MacLachlan – Chief’s Coat of Arms

There is an old Scottish tale behind the MacLachlan Coat of Arms. Legend has it that the reason behind the two roebucks (deers) supporting the MacLachlan Chief’s Coat of Arms came in 1249, when King Alexander II made his great show of strength in Argyll, he ordered the local chiefs to send their money (taxes) by the fastest messenger, and Lachlan Msr (the younger) tied the moneybags to the horns of a roebuck. In wonder if this was a statement by the MacLachlan chief about paying taxes. Deer’s are fast but not exactly reliable transport.

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Enterprise and Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing announced that all ten applicants to the fund have been offered grants to support the staging of clan events across the country. In October last year the £200,000 fund was put in place to provide support for activities promoting clan tourism outside of Edinburgh and Galsgow over the next three years. Such events are a major attraction to the hundreds of thousands from across the globe who visit Scotland to explore their ancestry.

The 2014 recipients are:

• Clan Munro Association – 10th International Clan Munro Gathering.
  Foulis Castle, Evanton. Awarded £5000.
• Clan Lachlan Gathering & Strathlachlan Community Festival.
  Castle Lachlan, Strathlachlan. Awarded £5000.
• MacDougall of Dunollie Preservation Trust – Clan MacDougall International Gathering 2014.
  Dunollie House plus various local locations. Oban, Argyll. Awarded £5000.
• Clan MacThomas Society – 2014 Diamond Jubilee Gathering.
  Perth and Kinross, Pitlochry/Glenshee/Kirkmichael. Awarded £1070.
• Clan Gregor Society – International Clan Gregor Gathering 2014.
  Based at Stirling University then at Dalmally, Argyllshire. Awarded £1750.
• Clan MacLaren – Clan MacLaren at the Lochearnhead Highland Games and Gathering.
  Balquhidder and Strathyre. Awarded £1000.
• Clan Hay Society – Tartan Ties 2014.
  Stirling and Aberdeen. Awarded £2500.
• Clan Lamont Society – Clan Lamont Family Fun Day.
  Toward Castle, Dunoon. Awarded £3000.
• Clan Moffat UK – Clan Moffat International Gathering.
  Moffat. Awarded £1000.
• Clan Donnachaidh – Society Gathering.
  Killiecrankie Hall, Pitlochry, and Clan Centre at Bruar. Awarded £1000.

Mr Ewing said he was delighted to announce the initial allocation of funding, saying clan events generate income and provide a colourful spectacle in communities where they take place. He said: “This is the year that Scotland gives a warm welcome to visitors from around the world as we showcase the history and traditions of Scottish Clans during our second year of Homecoming.”

“Not only will the Scottish Clan Event Fund help support activities during this year’s celebrations, but will also provide a legacy by supporting Clan events through to our planned Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology in 2017.”

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Clan Map of Ireland, 1485

This time tomorrow I’ll be jet-setting across the ditch to Ireland for a quick break with my wee brother who is currently visiting me in Edinburgh. We’ll be spending some time in Dublin and Galway, before heading up to Northern Ireland, then back home to Scotland. I’m looking forward to connecting some ancestral puzzle pieces, as well as enjoying the obligatory first pint of ‘real’ Guinness in the famed stout’s homeland.

I have to admit that even though my ancestry is Irish rather than Scottish, I’m a complete newbie when it comes to Irish clans. The extent of my knowledge is that for hundreds of years there’s been an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the clans, as many Scottish and Irish clans claim ancestry from each other. Clan MacLachlan, Clan Lamont, Clan Ewen of Otter and Clan MacNeil of Barra all claim descent from Ánrothán Ua Néill, an Irish prince of the O’Neill dynasty who left Ireland for Kintyre in the 11th century. Clan Munro also emigrated to Scotland from Ireland – The 11th century chief Donald Munro was granted lands in the Highlands for services rendered to Malcolm II of Scotland in defeating the Danish Viking invasion.

