Clan Chattan--Chiefship--Mackintoshes--Battle of North Inch
--Macphersons--MacGillivrays--Shaws--Farquharsons--Macbeans
--Macphails--Gows--MacQueens--Cattanachs.
THE CLAN CHATTAN.[183]
Of the clan Chattan little or nothing authentic is known previous to
the last six hundred years. Their original home in Scotland, their
parentage, even their name, have been disputed. One party brings them
from Germany, and settles them in the district of Moray; another
brings them from Ireland, and settles them in Lochaber; and a third
makes them the original inhabitants of Sutherland and Caithness.
With regard to their name there is still greater variety of opinion:
the _Catti_, a Teutonic tribe; _Catav_, “the high side of the Ord of
Caithness;” _Gillicattan Mor_, their alleged founder, said to have
lived in the reign of Malcolm II., 1003-1033; _cat_, a weapon,--all
have been advanced as the root name. We cannot pretend to decide on
such a matter, which, in the entire absence of any record of the
original clan, will no doubt ever remain one open to dispute; and
therefore we refrain from entering at length into the reasons for
and against these various derivations. Except the simple fact that
such a clan existed, and occupied Lochaber for some time (how long
cannot be said) before the 14th century, nothing further of it is
known, although two elaborate genealogies of it are extant--one in
the MS. of 1450 discovered by Mr Skene; the other (which, whatever
its faults, is no doubt much more worthy of credence) compiled by Sir
Æneas Macpherson in the 17th century.
Mr Skene, on the authority of the MS. of 1450, makes out that the
clan was the most important of the tribes owning the sway of the
native Earls or Maormors of Moray, and represents it as occupying the
whole of Badenoch, the greater part of Lochaber, and the districts
of Strathnairn and Strathdearn, holding their lands in chief of the
crown. But it seems tolerably evident that the MS. of 1450 is by no
means to be relied upon; Mr Skene himself says it is not trustworthy
before A.D. 1000, and there is no good ground for supposing it
to be entirely trustworthy 100 or even 200 years later. The two
principal septs of this clan in later times, the Macphersons and the
Mackintoshes, Mr Skene, on the authority of the MS., deduces from two
brothers, Neachtan and Neill, sons of Gillicattan Mor, and on the
assumption that this is correct, he proceeds to pronounce judgment on
the rival claims of Macpherson of Cluny and Mackintosh of Mackintosh
to the headship of clan Chattan.
Mr Skene, from “the investigations which he has made into the
history of the tribes of Moray, as well as into the history and
nature of Highland traditions,” conceives it to be established by
“historic authority,” that the Macphersons are the lineal and feudal
representatives of the ancient chiefs of the clan Chattan, and
“that they possess that right by blood to the chiefship, of which
no charters from the crown, and no usurpation, however successful
and continued, can deprive them.” It is not very easy to understand,
however, by what particular process of reasoning Mr Skene has arrived
at this conclusion. For supposing it were established “beyond all
doubt,” as he assumes it to be, by the manuscript of 1450, that the
Macphersons and the Mackintoshes are descended from Neachtan and
Neill, the two sons of Gillichattan-more, the founder of the race,
it does not therefore follow that “the Mackintoshes were an usurping
branch of the clan,” and that “the Macphersons alone possessed the
right of blood to that hereditary dignity.” This is indeed taking
for granted the very point to be proved, in fact the whole matter
in dispute. Mr Skene affirms that the descent of the Macphersons
from the ancient chiefs “is not denied,” which is in reality saying
nothing to the purpose; because the question is, not whether this
pretended descent has or has not been denied, but whether it can
now be established by satisfactory evidence. To make out a case in
favour of the Macphersons, it is necessary to show--first, that the
descendants of Neachtan formed the eldest branch, and consequently
were the chiefs of the clan; secondly, that the Macphersons _are_
the lineal descendants and the feudal representatives of this same
Neachtan, whom they claim as their ancestor; and, lastly, that the
Mackintoshes are really descended from Neill, the second son of the
founder of the race, and not from Macduff, Earl of Fife, as they
themselves have always maintained. But we do not observe that any of
these points has been formally proved by evidence, or that Mr Skene
has deemed it necessary to fortify his assertions by arguments, and
deductions from historical facts. His statement, indeed, amounts
just to this--That the family of Macheth, the descendants of Head or
Heth, the son of Neachtan, were “identical with the chiefs of clan
Chattan;” and that the clan Vurich, or Macphersons, were descended
from these chiefs. But, in the first place, the “identity” which is
here contended for, and upon which the whole question hinges, is
imagined rather than proved; it is a conjectural assumption rather
than an inference deduced from a series of probabilities: and,
secondly, the descent of the clan Vurich from the Macheths rests
solely upon the authority of a Celtic genealogy (the manuscript of
1450) which, whatever weight may be given to it when supported by
collateral evidence, is not alone sufficient authority to warrant
anything beyond a mere conjectural inference. Hence, so far from
granting to Mr Skene that the hereditary title of the Macphersons of
Cluny to the chiefship of clan Chattan has been clearly established
by him, we humbly conceive that he has left the question precisely
where he found it. The title of that family may be the preferable
one, but it yet remains to be shown that such is the case.
Tradition certainly makes the Macphersons of Cluny the male
representatives of the chiefs of the old clan Chattan; but even if
this is correct, it does not therefore follow that they have now, or
have had for the last six hundred years, any right to be regarded
as chiefs of the clan. The same authority, fortified by written
evidence of a date only about fifty years later than Skene’s MS.,
in a MS. history of the Mackintoshes, states that Angus, 6th chief
of Mackintosh, married the daughter and only child of Dugall Dall,
chief of clan Chattan, in the end of the 13th century, and with her
obtained the lands occupied by the clan, with the station of leader,
and that he was _received_ as such by the clansmen. Similar instances
of the abrogation of what is called the Highland law of succession
are to be found in Highland history, and on this ground alone the
title of the Mackintosh chiefs seems to be a good one. Then again we
find them owned and followed as captains of clan Chattan even by the
Macphersons themselves up to the 17th century; while in hundreds of
charters, bonds and deeds of every description, given by kings, Lords
of the Isles, neighbouring chiefs, and the septs of clan Chattan
itself, is the title of captain of clan Chattan acceded to them--as
early as the time of David II. Mr Skene, indeed, employs their usage
of the term Captain to show that they had no right of blood to the
headship--a right they have never claimed, although there is perhaps
no reason why they should not claim such a right from Eva. By an
argument deduced from the case of the Camerons--the weakness of which
will at once be seen on a careful examination of his statements--he
presumes that they were the oldest cadets of the clan, and had
usurped the chiefship. Ho doubt the designation captain was used,
as Mr Skene says, when the actual leader of a clan was a person
who had no right by blood to that position, but it does not by any
means follow that he is right in assuming that those who are called
captains were _oldest cadets_. Hector, _bastard son_ of Ferquhard
Mackintosh, while at the head of his clan during the minority of
the actual chief, his distant cousin, is in several deeds styled
_captain_ of clan Chattan, and he was certainly not oldest cadet of
the house of Mackintosh.
It is not for us to offer any decided opinion respecting a matter
where the pride and pretensions of rival families are concerned. It
may therefore be sufficient to observe that, whilst the Macphersons
rest their claims chiefly on tradition, the Mackintoshes have
produced, and triumphantly appealed to charters and documents of
every description, in support of their pretensions; and that it is
not very easy to see how so great a mass of written evidence can be
overcome by merely calling into court Tradition to give testimony
adverse to its credibility. The admitted fact of the Mackintosh
family styling themselves captains of the clan does not seem to
warrant any inference which can militate against their pretensions.
On the contrary, the original assumption of this title obviously
implies that no chief was in existence at the period when it was
assumed; and its continuance, unchallenged and undisputed, affords
strong presumptive proof in support of the account given by the
Mackintoshes as to the original constitution of their title. The
idea of usurpation appears to be altogether preposterous. The right
alleged by the family of Mackintosh was not direct but collateral;
it was founded on a marriage, and not derived by descent; and hence,
probably, the origin of the secondary or subordinate title of captain
which that family assumed. But can any one doubt that if a claim
founded upon a preferable title had been asserted, the inferior
pretension must have given way? Or is it in any degree probable that
the latter would have been so fully recognised, if there had existed
any lineal descendant of the ancient chiefs in a condition to prefer
a claim founded upon the inherent and indefeasible right of blood?
Further, even allowing that the Macphersons are the lineal male
representatives of the old clan Chattan chiefs, they can have no
possible claim to the headship of the clan Chattan of later times,
which was composed of others besides the descendants of the old clan.
The Mackintoshes also repudiate any connection by blood with the old
clan Chattan, except through the heiress of that clan who married
their chief in 1291; and, indeed, such a thing was never thought
of until Mr Skene started the idea; consequently the Macphersons
can have no claim over them, or over the families which spring from
them. The great body of the clan, the _historical_ clan Chattan, have
always owned and followed the chief of Mackintosh as their leader
and captain--the term captain being simply employed to include the
whole--and until the close of the 17th century no attempt was made to
deprive the Mackintosh chiefs of this title.
