Loading
Loading

Clan MacDougall

BUAIDH NO BAS


Clan MacDougall are a Highland clan, taking their name from Dougall, son of the warlord Somerled.

After his father's death Dougall held a considerable amount of land in Argyll on the Scottish west coast. This influence in Argyll brought the MacDougalls into conflict with their neighbouring clans, most notably the Campbells. The MacDougalls also entered into a blood feud with clan Bruce after the nephew of the 4th chief was stabbed to death by Robert the Bruce in 1306.

The MacDougall clan motto is "Buaidh no bàs" (Victory or Death) and the clan crest is an armoured arm holding a cross crosslet fitchée.

Scottish History

of Clan MacDougall


The dark strangers

The MacDougalls are one of the oldest Highland clans, dating back to 1164, when Dougall, eldest son of Somerled, King of the Hebrides and Regulus of Argyll, inherited the central portion of his father’s kingdom. He was given the islands of Mull, Jura, Tiree, Coll, Kerrara and parts of Argyll and Lorne, at a time when the Western Isles were part of Norway and the mainland was ruled by the King of the Scots.

Somerled, who led an uprising against the Norsemen in the mid-twelfth century, knowing that he could not conquer the Viking fleet, proposed to Ragnhilda, the daughter of the Norwegian King, Olaf the Red. At first Olaf refused permission, wanting a more suitable suitor for his daughter but Somerled would not take no for an answer. He ordered his shipwright to swim to Olaf’s galley, which was moored at Ardnamurchan Point and bore holes in the hull.

Carefully positioned near Olaf’s galley, Somerled refused to help as the boat began to sink unless Olaf agreed to the marriage. The ruse worked and the couple went on to have two sons, Dougall and Reginald. Dougall went on to found the MacDougall Clan, while Reginald was the founder of Clan Donald.

The MacDougalls were vassals of the Norwegian Kings and the name derives from the words ‘mac’ which means ‘son of’ and the gaelic ‘dubh gall’ which means ‘dark stranger’ and may have been used to distinguish the darker Danes from the fair-haired Norwegians.

The King of Norway acknowledged Dougall’s royal descent, and Dougall styled himself ‘King of the South Isles and Lord of Lorne.’ Dougall’s sons accompanied King Haakon of Norway when he attacked the island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, following which one of the sons, Duncan, was appointed by Haakon to govern all the islands from the Isle of Man to Lewis.

Duncan, and his son Ewan, built many castles to defend their extensive dominions, including Dunstaffnage, Dunollie and Duntrune on the mainland and Aros, Cairnburgh, Dunchonnel and Coefinn on the islands.

Ewan, the third chief of the clan, managed to maintain his island holdings from the king of Norway and his mainland titles from the king of Scots, but he found it increasingly hard to remain loyal to both, and in 1263 he was forced to choose allegiance when King Haakon of Norway arrived at Oban with a fleet of more than 200 longships for a planned invasion of the west coast of Scotland.

Ewan declined to join the invasion and because of his blood ties, Haakon left in peace. However Ewan could see that neutrality would ultimately lead to disaster so he decided to attack part of the Norse fleet near Mull.

Haakon and his Viking army were finally defeated at the Battle of Largs and the Western Isles were ceded to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266.

Bitter enemiesh1>

The MacDougall clan was now at the peak of its power, controlling the entire west coast of Scotland with their huge fleet of galleys, but their Lordship of the Lorne was ambitiously challenged at the end of the thirteenth century by the small clan Duibhne, or Diamid, led by Cailean Mor (Big Colin).

As Cailean Mor gradually forced the MacDougall’s boundaries further west, the son of the MacDougall chief, Eion Bachach (Lame John) led the clan, dressed in raven-winged helmets, chainmail and Viking short swords, to war against the Duibhnes.

However MacDougall of Rarey had a bad omen about the impending clash, when he claimed his charm leapt from his sporran and refused to go into battle, leaving the rest of the clan to carry on alone.

When the depleted MacDougalls finally met Cailean Mor, a bloody clash ensued with tremendous losses on both sides, so that the nearby burn, Ath Dearg (the red ford), turned red with blood. For a time it looked as though the outnumbered MacDougalls would be beaten. However, Cailean Mor was fatally wounded by a MacDougall archer. His followers carried his body away and the battle was over.

The marriage of the fourth chief, Sir Alexander MacDougall, spelled disaster for the clan, as his wife was the sister of John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, whose son, the Red Comyn, was stabbed to death by Robert the Bruce in the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries in May 1306.

This started a bitter feud between the Bruce and MacDougall families, and although both sides had supported Sir William Wallace and the cause for Scottish independence, they became bitter enemies.

Following his hurried coronation at Scone, Robert the Bruce was forced by the English to retreat to Argyll, where he hoped to meet his Campbell allies. However the MacDougalls surprised the King at Dalrigh, near Tyndrum.

Bruce is said to have escaped only by discarding his cloak on which was found a magnificent example of Celtic jewellery. This later became known as the ‘brooch of Lorne’, one of the clan’s greatest treasures, which remains in possession of the MacDougalls to this day.

It is believed that John of Lorne came close to slaying or capturing the King on a number of occasions. One particularly narrow escape by Robert the Bruce came when John of Lorne pursued Bruce with a bloodhound. Bruce ordered his forces to split again and again but each time the hound followed the party which included the King, until finally, left alone with his foster brother, Bruce was able to throw the hound off his scent by wading down a river.

Two years later when Bruce had firmly established himself on the throne of Scotland, he took his revenge on the MacDougalls when he led 3,000 battle-hardened veterans into Argyll against them.

John of Lorne, fifth chief of the clan and son of Alexander, set an ambush for the king’s army at the narrow Pass of Brander, situated between Ben Cruachan and Loch Awe.

Bruce turned the tables on his ambushers by sending a party to ascend the mountain to threaten the MacDougalls from behind while Bruce attacked in front. Despite being outnumbered the MacDougalls held out for some time. However, faced with attack from both directions, they eventually chose to flee.

The MacDougalls were unable to escape the mountain gorge and were slaughtered without mercy by Bruce’s men at the Bridge of Awe at a spot still marked by their funeral cairns. Bruce went on to take Argyleshire and the castle of Dunstaffnage, whilst John of Lorne fled to England.

The king formally forfeited the MacDougall lands, much of which passed to the Campbells in recognition of their loyalty.

Read more

Family History Mini Book


We hope you enjoyed reading this excerpt from this mini book on the Scottish history of the MacDougall family.

You can buy the full book for only
$5.08

112 Clan MacDougall

Tartan Products

The Crests

of Clan MacDougall

Clan MacDougall
Clan MacDougall
Clan MacDougall
Clan MacDougall

69 Clan MacDougall

Crest Products

Spellings

of MacDougall

MacDougal

179 Clan MacDougall

Products