Similarly the Irish Clan Sweeney is Scottish in origin – in the early 14th century, Clan Sweeney were in cahoots with the MacDougalls – bitter enemies of Robert the Bruce. In 1310 when Bruce had most of Argyll and the North Channel in his favour, Clan Sweeney attempted to reclaim their lands at Knapdale. However they failed miserably, and were forced to reestablish themselves as Gallowglass mercenary soldiers in Donegal. The Gallowglass are an interesting story in themselves – following the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th century, many Scottish clans of Norse-Gaelic origin were dispossessed of their lands for choosing the wrong side in the war. These clans ended up in Ireland, settled by Irish nobles in return for providing services as a class of elite soldiers, famed as a heavily armoured, trained aristocratic infantry to be relied upon as a strong defence for holding a position.

So you see, there really is so much clan history overlapping between Scotland and Ireland. And I haven’t even mentioned the language yet – I’m told Scottish Gaelic is an older, more conservative form of Irish Gaelic (although that’s probably a topic for another day). The clan systems in both countries have their differences, however surprisingly the modern day versions of the ancient clans seem to have organised themselves in very similar ways.

The clan system formed the basis of society in Ireland up until the 17th century. From ancient times, Irish society was organised around traditional kinship or groups, which can trace their origins to larger pre-surname population groupings such as Uí Briúin in Connacht, Eóghanachta and Dál gCais in Munster, Uí Neill in Ulster, and Fir Domnann in Leinster. Underneath each larger grouping were various septs, who through war and politics became more powerful than others and were accorded the status of royalty in Gaelic Ireland. The largely symbolic role of High King of Ireland rotated amongst the leaders of these royal clans. Like the Scottish clans, the chief of each Irish clan was responsible for maintaining and protecting their clan and the property, and the clan was composed of those who were related by blood as well as those who were adopted or fostered into the clan.

Siege of Kinsale Battle Map

The early 17th century marked a huge turning point in clan history in Ireland. The Siege of Kinsale was a three month battle ending on 3rd January 1602 that is kind of like Ireland’s version of Culloden. Kinsale was the ultimate battle in Tudor England’s conquest of Ireland, campaigned by Aodh Mór Ó Néill, Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill and other Irish clan leaders against English rule. Just like the Jacobites at Culloden, the Irish were defeated, and the clan system was effectively and decisively stamped out. The Tudor re-conquest marked the destruction of Gaelic aristocracy, and when the senior Gaelic Chiefs of Ulster left Ireland in 1607 to unsuccessfully recruit support in continental Europe, the English authorities in Dublin were able to establish real control over Ireland for the first time.

Despite this almost eradication of the clans, followed by the subsequent loss of ancestral lands and forced and willing emigration, today the clans of Scotland and Ireland still employ a huge part of each countries’ culture. In the 1940s Edward MacLysaght, the first Chief Herald of Ireland, drew up a list of 243 Irish clans and began to publish a number of works on the history and background of Irish families. Modern Irish clans were reformed in the latter half of the twentieth century and in 1991 sixteen of the nineteen bloodline chiefs were received by the President of Ireland, Dr. Mary Robinson. This was the first time in modern history that the bloodline chieftains of Ireland had gathered to form a new Council of Irish chiefs, established by the President to bring together the Chiefs of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland as recognised by the Chief Herald. The only other recorded meeting of the Irish chiefs was before the Siege of Kinsale.

In January 2013 the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Finte na hÉireann – an authentication and registration body for the Clans of Ireland. This historic event took place at a meeting of the board on 26 January 2013 at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. The MOU was signed for Clans of Ireland by Dr. Michael J.S. Egan, Cathaoirleach and for the Standing Council by Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor. As part of the agreement both organisations agree to recognise each other’s authority over clans and to support each other’s respective goals, working together well into the 21st century just as the clans of each country had (allbeit in a less bloody way) for hundreds of years before.

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Alex Hamilton began his campaign at the Scottish Parliament’s public petitions committee earlier this year to highlight the importance of Scotland’s vast forests and woodlands. Mr Hamilton also took the opportunity to urge the public to vote for the Scots pine, stating the tree is “the most worthy symbol of our woodlands and of a modern Scotland”. Members of the public are able to vote for any tree they please, however the online consultation will set out presentations promoting the Scots pine, the rowan, the birch and the wych elm.