Among many other titles given to the chief of the Mackintoshes within
the last 700 years, are, according to Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, those of
_Captain of Clan Chattan_, _Chief of Clan Chattan_, and _Principal
of Clan Chattan_. The following on this subject is from the pen of
Lachlan Shaw, the historian of Moray, whose knowledge of the subject
entitled him to speak with authority. It is printed in the account
of _the Kilravock Family_ issued by the Spalding Club. “Eve Catach,
who married MacIntosh, was the heir-female (Clunie’s ancestor being
the heir-male), and had MacIntosh assumed her surname, he would (say
the MacPhersons) have been chief of the Clanchatan, according to the
custom of Scotland. But this is an empty distinction. For, if the
right of chiftanry is, _jure sanguinis_, inherent in the heir-female,
she conveys it, and cannot but convey it to her son, whatever surname
he takes; _nam jura sanguinis non prœscribunt_. And if it is not
inherent in her, she cannot convey it to her son, although he assume
her surname. Be this as it will, MacIntosh’s predecessors were, for
above 300 years, designed Captains of Clanchatan, in royal charters
and commissions, in bonds, contracts, history, heraldrie, &c.; the
occasion of which title was, that several tribes or clans (every
clan retaining its own surname) united in the general designation of
Clanchatan; and of this incorporated body, MacIntosh was the head
leader or captain. These united tribes were MacIntosh, MacPherson,
Davidson, Shaw, MacBean, MacGilivray, MacQueen, Smith, MacIntyre,
MacPhail, &c. In those times of barbarity and violence, small and
weak tribes found it necessary to unite with, or come under the
patronage of more numerous and powerful clans. And as long as the
tribes of Clanchatan remained united (which was till the family of
Gordon, breaking with the family of MacIntosh, disunited them, and
broke their coalition), they were able to defend themselves against
any other clan.”
In a MS., probably written by the same author, a copy of which now
lies before us, a lengthened enquiry into the claims of the rival
chiefs is concluded thus:--“In a word, if by the chief of the clan
Chattan is meant the heir of the family, it cannot be doubted that
Cluny is chief. If the heir whatsoever is meant, then unquestionably
Mackintosh is chief; and whoever is chief, since the captaincy and
command of the collective body of the clan Chattan was for above
300 years in the family of Mackintosh, I cannot see but, if such a
privilege now remains, it is still in that family.” In reference to
this much-disputed point, we take the liberty of quoting a letter
of the Rev. W. G. Shaw, of Forfar. He has given the result of his
inquiries in several privately printed brochures, but it is hoped
that ere long he will place at the disposal of all who take an
interest in these subjects the large stores of information he must
have accumulated on many matters connected with the Highlands.
Writing to the editor of this book he says, on the subject of the
chiefship of clan Chattan:--
“Skene accords too much to the Macphersons in one way, but not enough
in another.
“(_Too much_)--He says that for 200 years the Mackintoshes headed the
clan Chattan, but only as _captain_, not as chief. But during these
200 years we have bonds, &c., cropping up now and then in which the
Macphersons are _only_ designated as (_M._ or _N._) _Macpherson of
Cluny_. Their claim to _headship_ seems to have been thoroughly in
abeyance till the middle of the 17th century.
“(_Too little_)--For he says the Macphersons in their controversy
(1672) before the Lyon King, pled _only_ tradition, whereas they pled
the _facts_.
“_De jure_ the Macphersons were chiefs; _de facto_, they _never_
were; and they only _claimed_ to use the _title_ when clanship began
to be a thing of the past, in so far as _fighting_ was concerned.
“The Macphersons seem to have been entitled to the chieftainship by
right of birth, but _de facto_ they never had it. The _might_ of ‘the
_Macintosh_’ had made his _right_, as is evidenced in half-a-hundred
bonds of manrent, deeds of various kinds, to be found in the ‘Thanes
of Cawdor,’ and the Spalding Club Miscellany--_passim_. He is always
called Capitane or Captane of clan Quhattan, the spelling being
scarcely ever twice the same.”
Against _Mackintosh’s_ powerful claims supported by deeds, &c., the
following statements are given from the _Macpherson MS._ in Mr W. G.
Shaw’s possession:--
I. In 1370, the head of the Macphersons disowned the head of the
Mackintoshes at Invernahavon. Tradition says Macpherson withdrew
from the field without fighting, _i.e._, he mutinied on a point of
precedence between him and Mackintosh.
II. Donald More Macpherson fought along with Marr at Harlaw,
_against_ Donald of the Isles with _Mackintosh_ on his side, the two
chiefs being then on different sides (1411).
III. Donald Oig Macpherson fought on the side of Huntly at the battle
of Corrichie, and was killed; Mackintosh fought on the other side
(1562).
IV. Andrew Macpherson of Cluny held the Castle of Ruthven, A.D. 1594,
against Argyll, Mackintosh fighting on the side of Argyll.[184]
This tends to show that when the Macphersons joined with the
Mackintoshes, it was (they alleged) _voluntarily_, and not on account
of their being bound to follow Mackintosh as chief.
In a loose way, no doubt, Mackintosh may sometimes have been called
_Chief of Clan Chattan_, but _Captain_ is the title generally given
in deeds of all kinds. He was chief of the Mackintoshes, as Cluny
was chief of the Macphersons--by _right of blood_; but by agreement
amongst the Shaws, Macgillivrays, Clarkes, (Clerach), Clan Dai, &c.,
renewed from time to time, Mackintosh was recognised as _Captain of
Clan Chattan_.
We cannot forbear adding as a fit moral to this part of the
subject, the conclusion come to by the writer of the MS. already
quoted:--“After what I have said upon this angry point, I cannot but
be of opinion, that in our day, when the right of chieftanrie is so
little regarded, when the power of the chiefs is so much abridged,
when armed convocations of the lieges are discharged by law, and when
a clan are not obliged to obey their chief unless he bears a royal
commission,--when matters are so, ’tis my opinion that questions
about chieftainrie and debates about precedency of that kind, are
equally idle and unprofitable, and that gentlemen should live in
strict friendship as they are connected by blood, by affinity, or by
the vicinity of their dwellings and the interest of their families.”
The clan Chattan of history, according to Mr Fraser-Mackintosh
of Drummond,[185] was composed of the following clans, who were
either allied to the Mackintoshes and Macphersons by genealogy,
or who, for their own protection or other reasons, had joined the
confederacy:--The Mackintoshes, Macphersons, Macgillivrays, Shaws,
Farquharsons, Macbeans, Macphails, clan Tarril, Gows (said to
be descended from Henry the Smith, of North Inch fame), Clarks,
Macqueens, Davidsons, Cattanachs, clan Ay, Nobles, Gillespies. “In
addition to the above sixteen tribes, the Macleans of Dochgarroch
or clan Tearleach, the Dallases of Cantray, and others, generally
followed the captain of clan Chattan as his friends.” Of some of
these little or nothing is known except the name; but others, as the
Mackintoshes, Macphersons, Shaws, Farquharsons, &c., have on the
whole a complete and well-detailed history.
MACKINTOSH.
[Illustration: BADGE-According to some, Boxwood, others, Red
Whortleberry.]
According to the Mackintosh MS. Histories (the first of which was
compiled about 1500, other two dated in the 16th century, all of
which were embodied in a Latin MS. by Lachlan Mackintosh of Kinrara
about 1680), the progenitor of the family was Shaw or Seach, a
son of Macduff, Earl of Fife, who, for his assistance in quelling
a rebellion among the inhabitants of Moray, was presented by King
Malcolm IV. with the lands of Petty and Breachly and the forestry of
Strathearn, being made also constable of the castle at Inverness.
From the high position and power of his father, he was styled by
the Gaelic-speaking population Mac-an-Toisich, _i.e._, “son of the
principal or foremost.” _Tus_, _tos_, or _tosich_, is “the beginning
or first part of anything,” whence “foremost” or “principal.” Mr
Skene says the _tosich_ was the oldest cadet of a clan, and that
Mackintosh’s ancestor was oldest cadet of clan Chattan. Professor
Cosmo Innes says the _tosich_ was the administrator of the crown
lands, the head man of a little district, who became under the Saxon
title of Thane hereditary tenant; and it is worthy of note that these
functions were performed by the successor of the above mentioned
Shaw, who, the family history says, “was made chamberlain of the
king’s revenues in those parts for life.” It is scarcely likely,
however, that the name Mackintosh arose either in this manner or in
the manner stated by Mr Skene, as there would be many tosachs, and
in every clan an oldest cadet. The name seems to imply some peculiar
circumstances, and these are found in the son of the great Thane or
Earl of Fife.
