|
p. 22 with the Kings of Aileach - and the claimed inter-relationship
between the Scottish families themselves has been the subject of
surprisingly little investigation. Two recently published books, Castle
in the Sea by R.L. MacNeil, and The Highland Clans by Sir
Iain Moncreiffe, have made the pedigree once more familiar, but while
both MacNeil and Sir Iain relate and appear to accept the pedigree,
neither examines it critically to establish its authenticity or to rebut
the arguments put forward against it in the past - arguments which have
generally been accepted by historians (MacNeil, 1964; Moncreiffe 1967).6
It is proposed in this article to look first at the
traditional pedigree, then to examine the main argument put forward
against accepting it, and finally to consider various factors which tend
to support the pedigree's authenticity. In the interess of clarity
the families referred to in the body of the text are restricted to the
MacSweens, the Lamonts, the MacLachlans and the shadowy MacGilchrists,
but short notes on the MacNeills, the MacEwans, the MacSorleys of
Monydrain and the Argyllshire MacLeays are added by way of
Appendix. A map and a genealogical chart are also included
(figs. 1 and 2, pp. 30 and 33).
The traditional pedigrees of the Highland clans are perhaps
best known from the invaluable Appendix attached to the third volume of
Skene's Celtic Scotland (Skene, 1886-90, III; 458-90). They
have, on the whole, been viewed by historians and genealogists with
considerable suspicion, if not downright disbelief. Most of the
clans are traced back through many generations to some figure well known
in Irish or Dalriadic history or legend: thus the MacDonalds and
allied clans are derived from Colla Uais, an Irish King who must have
lived about the fourth century A.D., if indeed he is a historical
figure; other clans, such as the MacKenzies, the MacLeans and the
MacNabs, are derived from Ferchar Fada, a historical seventh century
King of Dalriada of the tribe of Loarn, via the mysterious Cormac son of
Airbhertach; while the Cowal and Knapdale families are derived through
Flaithbhertach 'an Trosdain' (Flaherty of the Pilgrim's Staff), King of
Ailech (d. 1036), from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a leading Irish King
of the early fifth century, who stands on the borderline between legend
and history.7 The reliability of the pedigrees has
often been questioned on the grounds that in no case is the number of
generations given adequate to fill the centuries covered. Skene's
own views are still generally accepted: 'The later portion of
these pedigrees, as far back as the eponymous or common ancestor from
which the clan takes its name, are in general tolerably well vouched,
and may be held to be authentic. The older part of the pedigree
will be found to be partly historical and partly mythic. So far as
these links in the genealogic chain connect the clans with each other
within what may be termed the historic period, the pedigree may be
genuine; but the links which connect them with the mythic genealogies of
the elaborate system of early Irish history, when analysed, prove to be
entirely artificial and untrustworthy' (Skene 1886-90, III; 339).
H.M. Chadwick commented on the same lines, 'All (the genealogies) seem
to involve a chronological gap of at least two centuries - generally
much more - before a date, in the tenth, eleventh or twelfth centuries,
at which an apparently trustworthy series of names begins (Chadwick
1949:95).8 However, to dismiss the pedigrees en bloc as
medieval fabrications is far too simple. Fabrications there
certainly were, but that does not prove that all the pedigrees are
false. Gaps in the pedigrees there may be, but that does not prove
that the pedigree concerned may not yet preserve a genuine tradition:
certainly it can be argued of the traditional MacDonald pedigree, though
it is deficient by many generations, that is is accurate in detail as
far back as the beginning of the ninth century A.D. and that beyond that
it incorporates an ancient and by no means improbable tradition of
origin (Sellar 1966). Each pedigree must be examined on its own
merits. In the case of the Cowall and Knapdale pedigrees, as will
be seen, examination suggests that there are, in fact, no generation
gaps at all.
The main sources for the Cowal and Knapdale pedigrees
which have been consulted are the medieval Irish Books of Ballymote and
of Lecan, the fifteenth-century Scottish genealogical manuscript known
as 'MS 1467', the sixteenth-century Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne (The
Book of the MacSweeneys), and the seventeenth-century genealogical
collections of Cu-choigriche O'Clery (d. 1664) and of Duald MacFirbis
(d. 1670).9 These sources are all, with the
possible exception of Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne, well known and
there is no need to enter into their respective merits here Leabhar
Chlainne Suibhne, as Father Walsh informs us in his Preface, is a
traditional account of the history of the family of MacSween or
MacSweeney, written in Ireland, commencing about 1513, for Mary
MacSweeney of Fanad..
