Someone recently told me Scotland traced their lineage through the female line. Admittedly I think this is utter bollocks but what the hell do I know about Scottish descent? So, anyone have the Straight Dope? I always assumed they practiced patrilineal descent like most other Europeans.
Marc
There’s some terminology to straighten out here. Of course they trace their lineage through the female line, as well as the male line. Some cultures don’t — they basically don’t consider their mother’s relatives to be related at all. But I think what you mean is are they exclusively matrilineal, i.e. does inheritance / name identity / etc. pass through the mother’s line rather than the father’s. Short answer: no.
As far as patrilineality vs. matrilineality, the surname is taken from the father in Scotland as in Ireland, England, France, etc. I suspect that what you’ve heard is based on the old idea that the Picts, a prehistoric-through-early-medieval people of Scotland, were matrilineal. This is based on a comment from the Venerable Bede, who in general was a pretty good historian for his times. What Bede actually said was that matrilineal inheritance was occasionally known among the Picts. This has been blown way out of proportion, largely because it seems to support the idea that Europeans were once matriarchal (and, by a further leap of logic, peaceful, environmental, and happy).
On the other hand, you may be referring to the fact that in Modern Scots Gaelic (as in Modern Irish), women’s surnames are different from men’s. Morag Ní Chonaill might be Alasdair Mac Conaill’s sister, the “Ní” being ‘daughter of’ and the “Mac” being ‘son of.’ Conall, however, was a man, though a small minority of the surnames are indeed based on female given names.