Fosterage
n.
The care of a foster child; the charge of nursing. Sir W. Raleigh.
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Training and protection of sons and daughters by a distinguished, often powerful patron, not a family member. The English word ‘foster’, often connoting charity or altruism, inadequately describes this distinctive feature of early Celtic society, which survived in Gaelic Scotland until the 18th century. Described in the Brehon Laws of early Ireland, fosterage began when a powerful man might have children by more than one woman in his household and primogeniture did not guarantee inheritance to an oldest, legitimate son. The fosterer might be a chieftain, especially in a distant province, a druid, or later a monk; along with the arts of war, he would give instruction in poetry, music, and games. Children were fostered at the age of 7 until the perceived age of choice, 14 for girls and 17 for boys. In Christian times foster-children were also taught revealed belief and classical languages. In maturity, a former foster-child was a useful ally to his former patron.
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The noun has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1:
encouragement; aiding the development of something
Synonym: fostering
Meaning #2:
raising someone to be an accepted member of the community
Synonyms: breeding, bringing up, fostering, nurture, raising, rearing, upbringing
Fosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's genetic parents, not the foster-parents, remain his or acknowledged parents. In
many modern western societies foster care can be organised by the state to care for children
with troubled family backgrounds, usually on a temporary basis. In many pre-modern societies fosterage was a form of
patronage, whereby influential families cemented political relationships by bringing up each
other's children.
Fosterage was a traditional custom in the Hebrides. A laird, a man of wealth and eminence, sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman or tenant to be fostered. It is not always his own tenant, but some distant friend that obtains this honour; for an honour such a trust is very reasonably thought. The terms of fosterage seem to vary in different islands. In Mull, the father sends with his child a certain number of cows, to which the same number is added by the fosterer. The father appropriates a proportionable extent of ground, without rent, for their pasturage. If every cow bring a calf, half belongs to the fosterer, and half to the child; but if there be only one calf between two cows, it is the child’s; and when the child returns to the parents, it is accompanied with all the cows given, both by the father and by the fosterer, with half of the increase of the stock by propagation. These beasts are considered as a portion, and called Macalive cattle.
Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six years; and cannot, where this is the practice, be considered as burdensome. The fosterer, if he gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, while the child continues with him, grass for eight without rent, with half the calves, and all the milk, for which he pays only four cows, when he dismisses his dalt, for that is the name for a fostered child.
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![]() | Dictionary. Webster 1913 Dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy Read more | |
![]() | Celtic Mythology. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Copyright © James MacKillop 1998, 2004. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fosterage". Read more |
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