Clan MacGregor

An online friend, Dorothy, put out a blog challenge to "show our tartans".  That sounded like too much fun to pass up.  :)  I turned to my wonderful nieces, Rachel and Hannah, for their expertise on our family history.  They have been studying our MacGregor clan for several years and have come up with quite a bit of history of our family.

Here are a few highlights they sent me today so that I could share them with you.  Good thing I have such smart nieces, huh?  :)

Some really interesting things about the MacGregors:

• Clan mottos is 'S Rioghal Mo Dhream, meaning "royal is my are".  This is because the MacGregors are held to be descended from the kings of ancient Scotland, the MacAlpins.
• The clan originally had an extensive ancestral land in central Scotland, but over time much of these were taken over by other clans, especially Clan Campbell, so that the remaining MacGregor lands are very small, and at times have been non-existent.  The loss of their lands started roughly when King Robert the Bruce gave some of their land (Loch Awe) to the Campbell Clan, which the Campbells took over by force.  
• The MacGregors fought back fiercely for many years, but they had the disadvantage that their enemy clans were favored by the royalty of Scotland.  The clan was confined to a smaller and smaller area and they were often forced to raid and poach for survival.
• In 1589 the King's forester, John Drummond, was said to have found several MacGregors poaching and killed them on the spot.  Soon after, John Drummond was murdered, and the MacGregors were held at fault.  This marked the beginning of their severe persecution.  King James VI proclaimed that all MacGregors were criminals and allowed any means to bring them to justice, even offering an award to anyone who would do so. 
• The Battle of Glen Fruin between the MacGregors and the Colquhouns in 1603 brought even more persecution.  A series of hurts between the two clans culminated in a battle.  The MacGregors were at the disadvantage in this battle, as they had only three hundred men while the Colquhouns had 800, of which 300 were mounted.  However, the MacGregors, with a better knowledge of the land 9as well as a better military tact, apparently) were able to surround the Colquhoun army, trap them in a bog, and cut off their retreat.  They were overwhelmingly victorious and killed around 120, while losing very few of their own.  
• The Colquhouns, favored but the King, retaliated by sending the widows of the fallen warriors to parade their husbands' bloody garments in front of the King.  The King was moved and outraged and soon after issued the infamous "Proscription".  This banned the MacGregor name from existence; MacGregors were either forced to change their name or go into hiding.  No more than four MacGregors were allowed to be together at any time.  The MacGregors were denied basic means for living, as well as the sacraments of marriage, last rites, baptism, and communion.  They were not allowed to have any sort of arms except for a blunt knife to use for eating.  There were rewards for the capture and killing of MacGregors.  The nobility were encouraged to hunt them with dogs.  
• Despite all this, the MacGregors held strong and continued to fight back, loyal to their clan.  As it had always been, their honor was very important to them and individual MacGregors were known to refuse the betterment of their own situation while their clan continued to suffer.  Although the proscription lasted 171 years, they not only survived, but increased.  They have earned the great respect of many afterwards as a loyal, honorable, highland clan unduly mistreated. 
• They were also loyal to other causes and banded together to fight in several of Scotland's major battles.  
• Rob Roy is one of the most legendary figures of the clan.  There is a lot of stuff out there about him, but I haven't researched him as much and I'm running out of time.  :(  Check out the websites for more detailed information, though. 
• Our ancestor, Alexander MacGregor, was born in 1569, so the proscription would have definitely had a major impact on him and his family. 

Websites of interest - 

Site to discover your family tartan - http://www.tartankilts.com/index.html

Clan Gregor's official website - http://clangregor.org

The MacGregor page on Electric Scotland - http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macgreg.html

3 Comments
Lisa in ME
I took on the challenge as well. It was a lot of fun! :-)
Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 08:31 PM

Anonymous
Wow Laura!
That's an incredible history! I had no idea about the poor MacGregors!
I like the tartan too. It's quite an unusual one. Dorothy
Sunday, January 27, 2008 - 01:04 AM

Anonymous
Gorgeous singing! WOW!! That 's so interesting and amazing to think about!! Thanks for all that went into it. Charlie &Tina
Monday, January 28, 2008 - 07:38 PM