[Illustration: MACKINTOSH. (Tartan)]
Little is known of the immediate successors of Shaw Macduff. They
appear to have made their residence in the castle of Inverness, which
they defended on several occasions against the marauding bands from
the west. Some of them added considerably to the possessions of the
family, which soon took firm root in the north. Towards the close
of the 13th century, during the minority of Angus MacFerquhard, 6th
chief, the Comyns seized the castle of Inverness, and the lands of
Geddes and Rait belonging to the Mackintoshes, and these were not
recovered for more than a century. It was this chief who in 1291-2
married Eva, the heiress of clan Chattan, and who acquired with
her the lands occupied by that clan, together with the station of
leader of her father’s clansmen. He appears to have been a chief of
great activity, and a staunch supporter of Robert Bruce, with whom
he took part in the battle of Bannockburn. He is placed second
in the list of chiefs given by General Stewart of Garth as present
in this battle. In the time of his son William the sanguinary feud
with the Camerons broke out, which continued up to the middle of
the 17th century. The dispute arose concerning the lands of Glenlui
and Locharkaig, which Angus Mackintosh had acquired with Eva, and
which in his absence had been occupied by the Camerons. William
fought several battles for the recovery of these lands, to which in
1337 he acquired a charter from the Lord of the Isles, confirmed in
1357 by David II., but his efforts were unavailing to dislodge the
Camerons. The feud was continued by his successor, Lauchlan, 8th
chief, each side occasionally making raids into the other’s country.
In one of these is said to have occurred the well-known dispute as to
precedency between two of the septs of clan Chattan, the Macphersons
and the Davidsons. According to tradition, the Camerons had entered
Badenoch, where Mackintosh was then residing, and had seized a large
“spreagh.” Mackintosh’s force, which followed them, was composed
chiefly of these two septs, the Macphersons, however, considerably
exceeding the rest. A dispute arising between the respective leaders
of the Macphersons and Davidsons as to who should lead the right
wing, the chief of Mackintosh, as superior to both, was appealed to,
and decided in favour of Davidson. Offended at this, the Macphersons,
who, if all accounts are true, had undoubtedly the better right to
the post of honour, withdrew from the field of battle, thus enabling
the Camerons to secure a victory. When, however, they saw that their
friends were defeated, the Macphersons are said to have returned to
the field, and turned the victory of the Camerons into a defeat,
killing their leader, Charles MacGillonie. The date of this affair,
which took place at Invernahavon, is variously fixed at 1370 and
1384, and some writers make it the cause which led to the famous
battle on the North Inch of Perth twenty-six years later.
As is well known, great controversies have raged as to the clans
who took part in the Perth fight, and those writers just referred
to decide the question by making the Macphersons and Davidsons the
combatant clans.[186]
Wyntoun’s words are--
“They three score ware clannys twa,
Clahynnhe Qwhewyl and Clachinyha,
Of thir twa kynnys war thay men,
Thretty again thretty then,
And thare thay had thair chiftanys twa,
SCHA FARQWHARIS SONE wes ane of thay,
The tother CHRISTY JOHNESONE.”
On this the Rev. W. G. Shaw of Forfar remarks,--“One writer (Dr
Macpherson) tries to make out that the clan Yha or Ha was the clan
Shaw. Another makes them to be the clan Dhai or Davidsons. Another
(with Skene) makes them Macphersons. As to the clan Quhele, Colonel
Robertson (author of ‘Historical Proofs of the Highlanders,’)
supposes that the clan Quhele was the clan Shaw, partly from the fact
that in the Scots Act of Parliament of 1392 (vol. i. p. 217), whereby
several clans were forfeited for their share in the raid of Angus
[described in vol. i.], there is mention made of Slurach, or (as it
is supposed it ought to have been written) Sheach[187] _et omnes clan
Quhele_. Then others again suppose that the clan Quhele was the clan
Mackintosh. Others that it was the clan Cameron, whilst the clan Yha
was the Clan-na-Chait or clan Chattan.
“From the fact that, after the clan Battle on the Inch, the star of
the Mackintoshes was decidedly in the ascendant, there can be little
doubt but that they formed at least a section of the winning side,
whether that side were the clan Yha or the clan Quhele.
“Wyntoun declines to say on which side the victory lay. He writes--
‘Wha had the waur fare at the last,
I will nocht say.’
“It is not very likely that subsequent writers knew more of the
subject than he did, so that after all, we are left very much to the
traditions of the families themselves for information. The Camerons,
Davidsons, Mackintoshes, and Macphersons, all say that they took part
in the fray. The Shaws’ tradition is, that their ancestor, being
a relative of the Mackintoshes, took the place of the aged chief
of that section of the clan, on the day of battle. The chroniclers
_vary_ as to the names of the clans, but they all _agree_ as to the
name of _one_ of the leaders, viz., that it was Shaw. Tradition and
history are agreed on this _one point_.
“One thing emerges clearly from the confusion as to the clans who
fought, and as to which of the modern names of the contending clans
was represented by the clans Yha and Quhele,--_one thing emerges_, a
Shaw leading the victorious party, and a race of Shaws springing from
him as their great--if not their first--founder, a race, who for ages
afterwards, lived in the district and fought under the banner of the
Laird of Mackintosh.”[188]
As to the Davidsons, the tradition which vouches for the particulars
of the fight at Invernahavon expressly says that the Davidsons were
almost to a man cut off, and it is scarcely likely that they would,
within so short a time, be able to muster sufficient men either
seriously to disturb the peace of the country or to provide thirty
champions. Mr Skene solves the question by making the Mackintoshes
and Macphersons the combatant clans, and the cause of quarrel
the right to the headship of clan Chattan. But the traditions of
both families place them on the winning side, and there is no
trace whatever of any dispute at this time, or previous to the
16th century, as to the chiefship. The most probable solution
of this difficulty is, that the clans who fought at Perth were
the clan Chattan (_i.e._, Mackintoshes, Macphersons, and others)
and the Camerons. Mr Skene, indeed, says that the only clans who
have a tradition of their ancestors having been engaged are the
Mackintoshes, Macphersons, and _Camerons_, though he endeavours to
account for the presence of the last named clan by making them assist
the Macphersons against the Mackintoshes.[189] The editor of the
_Memoirs of Lochiel_, mentioning this tradition of the Camerons, as
well as the opinion of Skene, says,--“It may be observed, that the
side allotted to the Camerons (viz. the _unsuccessful_ side) affords
the strongest internal evidence of its correctness. Had the Camerons
been described as victors it would have been very different.”
The author of the recently discovered MS. account of the clan Chattan
already referred to, says that by this conflict Cluny’s right to lead
the van was established; and in the meetings of clan Chattan he sat
on Mackintosh’s right hand, and when absent that seat was kept empty
for him. Henry Wynde likewise associated with the clan Chattan, and
his descendants assumed the name of Smith, and were commonly called
Sliochd a Gow Chroim.
[Music: THE MACKINTOSH’S LAMENT[190]
_Arranged for the Bagpipes by_ PIPE-MAJOR A. M’LENNAN, _Highland
Light Infantry Militia, Inverness_.]
[Music: VARIATION 1ST.
DOUBLING OF VARIATION 1ST.]
Lauchlan, chief of Mackintosh, in whose time these events happened,
died in 1407, at a good old age. In consequence of his age and
infirmity, his kinsman, Shaw Mackintosh, had headed the thirty clan
Chattan champions at Perth, and for his success was rewarded with
the possession of the lands of Rothiemurchus in Badenoch. The next
chief, Ferquhard, was compelled by his clansmen to resign his post in
consequence of his mild, inactive disposition, and his uncle Malcolm
(son of William Mac-Angus by a second marriage) succeeded as 10th
chief of Mackintosh, and 5th captain of clan Chattan. Malcolm was one
of the most warlike and successful of the Mackintosh chiefs. During
his long chiefship of nearly fifty years, he made frequent incursions
into the Cameron territories, and waged a sanguinary war with the
Comyns, in which he recovered the lands taken from his ancestor. In
1411 he was one of the principal commanders in the army of Donald,
Lord of the Isles, in the battle of Harlaw, where he is by some
stated incorrectly to have been killed. In 1429, when Alexander, Lord
of the Isles and Earl of Ross; broke out into rebellion at the head
of 10,000 men, on the advance of the king into Lochaber, the clan
Chattan and the clan Cameron deserted the earl’s banners, went over
to the royal army, and fought on the royal side, the rebels being
defeated. In 1431, Malcolm Mackintosh, captain of the clan Chattan,
received a grant of the lands of Alexander of Lochaber, uncle of the
Earl of Ross, that chieftain having been forfeited for engaging in
the rebellion of Donald Balloch. Having afterwards contrived to make
his peace with the Lord of the Isles, he received from him, between
1443 and 1447, a confirmation of his lands in Lochaber, with a grant
of the office of bailiary of that district. His son, Duncan, styled
captain of the clan Chattan in 1467, was in great favour with John,
Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, whose sister, Flora, he married,
and who bestowed on him the office of steward of Lochaber, which had
been held by his father. He also received the lands of Keppoch and
others included in that lordship.
