During the middle ages, the church was seen as an integral part of daily life and carried a great deal of influence from the nobility down to the common folk, and all on those in between.
As such many ancient Scottish clans and families, highland, lowland and border had their own prayers and graces that they used at their table. Although, based on what was the society norm of the time, those who rode as Reivers never necessarily saw themselves as ungodly folk, their actions was simply the way life was.
Our family crest and motto, strongly implies that we have religious ties and our research backs this up, as such and accepting we also had members of the Mouswald line who were important churchmen in their own right, there is every possibility that we had both our own table grace and prayer.
Below are two separate possibilities, which may or may not be related to our clan then or now. To aid their translation they are in the language of today and in the Scots ‘toung‘ of the time, as used by our family in the Scottish Borders.
Firstly the text of a possible Table Grace:
Bless this House of Carruthers true,
from Mouswald’s Tower our honour grew.
Through Border trials we rode with pride,
with faith and courage as our guide.
To serve our heidsman, our kin, our name,
and guard our honour without shame.
Our thanks to the Lord in Heaven we praise,
ready and faithful in his Grace
Aiming for the language of the Scottish Borders in the late 13th to early 14th century, it would be the language of Early Scots (Inglis) rather than modern Scots or Gaelic. Sadly, exact written1300s Scots is only partially attested, so the best approach was to use a historically inspired form that reads naturally while retaining medieval flavour.
Here’s a version of the above that reflects Border Scots of that era and we can distincly see the Scots language of today in the verse:
“Blis this Hous o Carruthers trew,
Frae Mouswald sprang our honour new.
Throu Border stour we rade wi pride,
Wi faith an manheid for our gyde.
To serve our Heidman, kyn an name,
An keip our honour buten shame.
We thank Thee, Lord, in Hevin abune,
Ready an Faithfu, be Thy boone“.
However, below is a more linquistic text and with more evidence being available, as may have been spoken by a 14th-century laird or border knight and again in the Scots language, understandable to Scots speakers:
Blis this Hous o Carruthers lele,
Frae Mouswald rose our name sae lele.
Throu mony a Border stour an stryf,
Wi Goddis grace we wan our lyf.
To serve our Heidman, blude an kyn,
An keip our honour free fra syn.
We loue an thank Thee, Lord of Micht,
Promptus et Fidelis, day an nicht.
A few notes on word choices:
- lele = loyal, true (a genuine Middle Scots word)
- stour = battle, conflict, tumult
- manheid = courage, valour
- boone = blessing, favour
- Micht = Might (Power), a common medieval epithet for God
- kyn = kin
- keip = keep, guard
This version is closer to the vocabulary found in text ‘The Brus‘ by John Barbour (c. 1375), making it appropriate for a Carruthers family piece set in the Borders around the 1300s.
A fuller prayer, more generic in type and again may be seen as a possible Reivers Prayer used at the table of riding families.
Almighty God,
We give You thanks for this food, for the hands that have prepared it, and for the family and friends gathered in Your sight.
As the memory of our beginnings reminds us of those who have gone before, may we honour their courage with faithful hearts and willing hands.
Keep us ever ready to serve what is right, steadfast in our duty, faithful to our name and word, and humble before You.
Bless every member of our family and may they always ride with honour and truth in their heart.
Strengthen the bonds of kinship, protect those in need, comfort those who grieve, and guide each of us in Your wisdom and peace.
May this meal nourish our bodies, our fellowship strengthen our spirits, and our gratitude always return to You.
In Your holy name we pray.
Amen.
And again using the Scots language of 14th century Scots available and spoken during the time and rise of Carruthers of Mouswald:
Almychty God,
We yeld Thee thankis for this mete, for the handis that hae ordanit it, an for the kyn an freyndis here gadderit afore Thy sicht.
As the mynd of our first begynnyngis bringis to mynd thaim that gaed afore us, grant that we may honour thair manheid wi lele hertis an reddy handis.
Keip us ay reddy to serve the richt, stedfast in our deid, trew to our name an word, an meik afore Thee.
Blis ilka ane of our kyn, an grant that thay ay ride wi honour an treuthe in thair hertis.
Strenkthin the bandis o kynrede, keip thaim that ar in myster, comfort thaim that sairly greif, an gyde us ilkane in Thy wisdome an Thy pece.
Grant that this mete may nuris our bodiis, that our felawschip may mak strang our spiritis, an that our thankis ay returne unto Thee.
In Thy haly Name we pray.
Amen.
A small historical note regarding the phrase “ride with honour and truth in their hearts” would be especially appropriate for a Border family. Riding was not simply a poetic image in the western marches—it was a defining part of daily, noble and lairdly life. While the famous Border Reivers belong to a later period (15th–17th centuries), a 14th-century Carruthers horseman would have understood “to ride” as serving, patrolling, travelling, and answering his lord’s call. In this context, “grant that thay ay ride wi honour an treuthe in thair hertis” offers both a historically authentic and ceremonially fitting for the time.
This version tries to keep the cadence of a medieval Border prayer while remaining understandable to modern readers.
However, if we are looking for something that would sound even more like a prayer and spoken in the time of Robert the Bruce (using vocabulary directly inspired by The Brus and other 14th-century texts), below is a more accurate, albeit more archaic version.
Almychty God, We yhelde Thee thankis for this mete, for the handis that hes dycht it, an for our kyn and freyndis heir assemblit in Thy sicht. As the mynd of our first begynnyngis makis us myndfull of thaim that went afore us, grant that we may hald thair manheid in honour, with lele hertis and reddy handis. Mak us ay reddy to serve the rycht, stedfast in our det, trew in name and word, and meke afore Thee. Blis ilkane of our kyn, and grant that thai ever ryd with honour and suthfastnes in thair hertis. Bynd faster the bandis of kynrede; keip thaim that ar in myster; coumfurt thaim that duell in sorow; and gyde us ilkane be Thy wisdome and Thy pece. Grant that this mete nuris our bodyis, that our felawschip mak our spiritis strangar, and that our thankis ay turne agane unto Thee.
