1
PART I.
SCOTTISH HISTORY - 7000 B.C. to c. 1800 A.D.
To fully understand the history of Clan MacIntyre one must be familiar with the ethnic origins of the Scottish people, the creation and inheritance of Scottish surnames, the Scottish clan system, and the major events in Scottish history. What you are about to read is neither pure fact nor fantasy but simply the best judgment of this author after reading the opinions of many writers, including the author of the first edition. These authors are in general agreement but often disagree on the details.
Sources of Information. In the Gaelic tradition, the history of Scotland and Clan MacIntyre comes primarily from legend. The Celtic culture and Druid religion relied on bards (poets), storytellers, and seanachies (genealogists/historians) to maintain a rich oral history in the form of sagas, legends, songs, and poems. Archeology can confirm approximate dates but the search for truth requires a sprinkling of common sense and intuition. For example, legends abound in fanciful exaggeration and may miss the mark by a millennium or a continent, yet they still contain a great deal of truth. It is the desire to know our past and to pass it on that creates these stories and this book. Legends make wonderful bedtime stories and MacIntyres are truly blessed with many colorful ones.[1]
Written histories don’t appear until the last half of the 15th century and it was still difficult to distinguish between legend and fact until the 20th century. The most reliable information comes from church and legal documents. The next best information is from the so-called Black Books that were kept by many clans, although these are clearly biased, as are all histories.
The Scots -- Origin, Surnames, and Clan System
Origin of the Scots. There is archeological evidence in Scotland of the presence of hunter-gatherers around 7000 B.C. By 3000 B.C., there were Neolithic farmers and cairn[2]builders. Around 1500 B.C., there is evidence of early Mesolithic, Bronze-Age people. The first wave of Celtic tribes from southeastern Europe[3] arrived about1200 – 1000 B.C.These people were not the ancestors of the Scots.
According to the legends, in about 500 B.C. the Celtic people in Ireland were conquered by another Celtic group who came by sea from the Iberian Peninsula. These conquerors have been called by several names: Gaels, Milesians, and Scoti.[4] Their legends had foretold they would find an Isle of Destiny and they brought with them their “Stone of Destiny” (Lia Fail)[5] upon which they proclaimed their High Kings (Ard Righ). Around this time, the Britons, who were an Iron-Age Celtic group from northern Europe, conquered England and Wales.
Because the Celts did not have a written history of their own, the only written descriptions of them were by outsiders who said they were warlike, artistic, and egalitarian. Some combination . . . but it fits the Gaelic and Scottish persona like a glove!
At the beginning of the first millennium A.D., most of the western world was under the control of the Roman Empire except for the British Isles, still controlled by Celts. To the outside world, Scotland was known as Alba or Caledonia; Ireland was known as Scotia or Hibernia; and, England plus Wales was known as Britannia. The English Channel did not deter the Roman Legions who subjugated the Britons by the middle of the first century.[6] Although they tried, the Romans could not vanquish the inhabitants of Alba, whom they called Picts.[7] The Picts were so fierce and troublesome that Emperor Hadrian built a protective wall from sea to sea.[8] The location of this wall is almost identical to the present border between England and Scotland.
The Romans had plans to conquer Scotia (Ireland) but their empire was declining and they never got around to it. Deprived of doing battle with the Roman Legions, the Scoti continued to battle each other - an enduring, if not endearing, hallmark of the Gaelic people. Between battles, they continued to live on their Isle of Destiny and to give temporary allegiance to their High King at Tara.
(Map showing Tara, Ulster, Scotia, Iona, Alba, Argyll, Dal Riada, The Dalriada, Loch Etive, Glen Noe, Ben Cruachan)
The Celtic Isles c. 33 A.D.
Ulster, the northeast corner of Scotia, was only a short distance across the sea from the west coast of Alba so there was a natural interchange between the islands. Around the time of Christ,[9] the Scoti High King, Conor (Conchobar) MacNessa unintentionally started the first known Scoti colony in Alba as described in Deirdre of the Sorrows, one of the three Sorrows of Irish legend.[10] This legend is important in MacIntyre history because it refers Glen Noe, Loch Etive, and Ben Cruachan, the ancestral home of the MacIntyre Chiefs.
Two hundred years later, in the third century, High King Carbris Riada established a significant Scoti colony on the west coast of Alba. He called it “The Dalriada” after his Kingdom of Dal Riada in Ulster. The Dalriada was located in the area we now call Argyll, meaning “of the Gaels” or “coast of the Gaels.” This enclave of Scoti (Scots) had to be continuously defended against the Picts. About every 100 years, the colony was strengthened and enlarged by kings of Ulster, including King Eric who assigned the task to his three sons -- Lorne, Angus and Fergus Mor. Lorne ruled the part of Argyll around Loch Etive and it is still referred to as Lorn. The Dalriada was further strengthened in the latter-half of the sixth century by the mission of St. Columba, who converted the Picts to the Celtic form of Christianity. This change in religion, removed a major difference between the Scots and Picts. In 576, the colony formally claimed independence from Scotia and became known as Scotia Minor, to distinguish it from Scotia Major.[11] In recognition of their independence, they brought the coronation Stone of Destiny to the island of Iona and later to their capitol, Dunstaffnage, at the entrance to Loch Etive.[12]
Scotia Minor kept increasing its territory until the middle of the ninth century, when Kenneth MacAlpin united the Picts and the Scots to become the first King of Scotland.[13] In keeping with this change, Scotia Minor became Scotia and was eventually called Scotland, while Scotia Major reverted to being called Erin or Eire, the names before the Scoti Gaels arrived in Ireland.
This has been a brief, albeit complicated, recounting of the origin of the Scots and Scotland. It demonstrates the close connection between Scotland and Ireland resulting from their common Celtic-Gaelic-Scoti ancestry that involved centuries of trade, colonization, communication, religious missionaries, and intermarriage. Although most of these connections are not described in written records, they are manifest in the commonality of their Gaelic language, family names, art, literature, music, and customs. The cultural heritage of the modern Scots does not end here but its most enduring and distinctive roots are from the Gaelic Celts.
The Influence of other Bloodlines and Cultures. The Norse and the English were the last two important bloodlines and cultures to influence the Gaelic world. Around 800 A.D., the Scandinavian kingdoms of the far north began to attack and even settle parts of Scotland, England, and Ireland. The Vikings, as they were called, started their expansion in the northern islands of Scotland. They hop scotched to the northern mainland, then to the Western Isles (Inner and Outer Hebrides), and south to the Isle of Man, and over to Ireland. Over the next 500 years, they went as far south as Sicily, east to Kiev, and west to Newfoundland (Vineland). Although often ruthless in their brutality toward those they conquered, they were not alone in this approach. Contrary to this stereotype, the Vikings often settled down and intermarried with the local population. For example, they established the city of Dublin, the Kingdom of Sicily, and a large Duchy in France called Normandy (Land of the North Men).
The Vikings did not spare Argyll and the western islands of Scotland. There were raids followed by times of accommodation, when tribute was paid and strategic marriages were arranged. The founders of most of the Highland Scottish clans, including the MacIntyres, had Norse blood in their veins. Highland clans, like the Andersons, were primarily Norse.
The Norwegian Kingdom didn’t relinquish its last Scottish possession until 1266 A.D. Given the 400 years they were overlords of northern and western Scotland, the remnants of the Norse influence is very small. They left many place names and family names but had relatively little cultural influence. Many of the Norse men married Scoti women and never returned to their homeland. This allowed the mothers to speak Gaelic and to pass on the legends that embodied the Scoti-Gaelic heritage.
The final cultural and political influence came from England where wave upon wave of political refugees - Britons, Angles, Danes, Saxons, and Normans - came over Hadrian’s Wall and resettled in the Scottish Lowlands. It was from these refugees that the Gaelic-Scoti political system met its match and was eventually overcome.
Scottish Surnames. Shakespeare has Juliet muse, “What’s in a name?” Alas, Romeo and Juliet lost their lives because one was a Montague and the other, a Capulet! In a like manner, many a Scot lived or died, prospered or declined because of their clan name.
In the Gaelic culture, last names were just that, the last name in a list of names and the last name changed, depending on where one stopped reciting the list. The Scottish bards and seanachies spent most of their lives memorizing and reciting the lineage and heroic deeds of their patrons. Alexander (Alister) James MacIntyre of Inveraray related how nine generations before, his grandfather Alister had a common ancestor with Duncan Ban MacIntyre, the famous Gaelic bard. In the early 1800s, when these two gentlemen met on the main street of Inveraray, Duncan Ban would greet Alister’s grandfather as follows: “Failte Alister, Mac Alister, Mac Alister, Mac Alister, Mac Alister, Mac Alister, Mac Iain, Mac Hamish, Mac Callum, Mac Callum Mhor.” The recitation of names not only kept the names alive, but more importantly, the associated stories and legends.
Mac means “son of” or “descendant of.”[14] Thus, if you were Ian, son of Fergus, your name was Ian Mac Fergus. If Ian Mac Fergus had a son called Donald, his name would be Donald Mac Ian. If there were another person in the village with the same name, as well there might, these two individuals would be distinguished by adding the grandfather’s name e.g., Donald Mac Ian Mac Fergus. The names from each generation would have to be recited until there was no confusion with someone else, and to show pride in their origin. Nevertheless, in a normal conversation, nicknames were used just as they are today, emphasizing some personal characteristic, e.g., Donald the Fair (Ban). Within a family, a second name was often used to indicate the position of a son within the family asOg (younger or first son) and Faich (second son). If your father was the town’s only shipwright, you might be known as Donald, son of the wright. Nicknames were not passed on to the next generation unless that individual started a new clan and his nickname became the new clan’s name. If the famous ancestor’s name was Donald, then your surname would be MacDonald “descendant of Donald.” If, in honor of a heroic act, you started a new clan and your nickname was Bheathain or “lively one”, then your descendants would be Mac-ic-Bheathain, pronounced MacBain or MacBean, “descendants of the lively one.”