As the authorites are in substantial agreement as to the main
pedigree it may be expressed thus, in tabular form, taking as terminal
points Murchadh MacSween of Knapdale and his contemporary and (if the
genealogies are correct) second cousin, Laumon, the eponym of the
Lamonts10:
FLAITHERTACH 'an Trosdain'
|
AODH Athlamhan
|
ANROTHAN
|
AODH Alainn 'an Buirrche'
|
DONNSLEIBHE
________________|_________________
|
|
SUIBHNE
FERCHAR
|
|
MAOL-MUIRE 'an Sparain'
MALCOLM
|
|
MURCHADH
LAUMON
Murchadh (d. 1267) appears as
son of Maol-Muire 'an Sparain' (Malmore of the sporran), grandson of
Suibhne (Sween) and great-grandson of Donnsleibhe (Dunsleve); Laumon,
who flourished c. 1240-post 1290, appears as son of Malcolm and grandson
of Ferchar, another son of Donnsleibhe.11 According
ot the pedigree Donnsleibhe was the son of Aodh Alainn sometimes called
'Buirrche'. 12 Aodh Alainn was the son of
Anrothan, and Anrothan was the so of Aodh Athlamhan.13 With
Aodh Athlamhan we reach firm ground again as his existence is
sufficiently vouched for in independent and contemporary Irish
sources. Aodh was King of Ailech, in succession to his father
Flaithbhertach and was killed in 1033 A.D. (AU 1887-1901).
Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne alone among the
genealogical sources relates the circumstances in which these scions of
the house of Aileach came to Scotland. It tells how Anrothan, son
of Aodh Athlamhan, quarrelled with his elder brother Domhnall 'an t-Ogdhamh'
(Donald the Young Ox), the ancestor of the later family of O'Neill, and
came to Scotland where he settled and married the daughter of an unnamed
King of Scots: 'Then Anradhan himself in anger and haughtiness
proceeded with a troop in his company to the place where his ships and
galleys were. We shall not here speak of the extent of their
wanderings on the seas, for it is more appropriate to aim at brevity of
narration. In a word, they rested not till they reached the
beautiful bright country of Scotland, more than half of which they
brought by violence under their sway, and there they increased in
strength, and power, and great expansiveness. And when they had
spent some time in Scotland they enjoyed great prosperity, and wealth,
and wide conquest in all the country. They made peace and marriage
alliance with the King of Scotland then in this way, namely, the
daughter of the King was given in marriage to Anradhan, and she bore him
children, and descended from these two are the whole of Clan Suibhne
from that time to now. That is the first conquest Clann Suibhne
ever made in Scotland (Walsh 1920; ¶ 1, 2).14 Anrothan,
then, is by tradition the founder of the families in Scotland.
The genealogy of the Kings of Ailech is well known and well
authenticated. Aodh's father, Flaithbhertach 'an Trosdain', gave
up his throne in 1030 to make a pilgrimage to Rome and thus acquired his
nickname 'of the Pilgrim's staff'. He died in 1036, surviving his
son Aodh by three years (AU 1887-1901). Flaithbhertach's
grandfather was Domhnall (Donald) 'of Armagh', termed by the Annals of
Ulster 'High King of Ireland.'. Domhnall, who died in 980, is
sometimes regarded as the first 'O'Neill', the "Niall' in question
being his grandfather Niall 'Glundubh' (Black Knee), also termed 'High
King of Ireland', who was killed in 919 fighting the Vikings of Dublin
(AU 1887-1901). Niall's descent in turn can be traced through many
generations of Irish Kings and princes such as Niall 'Frossach' (of the
Showers), who died in Iona in 778, and Muirchertach mac Erca, who
died about 533, to Eoghan (Ewen), one of the many sons of Niall of the
Nine Hostages.15
Niall of the Nine Hostages is a figure of the greatest
interest to the genealogist in that he stands as the semi-historical
founder of one of the only two families or groups of families in
Europe that can be traced back indisputably in the male line from the
present day through Medieval times beyond the Dark Ages to the fifth or
fourth Century A.D.16 No generation has passed since Niall's day in which
his descendants have not played a prominent part in Irish or European
affairs. One of his many sons, Conall Gulban, from whom comes the
place-name 'Tyrconnel', was the ancestor of St Columba, St Columbanus, St
Adomnan and the later family of O'Donnell, while from another of his sons,
Eoghan, who gave his name to 'Tyrone' ('Tir Eoghain'), descends, as has
been seen, the family of O'Neill. Confusion can arise between this surname
'O'Neill' (otherwise 'Ua Neill') and the names 'Ui Neill' and 'MacNeill'.
