History of the MacIntyre Clan
Introduction

(TITLE PAGE)

Clan MacIntyre

A Journey to the Past

2001

1. Mac ( . . . contracted to M’, Mc, M^c) is a Gaelic prefix meaning "son" and corresponds to son in Teutonic names; Fitz in Norman-French names; and to
Map, shortened to ‘ap or ‘p in Welsh names, according to George Fraser Black in "The Surnames of Scotland," page 519. Many Gaelic names are translated phonetically into English to preserve the sound of the original. Before the spelling of one’s name became important for documents, the spelling was left to the discretion of the writer who was often a government official. For immigrants this was the immigration officer and the "thick" Scottish accent led to a multitude of spellings that all sounded the same. Even in the family of the chief of Clan MacIntyre, the spelling of the name has varied. One researcher has uncovered a tradition of a son with the same given name as his father, changing the "I" to "E" and vice versa, instead of "Sr." and "Jr."

2. It was common for names to be shortened (‘Teir) or translated (Wrightson) or both (Wright).

3. Anglicized translations like carpenter or joiner may be synonymous with MacIntyre if their ancestors immigrated from Scotland, especially western Scotland. One might speculate that Wright is more common in Scotland and northern England while Carpenter and Joiner in southern England.

4. MacAteer and its various spellings sound the same as Mac an t-Saoir when said by a Gaelic speaker. In Ireland, there are three possible rationales for a Scottish connection and two possible sources for a purely Irish origin. These will be discussed in Part II.

5. Although they are pronounced the same in English, standing alone in Gaelic, Tire,Tier, and Tyr can be translated as "wolf", and would not be pronounced the same as Teir, Teer or Tere, meaning "wright." Spelling in English as a way to differentiate Gaelic names is "iffy" at best. Family history and location in Scotland are the best methods to determine the most probable Clan association for a surname.

(PHOTO) MacIntyre of Glen Noe Coat of Arms, St. Conan's Kirk, Lochawe, Scotland

MODERN HUNTING
ANCIENT HUNTING
ANCIENT HUNTING (FADED)
GLENORCHY MODERN
GLENORCHY ANCIENT
MODERN DRESS RED
ANCIENT DRESS RED

PHOTO

First Edition
Thanks for help in different ways go to Martin and his wife, Rosemary, for planning and executing the visit to Glen Noe and the publication of this Story, to my wife, Alice, for encouragement, and help in editing, indexing and preparing the manuscript; to Donald MacIntyre, eighth Chief of Clan MacIntyre, his wife, Catherine, and their son, James, for photographs of the Chief and his heirlooms; to the late Alexander James MacIntyre of Inveraray, Scotland and his family (May, Angus and Alexander) for assistance given over the years; to Carol (our daughter and Carl Purcell and Donald (our son) and his wife Carol, for their financial help in getting this book published; to our grandchildren for their efforts and interest; and to Ian Stuart McIntyre of Bucks, England for urging me to complete and publish this Story. MacI

Second Edition
Thanks for this new edition go to Thomas McIntyre for maintaining and organizing the historical files; to Alan Bridgeman MacIntyre, Colin Macintyre, and Marcia McIntyre for reviewing the new material for accuracy and adding valuable information; to Wanda Wells and P. K. Murphy for editing; and to the many members of Clan MacIntyre Association who re-typed the first edition into a word processing format. Thanks also to the innumerable inter-netters who sent corrections and additions. Writers will never again be alone.

Special acknowledgment goes to those who have written histories of Clan MacIntyre: Chief of Clan MacIntyre, James (V) (1875-1863); Duncan MacIntyre, 14th of Camus-na-h-Erie, Cadet of Glenoe (1901); Alexander James MacIntyre (1895-1968); L.D. MacIntyre (1897-1991); and Duncan McIntyre of Sydney Australia (living). Thanks also goes to James Wallace MacIntyre, 9^th of Glenoe, his wife, Lady Marion, their son, Donald Russell MacIntyre of Glenoe, 10^th of Glenoe, and to Ian MacIntyre,17th of Camus na h-Erie.

MLM

CLAN MAC INTYRE A Journey To The Past
Authors: L. D. MacIntyre and Martin L. MacIntyre
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-81280
ISBN ###########
Copyright: Martin Lewis MacIntyre 2001
Publisher: MacIntyre Publishing, 41 Temescal Terrace, San Francisco, CA 94118-4324
www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macintyre E-mail: martin.macintyre@juno.com
Publication Sponsor: Clan MacIntyre Association
Editor: Martin Lewis MacIntyre

DEDICATION

("An apple tree at Loch Etivehead and
MacIntyre of Glenoe are the two oldest
farmers in Scotland.")

