MACNAUGHTON, MACNAGHTON,
the name of a clan of great antiquity in the West of Scotland (Argyleshire),
the badge of which was the trailing azalia. The MS. of 1450
deduces the decent of the heads of this clan from Nachtan Mor, who
is supposed to have lived in the 10th century. The Gaelic
name Neachtain is the same as the Pictish Nectan, celebrated in the
Pictish Chronicle as one of the great Celtic divisions in Scotland,
and the appellation is among the most ancient in the north of
Ireland, the original seat of the Crutnen Picts. The parish of
Dunnichen, in Forfarshire, derived its name from the Gaelic dun,
a hill, and the word Nechtan, the name of a Pictish chief
who is traditionally reported to have resided in the parish.
According to Buchanan of Auchmar, (History of the Origin of the
Clans, p. 84, ) the heads of this clan were for ages thanes of
Loch Tay, and possessed all the country between the south side of
Loch-Fyne and Lochawe, parts of which were Glenira, Glenshira,
Glenfine, and other places, while their principal seat was Dunderraw
on Loch-Fyne.
In the reign of Robert III., Maurice or Morice Macnaughton had
a charter from Colin Campbell of Lochow of sundry lands in Over
Lochow, but their first settlement in Argyleshire, in the central
parts of which their lands latterly wholly lay, took place long
before this. The Macnaughtons are said to have been originally a
branch of the tribes of the province of Moray, when united under its
maormors. (Skene’s History of the Highlands, vol. ii. p.
201.) These maormors were the most powerful chiefs in Scotland
during the middle ages. When Malcolm the Maiden attempted to
civilize the ancient province of Moray, by introducing Norman and
Saxon families, such as the Bissets, the Comyns, &c., in the place
of the rude Celtic natives whom he had expatriated to the south, he
gave lands in or near Strathtay or Strathspey, to Nachtan of Moray,
for those he had held in that province. He had there a residence
called Dunnachtan castle. Nisbet (Heraldry, vol. i. p. 419)
describes this Nachtan as “an eminent man in the time of Malcolm
IV.,” and says that he “was in great esteem with the family of
Lochawe, to whom he was very assistant in their wars with the
Macdougals, for which he was rewarded with sundry lands.” The family
of Lochawe here mentioned were the Campbells.
The Macnaughtons appear to have been fairly and finally
settled in Argyleshire previous to the reign of Alexander III., as
Gilchrist Macnaughton, styled of that ilk, was by that monarch
appointed in 1287, heritable keeper of his castle and island of
Frechelan (Fraoch Ellan) on Lochawe, on condition that he should be
properly entertained when he should pass that way, whence, a castle
embattled was assumed as the crest of the family.
This Gilchrist was father or grandfather of Donald Macnaughton
of that ilk, who being nearly connected with the Macdougals of Lorn,
joined that powerful chief with his clan against Robert the Bruce,
and fought against the latter at the battle of Dalree in 1306, in
consequence of which he lost a great part of his estates. In
Abercromby’s ‘Martial Achievements,’ (vol. i. p. 577,) it is related
that the extraordinary courage shown by the king in having, in a
narrow pass, slain with his own hand several of his pursuers, and
amongst the rest three brothers, so greatly excited the admiration
of the chief of the Macnaughtons that he became thenceforth one of
his firmest adherents.
His son and successor, Duncan Macnaughton of that ilk, was a
steady and loyal subject to King David II., who, as a reward for his
fidelity, conferred on his son, Alexander, lands in the island of
Lewis, a portion of the forfeited possessions of John of the Isles,
which the chiefs of the clan Naughton held for a time. The ruins of
their castle of Macnaughton are still pointed out on that island.
Donald Macnaughton, a younger son of the family, was, in 1436,
elected bishop of Dunkeld, in the reign of James I.
Alexander Macnaughton of that ilk, who lived in the beginning
of the 16th century, was knighted by James IV., whom he
accompanied to the disastrous field of Flodden, where he was slain
with nearly the whole chivalry of Scotland. His son, John, was
succeeded by his second son, Malcolm Macnaughton of Glenshira, his
eldest son having predeceased him. Malcolm died in the end of the
reign of James VI., and was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexander.