As a body, the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages are often
referred to by Annalists and historians as the 'Ui Neill', taking their
name from him: included among the northern Ui Neill are the O'Donnell
chieftains and the O'Neill and MacLochlainn Kings of Ailech, while the
southern Ui Neill includes the O'Melaghlin Kings of Meath. The 'O'Neills'
are a branch of the northern Ui Neill and take their name from the Niall 'Glundubh'
who was killed in 919. The 'MacNeills' on the other hand, although
claiming descent from both Niall 'Glundubh' and Niall of the Nine
Hostages, take their name from a later and Scottish Niall.17
The main argument which has been advanced against the
authenticity of the Cowal and Knapdale pedigree is that it is too short by
several generations and that consequently it is likely to be a medieval
fabrication. This argument, first put forward by Skene, rests on the
identification of Aodh Alainn of the pedigree, father of Donnsleibhe and
great grandson of Flaithbhertach, with an Irish king, Hugh the Splendid
said to have died in 1047 (Skene 1886-90, 111: 340-1). As some of Aodh
Alainn's great grandsons can be shown to have been living in the
mid-thirteenth century this identification, if correct, clearly tends to
discredit the pedigree. Most later writers have followed Skene, and some
add the additional information that Hugh came from 'Boirrche' in the
Mourne Mountains, thus trying to explain the curious epithet 'Buirrche' it
the pedigree.18 The identification and the argument based on it
have never been directly refuted although it is, of course, possible to
accept the identification and yet tacitly to reject the argument that the
pedigree is absolutely untrustworthy.19
However, the identification is palpably false and cannot
withstand scrutiny. In the first place, neither Skene nor any subsequent
writer gives authority for the statement that a Hugh the Splendid of
Boirrche in the Mourne Mountains died in 1047. Secondly, it is not at all
obvious why a prince of the northern Ui Neill should be associated with
Mourne Mountains as this area was never Ui Neill territory and in the
eleventh century formed part of the ancient Kingdom of Ulidia. Third, it
would appear that the genealogies style Aodh Alainn 'the Buirrche' rather
than 'of Boirrche'-a nickname, and not a territorial designation. That
this is so, is confirmed by a poem in praise of MaolMuire 'an Sparin',
father of Murchadh MacSween, quoted in Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne (Walsh
1920: § 5). Here Maol-Muire is referred to as 'a hi barrbuidhe Buirrchi',
that is, 'yellow-haired descendant of Buirrche', 'Buirrche' being used as
a name or a nickname, but clearly not as a place name. What 'Buirrche'
means is not so clear, but it may represent the Gaelic word 'Boirche'
meaning 'Buffalo' (MacBain 1911:43). If this is so, then Aodh was
presumably a man of unusual size or strength, and it is tempting (and not
entirely facetious) to compare his nickname with that of his uncle
Domhnall 'an t-Ogdhamh' - 'the Young Ox' (supra p. -24). The fourth and
quite conclusive argument against the identification of Aodh Alainn with a
Hugh the Splendid who died in 1047 lies in a consideration of the
chronology involved. It is asserted that Aodh died in 1047. Yet it is
known that Aodh's grandfather, Aodh Athlamhan, died in 1033, and his great
grandfather Flaithbhertach in 1036 (supra p. 24). That a man should die,
leaving children, only eleven years after his great grandfather is, of
course, not impossible, although it is certainly unlikely. But the matter
need not rest there. As it happens, Flaithbhertach was a posthumous child
and so his birth was recorded as an event of some interest and importance.
According to the Annals of Ulster, he was born in 977 A.D. some months
after his father Muirchertach had been killed in battle (AU 1887-1901). It
follows that Flaithbhertach was about 59 years old when he died in 1036,
and, had he survived until 1047, the year in which his great grandson is
said to have died leaving issue, he would have been about seventy. Clearly
then, the identification of the Aodh Alainn of the pedigree with a 'Hugh
the Splendid' who died in 1047 is quite untenable.
The next question to be considered is whether a re-examinatiori
of the pedigree discloses any generation gap at all. In fact, it does not.