On the forfeiture of his brother-in-law in 1475, James III. granted
to the same Duncan Mackintosh a charter, of date July 4th, 1476, of
the lands of Moymore, and various others, in Lochaber. When the king
in 1493 proceeded in person to the West Highlands, Duncan Mackintosh,
captain of the clan Chattan, was one of the chiefs, formerly among
the vassals of the Lord of the Isles, who went to meet him and make
their submission to him. These chiefs received in return royal
charters of the lands they had previously held under the Lord of the
Isles, and Mackintosh obtained a charter of the lands of Keppoch,
Innerorgan, and others, with the office of bailiary of the same. In
1495, Farquhar Mackintosh, his son, and Kenneth Oig Mackenzie of
Kintail, were imprisoned by the king in Edinburgh castle. Two years
thereafter, Farquhar, who seems about this time to have succeeded
his father as captain of the clan Chattan, and Mackenzie, made their
escape from Edinburgh castle, but, on their way to the Highlands,
they were seized at Torwood by the laird of Buchanan. Mackenzie,
having offered resistance, was slain, but Mackintosh was taken alive,
and confined at Dunbar, where he remained till after the battle of
Flodden.
Farquhar was succeeded by his cousin, William Mackintosh, who
had married Isabel M’Niven, heiress of Dunnachtan: but John Roy
Mackintosh, the head of another branch of the family, attempted by
force to get himself recognised as captain of the clan Chattan, and
failing in his design, he assassinated his rival at Inverness in
1515. Being closely pursued, however, he was overtaken and slain at
Glenesk. Lauchlan Mackintosh, the brother of the murdered chief,
was then placed at the head of the clan. He is described by Bishop
Lesley[191] as “a verrie honest and wyse gentleman, an barroun of
gude rent, quha keipit hes hole ken, friendes and tennentis in
honest and guid rewll.” The strictness with which he ruled his clan
raised him up many enemies among them, and, like his brother, he
was cut off by the hand of an assassin. “Some wicked persons,” says
Lesley, “being impatient of virtuous living, stirred up one of his
own principal kinsmen, called James Malcolmson, who cruelly and
treacherously slew his chief.” This was in the year 1526. To avoid
the vengeance of that portion of the clan by whom the chief was
beloved, Malcolmson and his followers took refuge in the island in
the loch of Rothiemurchus, but they were pursued to their hiding
place, and slain there.
Lauchlan had married the sister of the Earl of Moray, and by her
had a son, William, who on his father’s death was but a child. The
clan therefore made choice of Hector Mackintosh, a bastard son of
Farquhar, the chief who had been imprisoned in 1495, to act as
captain till the young chief should come of age. The consequences
of this act have already been narrated in their proper place in
the General History. On attaining the age of manhood William duly
became head of the clan, and having been well brought up by the Earls
of Moray and Cassilis, both his near relatives, was, according to
Lesley, “honoured as a perfect pattern of virtue by all the leading
men of the Highlands.” During the life of his uncle, the Earl of
Moray, his affairs prospered; but shortly after that noble’s death,
he became involved in a feud with the Earl of Huntly. He was charged
with the heinous offence of conspiring against Huntly, the queen’s
lieutenant, and at a court held by Huntly at Aberdeen, on the 2d
August 1550, was tried and convicted by a jury, and sentenced to
lose his life and lands. Being immediately carried to Strathbogie,
he was beheaded soon after by Huntly’s countess, the earl himself
having given a pledge that his life should be spared. The story is
told, though with grave errors, by Sir Walter Scott, in his _Tales
of a Grandfather_.[192] By Act of Parliament of 14th December 1557,
the sentence was reversed as illegal, and the son of Mackintosh was
restored to all his father’s lands, to which Huntly added others
as assythment for the blood. But this act of atonement on Huntly’s
part was not sufficient to efface the deep grudge owed him by the
clan Chattan on account of the execution of their chief, and he was
accordingly thwarted by them in many of his designs.
In the time of this earl’s grandson, the clan Chattan again came into
collision with the powerful Gordons, and for four years a deadly
feud raged between them. In consequence of certain of Huntly’s
proceedings, especially the murder of the Earl of Moray, a strong
faction was formed against him, Lauchlan, 16th chief of Mackintosh,
taking a prominent part. A full account of these disturbances in 1624
has already been given in its place in the General History.
In this feud Huntly succeeded in detaching the Macphersons belonging
to the Cluny branch from the rest of clan Chattan, but the majority
of that sept, according to the MS. history of the Mackintoshes,
remained true to the chief of Mackintosh. These allies, however, were
deserted by Huntly when he became reconciled to Mackintosh, and in
1609 Andrew Macpherson of Cluny, with all the other principal men of
clan Chattan, signed a bond of union, in which they all acknowledged
the chief of Mackintosh as _captain and chief_ of clan Chattan. The
clan Chattan were in Argyll’s army at the battle of Glenlivat in
1595, and with the Macleans formed the right wing, which made the
best resistance to the Catholic earls, and was the last to quit the
field.
Cameron of Lochiel had been forfeited in 1598 for not producing
his title deeds, when Mackintosh claimed the lands of Glenluy and
Locharkaig, of which he had kept forcible possession. In 1618 Sir
Lauchlan, 17th chief of Mackintosh, prepared to carry into effect the
acts of outlawry against Lochiel, who, on his part, put himself under
the protection of the Marquis of Huntly, Mackintosh’s mortal foe. In
July of the same year Sir Lauchlan obtained a commission of fire and
sword against the Macdonalds of Keppoch for laying waste his lands
in Lochaber. As he conceived that he had a right to the services of
all his clan, some of whom were tenants and dependents of the Marquis
of Huntly, he ordered the latter to follow him, and compelled such
of them as were refractory to accompany him into Lochaber. This
proceeding gave great offence to Lord Gordon, Earl of Enzie, the
marquis’s son, who summoned Mackintosh before the Privy Council, for
having, as he asserted, exceeded his commission. He was successful in
obtaining the recall of Sir Lauchlan’s commission, and obtaining a
new one in his own favour. The consequences of this are told in vol.
i. ch. x.
During the wars of the Covenant, William, 18th chief, was at the head
of the clan, but owing to feebleness of constitution took no active
part in the troubles of that period. He was, however, a decided
loyalist, and among the Mackintosh papers are several letters, both
from the unhappy Charles I. and his son Charles II., acknowledging
his good affection and service. The Mackintoshes, as well as the
Macphersons and Farquharsons, were with Montrose in considerable
numbers, and, in fact, the great body of clan Chattan took part in
nearly all that noble’s battles and expeditions.
Shortly after the accession of Charles II., Lauchlan Mackintosh, to
enforce his claims to the disputed lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig
against Cameron of Lochiel, raised his clan, and, assisted by the
Macphersons, marched to Lochaber with 1500 men. He was met by Lochiel
with 1200 men, of whom 300 were Macgregors. About 300 were armed with
bows. General Stewart says:--“When preparing to engage, the Earl of
Breadalbane, who was nearly related to both chiefs, came in sight
with 500 men, and sent them notice that if either of them refused
to agree to the terms which he had to propose, he would throw his
interest into the opposite scale. After some hesitation his offer of
mediation was accepted, and the feud amicably and finally settled.”
This was in 1665, when the celebrated Sir Ewen Cameron was chief,
and a satisfactory arrangement having been made, the Camerons were
at length left in undisputed possession of the lands of Glenluy and
Locharkaig, which their various branches still enjoy.
In 1672 Duncan Macpherson of Cluny, having resolved to throw off all
connexion with Mackintosh, made application to the Lyon office to
have his arms matriculated as laird of Cluny Macpherson, and “the
only and true representative of the ancient and honourable family of
the clan Chattan.” This request was granted; and, soon afterwards,
when the Privy Council required the Highland chiefs to give security
for the peaceable behaviour of their respective clans, Macpherson
became bound for his clan under the designation of the lord of
Cluny and chief of the Macphersons; as he could only hold himself
responsible for that portion of the clan Chattan which bore his
own name and were more particularly under his own control. As soon
as Mackintosh was informed of this circumstance, he applied to the
privy council and the Lyon office to have his own title declared, and
that which had been granted to Macpherson recalled and cancelled. An
inquiry was accordingly instituted, and both parties were ordered to
produce evidence of their respective assertions, when the council
ordered Mackintosh to give bond for those of his _clan_, his vassals,
those descended of his family, his men, tenants, and servants, and
all dwelling upon his ground; and enjoined Cluny to give bond for
those of his name of Macpherson, descended of his family, and his
men, tenants, and servants, “without prejudice always to the laird of
Mackintosh.” In consequence of this decision, the armorial bearings
granted to Macpherson were recalled, and they were again matriculated
as those of Macpherson of Cluny.