At the launch of the consultation in September, Environment Minister Paul Weelhouse backed Mr Hamilton’s campaign, stating it has never been more important than now to highlight the vital role trees play in Scottish life. He said: “Some of our woodlands are currently under threat from a number of serious tree health problems. A national tree could be a powerful symbol to help raise the profile of trees and their contribution to so many aspects of today’s society.”

Behold… the mighty rowan tree.

At ScotClans we’re backing the campaign by rooting for the rowan tree. The rowan is an incredibly important tree in Scottish folklore, and coincidentally can be found in a large number of clan badges. Wood from a rowan tree is also strong and resilient, and is the lumber of choice among carvers and whittlers. Rowan makes excellent walking sticks, and spindles and spinning wheels are traditionally made from its wood. It’s also no suprise that the berries can be made into or added to a variety of alcoholic beverages. As well as the popular rowan wine made in the Highlands, a strong spirit can be made from the berries, and rowan berry jelly is still served as an accompaniment to game dishes.

However in times gone by, the rowan was very sacred as it was believed it provided protection against witchcraft. According to Hugh Fife in his book Warriors and Guardians: Native Highland Trees: “Scottish tradition does not allow the use of the tree’s timber, bark, leaves or flowers, nor the cutting of these, except for sacred purposes under special conditions.” The physical characteristics of the tree may have contributed to its protective reputation, including the tiny five pointed star or pentagram on each berry opposite its stalk (the pentagram being an ancient protective symbol). The colour red was deemed to be the best protection against enchantment, and so the rowan’s vibrant display of berries in autumn may have further contributed to its protective abilities, as suggested in the old rhyme: “Rowan tree and red thread / make the witches tine (meaning ‘to lose’) their speed”.

A tree itself was said to afford protection to the dwelling by which it grew, pieces of the tree were carried or sewn into clothes for personal protection from witchcraft, and sprigs or pieces of rowan were used to protect especially cows and their dairy produce from enchantment. There are documented instances as late as the latter half of the twentieth century of people being warned against removing or damaging the rowan trees in the Scottish Highlands and Ireland.

The vibrant red berries of the rowan tree

Rowan (sometimes called Mountain Ash) is the badge of Clan Maclachlan and Clan Malcolm. A clan badge is usually a sprig of a specific plant used to identify a member of a particular clan. Badges are usually worn in a bonnet behind the Scottish crest badge, or attached at the shoulder of a lady’s tartan sash. Rowan is also important to Clan Urquhart, whose name is believed to be derived from the Gaelic Airchartdan. This has been variously translated as “upon a rowan wood” (copses of rowan trees are common in Glen Urquhart, the Clan’s place of origin according to oral tradition) and the “fort on the knoll,” perhaps alluding to Castle Urquhart or the previous neolithic forts upon which it was built.

We hope that you get behind us to make the rowan Scotland’s national tree. Voting is open now until early December and can be completed online, by e-mail or post. Check out the Scottish Forrest Commission’s consultation information page by clicking here. You can also view a video from the commission here which showcases the range of benefits Scotland’s forests bring.

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I’d like to continue by reproducing Alaistair Moffat’s reading given at St Giles. It was an excellent account of the battle and the aftermath.

—

FLODDEN ADDRESS. – ALISTAIR MOFFAT

When dawn broke on the morning of 10th September, 1513, the landscape of hell was revealed. On the gently undulating northern ridges of Branxton Hill more than 10,000 men lay dead or dying. In the midst of the carnage were the naked, plundered bodies of King James IV of Scotland, his half-brother, Alexander Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews, George Hepburn, Bishop of the Isles, two abbots, nine great earls of Scotland, fourteen lords of parliament, innumerable knights and noblemen of lesser degree and many thousands of farmers, ploughmen, weavers and burgesses. It was the appalling aftermath of the battle of Flodden, the greatest military disaster in Scotland’s history.

