Clans of Dal Riata & Ui Neill
A Brief History and Profile of Some of the Prominent Clans to be Found in the Kingdom of Dalriada
From Ireland to Argyll:
The Birthing of Dalriada by the Dal Riata
In making a thorough exploration of the various clans that make up the kingdom of Dalriada, we find that the subject is very rich and unlimited in the directions to be taken. The area is inseparable from various sacred sites and objects (the Stone of Scone), important historical personages (Columcille), the onset of Christianity in pagan Pictland (the Isle of Iona), and indeed, the start of the Celtic world in Scotland at large. But very often, it seems, what is forgotten are the actual people who lived in this era and in these regions. For this reason I present some brief profiles on certain clans who lived within the scope of the Kingdom of Dalriada. As a descendent of this line through the Clan MacEwen (of MacDougall), as well as from the Pictish line of Clan Eanruig (Henderson of Glencoe), I take a personal interest in these clans, their histories, and the region.
Initially we must start where it all began: Eire. Here we find the roots of Dalriada with a tribe of Irish known as the Dal Riata. In time (around 500 B.C.E.) a migration from the Irish kingdom of Dal Riata in northern Ireland took place. Our oral traditions and written history state that this invasion was led by the three sons of Erc, the King of the Irish Dal Riata. These sons were named Fergus, Angus, and Lorne Mac Erc. Under the rulership of Fergus Mor Mac Erc, they consecrated a new branch of the Dal Riata kingdom in the western isles of Scotland, absorbing the stone-fortress of Dunadd as their home point. It is said that even to this day one can observe a wild boar carved in the stone there, a testament to the embryonic Scottish culture at that time. The wild boar, a common symbol in Scottish heraldry, also marks the site where a series of monarchs and leaders stood for coronation.
In traditional Celtic style, similar to that of the MacDonalds of the Isles, these new lands were divided among the families of the clan. This action was the start of the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. These divisions of various landholdings and islands in the Hebrides would become a major seat of rulership and transformation of the heretofore Pictish settlements.
Records indicate that Angus Mac Erc claimed the Isles of Jura and Islay as tribal territory, while Lorne absorbed what is now known as Lorne, the seat of the MacDougalls, descendants of the MacDonald dynasty. Over the course of about forty years the Scots of Dalriada became the keepers of the entire western shores and islands. According to Scottish scholar and historian Fitzroy MacLean, these original possessions stretched as far north as Applecross and eastwards to Drumalban. The whole kingdom was given the title Argyll (Ard Gaidheal).
During this time it is said that the Stone of Destiny was taken to Scotland by the Gaels that migrated to Argyll, and it became the Coronation Stone of the early Dalriadan kings at Dunstaffnage. Then, in the ninth century, the stone is believed to have been transported to Scone, the capital of the Southern Picts. It is here that the Picts and the Scots became unified in 844 under the direction of Kenneth MacAlpine.
Siol Dalriada:
The Springing Forth of the Clans of the Western Isles
It is around the thirteenth century that we begin to glean documentation regarding the various clans that live(d) in the Kingdom of Dalriada. During this era, besides the Dalriadan clans, we see a convergence of lordships and tribal powers, all establishing mini-kingdoms (tuathas, or cinels) as part of the clann (which literally translates from the Gaelic as "the children").
Contrary to many perceptions of Scottish culture, the Scottish clans and their various lineages are not clear cut in terms of their sources, and are not all from one root, as so many people assume. Obviously there are many who trace their descent from the original Scots of the Irish tribe (known to the Romans as Scotti) who founded Dalriada, but there are an equal number who claim descent from rulerships of Norway and Denmark (like the MacLeods), others who hail from Norman and French roots (like the Dalziels), and others who sprang from Strathclyde Britons, such as the Wallaces. And, indeed, there are others who claim descent from the ancient cultures of the Pictish strongholds, namely the MacNaughtons (MacNechtan) and the Eanruigs (Hendersons of Glencoe).
The focus here, while certainly mentioning some of these other powerful clans, is on those more ancient clans who comprise Dalriada. Among the clans whose histories I've focused on are those that dwelled within this Dalriadan kingdom (including the Outer and Inner Hebrides, and the region of Argyll). Although not all of these clans trace direct descent from the original Dal Riata, they certainly made up a major element to early Dalriadan culture. These clans include: The Lamonts, The MacNeils, The MacEwens, The Gilchrists and MacLachlans, and, due to their power as a clan in the region, The Clan Diarmaid (Campbells).
