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Clan MacInnes

BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE KING


Clan MacInnes originate from the western Highlands of Scotland.

The MacInnes clan motto is "Ghift Dhe Agus An Righ" (By the grace of God and king) and the clan crest is a bow and arrow.

Scottish History

of Clan MacInnes


The sons of Angus

The Clan MacInnes is one of the oldest clans in Scotland. The name in Gaelic is MacAonghais, (“son of Angus”), and little of its history, up until a short while ago, was known.

Angus literally means “choice one” and has been a popular Gaelic name for centuries. There is no connection, however, between Clan MacInnes and Clan Innes.

In Ireland, the name has become McGuinness, and that family also traces its history back to the same Angus from which Clan MacInnes claims descent.

Some people also believe that The MacInnesses and the MacGillvrays are related, and spring from the same Dalriadic tribe.

The traditional lands of Clan MacInnes are on the Morvern peninsula, on the west coast opposite Mull. Writing in the 17th century, Hugh MacDonald stated that the two main families of Morvern were the MacInnesses and the MacGillvrays, so there may be some truth in the story of this relationship.

Kinlochaline Castle – now a picturesque ruin – was the ancestral home of the Clan MacInnes chiefs. It is situated at the head of Loch Aline on Morvern’s southern coastline.

The MacInnes are Celtic in origin, and spring from those Irish settlers who came across to Scotland in the 5th century to found the kingdom of Dalriada, which roughly equates to modern-day Argyllshire.

The founders of the kingdom were supposed to have been three princes – Fergus Mor, Lorn and Angus, the youngest sons of a king called Erc.

It seems that Erc had set aside an annual sum to help monks spread the newly established Christian religion. When he died, the older brothers decided that it should stop, while the three youngest wanted it to continue.

The older brothers had their way, and so, just before 500 AD Fergus Mor, Lorn and Angus decided to quit Ireland. With their retainers, they settled in Scotland.

Lorn ruled what is now northern Argyllshire, Fergus Mor occupied Kintyre and Knapdale, and Angus occupied the islands of Islay and Jura. Each was, in effect, a king within his own tiny kingdom.

In those days, the eldest son was not the automatic heir to the throne. A system called tanistry was used to choose the king.

The kingdom’s élite voted on who should be heir, though this person had to be of royal blood. So there was possibly an agreement – arrived at through a vote – that the brother who survived longest would inherit all the lands and create a unified kingdom.

Tradition has it that the three brothers were old when they left Ireland, so there may be some truth in this.

In the event, Angus was the first brother to die, followed by Lorn. This left Fergus as supreme ruler of what later became Dalriada. However, he is supposed to have died in 506, so he didn’t enjoy this kingship for very long.

It is said that all three brothers were buried on Iona. If this is true, then the island must have had some significance before Columba set up his monastery there.

Gabran, one of Fergus Mor’s descendants, made Dunadd, on the northern fringes of Knapdale, the capital of the whole kingdom of Dalriada.

However, even though the descendants of Fergus Mor were supreme rulers, the tribes descended from the other brothers still existed. There were eventually four tribes, each with a chief – the Cineal Gabran and the Cineal Comgall (both descended from Fergus), the Cineal Lorn, and the Cineal Angus.

Between them, Gabran and Comgall could muster 800 fighting men, Lorn 700, and Angus 500. Angus, however, could also muster seven large boats for warfare, as their territories were on two islands.

Thus we can see, in these early days, the beginnings of the system that was later to mature into clans, clan chiefs and kings.

However, it is with Cineal Angus that we are concerned, for this is the very Angus from whom the Clan MacInnes takes its name.

When Angus died, his son Muredach succeeded to his lands, though not to the kingship. This Muredach MacAonghais, therefore, must have been the very first member of the MacInnes clan.

The clan without a Chief

No one knows when the MacInnes settled in Morvern in preference to Islay and Jura. We do know that by the 12th century the clan was common throughout the peninsula.

At about this time, a lady called Dubh- Chal (“Lady of the Black Veil”), a member of the clan, decided to build a castle there. This was to become Kinlochaline Castle, home of the clan chief.

Legend says that she paid the workmen in butter, and for this reason the castle became known as Casteal an Ime, or “Butter Castle”.

One of the great chieftains on the west coast was Somerled MacGillebride. He was of mixed Norse and Celtic blood, and is the progenitor of Clan MacDonald.

On one occasion in the 12th century, he and his son had been expelled from their domains, and were taking refuge in Morvern. Norsemen from the Western Isles were forever ravaging the area, and while he was there it came under attack once more. Somerled was chosen to lead Clan MacInnes and drive them out.

There are two stories about the way he became their leader. One says that the clan elders agreed to choose the first person they saw. Seconds later, Somerled appeared over a hill complete with bow, arrows and a sword.