The apple tree and MacIntyres of Glen Noe are both long gone. The Clan has scattered like leaves of a tree in winter to far places of the earth. Though Glen Noe is bereft, those who survive do honor to the motto "Per Ardua." That the days of all who bear the name may be long and their hardships light is the hope of the compiler of this volume, and to them it is dedicated. MacI

The second edition is dedicated to the memory of L.D. MacIntyre and Alice Sonnenschein MacIntyre who lovingly prepared the first edition. MLM

Photo of L. D. MacIntyre and Alice MacIntyre

MacIntyre, Variations in Spelling and Names
MacIntyre Tartans
Forewords
Prefaces
Introduction

PART I. SCOTTISH HISTORY- 7000 B.C. to 1800 A.D.
Sources of Information
The Scots - Origin, Names, Clan System
The Influence of Bloodlines and Cultures
Demise of the Clan System
Highland Wars
The Scottish Dispersion

Origin of the MacIntyre Name and Clan
Meaning of the Name
Traditional Legends of Origin
False Origins

Where From and Where To?
Two Brothers
Second Sight and Mountain Spirits

Glen Noe - Home of the MacIntyre Chiefs
Glenoe
Loch Etive
Ben Cruachan

Kin
Ancestors
Cadets
   Camus-na-h-Erie
   Stranmore
   Etive

Kith
MacDonalds

MacIntyres at Glenoe
Before the MacIntyres Came
Undocumented MacIntyre Chiefs
The Snowball and the Fatted Calf
Documented MacIntyre Chiefs
MacIntyres in the Highland Wars
The Last MacIntyre Chief at Glenoe

MacIntyres Outside of Scotland
Ireland
North America

MacIntyre Armorial Bearings
Coat and Shield of Arms

PART III. HOUSES OF CLAN MAC INTYRE

House of Glenoe
Legendary Chiefs
First Documented Chief
MacIntyre Chiefs and Glenoe
Recorded MacIntyre Chiefs of Glenoe

House of Camus-na-h-Erie
Prior to the First Chieftain of Record
The Chieftains of Record

House of Etive

Visual Art
Tartans

Literature
Duncan Ban MacIntyre
Other Bards, Storytellers, and Seanachie

Music
MacIntyre March

MacIntyre Organizations
Glasgow
Maine
Canada?
Clan MacIntyre Association
Clan MacIntyre Society, Inc.
Michigan?
Ireland?

Land of the MacIntyres
A Family Journey To The Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin and Rosemary MacIntyre
Tour of MacIntyre Country . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. L MacIntyre

In Memoriam: L.D. and Alice MacIntyre M. L. MacIntyre

PART V. SCOTTISH AND MAC INTYRE STORIES

The Stone of Destiny 
The Isle of Destiny
Deirdre of the Sorrows
Thumb Carpenter 
Two Brothers, One Pri.
The Viking and his Clach Nodha
The Viking Raid and the White Cow
Maurice MacNeil and Somerled 
The Mountain Spirits and Glen Noe 
The First MacIntyre at Glen Noe - Fiction by Alexander James MacIntyre The Two Sons of Chief Duncan
The Snowball and the Fatted Calf
The Piper’s Warning
Clach Nodha and the Glencoe Massacre 
Fairy Dart of Glen Noe
The ‘Loss’ of Glenoe
A Very ‘Special’ Delivery       Non-Fiction by M. L. MacIntyre
Another MacIntyre Miracle: The ‘Wright’ man at the Right time . . . Non-Fiction by M. L. MacIntyre

Verses On Arms . . . . Duncan Ban MacIntyre Metrical translation from the Gaelic . George Calder
Free metrical description .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. James M. Joss, L’Islet
On Samuel Johnson, Who Wrote Against Scotland . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . James 3rd Chief of Glenoe
Cruachan Beann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick, 16th Chieftain of Camus-na-h-Erie
Farewell To Alban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translation by Angus Macintyre, Glasgow
Nostalgia. . . . . . . . . . . . Angus Macintyre, Taynuilt and Tobermory ? Robert McIntyre of Australia
To the Chief ……. . . . . . L. D. MacIntyre
Return of the MacIntyres . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M L. MacIntyre, San Francisco

Need permission from Duncan McIntyre of Australia for poems) Duncan McIntyre of Australia

I. The Tenure of Glenoe
II. Timeline of the World, Scotland and The MacIntyres

Illustrations
Duncan Ban MacIntyre’s Monument

Photographs
MacIntyre Coat of Arms, St. Conan’s Kirk
L.D.MacIntyre and Alice MacIntye
Highland Dancer at Glen Noe, Ancestral Home of the MacIntyre Chiefs
(Gaelic Name) Site where the cow laid down
Lairg Nodha (Stone of the Fatted Calf)
Snow on Ben Cruachan , Midsummer’s day, 2000 A.D.
White Bull near Ardchattan Priory
Ardchattan Priory, Burial Grounds for MacIntyre Chiefs
Gravestone of Duncan (I) of Glen Noe at Ardchattan Priory
Glenoe Heirlooms
Gravestone of Camus-na-h-Erie on Isle of St. Munn , Loch Leven
Camus-na-h-Erie Heirlooms
Cairn to the Chiefs at Glen Noe
Clach Nodha - Magic Stone
Return of the MacIntyres (from the 1976 film)