Siol Gillevray
According to Skene in the Table of the Descent of the Highland Clans, he separates what is known as the Gallgael to give five major clans, from which nine smaller clans are said to have sprung forth. One of these, the Siol Alpin, for instance, is considered the Royal line from which Kenneth MacAlpine came from. Another is the Siol Torquil, from which the MacLeods are descended from. Considered the second of these great clans is the Siol Gillevray and within the sphere of influence of this group is clan MacNeil, MacLachlan (including Clan Gilchrist), MacEwen, and Lamont. Some sources suggest that the Lamonts sprang from the Siol Eachern, but most researchers hold that the descent is the same for all of these clans: Niall of the Nine Hostages and Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Clan Lamont
The Lamonts, like the MacNeils, MacEwens, MacSweens, and the Gilchrists, are said to descend from the royal line of the O'Neill High Kings of Ireland (who mainly resided in great numbers in Tir Eoghain [Tyrone], northern Ireland). The Lamonts are believed to descend directly from Anrothan O'Neill, who gave up his rulership in Ireland and moved to Argyll. From Anrothan's line came a man named Aodha Alainn O'Neil who had three sons: Gillachrist, Neill, and Dunslebhe. Gillachrist had a son, Lachlan, who is the ancestors of the MacLachlans; Neill, who is the ancestor of the MacNeills; Dunslebhe had two sons, Fearchar, who is the progenitor of the Lamonts, and Ewen, the ancestor of the MacEwens.
From Fearchar came a son named Lamond and it is from him that the Clan Lamont was birthed, known at one time as 'Mac Laomain Mor Chomhail Uile' - The Great Mac Lamont of All Cowal. Some sources say that these same Lamonts were known at one time as MacErchar from Fearchar (as in the original Dal Riata MacErc). It is clear that this clan has very old roots in the Kingdom of Dalriada, evidenced not only by the previous name MacErchar and the tie with the original kingdoms of northern Ireland, but also from centuries old conflicts with the Clan Diarmaid, or Campbell (see Clan Campbell).
One of the more interesting stories concerning the Lamonts is that of the Chief during the seventeenth century. The event is quoted in many instances as a primary example of the Highland laws and ettiquete surrounding hospitality. It is said that this chief of the Lamonts was hunting with the MacGregors when a fight broke out. Lamont proceeded to stab MacGregor the Younger of Glenstrae in the back, and then fled the scene, running for his life and pursued by infuriated MacGregor clansmen. Lamont arrived at the home of the chief of Clan MacGregor and reported that he was being chased by a band of men. MacGregor immediately welcomed him in, not knowing that the visitor had just killed his son. When the rest of the MacGregor men reached Glenstrae and told the MacGregor chief of what had transpired, despite his grief, he ordered that nothing be done to the Lamont. He had pledged his protection, and although it is not hard to imagine what he would like to have done, the MacGregor chief maintained the tenets of his Highland customs of pledge.
One of the darkest hours for the Lamonts took place in 1646 when a powerful army of Campbells invaded Lamont territory and laid waste to their castles Ascog and Toward. Chief James Lamont is said to have surrendered the castles and landholdings, with the condition that the lives of the Lamonts and their protectorate-dependent families be spared (like the Whites, Blacks, and MacGillegowies). Although honourable terms were believed to have been arrived at, Sir James Lamont was thrown in a dungeon at Dunstaffnage, and over two hundred clansmen, women and children were massacred.
Thirty years later, another massacre took place on the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. In this instance it was a group of Lamonts who had been maintaining some of the old religious customs (Scottish paganism) there on Mull. Only a small portion of this Lamont band made away with their lives, as government forces killed upwards to fifty of them for their beliefs and practices.
Clan MacNeil
This clan maintains the patronymic connection to the Siol Gillevray's roots. Clan MacNeil hails from Aodh O'Neill, the twentieth descendent of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the pagan fifth-century founder of the O'Neill High kingship. MacNeil clan histories state that Niall journeyed to the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides in the year 1049, and is considered the first chief of the clan. Barra is held as the primary clan centre of the MacNeils, but Colonsay and Kintyre were also considered ancestral holdings.
The MacNeils have always held a strong place in Scottish history and politics, both as shapers of the essence of the isles and as staunch Jacobites during the Battle of Killecrankie in 1689. This legacy of involvement goes back on record to the thirteenth century. Neil MacNeil, the fifth chief of the clan from Barra, was in attendance at the Council of the Isles in the year 1252, and was one of the leaders when King Hakon of Norway was defeated at the Battle of Largs. His heir, Neil Og MacNeil, is said to have been a prominent personality and he fought with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. For his part in the fight for Scottish independence, this MacNeil was granted landholdings to the north of Kintyre.