In the grey light of that terrible dawn, sentries posted around the captured Scottish cannon could make out where the brunt of battle had been joined. Below them, at the foot of the slope ran the trickle of a nameless burn now choked with slaughter, a wrack of mangled bodies, broken pikeshafts, shattered shields and everywhere blood and the sickening stench of death, vomit and voided bowels. Not all of the bodies were yet corpses. Through a long dark night the battlefield had not been a silent graveyard. Trapped under lifeless comrades, crippled, hamstrung or horribly mutilated, fatally wounded men still breathed. Bladed weapons rarely kill outright and they were often used to bludgeon men to their knees or into unconsciousness. In the churned mud of the battlefield some men will have lost their footing, fallen and been hacked at before they could get up. Many bled to death, maimed, lacerated by vicious cuts, screaming, fainting and screaming once more in their death agonies. Some will have been put out of their misery by parties of English soldiers scouring the field by torchlight for plunder, stripping the bodies, ransacking them for valuables. But other men will have lingered on in

unspeakable pain, praying to their God, passing in and out of consciousness, slowly bleeding to death. The fury of the battle on Flodden field may have been stilled and awash with death and defeat. But all was not yet over. In an instant the plunderers and scavengers looked up and the sentries by the cannon stood to, frantically peering through the morning light. They could hear the rumbling thunder of hoofbeats – and then, suddenly, riders erupted over Barelees Rig. With 800 horsemen at his back, Lord Alexander Home galloped hard across the horrors of the battlefield and up the slopes of Branxton Hill. They had not come back to Flodden to rejoin a lost battle but to rescue their captured ordnance. And they very nearly succeeded. After a sharp skirmish, the English gunners managed to load and get off a volley at Home’s squadron, and they scattered.

And so it ended. As the Border horsemen wheeled round and raced out of range, the remnants of the shattered Scottish army were limping across the Tweed at Coldstream. There was no organised pursuit. The victorious English army had taken heavy casualties and the Earl of Surrey and his captains were exhausted. In any event, their bloody work was done. The floors o’ the Forest were a’ wede awa, Flodden was a national disaster, a harbinger of lawlessness in the shape of the Border Reivers, the beginning of a long period of political uncertainty and the last medieval battle in the history of Britain. The last time a king was to die leading his army.

It was also an epic. As two huge armies mustered and marched into history, extraordinary scenes had been witnessed. At Ellemford, high in the Lammermuirs above Duns, where sheep now graze on the flanks of the hills, where buzzards hang in the updrafts and an elegant bridge crosses the Whiteadder, King James IV and his army camped. Huge guns were trundled down the hill trails, dragged by oxen, and by 21st August 1513, almost 30,000 men had massed in this beautiful, now lonely valley. Two days later, the largest force ever to leave Scotland crossed the Tweed at the fords below Coldstream. They had declared war, they had entered the realm of the Tudors, of the ferociously ambitious and bull-like Henry VIII.

Meanwhile Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the Bishop of Durham carried the standard of St Cuthbert before their battle-hardened troops. In front of the high altar of the great cathedral, Howard had watched the bishop bless the flag of the Haliwerfolc. The lands of Palatinate, of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, reached to the Tweed and beyond, and in an early definition of Englishness, their people were known as the Holy Man’s Folk, the Haliwerfolc. Ancient allegiances were being roused and summoned.

Between 2nd and 9th September two vast armies circled each other in a small corner of North Northumberland, like heavyweight boxers looking for weaknesses or waiting for wrong moves. After the Earl of Surrey had despatched a herald, the Rouge Croix, it was finally agreed that battle would be joined on 9th September. Supplies for almost 70,000 men, horses and camp followers were running dangerously low

and neither army could remain in the field much longer.

Realising the strength of the Scots’ entrenched position, Surrey led his men to the east, skirting Flodden Edge and staying out of artillery range. On the morning of the appointed day, he crossed the River Till and took up a position to the north of James IV’s army, barring any retreat to Scotland. And then, on a damp afternoon, the greatest battle ever fought between England and Scotland began.