Document Replication
1556 Clan Teir Bond to Lord Glenorchy
1737 Memorandum between Donald (II) of Glenoe and Glenorchy
1746 James (III)’s Document of Safe Passage
1770 Renunciation of 1656 Wadset (Partial)
1775 Rental Receipt for Lease of Part of Glenoe
1808 James (V)’s 1808 Letter from Glen Noe, Scotland
1927 Letterhead of the Clan MacIntyre Association of Glasgow
1940 Invitation to Micum McIntyre Picnic
1955 Armorial Bearings and Letters Patent of Camus-na-h-Erie
1991 Armorial Bearings and Letters Patent of Glenoe

Charts
Genealogy of Prehistory MacIntyres, MacNeils, MacDonalds, and MacDougalls
Genealogy of MacIntyre Chiefs
Genealogy and Cognizances of the Glenoe Chiefs
Genealogy and Cognizances of the Camus-na-h-Erie Chieftains
Time Map of MacIntyres, Scotland, and the World

Maps
Celtic Isles
Scotland
Vicinity of Glen Noe

Bibliography

My earliest memories are of my father’s bedtime stories about Scotland. What kind of stories could impress a four-year-old so much?

Plenty of action? . . . These stories had enough battles to rival the Old Testament!

An abundance of emotion? . . . There was love and hate sandwiched between pride and revenge.

A moral? . . . Always a moral – perseverance and justice; justice and perseverance.

A hero? . . . Aye, what better heroes than Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Bonnie Prince Charlie?

Yes, all of these things made a lasting impression on me; but what I remember most was the sound of my father’s voice, the wrinkling of his brow, and the fire in his eyes that made me feel he had just come from the battle and was giving a first-hand report. The cunning, the pride and instant justice were real to him and he passed that reality on to me. The conviction and truth with which he spoke, right down to an appropriate rolling of an "rrr" is what I cherish to this very day.

My favorite story, although it lacked bloodletting or a hero, was about the MacIntyres of Glen Noe -- how they arrived on the mainland of Scotland, and why they had to leave. Somehow, when my father told this story there was more conviction and truth than in any of the others. Of course, we were MacIntyres, and proud of it, and this was a story about us.

Now my father, in his eightieth year, has summarized in this book what he knows about the MacIntyres after forty-five years of searching for his heritage. Perhaps you will appreciate the accuracy or the detail. I hope you will sense the passion, the perseverance of forty-five years, the integrity, and the indignation against the Lord Lyon King of Arms that still burns brightly in his breast. If you only could see the fire in his eyes and hear his voice ring with conviction, still yearning for the justice due the MacIntyres of Glen Noe.

Perhaps his story of the MacIntyres will cause another MacIntyre to take up the standard and carry it to still greater heights, even to the top of Ben Cruachan, if that is necessary to find the truth and proclaim it to the world.

Martin Lewis MacIntyre, Eighth generation removed from Scotland

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

Since the First Edition in 1977, many important events have taken place in the history of Clan MacIntyre. No longer with us are Donald, eighth Chief of record, his wife, Lady Catherine, their son, James, ninth Chief of record, my father, L. D. MacIntyre, the author of the first edition, and my mother, Alice MacIntyre, the editor of the first edition.

Over this same period many other things have occurred. The Clan MacIntyre Association was formed in 1979 and with its support, James Wallace MacIntyre, successfully petitioned the Lyon Court of Heraldry and Arms in Scotland for matriculation of his Arm as Glenoe, the ninth Chief of record of Clan MacIntyre. There was the accession of Donald Russell MacIntyre as the tenth Chief and the birth of his son, James Thomas MacIntyre, the younger and heir apparent.

I can assure Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight KCVO, Lord Lyon King of Arms, and his officers of arms, that my father did not carry to his grave the feelings of injustice described in the Foreword to the First Edition. Without the assistance of Sir Crispin Agnew of Loch Naw, Rothesay Herald at Arms Bt., and Mr. Hugh Peskett, genealogist, the matriculation of the Arms of Glenoe would not have been successful. The recognition of Glenoe by the Lyon Court gave my father the elation and peace that all of us should experience at least once in our lifetime.

Although the story is over for those no longer with us, the story never ends. MacIntyres the world over must continue to forge a bright future, search for our elusive past, and tell our stories to the next generation so they will carry on where we leave off.