One of the more notable MacNeils in our era is F. Marian McNeill, the Scottish folklorist and scholar of Scottish old customs - both lost in antiquity and those that have continued down through the ages. Florence Marian McNeill (1885-1973) was born and brought up in an Orkney manse where her father, a university graduate in divinity and medicine, kept up many of the old customs. Her lifelong pursuit of the reclamation and recording of old Scots culture produced a variety of written works, including The Scots Kitchen (1929), The Scots Cellar (1956), and a four volume compilation on Scottish folklore and belief called The Silver Bough (1957-68).
The current clan chief of Clan MacNeil Roderick MacNeill, is Professor of Law at the University of Chicago in the United States, and divides his time between the US, Edinburgh, and the home Isle of Barra.
There is a Highland saying that in the genealogies of the MacNeils, the biblical Noah will never be found. "The MacNeil had a boat of his own" it is said.
Clan MacLachlan & Primary Sept Clan Gilchrist
The MacLachlans are of ancient origin and are also said to descend from the fifth century Ulster Royal family of O'Neill. As mentioned earlier Aedh Anradan O'Neill grandson of the King Flaithbertach married a Scottish princess who was heiress of Cowal and Knapdale. His descendant, Gillachrist, had a son named Lachlan Mor, who gave his name to the clan.
The Clan Gilchrist, the primary sept of Clan MacLachlan, is said to come from MacIllechriosd, and literally translates as "Servant of Christ." It is recorded that one Gillascop MacGillchrist had a charter of the five pennylands of Fyncharne in 1243 from King Alexander II. This charter is believed by some to be the oldest one in existence dealing with the lands in Argyll.
In 1292 King John Balliol made Argyll into a sheriffdom, and Gillescop MacLachlan was named as one of the twelve barons of whose lands it was composed. His son supported Robert the Bruce and attended the Kings first parliament at St. Andrews in 1308. The MacLachlans also supported the Celtic church, because of Saint Columba's connection with the O'Neill royal line.
It is noted that the MacLachlans prospered at times through their connection with the Campbells, through both alliances and marriages. Although springing from the same ancestral source, the MacLachlans feuded with the Lamonts, their neighbours in Cowal, and were supposedly involved in the Lamont massacre by the Campbells in 1646. In 1680 the MacLachlan of that ilk had his lands of StrathLachlan made into a barony and despite the distance of a few miles from the Campbell seat managed to retain its independence.
The MacLachlans' freedom of action continued as they loyally supported the Stewarts throughout their troubled years. They are believed to have been at Killiecrankie in 1689, and Lachlan MacLachlan was with Mar at Perth in 1715. His son Lachlan, the 17th chief, was killed by a cannonball at the battle of Culloden in 1745, where he was serving Prince Charles Edward Stewart. His son, only a young child, was also in the camp at Culloden and was killed by a stray bullet. After Culloden, Castle Lachlan was ruined by a bombardment from the sea, but the estates were returned to the 18th chief by the help of the Duke of Argyll in 1749 and this remains today the seat of the Clan Chieftainess, Marjorie MacLachlan of MacLachlan. It is of interest to note that there are over 112 variant spellings of the name MacLachlan which are accepted by the clan.
Clan MacEwen
The origins of the Clan MacEwen are ancient and yet there are actually very few authentic records documenting their history, despite their presence in the region of Dalriada. More and more research is turning up the possibility that there were more branches of this clan than heretofore thought, and possibly even different clans with the name MacEwen. The name Ewen is a very common name in Gaelic speaking countries. The name appears among the Camerons, the Lamonts, the MacDougalls, and the MacLachlans. Even today, the MacDougalls and MacLachlans both consider Clan MacEwen a sept of their clan. One branch in particular is known to have sprung from Eoghain n h-Oitrich (Ewen of Otter) who is said to have lived in the 13th century. Gillespie, the 5th Otter Chief, is on record as flourishing as a leader about a century later. In 1794, Rev. Alexander MacFarlane states in his Statistical Account of the parish of Kilfinnan: "On a rocky point on the coast of Loch Fyne about a mile below the church is to be seen the vestige of a building called Caisteal Mhic Eobhuin, or MacEwen's castle - this MacEwen was the chief of a clan, and proprietor of the northern division of the parish called Otter."
Although much remains shrouded in mystery before the fifteenth century, it is well known that the MacEwens were considered seannaichaidh (tribal poets) and taibhsears (seers), serving the retinue of certain chieftains among the MacDougalls and the Campbells. The difficulty for the MacEwens arose in the year 1432. There are two versions of the story as to why the MacEwens lost their land, their seat as a clan at Loch Fyne.
