Chapter V (2)

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.

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.

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.