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Erainn Tribes
The MacKintoshes (Mac an Toisich) are
paternally an offshoot of the Clan MacDuff of Fife, whose chiefs, the earls of Fife, held
vast territory in Moray during the thirteenth century. Rothiemurchus, the earliest known
territory of the Mackintoshes, was surrounded by this territory. In 1291, Angus, sixth
chief of the MacKintoshes, married Eva, daughter and only child of Dougal Dall, sixth
chief of the Clan Chattan. The Clan Chattan line stretched back to the first chief,
Gillechattan Mor, heir of the co-arbs of the abbey of Kilchattan on the Isle of Bute, the
special abbey of the Cineal Loairn. The line of this Gillechattan Mor, whose name means
"great servant of St. Cattan" (the patron saint of the Abbey of Kilchattan)
acquired land in Lochaber and Badenoch, probably by Pictish succession. This may explain
the use of the wildcat as the heraldic beast of the Clan Chattan, informally referred to
as the Clan of the Cats: St. Cattan’s name means "little cat," and the
Northern Picts had an ancient totemistic connection to the cat (hence the name of the
province of Caithness in northern Scotland—see under "Sutherland" in
Chapter X). As for the MacKintoshes, since no surname was associated with the Clan Chattan
chiefship in these virtually pre-surname days in Scotland, the new line of MacKintoshes
kept their name, but continued as captains of the Clan Chattan.
The Clann Fhionnlaigh or Farquharsons (Mac Fhearchair) of Invercauld in
Aberdeenshire are descended from the Shaws of Rothiemurchus, cadets of the MacKintoshes.
They inherited Invercauld from the MacHardys.
The MacPhersons (Mac an Phearsoin) descend from Ewan Ban, son of
Muriach, "Macgilliechattan Clearach," Celtic Prior (or "Parson") of
Kingussie, and fourth chief of the Clan Chattan. With the passing of the chiefship to the
MacKintoshes through Eva, daughter of the sixth chief, the MacPherson chiefs represented
the male-heir of the Clann Chattan, and thus disputed, with the MacKintoshes, the
high-chiefship of the Clan Chattan, and with the Clann Dhai or Davidsons, the leadership
of the right wing (the position of honor) of the Clan Chattan’s 2000-man army.
The Davidsons (Mac Dhaibhidh) descended from David Dhu, another son of
Muriach, ancestor of the MacPhersons. In order to hamper the unity of the powerful Clan
Chattan, the early Stewart kings played off the MacPhersons against the Davidsons by
formenting the continuance of their dispute. This action led to the famous Battle of the
Clans at Perth in 1396, a "legal battle" before the king, contested to the death
between a limited number of clansmen of the MacPhersons and the Clan Dhai (the identity of
the Davidsons as the latter party, although likely, has not been proven absolutely).
The Clan Vean, or MacBeans (MacBheathain), alias MacBain or MacBeath,
originally came north from Lochaber in the train of Eva, heiress of Clann Chattan, and
appear from the sword in their arms, to have held the office of swordbearer under the
original Clan Chattan chiefs. They then settled in Inverness, and had their chief seat at
Kinchyle, in eastern Inverness-shire. Other branches were settled in Strathnairn and
Strathdearn.
The Camerons (Camshron) derive their
name from a place in Fife, where the original knightly family settled as cadets of the
earls of Fife. The Cameron arms are a different version of one of the two distinct coats
of arms used by the MacDuff chiefs, earls of Fife (the Fife practice of bearing two arms
probably arose to forstall confusion in the official and military use of the main Fife
arms, which are very similar to the Royal Arms, being the "undifferenced"
version of those arms, a reflection of ultimate seniority of the House of Fife in
Scotland—see under MacDuff). A scion of this house, Sir Robert Cambron, was sheriff
of Atholl in 1296 under the earls of Atholl, who were at that time themselves a branch of
the earls of Fife. Thus the male-line ancestor of the Clan Cameron was brought to the
border of Lochaber, which would become the home of the clan. By the end of the fourteenth
century, the southern estates of the Camerons had passed out of the family through
heiresses, but soon afterwards the Camerons themselves inherited the chiefship of a clan
in western Lochaber, of the same stock as the Clan Chattan, whose chief families were the
MacGillonies (Mac Giolla Onfhaidh) of Strone, MacMartins (Mac Mairtin) of Letterfinlay
(who have almost entirely adopted the name of Cameron), and the MacSorleys (Mac Somhairle)
of Glen Nevis. By about 1411 their first traceable chief, "Black Donald"
Cameron, was already chief of the MacGillonie branch of the clan when he married the
heiress of MacMartin of Letterfinlay, who brought to him the captaincy of the Clan
Cameron. He was ancestor of the Camerons, alias MacGillonies, of Strone and Lochiel, the
latter being the chief family, and deriving the designation of Lochiel from the name of
the barony erected from the lands of the Captain of Clan Cameron in 1528. The name
Cameron, from the original Fife family, does survive in the south, though rare, iand was
common in Edinburgh in the seventeenth century.