In one version it is told that Swene MacEwen, the ninth and final Otter Chief, had taken out a loan with a nearby Campbell chieftain, and had made the unfortunate mistake of using all of the MacEwen landholdings as collateral. It is said that Campbell had arranged the payback on the loan too high for what MacEwen could afford and it began to produce problems between the two clans. In time a negotiation was scheduled at the Campbells castle to discuss the debt and how a resolution could be arrived at. The MacEwens were greeted and welcomed in, and oral tradition states that they were given great amounts of food and drink in what evolved into a feast. Apparently, though, once the MacEwen men were intoxicated from the feasting, the Campbells turned on them and massacred a room full of fifty MacEwens, save Swene MacEwen of Otter. Another version of the story is that Swene simply met peaceably with the Campbells, and that the decision was arrived at that the Campbells would absorb the MacEwen landholdings in place of the delinquent debt.
In either case, Swene MacEwen granted the lands of Otter to Duncan Campbell in 1432 and resigned the barony of Otter to James I. Clan Ewen was now a "broken" clan, without a Chief or any landholdings. The MacEwens divided, and as stated before, settled in different areas. Some went to Lennox, others went farther away, to Lochaber, Perth, the Isle of Skye, and the Lowlands, including Galloway.
In 1598 an indictment was drawn up against a band of two hundred MacEwens, described as broken Highland men, making a living by brigandage. One account mentions the MacEwens running with the MacGregors, armed with hackbuts and pistols, raising havoc in the hills. Other records detail MacEwen involvement as seannaichaidh (tribal bards) for certain clans, including the Campbells of Argyll and Breadalbane, and to the MacDougalls of Dunollie. It Is said that the MacEwens were Jacobites during both of the Uprisings but served as individuals rather than as a unified clan. Individual MacEwens are said to have fought under the banners of the Stewarts of Appin, the Macintoshes, and the MacLachlans at the Battle of Culloden (1746).
Clan Campbell
No other clan in the Highlands, short of the MacDonalds, have a more volatile history or association. Traditional genealogies place the origin of this clan within the Britons of Strathclyde. The original seat of this clan was probably at Innishconnel Castle.
Earlier on in Campbell history they were under the domination of the MacDougalls of Lorne. However, a drastic turn of events took place when the Campbells became staunch allies of Robert the Bruce and, having received the support from the Bruce, finally were able to usurp the power of the MacDougalls.
The surname Campbell derives from the Gaelic cam-beul (twisted mouth) and is one of the oldest clans in the Highlands. Throughout the fifteenth century the Campbells gave steady support to the Crown in an area where royal influence was under severe pressure, first from the rival Crown of Norway and then from the descendants of Somerled, former Lord of the Isles, with the eventual emergence of the Crown's most powerful rival in the MacDonald Lordship of the Isles. The Lordship of the Isles was broken by the Crown by the end of the fifteenth century, leaving the Campbells the main power in the area. Thereafter they continued to act as the chief instrument of central authority in the region. This long struggle for supremacy, and with it, the headship of the Gael, may be said to be the real cause for the ancient enmity between the Campbells and the MacDonalds.
Campbell support for central government brought rewards. In 1607 Archibald, seventh Earl of Argyll, was granted former MacDonald lands in Kintyre, while in 1615 Campbell of Cawdor was allowed to purchase Islay and most of Jura which had previously belonged to the MacLeans of Duart.
Sir John Campbell, Eleventh Laird of Glenorchy, was created Earl of Breadalbane in 1681. Described as being "cunning as a fox, wise as a serpent, and supple as an eel... [who] knew neither honour nor religion but where they are mixed with interest", he was involved in the scheming which resulted in the Massacre of Glencoe, but no evidence of his guilt could be produced. His line was founded by "Black" Colin Campbell, who received Glenorchy in 1432 from his father, Sir Duncan Campbell, who had ejected the MacGregors from the lands.
The commander who master-minded the massacre of the MacIan MacDonalds of Glencoe and their hereditary pipers, the Hendersons, was Campbell of Glenlyon. The founder of the Cawdor branch, another Sir John Campbell.
An orphan who had inherited her father's title of Thane of Cawdor, was kidnapped in 1499 by Campbell 1st father, Archibald, 2nd Earl of Argyll, and married to his son in 1510. The Campbells of Loudoun are descended from Sir Duncan Campbell, second of the first MacCailean Mor, who married a Crauford of Loudoun. The Earldom of Loudoun, created for John Campbell has since the eighteenth century descended through the female line. Inveraray Castle, a former Pictish stronghold, is still his family home.
[Author: Frank MacEoghain Owen, 1996] [(c) Dalriada Celtic Heritage Trust, Isle of Arran] [Scottish Charity No. SC023948]
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