Celtic Connection Glossary T - Z

tack - riding gear; saddle, bridle, etc

tallow - rendered animal fat

tangential - touching, slightly associated with

tariff - system of taxes on goods from foreign nations

tavern - establishment that serves alcoholic drinks to be consumed on premise usually with food

Tejanos - Hispanic Texans

Tejas - Indian name for friend, Spanish name for Texas

territorial- local, of or relating to a territory

territory - a geographical area belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a governmental authority

territory status- in U. S. law such an area is a part of the U. S. and not of any state, the Federal government assumes responsibility for expenses

Texians - The name Texans called themselves in the first days of the republic.

Thermopylae- the site of a narrow pass where in 480 B. C. a small Greek force under Leonidas, King of Sparta, held off a Persian invading army for three days, allowing Greece time to prepare

thumbstall - protective glove worn over the thumb, usually made of leather.

tongue - language, lead portion of a wagon to which the dray animals are hitched.

too many Chiefs and not enough Indians - a phrase to describe a situation where there are more supervisors to watch than there are workers

tory, tories- loyalists, monarchists, people against revolution

Toussant L'Overture - a Haitian general who defeated a French invasion of Haiti

trace - a trail

tract - a defined area of land

transport - a ship/boat used to carry goods

transported - Cromwellian term meaning exiled and taken to servitude abroad

trebeled - tripled or increased

trek - an arduous journey or trip

tricolor - a flag with three vertical colored bars of equal size. The Irish, French and Mexican flags are examples, but there are many more.

trucks - to thrust or push, blocks, transports, barter, exchange

trunnion - either of two opposite sockets (with pins) on which a cannon is swiveled

tumult - commotion

'twixt and 'tween - caught in the middle

Ulster - an ancient kingdom, now a province of Ireland in Northern Ireland

ulterior motive - another, higher or hidden reason

umbrage - offense, pique, resentment

undertones - underlying or subdued quality

Unionist - supporting the Union in the Civil War

unsatiable - can not be satisfied

Ursuline - of or relating to a number of Roman Catholic teaching orders of nuns named to honor Ursula, a legendary Christian martyr

vacillated - fluctuated, changed, swayed

vaqueros - cowboys (Spanish)

Vicar General - administrative deputy of a Roman Catholic or Anglican Church

Viceroy - an appointed ruler of a viceroyalty

Viceroyalty - a country, province, or larger territory belonging to a monarch

vigil - watch, as in to keep watch

vocation - a summons, a calling, occupation

Wales - a division of the United Kingdom in SW Britain and one of the last strongholds of Celts in England

walking beam - the term for the connecting unit between reciprocating units of a steam engine

ward - political subdivision, a person under the protection of a court usually through a guardian appointed by the court

Watuga Agreement - a compact of government initiated by William Bean, the first Euro-American settler of Tennessee. It was an agreement mutually binding hundreds of settlers to an agreed body of law, they elected a representative legislative group who in turn elected from their number a committee to provide executive and judicial functions

Welsh - of or pertaining to Wales

Wends - a slavic people of eastern Germany

whence - by reason of which fact, from

whetted - sharpened

Whig - a conservative political party, forerunner to the Republican Party

white, whites - vernacular term refering to light skinned Europeans, or Euro-Americans

Wild Geese - Irish soldiers who emigrated to serve in another country's military service. Later, any Irish abroad

wildcatter - one who drills for oil on more instinct than scientific data

winding sheet - a bed sheet used to wrap the dead

woodline - where a wooded area begins

writ - written authority

zambos - people of mixed Negro and Indian blood in Spanish colonial society

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