tanists

[3] This was also the case with the Irish tanists, or chiefs of septs; the people elected a tanist, but their choice was confined to the members of the ruling family.

Pinnock's improved edition of Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome $b to which is prefixed an introduction to the study of Roman history, and a great variety of valuable information added throughout the work, on the manners, institutions, and antiquities of the Romans; with numerous biographical and historical notes; and questions for examination at the end of each section. $c By Wm. C. Taylor. Oliver Goldsmith 1752

The chieftains and the tanists, though drawn from the principal families, were not hereditary, but were established by election, or, more properly speaking, by force and violence.

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part D. From Elizabeth to James I. David Hume 1743