Although surviving information is far from complete it is possible to
arrive at a working approximation in terms of generations per century and
years per generation. Flaithbhertach was born in 977 and his son Aodh died
in 1033. From this it seems reasonable to assume that Aodh's son Anrothan,
must have been born about 1030. Murchadh MacSween and Laumon are placed
five generations below Anrothan in the pedigree. Their births may be
tentatively placed in the decade 1220 to 1230: Laumon, with his uncle
Duncan, granted a Charter recorded in the Register of the Monastery of
Paisley circa 1235, while Murchadh, as has been seen, was clearly an
influential West Highland magnate by the 1260s (Paisley Registrum 1832:
132).20 It is unlikely that Murchadh and Laumon were born much
after 1230, although quite possible that they were born before 1220.
Taking the second date gives five generations in the space Of 200 years,
an average of 40 years per generation, while the first date provides an
average of 38 years per generation. Both these averages, although longer
than the traditional 30 years, are quite acceptable and in no way
extraordinary in a Gaelic genealogy: in fact averages of 35 to 40 years
per generation occur so frequently in Irish and Highland genealogies that
one is almost tempted to regard them as the norm.21 The
pedigree of the Cowal and Knapdale clans, then, cannot be faulted for
omitting any generations and the main argument which has been deployed
against its authenticity is quite without foundation.
Another argument which could be urged against the pedigree is
the fact that Irish Annals completely fail to mention Anrothan, Aodh
Alainn and Donnsleibhe although they refer several times to Flaithbhertach
and Aodh Athlamhan. There is, however, an explanation for this silence.
After the death of Aodh Athlamhan the main power in Ailech slipped from
the hands of the O'Neill descendants of Flaithbhertach to other, although
related families, especially the MacLochlainns, and it was not for over
one hundred years that the O'Neills re-established their hegemony (Walsh
1920: xv, xvi). The result of this decline in O'Neill power is that
although the later O'Neills trace their descent from Domhnall 'an
tOgdhamh' (brother of Anrothan) through his son Flaithbhertach and his
grandson Conchobhar, contemporary Irish sources fail to mention Domhnall,
Flaithbhertach and Conchobhar just as they fail to mention Anrothan, Aodh
Alainn and Donnsleibhe. 'It is impossible,' concludes Father Walsh, to
determine from reliable sources the names of Aodh's sons' (Aodh Athlamhan)
(Walsh 1920: xii).22 The course of O'Neill fortunes in Ireland,
then, not only provides an explanation for the silence of the Annals, but
also suggests why a grandson of Flaithbhertach, frustrated in his
ambitions at home, might have looked abroad to the neighbouring kingdom of
Scotland to seek his fortune.
Before looking in general, however, at the credibility of the
genealogical tradition preserved by the pedigree, it is worth considering
what can be inferred more particularly from sources other than the
pedigree proper about the existence and historicity of the generations
between Aodh Athlamhan in the eleventh century and Murchadh MacSween and
Laumon in the thirteenth. Although no contemporary references to Suibhne
and Ferchar, the grandfathers of Murchadh and Laumon respectively,
survive, the patronymic designations applied to their sons and grandsons
in such sources as the Register of the Monastery of Paisley and the Record
Edition of the Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland can leave no doubt as
to their existence. Laumon, for instance, appears in 1292 as 'Lochman mac
Malcolm Mac Erewer'-that is 'Laumon, son of Malcolm, son of Ferchar'.
Dugald, son of Suibhne, grants or witnesses charters as 'filius Syfyn', 'filius
Sewen', and 'filius; Syvin', while his nephew Murchadh witnesses the
second of these as 'filius Malcmur'(APS 1814-75:447; Paisley Registrum
1832: 120-2,132, 134, 137-8.)
Of Ferchar no more is known, but some memory of Suibhne (who
is, of course, the eponym of 'Mac Sween') was preserved by later
generations. Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne attributes the building of Castle
Sween in Knapdale to him-and there is no reason to doubt this - while an
old account of the Campbells says that Iver, ancestor of the MacIver
Campbells, was 'begotten on the daughter of a great man called Swineruo he
was owner of Castle Swine in Knapdaill and was Thane of Knapdaill and
Glassrie' (Macphail 1916a: 82). 'Swineruo' is 'Suibbne Ruadh' or 'Sween
the Red'. According to the genealogies Suibhne and Ferchar were brothers,
and it is interesting to note, tending to confirm this relationship, that
Dugall, son of Suibhne, witnesses a charter of Laumon, grandson of Ferchar.
Another witness to this charter is Gilpatrick son of Gilchrist, the
ancestor of the MacLachlans (Paisley Registrum 1832: 132-3). If one
follows O'Clery, Gilchrist was another brother of Suibhne and Ferchar,
while the less reliable MS 1467 makes him their uncle (O'Clery 1951:306,
307; MS 1467 fo. I va).23
If Suibhne and Ferchar were in fact brothers and
if this is the point at which the MacLachlan line branches off from the
MacSweens and the Lamonts, it seems unlikely that the name of the father
of Suibhne and Ferchar, and probably of Gilchrist as well, that is 'Donnsleibhe',
should not have been accurately preserved. A further argument for
Donnsleibhe's existence is the recurrence of the name later in the family:
'Dunslene fratri Murchardi' (brother of Murchadh MacSween) witnesses a
charter in 1262, While James MacDunsleve had a grant Of 7 ½
merklands in Kintyre from King Robert Bruce in 1309 (Paisley
Registrum 1832:122; RMS 1882-1914: 1, App. 1, 105). An argument can also
be made out for the historicity of Donnsleibhe's father, Aodh Alainn 'an
Buirrche', partly on the strength of the bare existence of the nickname
but more on account of the poem already referred to. As this poem was
composed in favour of Maol-Muire 'an Sparain', father of Murchadh MacSween,
it presumably dates from the mid-thirteenth century. Therefore, when the
author refers to Maol-Muire as the 'yellow-haired descendant of Buirrche'
he is speaking of what must have been to himself and to his hearers a
matter of common knowledge, the 'Buirrche' in question being the great
grandfather of his hero. Further, a stray pedigree in the O'Clery book,
stray in the sense of being out of position, is termed 'Genelach Meg
Buirrce', that is 'Genealogy of the descendants of Buirrche'. The
genealogy given is, in fact, that of the Lamonts, rendered elsewhere in
O'Clery, but in this case when the pedigree reaches the name 'Buirrche' it
continues 'a quo meg Buirrce' that is 'from whom the descendants of
Buirrche' (O'Clery 1951:588).24 Now, if the term 'descendants
of Buirrche' was used for a time as this genealogy in O'Clery suggests,
then that is an additional reason for accepting the historicity of 'Buirrche',
alias Aodh Alainn. It is possible, therefore, on evidence independent of
the pedigree proper to argue for the authenticity of the pedigree as far
back as Aodh Alainn, who, it will be remembered, stands only two steps
below the well authenticated Irish king Aodh Athlamhan.
From the strictly genealogical point of view then the
traditional account of the origins of the families of Knapdale and Cowal
is quite feasible. The next question which one must ask is whether the
general tradition of the descent of these families, so prominent in
thirteenth century Scotland, from an eleventh-century Irish prince, a
prince who, moreover, if Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne is to be
believed, married a Scottish princess, is in tune with other historical
evidence. In answering this, it seems relevant to review the evidence for
contact between Gaelic Scotland and Gaelic Ireland in the eleventh to the
thirteenth centuries, and to consider the status enjoyed by the Cowal and
Knapdale families in the Gaelic society of their day.
Taking first the question of contact between Scotland and
Ireland, it is in general true that from the time of the earliest records
until the wars of Montrose in the seventeenth-century Gaelic Scotland and
Gaelic Ireland, sharing common traditions and a common language, were in
constant cultural and political contact. A few disjointed references taken
chronologically from the scanty annals of the time show that the eleventh
and twelfth centuries were in no way exceptional. Men from Scotland and
the Hebrides took part on both sides in the famous battle of Clontarf
fought in Ireland in 1014 between Brian Boramha on the one hand and King
Sihtric of Dublin and Earl Sigurd of Orkney on the other; on Sihtric's
side those slain included Olafson of Lagman, almost certainly a member of
the ruling family of Man and the Isles, while among those who fell with
Brian was Donald, son of Eimhin, son of Cainnech, Mormaer of Mar. The King
of Scots at this time was Malcolm son of Kenneth (d. 1034) whose Irish
connections are clear from St Berchan's Prophecy in which he is termed the
'son of a woman of Leinster', and 'son of the cow that-grazes upon the
countryside of the Liffey'. In 1072 the death is recorded of Diarmait mac
Mael-na-mBo 'King of Leinster, Dublin and the Hebrides'. Early in the
twelfth century, Donald son of Tadg of the royal house of Munster
controlled the Hebrides from, about 1111 to 1115. Later, about 1142, 'Ottar,
son of the son of Ottar, of the people of the Hebrides' was chosen by the
Norse of Dublin as their King.25 In 1154 'The Cinel Eoghan and
Muirceartach son of Niall their ruler sent persons over sea to hire [and
who did hire] the fleets of the Gall-Gaeidhil of Arran, of Kintyre, of Man
and the borders of Alba in general, over which MacScelling was in
command'. The sequel is soon told: 'the foreign host was defeated and
slaughtered -they left their ships behind and the teeth of MacScelling
were knocked out' (AFM 1851), 26 Ten years later, in 1164,
Somerled, King of the Isles and Regulus of Argyll, tried unsuccessfully to
persuade a leading Irish churchman of the day, Flaithbhertach 0 Brolchan,
to become Abbot of Iona .25 If more adequate records survived,
these instances of contact between Scotland and Ireland in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries could doubtless be multiplied ten-fold, but enough
remains to show that there is nothing improbable about a tradition which
records the settlement in Scotland of an eleventh-century Irish prince.
An examination of the status of the Cowal and Knapdale
families in the thirteenth century likewise discloses nothing improbable
in the traditional account - rather, it adds credence to it. The
importance of the families is evident from the extent of their lands
alone. The Lamont descendants of Ferchar, son of Donnsleibhe, controlled
much of Cowal and also held land on the opposite shore of Loch Fyne -
according to clan tradition they controlled more territory before the Wars
of Independence than they ever did afterwards, when their possessions can
be more definitely charted (McKechnie 1938: 50-1). The descendants of
Gilchrist, son (or perhaps brother) of Donnsleibhe, also controlled much
territory: one of them, Lachlan Mor, gave his name to Castle Lachlan and
Strathlachlan and founded the family of MacLachlan; Gillespie son of
Gilchrist was granted a charter by Alexander II in 1240, and he and his
brother Eoghan (Ewen) had large estates in Glassary, including the lands
of Fincharn; a 'Dovenaldus Macgilchriste', perhaps a brother of Gillespie
and Eoghan, appears about 1250 as Lord of Tarbert in Kintyre .27
The descendants of Suibhne, son of Donnsleibhe, were established in
Knapdale, where, as has been seen, Suibhne probably built and gave his
name to the oldest surviving stone castle in Scotland. Suibhne's son
Dugald seems to have lived at Skipness Castle in Kintyre.28 The
disposition of these lands among the various families is such that one
would be inclined to postulate a common ancestor for them even if one did
not know that one was claimed. It may also be not without significance
that these lands are situated at the heart of ancient Dalriada from which
Kenneth mac Alpin had emerged only two centuries before Anrothan must have
lived, a fact which gives some credence to the tradition of a royal
marriage alliance (supra P. 24).
|
| NOTES
1. See also Watson 1937: 257-59; for the dating of Castle Sween see
Cruden 1960: 22 et passim.
2. See Anderson 1922: II, 617, 618, 635; AU I887-1901 AFM 1851;
and Duncan and Brown 1956-7. Duncan and Brown (1956-7: 203 and chart)
are mistaken in taking Murchadh for a brother of Angus Mor MacDonald of
Islay.
3. For their careers see Barrow 1965.
4. For the family of.MacSweeney Galloglass see, inter alia, Hayes-McCoy
1937 and McKerral 1951.
5. The genealogical source material is listed below, p. 23.
6. It is only fair to add that both these books are avowedly popular
rather than academic.
7. Skene does not give a MacNeill or a MacSween pedigree.
8. Later, however, Chadwick expressly excepts the Ailech pedigrees from
some of his strictures
(Chadwick 1949: 96, n. 2).
9. The full references for these sources are as follows: The Book of
Ballymotc, facsimile edition, ed.
R. Atkinson (Dublin, 1887), 77c: The Book of Lecan, facsimile edition,
ed. K. Mulchrone (Dublin
1937), 56a, b; National Library of Scotland, Adv. MS 72.I.I. ('MS 1467')
fo. I rd. 9, re 20 va 28
and vb I I (the transcription of this manuscript in Coll. de Rebus
Alban. 1847, is quite unreliable); Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne, ed. P.
Walsh Dublin 1920); 'The O'Clery Book of Genealogies', ed. S. Pender,
Analecta Hibernica, xviii (1951), Nos- 306, 307, 336, 493 and 583; and
the 'Book of the Genealogies of Duald MacFirbis' 122-125 as in Walsh
1920: 90.
10. The most significant variants in the pedigrees are that the Book of
Ballyrnote and the Book of Lecan both omit 'Donnsleibhe' while MS 1467
Omits 'Aodh Athlarnhan'. For a more complete pedigree chart see Figure
1.
11. For Laumon's career see McKechnie 1938: 41-55. 1
12. 'Aodh' is sometimes anglicised as 'Hugh'. The name 'Buirrche'
which occurs in some form in all
the sources is discussed below, p. 25.
13. MacNeil (1964) unaccountably renders the name 'Anrothan' as 'Aodh
Aonrachan' or 'Hugh the
Solitary', and Moncreiffe (1967) conjecturally - and on what authority
it is not clear-inserts a
'Niall' between 'Aodh Alainn' and Anrothan'.
14 Walsh himself (1920:xii, xiii) is sceptical about the traditional
origin; Moncreiffe (1967: 87) Postulates a marriage with a daughter of a
'local King of Arg 11' or a 'Sub-King of Cowall'.
15. The whole pedigree is attractively set out in the end paper of
Moncreiffe 1967.
16. See Wagner 1960: 16-29; the other group of families descend from
the fifth century British prince Coel Hen.
17. This distinction between 'Ui Neill', 'O'Neill' and 'MacNeill' is
frequently not made clear-as for example in MacNeil 1964.
18. For example see McKechnie 1938: 44-9 and 497-8 and Campbell
1911-12.
19. As I suppose MacNeil (1964) must do, Moncreiffe (1967) carefully
omits all reference to the 1047 identification.
20. Murchadh's great-great-great-grandsons Turlough Caoch and Eoghan
Connachtach were active
c. 1360 (Walsh 1920 xxiv, xxxiv).
21. For examples of well authenticated Gaelic pedigrees showing long
averages, see Sellar 1966:137 n. I. A combination of economic
circumstances, permissive marriage customs, rules of succession which
did not necessarily involve primogeniture and considerable medical skill
doubtless explain these long averages.
22. These Irish 'MacLochlainns' should be distinguished from the
Scottish 'MacLachlans': both families claimed ultimate descent from the
same stock but the eponymous 'Lachlan' in each case is different.
23. O'Clery is the better authority. According to Leabhar Chlainne
Suibhne §3 (Walsh 1920) Donnsleibhe had twelve sons but only Suibhne is
named there.
24. What this genealogy suggests is that the chiefs of the Larnonts,
before adopting that surname, were known as 'MacBuirrche'. Dr and Mrs W.
D. Lamont have pointed out to me that MacKechnie (1938: 47) mentions a
seventeenth-century French patent of nobility which tracts the descent
of one Robert de Lamont back to 'Oneille bark roy d'Irlande'.
25. Anderson 1922 I,. 574, II, 42-3, 143, 204 and 253-4) lists the
various sources.
26. 'MacScelling' is a curious name. I would suggest that he is the
same as 'Gall MacSgillin' of the Book of Clanranald (Cameron 1892-4:
157) and therefore a son of Somerled.
27. See Macphail 1916b and Paisley Registrum 1832: 157 - 'Carta
Donaldi Makgilcriste domini de Tarbard.' Macphail 1916b: 121, n. 2, was
not aware of the original Gilchrist's connection with the
other families of Cowal and Knapdale. The Scrymgeours appear to descend
from Gilchrist in the
female line.
28. Paisley Registrum 1832: 120 - 'Castrum meum de Schepehinche'; and
see above p. 27
29. Skene misread this section both in Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis
and in Celtic Scotland. In Celtic Scotland III, 473 (Skene 1886-90) the
mother of Gilpatrick is made a daughter of Donald son of Eric son of
Kennedy: 'Eric' is a misreading for 'Henry', while it is not clear what
place should be assigned to Donald, whose name is added in the margin .
At least two men named Henry son of Kennedy are known in this period:
one appears as a member of an assize in 1260 and the other is known only
from the pages of Fordun as a supporter of Gilbert of Galloway against
his brother Uhtred. On these early 'Kcnnedys' see Fcrgusson 1958.
30. For the MacNeil of Barra pedigree see MacNeil 1923: 2-3-38 and
1964: 32--61; the Barra Song and the extract from the Scots Magazine Of
1763 quoted by MacNeil show that although the details of the traditional
pedigree have not survived in a pre-twentieth century form the tradition
was one of long standing.
31. Moncreiffe (1967) follows this conjecture. The late Duke of
Argyll, incidentally, was of the opinion, incorrectly, it is believed,
that the Barra MacNeils did not belong to the same stock as the Gigha
MacNeills and that 'Buirrche' was a place-name.
