HIGHNESS 



3989 



HIGH SHERIFF 



Highland Dress, as worn by: 1. The Campbells of Breadalbane ; tartan, green with double stripes of yellow. 2. The 



MacDonalds of Clan Ranald ; tartan, dark and light green with red stripes ; the figure is armed with sword and leather 



target. 3. The Camerons in the 18th century; tartan, red with green and white stripes 



ling is primitive and crude, brought 

 the writer to the conclusion that 

 the figure portrayed is wearing a 

 " Glengarry " with a decoration 

 along the front, where we now 

 place the dam brod or chequers. 

 At the back a tuft of hair is show- . 

 ing, and round this flow what look 

 like the tails of a bonnet. The 

 Glengarry shape may have de- 

 scended from the cap of main- 

 tenance. The truis or trews (skin- 

 tight breeches) are as ancient as the 

 plaid. Similar truis were worn by 

 the most servile class in ancient 

 Ireland, and amongst the Britons. 

 They were probably inherited 

 from the slaves who, amongst the 

 Gaels, were either of the conquered 

 earlier race, or Gaels who had lost 

 their rank as freemen. 



The modern form of kilt, or 

 feilidh beag (i.e. little covering), 

 can be traced to 1626, when it ap- 

 pears on the arms of the Burnets 

 of Leys. The feathers worn in 

 the Highland bonnet were, says 

 General Stewart (1822), a privilege 

 accorded as a token of gentility. 

 The jacket and the hose were also 

 of tartan, as were the trews. The 

 hose were often made without 

 feet, and were in that case known 

 as mogansi The bhrogan (vrogan), 

 i.e. shoes, were cut to the actual 

 shape of the foot, and had holes 

 in them for the escape of water. 

 The breacan feilidh was common 

 to the greater part of Scotland, and 

 after the conquest of the Lothians, 

 if it had ever died out there, 

 which is doubtful, became common 

 to all Lowland Scotland. Part of 



it, the plaid and braid, or Kilmar- 

 nock Tarn o' Shanter, actually lin- 

 gered there till the 20th century, 

 though now seldom seen in the 

 market places of Hawick and other 

 Border towns. The Highland dress 

 was proscribed by Act of Parlia- 

 ment in 1747, but the Act was re- 

 pealed amid great rejoicing in 1786. 

 See Bagpipes; Celt; consult also 

 Celtic Scotland, W. F. Skene, 

 1876-80 ; Highland Dress, Arms 

 and Ornament, Lord Archibald 



Campbell, 1899. McKenzie McBride 



Highness. Title of honour. 

 Highness, Grace, and Majesty were 

 applied to English sovereigns until 

 the reign of James I, when Majesty 

 became the official style. In the 

 British royal family, Royal High- 

 ness is used for children of the 

 sovereign, and for his or her brothers, 

 sisters, uncles, aunts, grandchil- 

 dren, if children of sons, and great- 

 grandchildren, if children of the 

 eldest son of a prince of Wales ; ne- 

 phews, nieces, cousins, and children 

 of daughters are called Highness. 



High Priest. Head or chief 

 priest of the Jewish Church. From 

 Aaron, to whom priestly authority 

 was delegated by Moses, the office 

 descended by primogeniture. There 

 appear to have been about 80 high 

 priests beginning with Aaron and 

 ending with Phannius, but the 

 direct Aaronic line ended with 

 Eleazar. Their history covers a 

 period of about 1,370 years. Their 

 consecration was attended by 

 elaborate ritual, their dress was 

 distinctive, and their duties in- 

 cluded the privilege of entering the 



Sanctuary on the Great Day of 

 Atonement to make propitiation. 

 Details of their consecration, etc., 

 arc given in Exodus, Leviticus, 

 and Numbers. See Aaron ; Breast- 



Slate ; Ephod ; Priest ; consult also 

 osephus's Antiquities of the Jews. 

 High Seas. Name given to the 

 open sea, i. e. those parts of t he ocean 

 that are not under any territorial 

 sovereignty, being more than three 

 miles from any shore. Germany 

 called her fighting fleet the high 

 seas fleet. See Freedom of the Seas. 

 High Sheriff (A.S. scire gerefa, 

 reeve, or officer of the shire). One 

 of the principal subordinate magis- 

 trates in England to whom the 

 custody of the county is com- 

 mitted by the crown by warrant 

 under the hand of the clerk of the 

 privy council. In some counties 

 the office was anciently hereditary, 

 in others elective, subject to the 

 royal approval. To obviate the 

 inconveniences of popular election, 

 a statute of Edward II enacted 

 that the sheriffs should be as- 

 signed by the chancellor, trea- 

 surer, and judges ; and since the 

 reign of Henry VI the custom has 

 been for all the judges, with the 

 other great officers and privy 

 councillors, to meet in the ex- 

 chequer on the morrow of S. 

 Martin, and to propose three per- 

 sons to be reported, if approved, 

 to the sovereign, who afterwards 

 pricks one of them, i.e. appoints 

 him sheriff. 



Formerly the powers and duties 

 'of the high sheriff were very great 

 in his fourfold capacity of judge, 