Clan System. The clan system is based on blood relations, usually led by a patriarch. All old-world cultures used this system, which had both social and political functions. Clans are as old as the concepts of family, ancestor, and leader. Even the word “chief” sounds like, and has the same meaning as, “sheik” from far off Arabia. This system is associated with Scots and Scotland because Scottish clans endured into the modern era when it was surrounded by newer systems, especially the feudal system. For similar reasons, the clan system has been both romanticized and vilified. The Scots fine-tuned this system and it sustained them through the “best and worst of times” as they were dispersed to the four corners of the earth. The clan system continues to bring Scots together at Highland gatherings, a rare demonstration of national and cultural solidarity.
Clans,Branches, and Septs. Over the centuries, Scottish clans emerged and disappeared. New clans were formed to honor an individual for a heroic act or to acknowledge an individual’s leadership or strength. As a clan prospered, the lack of space or a problem of succession resulted in groups going their separate ways. If the new group came from the male line of the chief and claimed a new name, it was a new clan. If there were further subdivisions and it retained its clan name, it was called a cadet or branch of the clan.
If the group was led by someone other than the male heir of the chief or was by a daughter of the chief, they were referred to as a sept. The term is also used to describe the relationship between a weak clan seeking protection from a more powerful clan, or a clan forced to submit but allowed to keep their name. A sept could also be formed when an individual clansman attached himself to another clan as their piper or bard.
Most recently, the term ‘sept’ has been applied to surnames that might be connected with a clan. This became popular when people with Scottish ancestry wanted to know their Clan name, because their name was included in the list of tartans. Their name wasn’t listed because their clan had been eliminated or because their Gaelic surname was Anglicized when they immigrated. For example, MacDonald might have been changed to Donaldson, which is why Donaldson is listed as a sept of Clan Donald. It is for this reason that in this edition, Wrightson has been added to the list of MacIntyre septs.
Regardless of how a sept is formed, it is not part of the heraldic system. Of course, there were clans who were decisively defeated in battle and lost everything -- their lives, land, and even their clan name.[15]
The Chief and his Clansmen. Among his clansmen, the chief was considered the first among equals. The land belonged to the clan and those who lived on the clan’s land were usually related in some way. Although the chief administered justice, he did not make the laws. Special individuals called brehons helped to develop and passed down the laws. Although this system eventually disappeared, to this day Scottish and English laws differ in important ways.[16]
The clan name indicated a personal relationship between the clansman and his chief through a common descent from the first chief. This relationship was also expressed by symbols that were worn on their bonnet, such as the badge (plant)[17] and the crest badge.[18]
Thus, the clan system was a large extended family that ensured a degree of certainty and safety to clansmen in times when both were far from guaranteed. This concept of family even extends to acknowledgment of a close relationship and duty among independent clans who had a common ancestor, as illustrated by the MacIntyres, MacDonalds, and MacDougalls.
Selection of the Chief. In determining who would succeed a chief, the Celtic tradition used a method called tanistry in which the chief named his successor (tanist).[19] While in later times this was often his eldest son, in earlier times it was usually his brother. It could also be a stronger but younger son. If the chief died without naming a tanist or without a male issue, then any male in the chief’s family who had the same great-grandfather could be selected to be chief. This took place at a derbhfine (council meeting) of those eligible to be the chief.[20], [21]
The chief was central to the clan’s survival. Inheritance of property by the chief’s son was not an issue, since the territory belonged to the clan. Once the feudal system took hold in Scotland, the chief owned the land, which his first son inherited. If the main line was without issue then the senior cadet became chief and if there were no cadet, the clan became extinct.
The King and the Chiefs. Just as the chief was the first among equals within his clan, the Gaelic king was only the first among his peers, who were the clan chiefs.[22] The clans retained their own lands and administered their own justice. Until the time of Robert the Bruce, the Scottish kings had very little legal authority.[23]This is one reason why the Scottish kings had difficulty in bringing the clans together for any length of time to oppose their enemies. The interests of the individual clan were always more important than the king or nation. When the English fought the Scots, the Scots usually won the first battle but lost the war. Even when it appeared that the clans were united, there were clans who abstained from fighting, and sometimes fought on the other side. Conversely, the English were ruled by an absolute feudal king who the barons had to support, or else. The best alternative was exile but the punishment was often the Tower of London or the chopping block.