A good deal has been written on the subject in its various aspects, and among other authorities we must own our indebtedness for much of our information to Skene’s _Highlanders of Scotland_, Gregory’s _Highlands and Isles_, Robertson’s _Scotland under her Early Kings_, Stewart’s _Sketches of the Highlanders_, Logan’s _Scottish Gael_ and _Clans_, and _The Iona Club Transactions_, besides the publications of the various other Scottish Clubs. We learn from Tacitus and other historians, that at a very early period the inhabitants of Caledonia were divided into a number of tribes, each with a chief at its head. These tribes, from all we can learn, were independent of, and often at war with each other, and only united under a common elected leader when the necessity of resisting a common foe compelled them. In this the Caledonians only followed a custom which is common to all barbarous and semi-barbarous peoples; but what was the bond of union among the members of the various tribes it is now not easy to ascertain. We learn from the researches of Mr E. W. Robertson that the feeling of _kindred_ was very strong among all the early Celtic and even Teutonic nations, and that it was on the principle of _kin_ that land was allotted to the members of the various tribes. The property of the land appears to have been vested in the _Cean-cinneth_, or head of the lineage for the good of his clan; it was “burdened with the support of his kindred and _Amasach_” (military followers), these being allotted parcels of land in proportion to the nearness of their relation to the chief of the clan.[114] The word _clan_ itself, from its etymology,[115] points to the principle of _kin_, as the bond which united the members of the tribes among themselves, and bound them to their chiefs. As there are good grounds for believing that the original Caledonians, the progenitors of the present genuine Highlanders, belonged to the Celtic family of mankind, it is highly probable that when they first entered upon possession of Alban, whether peaceably or by conquest, they divided the land among their various tribes in accordance with their Celtic principle. The word clan, as we have said, signifies family, and a clan was a certain number of families of the same name, sprung, as was believed, from the same root, and governed by the lineal descendant of the parent family. This patriarchal form of society was probably common in the infancy of mankind, and seems to have prevailed in the days of Abraham; indeed, it was on a similar principle that Palestine was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob.