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Another Account of the Clan
BADGE: Paochag,
no Gillefuinhrinn (Pervinca minor) lesser periwinkle.
PIBROCH: Moladh
Mhairi.
 FROM
its location on the western coast of Scotland, Clan Lachlan might
straightway be assumed to be either of early Scottish or of Norse origin.
Its name might point to the latter source. Lochlin or Lochlan was the name
under which the Norwegian invaders of the early centuries were known to
the people of western Scotland. They appear constantly under this name in
the poems of Ossian, Further, in the traditions of the clan, and in a
manuscript of 1450, published by the lona Club, the MacLachlans are
closely associated with the Lords of the Isles. The usual traditional
account of the origin of the Clan, however, is that they are descended
from the early Scottish race in the north-east of Ireland. There are many
references to them in the Annals of the Four Masters, and from this
it is believed they were the elder branch of the Irish Hy Niall, who were
kings in Ireland for a thousand years. The lona Club manuscript already
referred to, which was preserved in the family of the MacLachlans of
Kilbride, gives the early genealogy of the race as follows: "Kenneth,
son of John, son of Lachlan, son of Gille Patrick, son of Lachlan Mor, son
of Patrick, son of Gille Christ, son of Dedalan, son of Andadan, from whom
are descended also the children of Niall." The probability is that
they were among the early Scottish settlers who came over from Ireland
with the renowned Fergus and his two brothers, in the early years of the
sixth century, to make the first beginnings of the little Scottish kingdom
of Dalriada, and give the part of the country in which they settled its
new name of Earrha Gael, Argyll, the Land of the Gael. According to one
tradition, dealt with at length by Buchanan of Auchmar in his famous work,
the earliest settlement of the MacLachlans was in Lochaber, where for
several centuries the senior cadets of the clan, the MacLachlans of
Coire-Uanan, held the hereditary office of standard-bearers to the Lairds
of Locheil. A tradition of the MacLachlans of this region is recounted in
MacIan’s Clans of the Scottish Highlands as follows:
"A story is told of
one of this branch which we do not recollect having met with in any
publication. A quarrel having arisen between a young man and one of the
Camerons of Glen Nevis, he took his revenge by the slaughter of his enemy,
which was accomplished in a somewhat singular manner. Glen Nevis passing
the fold where the young women were milking the cattle, he was presented,
according to custom, with a draught. MacLachlan, who had been lying in
wait for him, and was celebrated for his skilful archery, let fly an arrow
which simultaneously split Cameron’s head and the vessel which contained
the milk. MacLachlan instantly, fled, and was obliged to wander through
the Highlands and isles for many years, in constant dread of being
captured or slain by his enemies. During this time it was his practice to
sleep in caves, or the least accessible mountains, and even when in the
shelter of a house, he always rested his head on his naked dirk, a weapon
peculiarly convenient in case of sudden or close attack. He is represented
as having been the last of his family, and perhaps was therefore more
reckless of his life; however, in process of time, he ventured to revisit
his native hills, and as he passed by the house of Glen Nevis, he observed
by looking through an open window, a very fine gun, which he resolved to
appropriate to himself. A broad ditch intervened between him and the
building, but, being remarkably athletic, he cleared it at a bound, and
silently entering, seized the gun. At the moment when he was retreating by
the window, Glen Nevis entered the room, and, pouncing on the depredator,
seized him by the arm with an iron grasp, exclaiming, ‘You are now in
the talons of the mountain eagle, and a death struggle alone shall
disengage them! ‘ A minute’s portentous pause ensued, when MacLachlan,
with unsuspected dexterity, stabbed Cameron with his dirk, and then,
relieved from his hold, leaped across the ditch and escaped! The gun, a
very curious piece, is still preserved by Glen Nevis."
There is a tradition that
when King A!exander II., in the thirteenth century, was making his way
into the West Highlands in prosecution of his campaign against the
Norsemen, in which he declared his intention to plant his standard on the
walls of Thurso, he ordered the MacLachlan chief to send him his tribute
by the swiftest messenger. MacLachlan, it is said, complied by tying the
bags of tribute to a roebuck, which he despatched by a trusty and
swift-footed messenger to the king, at which Alexander was so impressed
that he conferred upon the chief a pair of roebucks as supporters to his
coat of arms.
There was long treasured in
the family of the MacLachlan chiefs a custom which was said to have taken
its origin during one of the crusades. Upon that crusade, it is said, the
chiefs of Strath Lachlan and of Strachur, who were close friends as well
as neighbours, made a promise to each other that, if one of them were
slain in battle, the other would see to it that his body was carried home
and duly laid in the family burying-place. For centuries afterwards the
custom remained that when a Laird of Strath Lachlan or a Laird of Strachur
died his neighbour laid his head in the grave.
According to tradition the
chiefs of Clan Lachlan at one time owned very extensive lands in
Argyllshire, and even yet their possessions run eleven miles along the
shore of one of the most beautiful parts of Loch Fyne. Their present
estate is said to have been acquired by marriage with the daughter and
heiress of one of the chiefs of Clan Lamont. The manuscript above
mentioned puts it that "Caitrina, the daughter of Duncan Mac Lamain,
was the mother of Kenneth, Patrick, and Gille Easpuig, and Agais, daughter
of MacDonald, was mother of John, and Culusaid, daughter of the Maormar of
Cowal, was the mother of Lachlan Oig." In whatever way their present
possessions on the western coast of Cowal were acquired, the MacLachian
chiefs are believed to have possessed Strathlachlan since the eleventh
century. The first documentary evidence of their ownership appears in
1292, when the lands belonging to Gilleskel MacLachlan were recorded as
included in the Sheriffdom of Argyll or Lorne, and King John Baliol
granted Gilleskel a charter of them. The same chief also received a
charter later from King Robert the Bruce, and appears on the roll of the
Scottish magnates who sat in the first Parliament of Bruce at St. Andrews.
The chief’s name also appears on one of the seal tags of the letter sent
by the Scottish barons to King Philip of France. From Gilleskel the direct
line of the chiefs is declared to be clearly traced to the present day,
and, though they never played a leading part in the great affairs of the
realm, their history has not been without its tincturing of adventure,
heroism, and romance.
During the disorders of the
Douglas Wars in the reign of James II., when Lauder, the Fifeshire Bishop
of Lismore, was endeavouring to dominate the clansmen with the law of the
Church, Sir Gilbert MacLachlan and Sir Morier MacFadyan, respectively
chancellor and treasurer of the diocese, raised the whole strength of Clan
Lachlan, attacked the bishop and his train on the way to his cathedral,
stripped them of their robes, plundered the church of its treasures and
charters, and forced the bishop himself to promise to make no reprisals.
Archibald MacLachlan of
Strath Lachlan appears in the Rolls of 1587 and 1594. The chiefs were
Jacobites, and as their possessions were situated in the midst of the
territory of the powerful Campbell race, who were upon the other side,
their position must at all times have been precarious, and their opinion
must have required more than the usual courage and loyalty to express.
During the civil wars, when
the Marquess of Montrose raised an army for King Charles I. in the
Highlands, Colonel MacLachlan was one of his most active officers. At the
battle of Alford he led a regiment of foot, and routed the enemy’s
cavalry. His fate was as grievous as it was undeserved. After the surprise
and defeat of Montrose’s little royalist army at Philliphaugh, he was
taken prisoner, carried to Edinburgh, and executed by the Covenanters.
After the Revolution in
1689 the Chief of MacLachlan took the field with King James’s general,
Viscount Dundee, and as a result he figures in the curious Latin poem of
the time, "The Grameid." Fifty-six years later, when Bonnie
Prince Charlie raised the Stewart standard in the Highlands for the last
time, Lauchlan MacLachlan, the fifteenth chief, raised his clan and
marched to join him. This chief had evidently all the courage of his
convictions, for, notwithstanding the danger of the proceeding, with the
Campbells at his door, he is said to have proclaimed his intentions at
Kilmichael market, where he openly summoned his clan; and it says much for
his leadership that he made his way successfully through the heart of the
Argyll country, to join the Prince in the north. The military and other
esteem in which he was held may be gathered from the fact that he acted as
aide-de-camp to Prince Charles; and his career ended in the gallant
fashion such a brave man might desire, for he was killed at Culloden.
A pretty story is told in
connection with this event. The chief, it is said, owned a favourite dun
horse. When he was slain at Culloden this dun horse escaped, and made its
way home to Strath Lachlan, where it was the first to bring the terrible
news. A few months later the castle was bombarded and destroyed by a
Government frigate, but the horse took up its quarters in one of the
ruined apartments, which, from that fact, is still known as The Dun Horse’s
Stable.
As a result of the part
taken in the Rebellion by the thief, the lands of Strath Lachlan were
forfeited, but the next heir succeeded in recovering them in 1749.
It says much for the finer
spirit of the clan in a rude and warlike time that they were among the few
who cherished the literary memorials of their race’s past. When James
Macpherson produced his translation of Ossian in the sixties of the
eighteenth century, the erudite and unbelieving Dr. Samuel Johnson
declared in scorn that there was not in the Highlands a Gaelic manuscript
more than a hundred years old. Among the evidences which were forthcoming
to refute this statement was a wonderful collection of ancient manuscripts
which had been preserved by the MacLachlans of Kilbride. Besides the
manuscript of 1450 above quoted, this collection included many details
throwing light upon Highland history and the authenticity of the Ossianic
poems. It attracted much attention at the time, and was eventually
purchased by the Highland Society and deposited in the Advocates’
Library.
A few years later Clan
MacLachlan itself produced a Gaelic poet and scholar of considerable
repute. Ewen MacLachlan, headmaster of Aberdeen Grammar School, was the
author of at least two volumes of poetry, published in 1807 and 1816. And
in more recent days Thomas Hope MacLachlan, barrister of Lincoln’s Inn,
abandoned law for the painter’s art, in which he attained considerable
reputation. His picture, "Ships that pass in the night," has a
place in the National Gallery.
In recent times the
MacLachlans have also won distinction in other ways. In 1810 Captain
MacLachlan of the Royal Marines distinguished himself in the Basque Roads
at the storming of the battery on the Point du Chée, where with
conspicuous bravery he spiked the guns.
The present head of the
Clan is one of the most popular of the Highland chiefs, an enthusiast for
all things pertaining to the traditions and welfare of the Gaelic race,
and possessor of perhaps the most characteristic designation and address
of any landowner in the Highlands—MacLachlan of MacLachlan, Castle
Lachlan, Strath Lachlan, Argyllshire.
Septs of Clan MacLachlan:
Ewing, Ewen, Lachlan, Gilchrist, MacEwan, Lauchlan, MacGilchrist, MacEwan.
Another account of the Clan
The
Maclachlans are of ancient origin and are said to descend from the 5th century Ulster
Royal family of O'Neill. Aedh, a grandson of the King Flaithbertach married a Scottish
princess who was heiress of Cowal and Knapdale. His descendant, Lachlan Mor gave his name
to the clan. In 1292 King John Balliol erected 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
also with the O'Neill royal line. The Maclachlans prospered through their connection with
the Campbells, through alliances and marriages, but feuded with the Lamonts, their
neighbours in Cowal, supposedly being involved in their 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 were probably 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 acting as Prince
Charles Edward Stewart's A.D.C. His son, only a young child, was also in the camp at
Culloden and was killed by a chance shot. 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.
David Helleren, President, Clan MacLachlan Society (Victoria) Inc Melbourne Australia got in touch to inform us that "Unfortunately Chief Marnie (Marjorie) died approx. 4
years ago and her son is now Chief and still resides at Strathlachlan.
His name is Euan John Rome MacLachlan of MacLachlan and he is the 24th
(I think) hereditary Chief.
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