Between the Mackintoshes and the Macdonalds of Keppoch, a feud had
long existed, originating in the claim of the former to the lands
occupied by the latter, on the Braes of Lochaber. The Macdonalds had
no other right to their lands than what was founded on prescriptive
possession, whilst the Mackintoshes had a feudal title to the
property, originally granted by the lords of the Isles, and, on
their forfeiture, confirmed by the crown. After various acts of
hostility on both sides, the feud was at length terminated by “the
last considerable clan battle which was fought in the Highlands.”
To dispossess the Macdonalds by force, Mackintosh raised his clan,
and, assisted by an independent company of soldiers, furnished by
the government, marched towards Keppoch, but, on his arrival there,
he found the place deserted. He was engaged in constructing a fort
in Glenroy, to protect his rear, when he received intelligence that
the Macdonalds, reinforced by their kinsmen of Glengarry and Glencoe,
were posted in great force at Mulroy. He immediately marched against
them, but was defeated and taken prisoner. At that critical moment,
a large body of Macphersons appeared on the ground, hastening to the
relief of the Mackintoshes, and Keppoch, to avoid another battle,
was obliged to release his prisoner. It is highly to the honour of
the Macphersons, that they came forward on the occasion so readily,
to the assistance of the rival branch of the clan Chattan, and
that so far from taking advantage of Mackintosh’s misfortune, they
escorted him safely to his own territories, and left him without
exacting any conditions, or making any stipulations whatever as to
the chiefship.[193] From this time forth, the Mackintoshes and the
Macphersons continued separate and independent clans, although both
were included under the general denomination of the clan Chattan.
At the Revolution, the Mackintoshes adhered to the new government,
and as the chief refused to attend the Viscount Dundee, on that
nobleman soliciting a friendly interview with him, the latter
employed his old opponent, Macdonald of Keppoch, to carry off his
cattle. In the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the Mackintoshes took
a prominent part. Lauchlan, 20th chief, was actively engaged in
the ’15, and was at Preston on the Jacobite side. The exploits of
Mackintosh of Borlum, in 1715, have been fully narrated in our
account of the rebellion of that year.
Lauchlan died in 1731, without issue, when the male line of William,
the 18th chief, became extinct. Lauchlan’s successor, William
Mackintosh, died in 1741. Angus, the brother of the latter, the next
chief, married Anne, daughter of Farquharson of Invercauld, a lady
who distinguished herself greatly in the rebellion of 1745. When
her husband was appointed to one of the three new companies in Lord
London’s Highlanders, raised in the beginning of that year, Lady
Mackintosh traversed the country, and, in a very short time, enlisted
97 of the 100 men required for a captaincy. On the breaking out of
the rebellion, she was equally energetic in favour of the Pretender,
and, in the absence of Mackintosh, she raised two battalions of the
clan for the prince, and placed them under the command of Colonel
Macgillivray of Dunmaglass. In 1715 the Mackintoshes mustered 1,500
men under Old Borlum, but in 1745 scarcely one half of that number
joined the forces of the Pretender. She conducted her followers in
person to the rebel army at Inverness, and soon after her husband was
taken prisoner by the insurgents, when the prince delivered him over
to his lady, saying that “he could not be in better security, or more
honourably treated.”
[Illustration: Dalcross Castle. From a photograph in the possession
of The Mackintosh.]
At the battle of Culloden, the Mackintoshes were on the right of
the Highland army, and in their eagerness to engage, they were the
first to attack the enemy’s lines, losing their brave colonel and
other officers in the impetuous charge. On the passing of the act for
the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1747, the laird of
Mackintosh claimed £5,000 as compensation for his hereditary office
of steward of the lordship of Lochaber.
In 1812, Æneas Mackintosh, the 23d laird of Mackintosh, was created
a baronet of the United Kingdom. He died 21st January 1820, without
heirs male of his body. On his death, the baronetcy expired, and he
was succeeded in the estate by Angus Mackintosh, whose immediate
sires had settled in Canada. Alexander, his son, became Mackintosh
of Mackintosh, and died in 1861, his son, Alexander Æneas, now of
Mackintosh, succeeding him as 27th chief of Mackintosh, and 22d
captain of clan Chattan.
The funerals of the chiefs of Mackintosh were always conducted with
great ceremony and solemnity. When Lauchlan Mackintosh, the 19th
chief, died, in the end of 1703, his body lay in state from 9th
December that year, till 18th January 1704, in Dalcross Castle (which
was built in 1620, and is a good specimen of an old baronial Scotch
mansion, and has been the residence of several chiefs), and 2000 of
the clan Chattan attended his remains to the family vault at Petty.
Keppoch was present with 220 of the Macdonalds. Across the coffins of
the deceased chiefs are laid the sword of William, twenty-first of
Mackintosh, and a highly finished claymore, presented by Charles I.,
before he came to the throne, to Sir Lauchlan Mackintosh, gentleman
of the bedchamber.
The principal seat of The Mackintosh is Moy Hall, near Inverness. The
original castle, now in ruins, stood on an island in Loch Moy.
The eldest branch of the clan Mackintosh was the family of Kellachy,
a small estate in Inverness-shire, acquired by them in the 17th
century. Of this branch was the celebrated Sir James Mackintosh.
His father, Captain John Mackintosh, was the tenth in descent from
Allan, third son of Malcolm, tenth chief of the clan. Mackintosh of
Kellachy, as the eldest cadet of the family, invariably held the
appointment of captain of the watch to the chief of the clan in all
his wars.
MACPHERSON.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Boxwood.]
The Macphersons, the other principal branch of the clan Chattan, are
in Gaelic called the clan Vuirich or Muirich, from an ancestor of
that name, who, in the Gaelic MS. of 1450, is said to have been the
“son of Swen, son of Heth, son of Nachtan, son of Gillichattan, from
whom came the clan Chattan.” The word Gillichattan is supposed by
some to mean a votary or servant of St Kattan, a Scottish saint, as
Gillichrist (Gilchrist) means a servant of Christ.
The Macphersons claim unbroken descent from the ancient chiefs of the
clan Chattan, and tradition is in favour of their being the lineal
representatives of the chiefs of the clan. However, this point has
been sufficiently discussed in the history of the Mackintoshes, where
we have given much of the history of the Macphersons.
It was from Muirich, who is said to have been chief in 1153, that
the Macphersons derive the name of the clan Muirich or Vuirich. This
Muirich was parson of Kingussie, in the lower part of Badenoch, and
the surname was given to his descendants from his office. He was the
great-grandson of Gillichattan Mor, the founder of the clan, who
lived in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, and having married a daughter
of the thane of Calder, had five sons. The eldest, Gillichattan, the
third of the name, and chief of the clan in the reign of Alexander
II., was father of Dougal Dall, the chief whose daughter Eva married
Angus Mackintosh of Mackintosh. On Dougal Dall’s death, as he had no
sons, the representation of the family devolved on his cousin and
heir-male, Kenneth, eldest son of Eoghen or Ewen Baan, second son
of Muirich. Neill _Chrom_, so called from his stooping shoulders,
Muirich’s third son, was a great artificer in iron, and took the
name of Smith from his trade. Farquhar Gilliriach, or the Swift, the
fourth son, is said to have been the progenitor of the MacGillivrays,
who followed the Mackintosh branch of the clan Chattan; and from
David Dubh, or the Swarthy, the youngest of Muirich’s sons, were
descended the clan Dhai, or Davidsons of Invernahavon.[194]
One of the early chiefs is said to have received a commission to
expel the Comyns from Badenoch, and on their forfeiture he obtained,
for his services, a grant of lands. He was also allowed to add a hand
holding a dagger to his armorial bearings. A MS. genealogy of the
Macphersons makes Kenneth chief in 1386, when a battle took place at
Invernahavon between the clan Chattan and the Camerons, details of
which and of the quarrel between the Macphersons and the Davidsons
will be found in the general history, and in the account of the
Mackintoshes.
In 1609 the chief of the Macphersons signed a bond, along with all
the other branches of that extensive tribe, acknowledging Mackintosh
as captain and chief of the clan Chattan; but in all the contentions
and feuds in which the Mackintoshes were subsequently involved with
the Camerons and other Lochaber clans, they were obliged to accept of
the Macphersons’ aid as allies rather than vassals.
Andrew Macpherson of Cluny, who succeeded as chief in 1647, suffered
much on account of his sincere attachment to the cause of Charles I.
His son, Ewen, was also a staunch royalist. In 1665, under Andrew,
the then chief, when Mackintosh went on an expedition against the
Camerons, for the recovery of the lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig,
he solicited the assistance of the Macphersons, when a notarial
deed was executed, wherein Mackintosh declares that it was of their
mere good will and pleasure that they did so; and on his part it
is added, “I bind and oblige myself and friends and followers to
assist and fortify and join, with the said Andrew, Lauchlan, and John
Macpherson, all their lawful and necessary adoes, being thereunto
required.” The same Andrew, Lauchlan, and John, heads of the three
great branches of the Macphersons, had on the 19th of the preceding
November given a bond acknowledging Mackintosh as their chief. In
1672 Duncan Macpherson of Cluny, Andrew’s brother, made application
to the Lyon office to have his arms matriculated as laird of Cluny
Macpherson, and “the only and true representative of the ancient
and honourable family of the clan Chattan.” This application was
successful; but as soon as Mackintosh heard of it, he raised a
process before the privy council to have it determined as to which
of them had the right to the proper armorial bearings. After a
protracted inquiry, the council issued an order for the two chiefs to
give security for the peaceable behaviour of their respective clans,
in the terms given in the account of Mackintosh. The same year Cluny
entered into a contract of friendship with Æneas, Lord Macdonnell,
and Aros, “for himself and takeing burden upon him for the haill name
of Macpherson, and some others, _called Old Clan-chatten_, as cheefe
and principall man thereof.”
It is worthy of note that this same Duncan made an attempt, which was
happily frustrated by his clansmen, to have his son-in-law, a son of
Campbell of Cawdor, declared his successor.
On the death, without male issue, of Duncan Macpherson, in 1721 or
1722, the chiefship devolved on Lauchlan Macpherson of Nuid, the next
male heir, being lineally descended from John, youngest brother of
Andrew, the above-named chief. One of the descendants of this John of
Nuid was James Macpherson, the resuscitator of the Ossianic poetry.
Lauchlan married Jean, daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel. His
eldest son, Ewen, was the chief at the time of the rebellion of 1745.
[Illustration: James Macpherson, Editor, &c. of the Ossianic Poetry.]
In the previous rebellion of 1715, the Macphersons, under their
then chief Duncan, had taken a very active part on the side of the
Pretender. On the arrival of Prince Charles in 1745, Ewen Macpherson
of Cluny, who the same year had been appointed to a company in Lord
Loudon’s Highlanders, and had taken the oaths to government, threw
up his commission, and, with 600 Macphersons, joined the rebel army
after their victory at Prestonpans. The Macphersons were led to take
an active part in the rebellion chiefly from a desire to revenge
the fate of two of their clansmen, who were shot on account of the
extraordinary mutiny of the Black Watch (now the 42d regiment) two
years before, an account of which is given in the history of that
Regiment.
Ewen Macpherson, the chief, at first hesitated to join the prince;
and his wife, a daughter of Lord Lovat, although a staunch Jacobite,
earnestly dissuaded him from breaking his oath to government,
assuring him that nothing could end well that began with perjury.
Her friends reproached her for interfering--and his clan urging him,
Cluny unfortunately yielded.
At the battle of Falkirk, the Macphersons formed a portion of the
first line. They were too late for the battle of Culloden, where
their assistance might have turned the fortune of the day; they did
not come up till after the retreat of Charles from that decisive
field. In the subsequent devastations committed by the English army,
Cluny’s house was plundered and burnt to the ground. Every exertion
was made by the government troops for his apprehension, but they
never could lay their hands upon him. He escaped to France in 1755,
and died at Dunkirk the following year.
Ewen’s son, Duncan, was born in 1750, in a kiln for drying corn, in
which his mother had taken refuge after the destruction of their
house. During his minority, his uncle, Major John Macpherson of the
78th foot, acted as his guardian. He received back the estate which
had been forfeited, and, entering the army, became lieutenant-colonel
of the 3d foot guards. He married, 12th June 1798, Catherine,
youngest daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Fassifern, baronet; and on
his death, 1st August 1817, was succeeded by his eldest son, Ewen
Macpherson of Cluny, the present chief.
In Cluny castle are preserved various relics of the rebellion of
1745; among the rest, the Prince’s target and lace wrist ruffles, and
an autograph letter from Charles, promising an ample reward to his
devoted friend Cluny. There is also the black pipe chanter on which
the prosperity of the house of Cluny is said to be dependent, and
which all true members of the clan Vuirich firmly believe fell from
heaven, in place of the one lost at the conflict on the North Inch of
Perth.
The war-cry of the Macphersons was “Cragi Dhu,” the name of a rock
in the neighbourhood of Cluny Castle. The chief is called in the
Highlands “Mac Mhurich Chlanaidh,” but everywhere else is better
known as Cluny Macpherson.
Among the principal cadets of the Macpherson family were the
Macphersons of Pitmean, Invereshie, Strathmassie, Breachachie,
Essie, &c. The Invereshie branch were chiefs of a large tribe called
the _Siol Gillies_, the founder of which was Gillies or Elias
Macpherson, the first of Invereshie, a younger son of Ewen Baan or
Bane (so called from his fair complexion) above mentioned. Sir Eneas
Macpherson, tutor of Invereshie, advocate, who lived in the reigns of
Charles II. and James VII., collected the materials for the history
of the clan Macpherson, the MS. of which is still preserved in the
family. He was appointed sheriff of Aberdeen in 1684.
George Macpherson of Invereshie married Grace, daughter of Colonel
William Grant of Ballindalloch, and his elder son, William, dying,
unmarried, in 1812, was succeeded by his nephew George, who, on
the death of his maternal grand-uncle, General James Grant of
Ballindalloch, 13th April 1806, inherited that estate, and in
consequence assumed the name of Grant in addition to his own. He was
MP. for the county of Sutherland for seventeen years, and was created
a baronet 25th July 1838. He thus became Sir George Macpherson-Grant
of Invereshie, Inverness-shire, and Ballindalloch, Elginshire. On
his death in November 1846, his son, Sir John, sometime secretary
of legation at Lisbon, succeeded as second baronet. Sir John died
Dec. 2, 1850. His eldest son, Sir George Macpherson-Grant of
Invereshie and Ballindalloch, born Aug. 12, 1839, became the third
baronet of this family, He married, July 3, 1861, Frances Elizabeth,
younger daughter of the Rev. Roger Pocklington, Vicar of Walesby,
Nottinghamshire.
We can refer only with the greatest brevity to some of the minor
clans which were included under the great confederacy of the clan
Chattan.
MACGILLIVRAY.
The Macgillivrays were one of the oldest and most important of the
septs of clan Chattan, and from 1626, when their head, Ferquhard
MacAllister, acquired a right to the lands of Dunmaglass, frequent
mention of them is found in extant documents, registers, etc. Their
ancestor placed himself and his posterity under the protection of the
Mackintoshes in the time of Ferquhard, fifth chief of Mackintosh,
and the clan have ever distinguished themselves by their prowess
and bravery. One of them is mentioned as having been killed in a
battle with the Camerons about the year 1330, but perhaps the best
known of the heads of this clan was Alexander, fourth in descent
from the Ferquhard who acquired Dunmaglass. This gentleman was
selected by Lady Mackintosh to head her husband’s clan on the side
of Prince Charlie in the ’45. He acquitted himself with the greatest
credit, but lost his life, as did all his officers except three, in
the battle of Culloden. In the brave but rash charge made by his
battalion against the English line, he fell, shot through the heart,
in the centre of Barrel’s regiment. His body, after lying for some
weeks in a pit where it had been thrown with others by the English
soldiers, was taken up by his friends and buried across the threshold
of the kirk of Petty. His brother William was also a warrior, and
gained the rank of captain in the old 89th regiment, raised about
1758. One of the three officers of the Mackintosh battalion who
escaped from Culloden was a kinsman of these two brothers,--Farquhar
of Dalcrombie, whose grandson, Niel John M’Gillivray of Dunmaglass,
is the present head of the clan.
The M’Gillivrays possessed at various times, besides Dunmaglass, the
lands of Aberchallader, Letterchallen, Largs, Faillie, Dalcrombie,
and Daviot. It was in connection with the succession to Faillie that
Lord Ardmillan’s well-known decision was given in 1860 respecting the
legal _status_ of a clan.
In a Gaelic lament for the slain at Culloden the MacGillivrays are
spoken of as
“The warlike race,
The gentle, vigorous, flourishing,
Active, of great fame, beloved,
The race that will not wither, and has descended
Long from every side,
Excellent MacGillivrays of the Doune.”
SHAW.[195]
The origin of the Shaws, at one time a most important clan of the
Chattan confederation, has been already referred to in connection
with the Mackintoshes. The tradition of the Mackintoshes and Shaws
is “unvaried,” says the Rev. W. G. Shaw of Forfar, that at least
from and after 1396, a race of Shaws existed in Rothiemurchus, whose
great progenitor was the Shaw Mor who commanded the section of the
clan represented by the Mackintoshes on the Inch. The tradition
of the Shaws is, that he was Shaw, the son of James, the son or
descendant of Farquhar; the tradition of the Macintoshes--that he was
Shaw-_mac_-Gilchrist-_mac_-Ian-_mac_-Angus-_mac_-Farquhar,--Farquhar
being the ancestor according to _both_ traditions, from whom he took
the name (according to Wyntoun) of Sha Farquharis Son.[196] The
tradition of a James Shaw who ‘had bloody contests with the Comyns,’
which tradition is fortified by that of the Comyns, may very likely
refer to the James, who, according to the genealogies both of the
Shaws and Mackintoshes, was the son of Shaw Mor.
