regshoe

except that class doesn't seem to be a factor in Highland relationships

Not class the way we think of it, maybe, but their society was very hierarchical and unequal! Which of course you know--maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

I am minded of a story I read in (probably) Duffy, about how some English officer said he would only surrender to a gentleman, which mightily offended the clansmen who had taken him prisoner. They all considered themselves gentlemen, because they were descended/related at some far remove to the clan elite--primogeniture kept pushing the younger sons downward, becoming eventually ordinary clansmen. Of course there's a social level below the clansmen, as well.

I guess there's something here as well about the Highland titles, Alison being considered a lady where she wouldn't be in England.