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MACQUEEN,
the surname of one of the subordinate tribes of the clan Chattan,
the head of which is Macqueen of Corrybrough, Inverness-shire. 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 Macintosh, 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 Macintosh 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 Nairne.
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.
MACQUEEN, ROBERT,
of Braxfield, an eminent lawyer and judge, was born May 4, 1722. He
was the eldest son of John Macqueen, Esq. of Braxfield, Lanarkshire,
for some time sheriff substitute of the upper ward of that county.
After receiving the rudiments of education at the grammar school of
Lanark, he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, and apprenticed
to a writer to the signet in that city. In 1744 he was admitted
advocate. The many intricate and important feudal questions arising
out of the rebellion of 1745, respecting the forfeited estates, in
which he had the good fortune to be appointed counsel for the crown,
first brought him into notice, and for many years he had a larger
practice than any other member of the bar at that period. As a
feudal lawyer he was considered the first in Scotland in his time,
and he has been known to plead from fifteen to twenty causes in one
day.
In November 1776, he was appointed a judge of the court of
session, when he assumed the title of Lord Braxfield. In February
1780 he was appointed a lord of justiciary, and in December 1787 was
promoted to be lord-justice-clerk. This last office he held during a
most interesting and critical period – that between 1793 and 1795.He
presided at the memorable political trials of Muir, Palmer, Skirving,
Margarot, &c., in 1793-4, conducting himself with great firmness and
intrepidity, but is considered to have treated the prisoners with
unnecessary harshness. He failed, however, in all his attempts to
intimidate them. “It is altogether unavailing,” said Skirving to
him, “for your lordship to menace me; for I have long learned to
fear not the face of man.” Even on the bench he spoke the broadest
Scottish dialect. “Hae ye ony counsel, man?” he said to Maurice
Margarot, when placed at the bar on a charge of sedition. “No,” was
the answer. “Do you want to hae ony appointit?” “No,” replied
Margarot, “I only want an interpreter to make me understand what
your lordship says!”
Lord Braxfield died May 30th, 1799, in his 78th
year. He was twice married, first to Mary Agnew, niece of Sir Andrew
Agnew, baronet, by whom he had two sons and two daughters; and
secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter of the lord chief baron Ord,
without issue. The elder son, Robert Dundas Macqueen, inherited the
estate of Braxfield, and married Lady Lilias Montgomery, daughter of
the earl of Eglinton. The second entered the army. The elder
daughter, Mary, became the wife of William Honyman, Esq., advocate,
afterwards Lord Armadale, a lord of session, created a baronet in
1804. The younger married John Macdonald of Clanranald. |