Mr Shaw of Forfar, who is well entitled to speak with authority on
the subject, maintains “that prior to 1396, the clan now represented
by the Mackintoshes, had been (as was common amongst the clans)
sometimes designated as the clan Shaw, after the successive chiefs
of that name, especially the first, and sometimes as the clan of the
Mac-an-Toisheach, _i.e._, of the Thane’s son. Thus, from its first
founder, the great clan of the Isles was originally called the clan
Cuin, or race of Constantine. Afterwards, it was called the clan
Colla, from his son Coll, and latterly the clan Donald, after one of
his descendants of that name. So the Macleans are often called clan
Gilleon after their founder and first chief; and the Macphersons, the
clan Muirich, after one of the most distinguished in their line of
chiefs. The Farquharsons are called clan Fhiunla, after their great
ancestor, Finlay Mor. There is nothing more probable, therefore--I
should say more certain--than that the race in after times known as
Mackintoshes, should at first have been as frequently designated
as Na Si’aich, ‘The Shaws,’ after the Christian _name_ of their
first chief, as Mackintoshes after his _appellative description_ or
designation. It is worthy of remark, that the race of Shaws is never
spoken of in Gaelic as the ‘clan Shaw,’ but as ‘Na Si’aich’--The
Shaws, or as we would say Shawites. We never hear of Mac-Shaws--sons
of Shaw, but of ‘Na Si’aich--The Shaws.’ Hence prior to 1396, when a
Shaw so distinguished himself as to found a family, under the wing of
his chief, the undivided race, so to speak, would sometimes be called
‘Mackintoshes,’ or followers of the Thane’s sons, sometimes the clan
Chattan, the generic name of the race, sometimes ‘clan Dhugaill,’
(Quehele) after Dougall-Dall, and sometimes ‘Na Si’aich,’ the Shaws
or Shawites, after the numerous chiefs who bore the name of Shaw in
the line of descent. Hence the claim of both Shaws and Mackintoshes
to the occupancy of Rothiemurchus. After 1396, the term Na Si’aich
was restricted, as all are agreed, to the clan developed out of the
other, through the prowess of Shaw Mór.”
Shaw “Mor” Mackintosh, who fought at Perth in 1396, was succeeded by
his son James, who fell at Harlaw in 1411. Both Shaw and James had
held Rothiemurchus only as tenants of the chief of Mackintosh, but
James’s son and successor, Alister “Ciar” (_i.e._, brown), obtained
from Duncan, 11th of Mackintosh, in 1463-4, his right of possession
and tack. In the deed by which David Stuart, Bishop of Moray,
superior of the lands, confirms this disposition of Duncan, and gives
Alister the feu, Alister is called “Allister Kier _Mackintosh_.” This
deed is dated 24th September 1464. All the deeds in which Alister is
mentioned call him Mackintosh, not Shaw, thus showing the descent of
the Shaws from the Mackintoshes, and that they did not acquire their
name of Shaw until after Alister’s time.
Alister’s grandson, Alan, in 1539, disponed his right to
Rothiemurchus to Edom Gordon, reserving only his son’s liferent.
Alan’s grandson, of the same name was outlawed for the murder of
his stepfather, some fifty years later, and compelled to leave the
country. Numerous Shaws are, however, still to be found in the
neighbourhood of Rothiemurchus, or who can trace their descent from
Alister Kier.
Besides the Shaws of Rothiemurchus, the Shaws of TORDARROCH in
Strathnairn, descended from Adam, younger brother of Alister Kier,
were a considerable family; but, like their cousins, they no longer
occupy their original patrimony. Tordarroch was held in wadset of the
chiefs of Mackintosh, and was given up to Sir Æneas Mackintosh in
the end of last century by its holder at the time, Colonel Alexander
Shaw, seventh in descent from Adam.
Angus MacBean vic Robert of Tordarroch signed the Bond of 1609
already mentioned. His great-grandsons, Robert and Æneas, took part
during their father’s life in the rebellion of 1715; both were
taken prisoners at Preston, and were confined in Newgate, the elder
brother dying during his imprisonment. The younger, Æneas, succeeded
his father, and in consideration of his taking no part in the ’45,
was made a magistrate, and received commissions for his three sons,
the second of whom, Æneas, rose to the rank of major-general in
the army. Margaret, daughter of Æneas of Tordarroch, was wife of
Farquhar Macgillivray of Dalcrombie, one of the three officers of the
Mackintosh regiment who escaped from Culloden.
Æneas was succeeded by his eldest son, Colonel Alexander Shaw,
lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man under the crown. He gave up
the wadset of Tordarroch to Sir Æneas Mackintosh, and died in 1811.
From the four younger sons of Alister Kier descended respectively
the Shaws of DELL (the family of the historian of Moray, the Rev.
Lachlan Shaw); of DALNIVERT, the representation of it devolved in the
last century on a female, who married ---- Clark; the FARQUHARSONS,
who in time acquired more importance than the Shaws; and the SHAWS
of HARRIS, who still retain a tradition of their ancestor, Iver
MacAlister Ciar.
FARQUHARSON.
[Illustration: BADGE--Red Whortleberry.]
The immediate ancestor of the Farquharsons of Invercauld, the main
branch, was Farquhar or Fearchard, a son of Alister “Keir” Mackintosh
or Shaw of Rothiemurchus, grandson of Shaw Mor. Farquhar, who lived
in the reign of James III., settled in the Braes of Mar, and was
appointed baillie or hereditary chamberlain thereof. His sons were
called Farquharson, the first of the name in Scotland. His eldest
son, Donald, married a daughter of Duncan Stewart, commonly called
Duncan Downa Dona, of the family of Mar, and obtained a considerable
addition to his paternal inheritance, for faithful services rendered
to the crown.
Donald’s son and successor, Findla or Findlay, commonly called from
his great size and strength, Findla Mhor, or great Findla, lived in
the beginning of the sixteenth century. His descendants were called
MacIanla or Mackinlay. Before his time the Farquharsons were called
in the Gaelic, clan Erachar or Earachar, the Gaelic for Farquhar, and
most of the branches of the family, especially those who settled in
Athole, were called MacEarachar. Those of the descendants of Findla
Mhor who settled in the Lowlands had their name of Mackinlay changed
into Finlayson.[197]
Findla Mhor, by his first wife, a daughter of the Baron Reid of
Kincardine Stewart, had four sons, the descendants of whom settled on
the borders of the counties of Perth and Angus, south of Braemar, and
some of them in the district of Athole.
[Illustration: FARQUHARSON. (Tartan)]
His eldest son, William, who died in the reign of James VI., had four
sons. The eldest, John, had an only son, Robert, who succeeded him.
He died in the reign of Charles II.
Robert’s son, Alexander Farquharson of Invercauld, married Isabella,
daughter of William Mackintosh of that ilk, captain of the clan
Chattan, and had three sons.
William, the eldest son, dying unmarried, was succeeded by the second
son, John, who carried on the line of the family. Alexander, the
third son, got the lands of Monaltrie, and married Anne, daughter of
Francis Farquharson, Esq. of Finzean.
The above-mentioned John Farquharson of Invercauld, the ninth from
Farquhar the founder of the family, was four times married. His
children by his first two wives died young. By his third wife,
Margaret, daughter of Lord James Murray, son of the first Marquis of
Athole, he had two sons and two daughters. His elder daughter, Anne,
married Eneas Mackintosh of that ilk, and was the celebrated Lady
Mackintosh, who, in 1745, defeated the design of the Earl of Loudon
to make prisoner Prince Charles at Moy castle. By his fourth wife, a
daughter of Forbes of Waterton, he had a son and two daughters, and
died in 1750.
His eldest son, James Farquharson of Invercauld, greatly improved
his estates, both in appearance and product. He married Amelia, the
widow of the eighth Lord Sinclair, and daughter of Lord George
Murray, lieutenant-general of Prince Charles’s army, and had a large
family, who all died except the youngest, a daughter, Catherine. On
his death, in 1806, this lady succeeded to the estates. She married,
16th June 1798, Captain James Ross, R.N. (who took the name of
Farquharson, and died in 1810), second son of Sir John Lockhart Ross
of Balnagowan, Baronet, and by him had a son, James Farquharson, a
magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, representative of
the family.
There are several branches of this clan, of which we shall mention
the Farquharsons of WHITEHOUSE, who are descended from Donald
Farquharson of Castleton of Braemar and Monaltrie, living in 1580,
eldest son, by his second wife, of Findla Mhor, above mentioned.