In Thy Haly Name we pray.
Amen.
A few words are listed based on the speech of the day and help with intepretation of the above.
- yhelde – yield, give.
- dycht – prepared, made ready (a genuine medieval Scots word).
- lele – loyal, true, faithful.
- manheid – courage, valour, noble character.
- det – duty, obligation (from Old French debt, meaning what one owes).
- suthfastnes – truthfulness, steadfast honesty (from Old English sōþfæstness).
- myster – need or hardship.
- ilkane – each one.
- ryd – ride.
- hald … in honour – hold in honour.
The above version has a distinctly fourteenth-century flavour without becoming so obscure that modern readers struggle with it. It also reflects the language of the western Borders more closely than later literary Scots.
For a House of Carruthers prayer intended to evoke the family’s world in the days of the early lairds of Mouswald Tower, this style is probably the closest balance between historical authenticity and readability. It would not sound out of place beside your family motto, Promptus et Fidelis (“Ready and Faithful”), and it carries the cadence of a medieval hall grace rather than a modern translation. However, many scots words remain in use today and are recognisable as such.
I thought it would be interesting to once again delve into the language of our ancestors, which some would imply was Gaelic. However, although there would have been some sort of overlap, especialy with Galloway being on the borders of Dumfriesshire, and it being stringlt Gaelic speakes. the transition into Scots would have been a two way street. The ‘toung’ of the borders was Scots, a languge which is recognised and survived to this day.
Until Malcolm III (Canmore), King of Alba from 1058 to 1093 and whose seat was in Dunfermline, Gaelic was the language of the court, but not of all of what is seen as today’s Scotland. This continued until after his marriage to his second Wife Margaret of Wessex, when it was slowly replaced by Scots.
I came across an interesting paper in my reserrch and have borrowed extracts from it to lay out academically, the languages as used in Scotland at the turn of the 1300’s.This is taken from a research paper written on the Languages of Scotland, 1400-1700 by Pons-Sanz, S. and MacCoinnich, A. (2018) and linked, The Languages of Scotland, the extract below paints the scene well:
There were several languages in use in Scotland in the period 1400-1700. Of these the Scots tongue, closely related to but distinct from its southern neighbour, was the most widespread and influential spoken and written language throughout Scotland for most of the period. Scots had replaced Scottish Gaelic as the vernacular language in much of the south and east or the lowlands of Scotland by 1400. By the fifteenth century Scots was the language of burgh, court and parliament; yet, during the course of the seventeenth century, it slowly gave ground to English.
Gaelic, however, was widely spoken, perhaps by half the population of Scotland by the beginning of the period, ca1400, and possibly spoken as a first language by up to a third of all Scots by 1700. It remained as the predominant vernacular in the Hebrides and the Highlands as far south as Dumbartonshire, Stirlingshire and Perthshire and as far east as Aberdeenshire. South of ‘the Highland line,’ Gaelic was also spoken in Galloway and Carrick probably until the end of the seventeenth century.
Latin had been the language commonly used in church, for formal and legal documents, conveyancing, in parliament and in business prior to 1400. Latin, however, was retreating before Scots, an assertive and confident newcomer during the fifteenth century.1 The Reformation of 1560 and the move from the Latin Mass to vernacular worship diminished the status of Latin to an extent. Nevertheless, Latin remained as one of the predominant languages of education in schools and universities, was widely known and used throughout the period and it retained its importance in legal usage. It was often the medium through which Scots scholars demonstrated their learning and it remained a means of intellectual discourse before and after the Reformation.2
The dominance of Scots, Gaelic and Latin had supplanted the wider linguistic plurality of earlier centuries. Pictish and Cumbric (‘P’ Celtic languages related to Old Welsh) had become extinct as spoken languages well before 1400 as, probably, had Norse, formerly used in the far north and the Hebrides. Norse or Norn lingered longer, however, in Orkney and Shetland, which did not become part of the Scottish kingdom until 1469, although there too it was under great pressure from Scots during the course of the sixteenth century. These languages, though, left a rich crop of place names and other linguistic features inherited by their successor languages to a greater or lesser degree.
While much of the detail of the process of language shift from Gaelic to Scots is unclear, it seems to have been tied to the domination of the new structures and institutions introduced in the early twelfth century by Anglo-Norman and Inglis speakers, such as ecclesiastical foundations and burghs.
Appreciating , going back to before the 10th century, Cumbric was still being used along the West March of the Scottish border this a Celtic/brythonic language has close ties to ancient and in fact modern Welsh. It has therefore always been a belief, based on the current evidence available, that Scots rather than Gaelic was the language of our forefathers in Annandale, Dumfrieshire and in an attempt to set the linguistic scene and using prayer as a base line from which to work, the above seemed as sensible starting point, accepting the influence of the Church in those days.
There are three languages of Scotland, although the British Government tried to destroy the use of two, Scots and Gaelic are still used and in fact becoming far more popular, with modern writiers using both, especially Scots in their verse and prose, and long may it continue. What is really interesting to me as a Scot, is that although not all words are understandable, there is enough apparent to a modern Scots speaker to get the gist.
We keep delving and learning, as education based on facts and evidence, gives us a clearer historic picture, allowing us to better understand our family’s past and the lives they lived.
Promptus et Fidelis
Non Sto Solus