The Cineal nGabrain originally dwelt south of the Cineal Loairn in the
island districts of Jura, Bute, and Arran, and the mainland districts of Cowal and
Kintyre. They derive their descent from Gabhran, King of Dal Riada in the sixth century.
They were the chief clan of the Dal Riada, and merged with the Pictish Royal House in the
ninth century. Their chief descendants include the Fergusons, MacKerseys, MacFies,
MacGregors, MacKinnons and MacQuarries.
The Fergusons (Mac Fhearghuis) of Strachur on Loch Fyne, and their
kinsmen the MacKerseys (Mac Fhearghuis) of Kintyre are not connected with the several
clans of the name in other parts of the Highlands, with the possible exception of the
Fergusons of Balquhidder. The Strachur Fergusons stronghold was the "Black
Castle" on Beinn Bheula. The Lowland family of the name in Ayrshire, the Fergusons of
Kilkerrin, were originally of the Kintyre branch, as suggested by their arms, and by the
similarity of the name of their original lands, Kilkerrin (dedicated to St. Ciaran) to the
name of the place called Kilkerrin (now Campbelltown) in Kintyre (the Fergusons of
Kilkerrin may originally have been hereditary keepers of the cross of St. Ciaran).
The Siol Alpin is the name of a group
of clans traditionally connected by their mutual traditional descent from Kenneth
Mac Alpin (first king of the united kingdom of Picts and Scots in the ninth
century—see Chapter IV), a tradition which simply indicates that they were all of
generally "South Argyle" Dalriadic stock. These families include the MacGregors
(Mac Grioghair), an "outlaw" clan of the Argyle-Perthshire border, many of whom
were forced to assume aliases, and to which clan belonged the famous eighteenth century
adventurer "Rob Roy" MacGregor (alias Campbell); The MacFies or MacPhies (Mac
Dhuibhshithe) of Colonsay; the MacKinnons (Mac Fhionghuin) of Mull, Skye and Iona (the
last abbot of Iona in 1550 was a MacKinnon), and the MacQuarries (Mac Guadhre) of Ulva and
Mull in the Hebrides, who followed the MacLeans after the downfall of the MacDonald lords
of the Isles. The MacFies lost Colonsay after joining in the rebellion of Sir James
MacDonald in 1615, after which some followed the MacDonalds, while others settled in
Lochaber and followed the Camerons. The MacKinnons and MacFies were closely connected with
the Abbey of Iona, being the local clan-stock of the lona area. The MacKinnons became
erenaghs, or hereditary abbots, of Iona after the failure of the original Cineal Conaill
line around 1200. The MacPies may descend from the "Dubhsidhe" who was Iector of
Iona in 1164. The MacFies held part of the Isle of Jura, and sat on the Council of the
Isles advising the MacDonald lords thereof. After the downfall of the Lordship of the
Isles in the late fifteenth century, the main branch of the MacFies followed the
MacDonalds of Islay, and a sixteenth-century branch settled in Ulster.
The Osraighe (including the Ui Duach and the MacGilpatricks) were of
the same stock as the Ulaid, being descended from Oengus Osraigh, ancestor of the Dal
bhFiatach. The Osraighe migrated to Ossory (County Kilkenny), which they gave their name
to, in very early times. For the purpose of incorporating the separate territory of Ossory
within over-kingdom of Leinster, the Osraighe were later given a fake but transparent
descent from the Laigin. The Osraige gave rise to the medieval dynasty of Ossory, the
MacGilpatricks or Fitzpatricks (Mac Giolla Phadraig), and to their collateral kinsmen the
Ui Duach or O’Brennans (0 Braonain). The MacGilpatricks descend from Giolla Phadraig,
son of Donnchadh, lord of Ossory in the tenth century. They originally ruled over all
Kilkenney and part of Leix as well, but after the Anglo-Norman invasion their territory
was greatly encroached upon by the Butlers and others, and afterwards they held a greatly
reduced territory in the very north of County Kilkenny, alongside their kinsmen the
O’Brennans.
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