Farquharson of FINZEAN is the heir male of the clan, and claims the
chieftainship, the heir of line being Farquharson of Invercauld. His
estate forms nearly the half of the parish of Birse, Aberdeenshire.
The family, of which he is representative, came originally from
Braemar, but they have held property in the parish for many
generations. On the death of Archibald Farquharson, Esq. of Finzean,
in 1841, that estate came into the possession of his uncle, John
Farquharson, Esq., residing in London, who died in 1849, and
was succeeded by his third cousin, Dr Francis Farquharson. This
gentleman, before succeeding to Finzean, represented the family of
Farquharson of Balfour, a small property in the same parish and
county, sold by his grandfather.
The Farquharsons, according to Duncan Forbes “the only clan family
in Aberdeenshire,” and the estimated strength of which was 500 men,
were among the most faithful adherents of the house of Stuart, and
throughout all the struggles in its behalf constantly acted up to
their motto, “_Fide et Fortitudine_.” The old motto of the clan was,
“We force nae friend, we fear nae foe.” They fought under Montrose,
and formed part of the Scottish army under Charles II. at Worcester
in 1651. They also joined the forces under the Viscount of Dundee
in 1689, and at the outbreak of the rebellion of 1715 they were the
first to muster at the summons of the Earl of Mar.
In 1745, the Farquharsons joined Prince Charles, and formed two
battalions, the one under the command of Farquharson of Monaltrie,
and the other of Farquharson of Balmoral; but they did not accompany
the Prince in his expedition into England. Farquharson of Invercauld
was treated by government with considerable leniency for his share
in the rebellion, but his kinsman, Farquharson of Balmoral, was
specially excepted from mercy in the act of indemnity passed in June
1747.
The MACBEANS, Macbanes, or Macbains, derive their name from the
fair complexion of their progenitor, or, according to some, from
their living in a high country, _beann_ being the Gaelic name for a
mountain, hence Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond, &c. The distinctive badge of
the Macbeans, like that of the Macleods, was the red whortleberry. Of
the Mackintosh clan they are considered an offshoot, although some of
themselves believe that they are Camerons. It is true that a division
of the MacBeans fought under Lochiel in 1745, but a number of them
fought under Golice or Gillies MacBane, of the house of Kinchoil, in
the Mackintosh battalion. This gigantic Highlander, who was six feet
four and a-half inches in height, displayed remarkable prowess at the
battle of Culloden.[198]
“In the time of William, first of the name, and sixth of Mackintosh,
William Mhor, son to Bean-Mac Domhnuill-Mhor and his four sons,
Paul, Gillies, William-Mhor, and Farquhar, after they had slain the
Red Comyn’s steward at Innerlochie, came, according to the history,
to William Mackintosh, to Connage, where he then resided, and for
themselves and their posterity, took protection of him and his. No
tribe of Clan Chattan, the history relates, suffered so severely at
Harlaw as Clan Vean.”[199]
The MACPHAILS are descended from one “Paul Macphail, goodsir to that
Sir Andrew Macphail, parson of Croy, who wrote the history of the
Mackintoshes. Paul lived in the time of Duncan, first of the name,
and eleventh of Mackintosh, who died in 1496. The head of the tribe
had his residence at Inverarnie, on the water of Nairn.”[200]
According to Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, there is a tradition that the
Gows are descended from Henry, the smith who fought at the North
Inch battle, he having accompanied the remnant of the Mackintoshes,
and settled in Strathnairn. Being bandy-legged, he was called “Gow
Chrom.” At any rate, this branch of clan Chattan has long been known
as “Sliochd an Gow Chrom”. _Gow_ is a “smith,” and thus a section of
the multitudinous tribe of Smiths may claim connection with the great
clan Chattan.
The head of the MACQUEENS was Macqueen of Corrybrough,
Inverness-shire.[201] The founder of this tribe is said to have been
Roderick Dhu Revan MacSweyn or Macqueen, who, about the beginning
of the 15th century, received a grant of territory in the county of
Inverness. He belonged to the family of the Lord of the Isles, and
his descendants from him were called the clan Revan.
The Macqueens fought, under the standard of Mackintosh, captain of
the clan Chattan, at the battle of Harlaw in 1411. On 4th April 1609,
Donald Macqueen of Corrybrough signed the bond of manrent, with
the chiefs of the other tribes composing the clan Chattan, whereby
they bound themselves to support Angus Mackintosh of that ilk as
their captain and leader. At this period, we are told, the tribe of
Macqueen comprehended twelve distinct families, all landowners in the
counties of Inverness and Nairn.
In 1778, Lord Macdonald of Sleat, who had been created an Irish peer
by that title two years before, having raised a Highland regiment,
conferred a lieutenancy in it on a son of Donald Macqueen, then of
Corrybrough, and in the letter, dated 26th January of that year, in
which he intimated the appointment, he says, “It does me great honour
to have the sons of chieftains in the regiment, and as the Macqueens
have been invariably attached to our family, to whom we believe we
owe our existence, I am proud of the nomination.” Thus were the
Macqueens acknowledged to have been of Macdonald origin, although
they ranged themselves among the tribes of the clan Chattan. The
present head of the Macqueens is John Fraser Macqueen, Q.C.
The CATTANACHS, for a long period few in number, are, according to Mr
Fraser-Mackintosh, perhaps better entitled to be held descendants of
Gillichattan Mor than most of the clan.
The force of the clan Chattan was, in 1704, estimated at 1400; in
1715, 1020; and in 1745, 1700.
FOOTNOTES:
[183] For much of this account of the clan Chattan we are indebted to
the kindness of A. Mackintosh Shaw, Esq. of London, who has revised
the whole. His forthcoming history of the clan, we have reason to
believe, will be the most valuable clan history yet published.
[184] Mr Mackintosh Shaw says that, in 1591, Huntly obtained a
bond of manrent from Andrew Macpherson and his immediate family,
the majority of the Macphersons remaining faithful to Mackintosh.
Statements II. and III. are founded _only_ on the Macpherson MS.
[185] _Antiquarian Notes_, p. 358.
[186] For details as to this celebrated combat, see vol. i. ch. v.
The present remarks are supplementary to the former, and will serve
to correct several inaccuracies.
[187] Every one acquainted with the subject, knows what havoc Lowland
scribes have all along made of Gaelic names in legal and public
documents.
[188] The Mackintosh MS. of 1500 states that Lauchlan, the Mackintosh
chief, gave Shaw a grant of Rothiemurchus “for his valour on the Inch
that day.”
[189] Vol. ii. pp. 175-178.
[190] THE MACKINTOSH’S LAMENT.--For the copy of the Mackintosh’s
Lament here given, the editor and publishers are indebted to the
kindness of The Mackintosh. In a note which accompanied it that
gentleman gives the following interesting particulars:--
“The tune is as old as 1550 or thereabouts. Angus Mackay in his _Pipe
Music_ book gives it 1526, and says it was composed on the death of
Lauchlan, the 14th Laird; but we believe that it was composed by
the famous family bard Macintyre, upon the death of William, who
was murdered by the Countess of Huntly, in 1550. This bard had seen
within the space of 40 years, four captains of the Clan Chattan meet
with violent deaths, and his deep feelings found vent in the refrain,
‘Mackintosh, the excellent
They have lifted;
They have laid thee
Low, they have laid thee.’
“These are the only words in existence which I can hear of.”
[191] _History of Scotland_, p. 137.
[192] Vol. ii. p. 7.
[193] Skene’s _Highlanders_, ii. 198-9.
[194] This is the genealogy given by Sir Æneas Macpherson. From
another MS. genealogy of the Macphersons, and from the Mackintosh MS.
history, we find that the son of Kenneth, the alleged _grandson_ of
Muirich, married a daughter of Ferquhard, ninth of Mackintosh, _cir._
1410, so that it is probable Sir Æneas has placed Muirich and his
family more than a century too early.
[195] The Shaw arms are the same as those of the Farquharsons
following, except that the former have not the banner of Scotland in
bend displayed in the second and third quarters.
[196] The date of part of the Mackintosh MS. is 1490. It states
that Lauchlan the chief gave Shaw a grant of Rothiemurchus “for his
valour on the Inch that day.” It also states that the “Farquhar”
above-mentioned was a man of great parts and remarkable fortitude,
and that he fought with his clan at the battle of Largs in 1263. More
than this, it states that Duncan, his uncle, was his TUTOR during
his minority, and that Duncan and his posterity held Rothiemurchus
till 1396, when Malcolm, the last of his race, fell at the fight at
Perth--after which the lands (as above stated) were given to Shaw Mor.
[197] _Family MS._ quoted by Douglas in his _Baronage_.
[198] _See_ vol. i. p. 666.
[199] Fraser-Mackintosh’s _Antiquarian Notes_, p. 360.
[200] _Ibid._
[201] The present head does not now hold the property.