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Clan MacLeod

HOLD FAST


Clan MacLeod are commonly associated with the Isle of Skye. Although there are two main branches of the clan - MacLeod of Harris and MacLeod of Lewis - both claim descent from Olaf the Black, a 13th century sea-king who controlled the Isle of Man and parts of the Hebrides.

Clan MacLeod enjoy an active culture in the present day, with ten clan societies across the world.

The MacLeod clan motto is "Hold Fast" and the clan crest is a bulls head with flags.

Scottish History

of Clan MacLeod


Rulers of the Hebrides

From the end of the eighth century the west of Scotland was subjected to a barrage of attacks by Vikings and Norsemen who came from Norway to settle in the Shetlands. They used the northern isles as a base for their plundering and by the end of the 12th century their descendants, the Kings of Man, a mix of Celts and Norsemen, also ruled the Hebrides.

According to Clan tradition MacLeod is believed to be descended from a Viking ancestor, Leod, who was the son of Olaf the Black, King of Man and the Northern Isles. Leod, who lived in the 13th century, was a very powerful chieftain. When the King of Norway gave up the Hebrides to the King of Scots, Leod took advantage of the confusion that followed to extend his territories to cover most of Skye, a sizeable part of Lewis and Harris, and parts of the mainland including Appin.

It is said that Leod acquired Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye when he married the heiress of the Norse family who owned much of the land on Skye, early in the 13th century. Leod died around 1280, and in accordance with the Scandinavian traditions of the time, his lands were divided between his two sons, Siol Tormod and the Siol Torquil. Tormod, who appears to have been the elder, was given a bigger share of the lands of Skye, Harris and in Glenelg. The lesser lands were allocated to Torquil and it was this division which spawned the two distinctive branches of the clan – the MacLeods of Harris, Glen Elg and Dunvegan; and the MacLeods of Lewis and Assynt.

The Gaelic names are Clan Tormod (Thormoid) and Clann Torquil (Thorcuil). Little is known about the MacLeods or their chiefs around this time. Few local records survived and the men from whom these chiefs held their lands were the important figures in national terms.

In an attempt to increase their sway in the remote northern territories, the King of Scots gave away a lot of land to influential noblemen who became the superiors over local communities and in the case of the MacLeods much of their land was given to the Earl of Ross.

During the wars of independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the Earls of Ross variously sided with fellow Scots and enemy English. The MacLeods themselves remained loyal to their country and Tormod was one of Robert the Bruce’s leading supporters, fighting alongside him at Bannockburn.

In 1357 John of Islay, having by marriage united the claims of several families, declared himself Lord of the Isles. The same family later gained the earldom of Ross, becoming the feudal superior of almost all the Hebrides, including the lands of both branches of MacLeods.

These Lords of the Isles were laws unto themselves and paid little heed to the King of Scots. The history of the island clans in the 14th and 15th centuries is very much taken up with the fortunes of the Lord of the Isles. One of them, Donald, led a force of Highlanders and islanders in 1411 and seized Inverness before crossing the Spey to grab more land and march right to Aberdeen. But they were intercepted by the fighting men of the northeast, under the command of the Earl of Mar at Harlaw, two miles north west of Inverurie. A bloody conflict ensued which nobody really won. All the surviving MacLeods and other clansmen could do was lick their wounds and make their way home. This was a battle which epitomised the conflict between the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland as the Lord of the Isles attempted to expand his lands at a time when the monarchy was weak.

Hold Fast!

In the fourteenth century Malcolm MacLeod of Glen Elg was said to be in love with Fraser of Glen Elg’s wife and when he was returning home from a secret meeting he was met and confronted by a savage bull.

He killed it, reputedly by breaking its neck, and in the struggle one of its horns broke off. The horn was late made into a drinking cup tipped with silver and became known as the drinking cup of Rory Mor, after a famous MacLeod chief. When the MacLeod chief comes of age he is expected to drain it.

Long ago one of the MacLeod chiefs of Dunvegan went to Inverary to visit the Earl of Argyll and when he was there he was invited to attend the execution of a Campbell who had misbehaved and who was to be gored to death by a bull.

When the man was led into the arena he showed such calm courage that the MacLeod pleaded for his release but Argyll declared this would not be possible.

MacLeod asked if he could jump into the pit and save the man thus securing his release. Argyll reluctantly agreed but added, ‘You go to your death.’ MacLeod leaped down and as the bull lowered its head for the charge he seized one of the horns and clung on as he was tossed about.

A spectator shouted, ‘Hold fast!’

He did so and managed to stab the bull with his dirk. It is said this is why the bull’s head and the motto, ‘Hold Fast’ are in the armorial bearings of the MacLeods of Harris to this day.

The bull’s head crest was built into the wall of St Clement’s Church at Rodil in Harris by Alasdair Crottach, 8th Chief of MacLeod, early in the sixteenth century. He died while building was in progress and a horizontal string course of black layered rock diverted around the bull’s head was incorporated in the design – it is a traditional mourning band of the MacLeods.

Historically, black bulls were an ancient symbol of royalty and often symbolised the death of an enemy chief. Ancient Egyptians used to kill bulls and, using chants, would ‘transfer’ their sins into the head of the bull thus absolving themselves of any wrong doing.

A black bull’s head was set before the young chief of the Douglas clan during dinner at Edinburgh Castle in 1440 in an episode which became infamous in history as The Black Dinner. Shortly afterwards he was executed.

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Family History Mini Book


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141 Clan MacLeod

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The Crests

of Clan MacLeod

Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod (of Lewis)
Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod

59 Clan MacLeod

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Divisions

of MacLeod

MacLeod of Assynt
MacLeod of California
MacLeod of Gesto
MacLeod of Harris
MacLeod of Lewis
MacLeod of Raasay
MacLeod of Skeabost
MacLeod of Skye
MacLeod of the Lewes
MacLeod of Tullibardine