Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael

LECTURE I. 31
King Jolin, when the nobles of the land ex-
tracted from the fears of a reluctant monarch
the great charter of the nation's liberties, is of a
date 700 years later than the establishment of
the Saxon power. But it has been asked, Had
not our present parliaments their germ in the
vSaxon mote in its different forms ? It may well
be asked in reply, Is the word mote Saxon, or
even the thing it signifies ? Unquestionably
not, any more than it is Celtic. The " mod"
or council meeting was well known among the
Celtic races. Hence, numerous localities, both
in Scotland and Ireland, derive their names
from this institution. We have Cnocamhoid
(Knockavoid), Tomamhoid (Tomavoit), Bai-
lemhoid (Balavoit) ; and we have the well-
known Highland proverb, " Cha-nann na h-uile
la Ibhitheas mod aig Macintoisich" (" Mackin-
tosh does not hold a court every day"). The
term is quite as familiar to the Celt as to the
Saxon. It has been claimed for the Saxon, as
derived from the Saxon meet. The fact of its
being common to the Celt throws some dubiety
on the derivation ; but be that as it may, the
fact is unquestionable. Besides, Scotland had
its Parliament ere ever it had any connection
with Saxon England. The existence of a na-
tional council may be traced beyond the reign