On the left wing of the Scottish host, the Highlanders led by the Earl of Huntly massed in formation with Lord Home’s Borderers, and in the moments before their chiefs roared the claideamh mor, the order to charge, the Gaelic-speaking warriors did something remarkable. They began to summon the army of the dead. They began the sloinneadh, the naming of the names of memory. To bolster his courage, each man began to recite his genealogy. Many waiting to charge could go back 20 generations. As if they were offering up the murmur of prayer, each man remembered why he had come to fight. Is mise mac Iain, mac Ruaridh, mac Domhnuill. I am the son of John, the son of Roderick, the son of Donald. And once their quiet voices stilled, the roar of the claideamh mor rent the air and they broke into the charge. With their broadswords and Lochaber axes, the Highlanders tore into the English ranks, the division led by Edmund Howard, They scattered and a rout was only prevented when Lord Dacre rode to the rescue with his English Borderers. As history rumbled across Branxton Hill, fortune appeared to be smiling on the Scots.

At the same time, James IV was about to make a catastrophic decision, a crucial error of judgement. Instead of occupying an elevated position at the rear of his vast army, he chose to lead from the front. His division raced down Branxton Hill and as they reached the lower slopes and much softer ground, many men began to skid and lose their footing. This unsteadiness made it very difficult for them to control their long, 12 foot pikes. The wet ground made them charge out of formation, only engaging piecemeal with the solidly planted ranks of English billmen, With their shorter, more easily handled bills, they began to slice into James IV’s division. And as the men at the back saw the Scottish pikes go down, they hesitated and many of them ran, believing their king to be killed. By leading from the front, James was immediately submerged in the ruck of the fighting, only able to see what was directly in front of him, in no position to direct his forces. The result was disaster.

The legacy of Flodden was most immediately and keenly felt in the Borders. North of the Tweed the memory of the battle is kept alive in the fabric of the midsummer common ridings. At Selkirk the ceremony of the casting of the colours is unique in Britain and it is based on the return of a soldier known as Fletcher, traditionally believed to have been the only one of sixty from the town to return. In his bloodied hand he held aloft, in a gesture of desolate defiance, a flag captured from the men of Macclesfield in Cheshire. Many Englishmen had fought and fallen at Flodden. And passions still run high. When the Mayor of Macclesfield recently wrote to the Provost of Selkirk asking for the return of the flag, he was told that he would need to come to the Borders and take it.

Flodden is an immense story. Like Culloden in 1746, it signalled the end of a fading, feudal Scotland.  And it also ushered in a century of lawlessness, the criminal society controlled by the appalling Border Reivers. Across Europe, renaissance, enlightenment and the reformation were changing lives, forming new ideas and creating the institutions of the modern world. In the first half of the 16th century, central authority broke down in a leaderless nation, and while swords and spears spoke in Scotland, the law was often silent.

What is to be learned from all of that suffering and slaughter, from all of those ancient enmities? First that they are ancient and must remain firmly in the past. In 2014 Scotland faces a historic choice and whichever way the people of Scotland vote, it must be a signal lesson of Flodden that enmity, even ancient enmity can have no part. And it is to the credit of politicians on all sides of the argument that it has not reared an ugly head. But it might.

And alongside that it mustmbe important to remember, to understand the visceral, bloody realities of whatmwent on on that terrible day 500 years ago. Lest we forget, Flodden should become a place of remembrance and of pilgrimage, a place where the uncomfortable lessons of history can be learned and never forgotten.

Two weeks ago, on one of the countless beautiful evenings of this glorious summer, I drove over to Branxton. As the sun threw long shadows across the gently undulating fields, I tried to imagine the 10th of September, 1513, the distant roar of thousands of men, the screams, the fear and feral closeness of hand-to-hand fighting when

men can smell the breath, smell the sweat of men grunting pushing, hacking, swearing at them, trying to kill them. In a Gaelic phrase, I tried to listen for the music of the thing as it happened. I tried to listen to the slow, sad music of our history. I hope that many in Scotland and England hear it too.