The other story is that the elders knew Somerled was in Morvern, and decided to ask him to lead the clan. Messengers eventually found him peacefully fishing in a stream.

At first he wouldn’t let them approach, and the messengers saw that he was playing a fine salmon. Eventually it was landed, which they took as a good omen.

So they asked Somerled, and he agreed, as long as he had full command and that everyone obeyed him without question.

These conditions were accepted, and Somerled ordered the clan chief to slaughter a herd of cattle, and then skin each beast.

When this was done, he had the fighting men of the Clan march past the Norse encampment in their usual dress. Then he ordered them to wear a hide with the hairy side out and again march past. Lastly, he ordered them to turn the skins inside out and march past a third time.

Thinking they were about to be attacked by a force which was three times its actual size, the Norsemen fled. The clan pursued them, killed two of their leaders and caused a third one to jump into a fast flowing river.

Somerled eventually ruled all of Argyll and the Western Isles, including Bute and the Isle of Man. However, his ambitions got the better of him. He was eventually killed at the Battle of Renfrew in 1164 fighting the royal army of Malcolm IV, king of Scotland.

In the 13th century, the Norsemen were again attacking Morvern, and the MacInnesses and Somerled’s descendants – now called the MacDonalds – joined forces to expel them.

Under cover of darkness, the chief of Clan MacInnes took up a position near the shore where the Norsemen were expected to land. MacInnes, however, fell asleep, and only woke when he put his hand on a nest of bees, which promptly stung him.

He jumped up in time to see the enemy approaching. Clan MacInnes attacked some of the invading force, causing it to retreat and sail off in its galleys. The rest of the Norsemen were dealt with by the MacDonalds, who were close by.

The chief of the MacDonalds then addressed the MacInnesses as follows: “My blessings on you, Chief of Kinlochaline. While MacDonald is in power, MacInnes shall be in favour.”

It is thought that the bee on the thistle in the crest of the old clan chiefs relates to this incident.

A later descendant of Somerled was John, First Lord of the Isles. The chief of Clan MacInnes had persuaded him to divorce his first wife Mary Macruari and marry Margaret, daughter of the high steward of Scotland.

Mary was incensed, and plotted revenge. She told her ex-husband that the chief of Clan MacInnes was spreading rumours about John’s hospitality. The chief claimed that he had been put up in smelly, dirty quarters while visiting.

In the hospitality-conscious western seaboard, this was a grave accusation. In 1354 John therefore invited the chief, together with all his sons, to Ardtornish Castle, close to Kinlochaline.

There the chief and all his sons were cruelly slaughtered by Donald, son of Lachlan Lubanach. The chief’s seven daughters eventually married into their clans, so there was no rightful heir to the chieftainship. Since that time, clan MacInnes has been one of the few Scottish clans never to have had a recognised clan chief.

In 1390, John’s son Donald granted all the Morvern and Kinlochaline lands to the Macleans.

Some time before the last chief was killed, an important branch of Clan MacInnes was established in Skye. One of the early MacInnes chiefs had been killed in battle, and to escape the same fate, his brother Maol-Calium set sail for that island.

Remembering the pledge given by a MacDonald, he placed himself under the protection of the MacDonalds of Sleat. Five longships, they say, carried Maol-Calium and his followers, and they were given lands around Sleat.

One of Maol-Calium’s descendants was called Niall, and he eventually moved from Sleat to Strath, also on Skye. This was MacKinnon land, and Niall was taken on as a cowherd by the chief of that clan.

This MacKinnon had a great bow which only he could draw. However, he saw that Niall was immensely strong, and asked him if he could draw it as well. Niall did so, and MacKinnon made him his personal bowman.

When other clan chiefs were visiting MacKinnon, he always challenged them to draw this mighty bow. They inevitably failed, causing MacKinnon to send for his cowherd, who drew it easily. MacKinnon then proclaimed, “What a strange thing this is, when even my cow-herd can draw it!”

Eventually the MacInnesses became hereditary bowmen to the MacKinnons, and were called Sliochd Neill a’ Bhoga, (the Lineage of Naill of the Bow).

Besides being bowmen for the MacKinnons, the MacInnesses were expected to train the MacKinnon clan members in the use of the bow so that they became as adept as themselves.

They were even given a farm on Skye, called Dal na Saighdear, (“Field of the Archer”) as payment for this service.

Skye men are noted for their cunning, and a much later MacInnes of Skye was one Maol- Moire MacInnes, who amply proved this. He served with the British army under the Duke of Wellington during the Napoleonic Wars, and captured a large group of French prisoners.

He had them line up with their backs to him. He ordered them to put their hands in the air, and they fully expected to be shot.

However, instead of raising a rifle, he raised his sword and hacked off each prisoner’s braces, so that their trousers fell to the ground. From then until MacInnes handed them over to his superiors, they were so busy keeping their trousers up that escape became impossible.

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Family History Mini Book


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