John, the second son of Malcolm, being of a handsome
appearance, attracted the notice of King James VI., who appointed
him one of his pages of honour, on his accession to the English
crown. He became rich, and purchased lands in Kintyre. He was also
sheriff-depute of Argyleshire. His elder brother, Alexander
Macnaughton of that ilk, adhered firmly to the cause of Charles I.,
and in his service, like all who remained loyal to him, sustained
many severe losses. At the Restoration, as some sort of
compensation, he was knighted by Charles II., and, unlike many
others, he received from that monarch a liberal pension for life.
Sir Alexander Macnaughton spent his later years in London, where he
died. His son and successor, John Macnaughton of that ilk, succeeded
to an estate greatly burdened with debt, but did not hesitate in his
adherence to the fallen fortunes of the Stuarts. At the head of a
considerable body of his own clan, he joined the viscount Dundee,
and was with him at Killiecrankie. James VII. signed a deed in his
favour, restoring to his family all its old lands and hereditary
rights, but, as it never passed the seals in Scotland, it was of
less value than the paper on which it was written. His lands were
taken from him, not by forfeiture, but “the estate,” says Buchanan
of Auchmar, “was evicted by creditors for sums noway equivalent to
its value, and, there being no diligence used for relief thereof, it
went out of the hands of the family.” His son, Alexander, a captain
in Queen Anne’s guards, was killed in the expedition to Vigo in
1702. His brother, John, at the beginning of the last century was
for many years collector of customs at Anstruther in Fife, and
subsequently was appointed inspector-general in the same department.
The direct male line of the Macnaughton chiefs became extinct at his
death.
_____
The chiefship is now in an Irish family, descended from Shane
Dhu, grandson of Sir Alexander Macnaughton, slain at Flodden, who
went to Ireland in 1580, as secretary to his kinsman, the 1st
earl of Antrim, and settled there. His son Daniel Macnaughton, Esq.,
married Catherine, niece of the celebrated primate, George Dowdall,
and their great-grandson, Edmund Alexander Macnaughten, Esq. of
Beardville, born August 3, 1762, was M.P. for County Antrim, and a
lord of the treasury. The clan Macnaughton elected this gentleman
and his heirs to the chieftainship. At his decease in 1832, it
descended with his family estates to his brother, Sir Francis
Workman Macnaughten, born August 2, 1763, educated for the law, and
knighted on being appointed a judge of the supreme court of
judicature at Madras, in 1809. In 1815 he was transferred to that of
Bengal, and in 1823 he assumed the additional surname and arms of
Workman. He retired from the bench in 1825, and was created a
baronet, July 16, 1836. He died Nov. 22, 1843. By his wife, the
eldest daughter of Sir William Dunkin of Clogher, a judge of the
supreme court of judicature, Calcutta, he had 6 sons and 10
daughters. Of the eldest son, in the following paragraph. The 2d
son, William Hay, of the Bengal Civil Service, was created a baronet
in 1839, and was assassinated at Cabul, Dec. 25, 1841. Stuart
Macnaughten, the youngest son, born June 20, 1815, educated at
Edinburgh and Trinity College, Dublin, (B.A. 1835), called to the
bar at the Middle Temple, 1839; married in 1848, Agnes, daughter of
James Eastmont, Esq. of St. Berners, near Edinburgh, and widow of
Capt. Lewis Shedden.
The eldest son, Sir Edmund Charles Workman Macnaughten, of
Dunderave, Bushmills, county Antrim, 2d baronet, born April 1, 1790,
M.P. for that county, 1847-1852, married in 1827, Mary, only child
of Edward Gwatkin, Esq.; issue five sons and two daughters. The sons
are 1. Francis Edmund, major, 8th Hussars, born in 1828;
2. Edward, barrister-at-law; 3. William Henry, 1st Bengal
light cavalry; 4. Fergus; 5. Edmund Charles. The family spell their
name Macnaughten.
