nomadic hunter, gatherer or from pastoral/agrarian family groupings, each primitive clan or tribe also had many strong spiritual and emotional links to the earth and nature. One consistent aspect of this earth oriented "reverence" is evidenced in all tribal cultures both ancient and modern throughout the world by the adoption of significant animals or plants as symbols or totems. It was felt that some of the beneficial, powerful or protective properties of the adopted item would shamanistically flow into the individual person or collective clan entity."

Of course each Clan also had a Tartan - made using natural plant dyes - and a crest used to identify its members. There are four main totemic symbols of significance that are found in most Shaw Arms registered in the Court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms for Scotland, the ancient heraldic court of Alba. These are: a Lyon Rampant, Galley, Dagger and Fir Tree on a Mound.

"The "Fir Tree on a Mound" represents Rothiemurchus Forest, the original tribal homeland of all branches of Clan Shaw. Rothiemurchus was rich in fertile Speyside farmlands and timber resources as well as being in a strategic geopolitical position. The 'mound' is also thought to represent The Doune of Rothiemurchus, the ancient timbered hill-fort once occupied by Shaw ancestors, that guards a strategic ford over the oft flooded Spey. The Doune is now held by the Clan Grant Chiefs (as well as the Bodach an Doune)."

Finally, the Clan Shaw crest is accompanied by the phrase "Fide et Fortitudine," meaning "By Faith and Fortitude" (or "Fidelity and Fortitude"). Fitting, I think, to represent a people born to a landscape so harsh and unforgiving who yet managed to thrive and give rise to many poets, writers, inventors (McAdam, anyone?) and millionaires. I like to think of myself as being as tenacious as any of the Scottish weeds - able to thrive no matter what nature throws my way. To this day I cannot bear to cut down a noble purple thistle in my garden and will wait until the flower blooms before removing it (before it goes to seed, of course) in it is the spirit of my people after all.

Excerpts from: http://www.theclanshaw.org/heraldry.html

PS - The other half of my family is German. You may recall from my "Death by Gardening" post how fiercely the tree worshiping Germans of Medieval times punished anyone caught stripping the bark from a tree:

"The guilty party's navel was cut out and nailed to the injured tree.The culprit was then driven around and around the tree until all his innards were wound about the trunk of the tree. The life of a man for the life of a tree."
- From: The Golden Bough, Sir J. G. Frazer, Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1933, pg 110