32. On this family, apart from Moncreiffe 1967, see also Campbell
1909-10, Carmichael 1908-9, and Macphail 1934.
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APPENDIX
MacNeills, MacEwens, MacSorleys of Monydrain and
Argyllshire MacLeays
1. MacNeill Although the traditional MacNeill descent is now
perhaps the best known of all the families considered, it is by far the
least well supported by documentary evidence. Indeed the crucial links
in the MacNeill pedigree appear to rest, incredible though it may seem,
on the authority of two crofters living in Barra at the turn of the
century. This pedigree as recorded by R. L. MacNeil traces the descent
of the Barra MacNeils from 'Niall son of Muirceartach, son of Donal, son
of Aodh, son of Niall, son of Aodh Alaind, son of Aodh Aonrachan, son of
Aodh Athlamh, son of Flathartach'. Although the names are clearly
garbled and although MacNeil's account of the early history of his clan
is, to say the least, highly questionable, there can be little doubt
that the Barra MacNeils claimed the same descent as the Cowal and
Knapdale families. No traditional pedigree of the MacNeills of Taynish
and Gigha has survived but it seems more than likely that they descend
from the same parent stem as the Barra MacNeils.30
Against this view it is sometimes argued, following A. MacLean
Sinclair, that the two families of MacNeill are not related and have
separate origins (Sinclair 1906-7; 1901-10). MacLean Sinclair, however,
cannot be relied on in this matter: be gives hardly any authority for
his views, which involve taking a pedigree in MS. 1467 thought by Skene
to be that of the MacLennans for that of the MacNeils of Barra and
tacking the MacNeills of Taynish and Gigha on to the MacLeans. In view
of the Cowal and Knapdale associations the claim of MacNeil of Barra to
be chief of all Clan Neill does not appear to be beyond question and the
date given in Castle in the Sea for the arrival of the first MacNeil
ancestor in Barra c. 1030 A.D.) cannot be accepted. The Clan Neill, in
any case, would appear to have been a junior branch of the descendants
of Aodh Alainn, distinctly overshadowed in the thirteenth century by the
MacSweens, the Lamonts and the descendants of Gilchrist.
2 MacEwens of Otter This clan, whose chief used to
live at Otter on Loch Fyne, claims
descent from Donnsleibhe. The only pedigree of the clan to have survived
is that contained in MS 1467 and this, unfortunately, is virtually
illegible in places (ms 1467: fo. I rd. 9). Niall, D. of Argyll,
suggested that the family were a branch of the MacSweens and descended
from Dugald, son of Suibhne (Campbell 1911-2)31 The pedigree,
however, derives the MacEwens from Eoghan (Ewen), son of Gillespie,
Gillespie being apparently a great grandson (the intervening names being
illegible) of one 'Saibaran', yet another son of Donnsleibhe.
3 MacSorleys of Monydrain The origin of this
family, centred on Monydrain, near Lochgilphead, is fully discussed by
McKechnie (McKcchnie 1938:378-94). Once again Ms 1467 provides the only
known pedigree, deriving the family from Somhairle (Sorley, Somerled),
son of Ferchar, son of Donnsleibhe (MS 1467: fo. I vb II) McKechnie
takes the view that the pedigree is too short and inserts Duncan, son of
Ferchar and Angus his son, both known from the Register of the Monastery
of Paisley, between Ferchar and Somhairle (Paisley Registrum 1832: 132,
137-8). There seems to be no warrant for this.
4 Argyllshire MacLeays No detailed pedigree
exists for this family, originally known
as MacDunsleve, later as MacOnlea or MacLeay, and later still as
Livingstone - David Livingstone's forebears were MacLeays from Mull.
However, there can be little doubt that they are an offshoot of the
MacSweens. Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne mentions that an early MacSween was
known 'as 'MacDuinnshleibhe', while Moncreiffe derives the family from
the 'Dunsleve', who appears in the Register of the Monastery of Paisley
(supra p. 28); as already mentioned, a James mac Dunsleve is recorded in
Kintyre in 1309. These Argyllshire MacLeays should be distinguished from
the MacLeays of the north, in Invemess-shire, Ross and Sutherland, whose
surname may derive - although the matter is not beyond dispute - from an
early member of the famous Beaton family who was called 'the Doctor' or
'Leech' ('an Lighiche') - whence 'MacLeay' - and not from an ancestor
called 'Donnsleibhe'.32 |