Prior to the sir Malcolm MacGregor (who has admitted that try as he might he can not find a single MacGregor involved in the battle) researched the casualty lists. The following names are clans and families who are known to have fought at Flodden along with notable people who fell in the battle:

From the Highland Clans: 

Campbell, Erskine, Fraser, Gordon, Graham, Guthrie, Haldane, Hay, Keith, Leslie, Lindsay, Macaulay, Macfarlane, Mackay, Maclean, Macnab, Menteith, Moncreiff, Moray, Murray, Ogilvy, Oliphant, Ramsay, Rattray, Ross, Ruthven, Seton, Sinclair, Stewart, Forbes, Forsyth, Grant, MacKenzie, MacNaughton, Ross, Skene, Buchanan Of Leny, MacDonald

The Lowland and Border Clans and Families:

Adair, Abercromby, Adam, Anstruther, Baillie, Baird, Balfour, Barclay, Blackadder, Bonar, Boswell, Carnegie, Cathcart, Cleland, Cockburn, Colville, Craig, Crauford, Crichton, Cunningham, Dunbar, Dundas, Edmonstone Of Duntreath, Elphinstone, Fotheringham, Gray, Grierson, Haig, St.Clair Of Roslin, Henderson, Hepburne, Herries, Home, Hoppringle, Houston, Lauder, Liddel, Lockhart, Lumsden, Lyon, Masterson, Maitland, Maule, Maxtone, Maxwell, Melville, Muirhead, Mure, Napier, Rollo, Sempill, Somerville, Spottiswood, Stewart Of Traquair, Allardice, Ballingall, Kerr, Colville, Crammond, Eliott, Ferguson, Fleming, Foreman (Standard Bearer), Inche, Inglis, Johnstone, Kirkcaldy, Knolis, Logan, Montgomery, Morton, Muir, Nelson Of Madinpap, Otterbrun, Pitcarin, Pringle, Reid, Rorison, Savage, Scott, Seton, Tunstall, Vallanche, Wood Of Raik, Kennedy, Douglas, Hamilton, Livingstone, Wemyss, Wallace, MacLellan, MacCulloch, MacDowall

Chief Or Notable Head Of House/Family

King James IV, Archbishop Of St.Andrews (King’s Son), Earl Of Morton ( Grandson Of James 1), Earl Of Glencairn, Douglas Of Drumlanrig, Sir James Dunbar, Dundas, Lord Elphinstone, Lord Erskine, Earl Of Huntly, Earl Of Montrose, Sir Alexander Guthrie, Haig Of Bemersyde, Haldane Of Gleneagles, Earl Of Errol, Earl Of Bothwell, Sir William Keith, Earl Of Cassilis, Earl Of Rothes, Earl Of Crawford, MacDowal, Earl Of Garthland, MacFarlane Of Arrochar, Hector MacLean Of Duart, Maxwell Lord Of Carlaverock, Sir John Moncreiffe Of That Ilk, Moray Of Abercairney, Ramsay Of Dalhousie, Rattray Of That Ilk, Rollo Of Duncrub, Master Of Ruthven, Lord Sempill, Lord Seton, Earl Of Caithness, Earl Of Atholl, Earl Of Lennox, Lord Darnley, Master Of Angus, Anstruther Of That Ilk, Ballingall Of That Ilk, Master Of Eliott, Lord Forbes, Master Of Lovat, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Lochinvar, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Knockenshene, Grant Of Freuchie, John Henderson Of Fordell, Lord Alexander Home, Sir Patrick Houston Of That Ilk, William Johnstone Of That Ilk, Lord Keith, Lord Lorn, Lyon (Sons Of Lord Glamis), MacKenzie Of Kintail, Sir Alexander MacNaughton Of That Ilk, Andrew Pitcairn Of Pitcairn And 7 Sons, Lord Ross, William Ruthven Of That Ilk, Sir Walter Scott Of Buccleuch, Alexander Skene Of That Ilk, Sir David Wemyss, Earl Of Argyll, Lord Kinnaird, Master Of Cathcart, MacDonald Of Lochalsh.