M. L. MacIntyre

(Photo)

Beginning in 1931, I planned to write a history of Clan MacIntyre since I found none was available and I was curious about the roots of the people whose name I bore. This led to a deep and lasting interest in all things Scottish. Although I was discouraged by my first contact with the Secretary of the Clan MacIntyre Association in Glasgow on the basis that a person outside of Scotland would not be able to carry through such a project, I persisted. During the years, I collected materials at the Library of Congress and the National Archives in Washington and through correspondence with the late Alexander James MacIntyre of Inveraray and many others; and through personal contacts in the United States and in Scotland. Also, from Donald MacIntyre, the present Chief of the Clan, I received a copy of the unpublished manuscript from Alexander James MacIntyre dated 1936. A facsimile of the latter’s deeply felt Foreword is reproduced above.

Leslie D. MacIntyre, Bannockburn, Bethesda, Maryland

June 1977

My father and mother, L.D. and Alice MacIntyre, passed on to me the desire and responsibility to revise their story of Clan MacIntyre. When our family published the first edition, we optimistically printed 3,000 copies – all that we could afford. This number seemed more than sufficient until suddenly, the last copy was in sight. The choice s were, either reprint the first edition with an addendum, or make a new edition. Considering all that had transpired in the interim, I decided on a new edition.

I accepted this formidable challenge knowing that Dad would be my guide for facts and Mom for language. Any misgivings on my part for having fallen short is tempered by the knowledge that someone must do it and my turn has come. Surely, the future will bring forth another who will pick up where I leave off.

After completing the first draft, I was given a copy of MacIntyres, A Clan History – a carefully researched and personal book by Duncan McIntyre of Sydney, Australia. He has done what I had thought impossible – matched, and in some areas, surpassed my father’s knowledge of MacIntyre history while exhibiting an equal enthusiasm for the truth. He has proved once again, what my father always knew, that one could write a scholarly history of Clan MacIntyre without living in Scotland.

Notwithstanding Duncan of Australia’s excellent history, I have completed the second edition of my father’s book in the belief that there is room for two visions of the same story.

The first edition of this book was limited in size and scope to ensure its completion by L. D. MacIntyre’s eightieth birthday. In 1977, there was a great deal of uncertainty about recouping our family’s investment so we kept costs to a minimum without sacrificing quality. While the second edition also has time and cost limitations, there is no longer any doubt about interest in the subject matter.

Most of what was in the first edition has been retained although not always in the same sequence. Because this may be the reader’s first encounter with Scottish as well as MacIntyre history, I have greatly expanded the section on the origins of our Scottish heritage and placed it at the beginning. Another major addition is the relevant history since the first edition was published thirty years ago. At the end of the book are stories, poems, and music by and about MacIntyres. There is also information on Glen Noe and the surrounding historical sites for those with the urge for a pilgrimage to the land of their forefathers.

Martin L. MacIntyre , San Francisco, California

December 2001

INTRODUCTION

This history of Clan MacIntyre¹ contains information collected by the original author, L. D. MacIntyre, and by many others. His search for a history of Clan MacIntyre and its Chief began in 1930. When he couldn't locate a history, he decided to write one². In 1933, he finally located in New York State, James MacIntyre, 7^th Chief of Glenoe, and his son, Donald MacIntyre, heir apparent.

The Lyon Court of Heraldry in Scotland did not recognize James as the MacIntyre chief. Recognition would have required a petition proving his direct lineage from a chief living in Scotland before 1783. In 1933, the Chief had no personal desire to be recognized by the Court and the Lord Lyon King of Arms had no desire to recognize a chief who resided outside of Scotland. Regardless, it seemed unlikely that the necessary documentation could be compiled.

This did not deter L.D. MacIntyre from trying to obtain his Chief’s recognition. His quest seemed to be as futile as Don Quixote’s, after a representative of the Lord Lyon's office told him in person that no petition from a claimant in the United States would be considered even if it could be proven that his ancestors were born in Scotland!³ While this dampened L.D.’s desire to follow through on obtaining the Chief’s recognition, it spurred him toward completing his second goal, a history of Clan MacIntyre. The purpose would be to set the record straight and give both the Chief and Clan MacIntyre the respect they were due. In 1977, forty-seven years after he had begun, the first edition was published on his eightieth birthday.

1. MacIntyre has many spellings, some of which are on the inside of the front cover. In this edition, MacIntyre will be used except when individuals are referenced who spell it differently. This is also the spelling used by the present Chief and Chieftain.
2. L.D. did not locate the 1901 history by Duncan MacIntyre, 14^th Chieftain of Camus-na-h-Erie, the senior cadet to MacIntyre of Glenoe until he began corresponding with Donald, heir apparent to James, the 7^th Chief.
3. As recently as 1977, the instructions specifically stated, "Grants of Scottish Arms by Letters Patent are not made to non-British subjects." If this prohibition had remained, it would have been impossible for James Wallace MacIntyre or any of his descendants, to be recognized as Chief.