—–

The St Giles Service…

Just over 40 clan chiefs  attended the St Giles service. At the end of the service they mustered for a photograph on the steps. To help you identify who was there we have been given a sketch with a key to the names:

1. Sir Walter Riddell of Riddell 2. The Hon. Elizabeth Fairbairn 3. Madam Pauline Hunter of Hunterston 4. Sir David Bannerman of Elsick 5. Lord Polwarth 6. Andrew Wallace Younger of that Ilk 7. Andrew Dewar Durie of Durie CBE 8. Michael Ancram, Marquess of Lothian 9. Andrew MacThomas of Finegand 10. Earl of Dundee 11. David Campbell of Strachur 12. Roderick Macneil of Barra 13. Sir James McGrigor 14. Earl of Eglinton and Winton 15. Professor David Hannay of Kirkdale and of that Ilk 16. Henry Trotter Younger of Charterhall 17. John MacArthur of that Ilk 18. Duncan Paisley of Westerlea 19. Richard Carmichael of Carmichael 20. Earl of Caithness21. Earl of Lauderdale 22. The Hon. Alexander Leslie 23. Earl of Erroll  24. Lord Napier and Ettrick 25. Madam Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid 26. David Cranstoun of that Ilk 27. Jamie Macnab of Macnab 28. Earl of Wemyss and March 29. Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw  30. The Hon. Kate Nicolson 31. Duke of Montrose 32. The Hon. Peregrine Moncreiffe of that Ilk 33. Martin Haldane of Gleneagles 34.  Lord Sempill 35.  Andrew Marjoribanks of that Ilk 36. Donald MacLaren of MacLaren  37.  Duke of Hamilton 38. Field Marshal the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank 39. Isla St Clair 40. Marquess of Ailsa 41. Madam Margaret Eliott of Redheugh 42. Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor 43. Lord Macdonald of Macdonald 44.  Richard Oliphant of that Ilk

This image will help you identify the chiefs:

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Scottish tradition holds that a member of the MacLachlans of Kilbride travelled to Aberdeen to purchase cattle. While there, he fell in love with the daughter of the Duke of Gordon. The two lovers eloped and eventually settled down and built a home on the island of Seil. After a time, the MacLachlan, his wife, and their two small sons returned to Aberdeenshire to make peace with the Duke and Duchess. When the family reached the castle, the two bairns were sent ahead. Upon seeing the lads, the Duke and Duchess immediately recognized them as being the children of their daughter. The two families subsequently reconciled their differences.

When Iain Beag MacLachlan, a member of the MacLachlans of Coruanan, reached the age of ascension, he was reminded of his father’s death and decided to seek revenge. Soon thereafter, Iain Beag began lurking near the Glen Nevis House. He managed to become friendly with one of MacSorlie’s dairy-maids. Iain Beag arranged for this maid to give him a signal when Donald went to the sheiling for a drink of warm milk, something Donald frequently did. The MacLachlan, a noted archer, who was lying in wait for his enemy, let an arrow fly as Donald was drinking. The arrow split both the wooden vessel containing the milk and Donald’s head.

Iain Beag MacLachlan then fled from his home and wandered throughout the Highlands and Isles for years in constant fear of being captured or slain by his enemies. He later returned to his homeland and attempted to steal a very fine unique gun from Angus McSorlie, the 7th of Glen Nevis (Donald MacSorlie’s younger brother) which he had spied through an open window. Iain Beag was almost caught by Angus, escaping when Iain Beag managed to stab the Laird with his dirk. Iain Beag then escaped the house and was never heard of again.

You are still able to see the gun sought by Iain Beag in a museum by Glen Nevis.

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Shore of Loch Fyne

A MacLachlan legend tells of a MacLachlan Chief who would pay his feu duty (a sign of submission to an overlord in true feudal fashion) in a very strange way. The duty itself was a pair of gloves handed over through an annual ceremony which took place over a large rock called Capull Cruaidh. This rock is located along the shores of Loch Fyne near Strachur and bordered on the property of Campbell of Strachur. The Laird would take a servant along as a witness of payment. After placing the gloves on the rock and turning away, the servant would pick up the gloves and take them back to the castle. There they remained until the following year when the ceremony would be repeated.

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