Clan MacGillivray is a Highland Scottish clan and is a member of the Clan Chattan Confederation.[6] The clan does not currently have a clan chief, but following a petition to the Lord Lyon a family convention was held at Culloden on 15 April 2016. Submissions from four applicants for the role of commander were heard and Iain Donald MacGillivray was nominated and subsequently received his commission from the Lord Lyon. The role subsists for an initial period of five years but can be renewed for a further five years, and thereafter the commander can petition to be chief.
The clan MacGillivray was an important clan even before the Norsemen were driven out of the Outer Hebrides by King Somerled, who was Lord of the Isles in the 12th century.[6] In 1222, Alexander II of Scotland subdued Argyll, and the clan Mhic Gillebrath became dispersed.[6] Some of the clan remained on the Isle of Mull, while others stayed in Morvern.[6] There is a tradition that asserts that the chief of the clan placed himself under the protection of the chiefs of clan Mackintosh, who were also chiefs of the Chattan Confederation.[6] Thereafter the clan MacGillivray belonged to the clan Chattan.[6]
The MacGillivray clan was first accurately recorded in Dunmaglass in 1549.[6] In 1609, there was a great gathering of the Chattan Confederation, at which loyalties were given to the Mackintosh chief, and the haill kin and race of MacGillivray was represented by Malcolm MacGillivray of Dalcrombie and Duncan MacGillivray of Dunmaglass.[6] The MacGillivrays were persecuted by their Calvinist and Presbyterian neighbors owing to their support of Episcopal polity of the church.[6]
18th century & Jacobite risings
Along with most of the other clans of the Chattan Confederation, the MacGillivrays were staunch Jacobites in both the Jacobite rising of 1715 and the Jacobite rising of 1745.[6] During the 1745 rising, the chief of Mackintoshes and clan Chattan was however a serving officer in the Black Watch regiment of the British Army, but his wife, Lady Anne Mackintosh (née Farquharson), rallied the Chattan Confederation in support of the Jacobites and placed chief Alexander MacGillivray in command of the clan Chattan regiment.[6] Alexander MacGillivray was killed leading his clan at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 along with many of his followers.[6] A graveyard at Dunlichity commemorates the many MacGillivrays who fell in the battle.[6] After Culloden, many MacGillivrays emigrated across the Atlantic, where many of them were successful, particularly as traders.[6]
Clan chief
Iain MacGillivray receiving his commission as commander from the Lord Lyon Dr Joseph Morrow QC
The last chief to live at Dunmaglass was the 13th laird, Capt. John William MacGillivray, who had to sell his estate and died without an heir in 1914.[7] The chiefship then passed to a cousin of his, John Farquhar MacGillivray, who lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[7] John Farquhar MacGillivray was chief for 32 years when he died in 1942 without an heir, and the last chief of clan MacGillivray.[7] A Dr Angus MacGillivary [d.1947] tried to claim the chieftainship but was unable to prove his lineage—although he was awarded a variation of the MacGillivray coat of arms in 1914. Another Canadian, Col. George B. MacGillivray, later petitioned Lord Lyon King of Arms three times between 1953 and 1989 to be recognised as chief.[7] Lord Lyon, not satisfied with the proofs MacGillivray submitted, denied him status of chief, but commissioned him as commander of the clan. MacGillivray served as Commander for five years before dying in 1994, and to this day the clan remains without a Chief, but does once again have a Commander to lead it.[7] In 2016, the Clan MacGillivray International Association organised a derbhfine or Family Convention with members of that Association and the clan MacGillivary Societies of America, Australia Canada and the Netherlands nominated Iain MacGillivray for the role of Clan Commander. The Lord Lyon accepted the nomination and presented him with his Commission, appointing and confirming him in this important leadership role for Clan MacGillivray.[8][9]
Clan castles
Dunmaglas, which is about six miles east of Inverfarigaig in Inverness-shire, was held by the MacGillivrays from at least the sixteenth century, if not earlier.[3] Dalcrombie, which is nearby, was also held by the clan.[3]
Associated names
Clan MacGillivray does not have any septs, though common variations of the names MacGillivray and McGillivray, associated with the clan, are listed as follows.[10] Note that the prefix Mac/Mc are interchangeable, as well as the capitalisation of the second syllable.[10]
A playable character inspired by Scottish culture in the video game For Honor from the French publisher Ubisoft can be heard shouting "Dunmaghlas!", the historic war cry of the Clan. One of the character and story writers for the game was Ariadne MacGillivray, a member of the Clan.[12]
Clan Maclean is a Highlands Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early MacLeans became famous for their honour, strength and courage in battle. They were involved in clan skirmishes with the Mackinnons, Camerons, MacDonalds and Campbells, as well as all of the Jacobite risings.
Clan Shaw is a Highland Scottish clan and is a member of the Chattan Confederation.
Clan Farquharson is a Highland Scottish clan based at Invercauld and Braemar, Aberdeenshire, and is a member of the Chattan Confederation.
Clan Chattan is a unique confederation of Highland clans. The clan is distinctive in highland clan history in that it was acknowledged to be a community or confederation, of twelve separate Scottish clans, who each had their own clan chief recognized under Scottish law, but who were united under and bound to a superior chief of the confederation for mutual solidarity, sustenance and protection in the Middle Ages and early modern period in the Scottish Highlands.
Clan Mackintosh is a Scottish clan from Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The chiefs of the clan are the Mackintoshes of Mackintosh. Another branch of the clan, the Mackintoshes of Torcastle, are the chiefs of Clan Chattan, a historic confederation of clans.
Clan Macpherson is a Highland Scottish clan and a member of the Chattan Confederation.
Lachlan McGillivray was a prosperous fur trader and planter in colonial Georgia with interests that extended from Savannah to what is now central Alabama. He was the father of Alexander McGillivray and the great-uncle of William McIntosh and William Weatherford, three of the most powerful and historically important Native American chiefs among the Creek of the Southeast.
Anne Mackintosh (1723–1784) was a Scottish Jacobite leader, who was the wife of Angus Mackintosh, Chief of the Clan Mackintosh. She was one of very few (apparent) female military leaders during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the first female to hold the rank of colonel in Scotland.
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chief of the clan is customarily referred to as simply "Lochiel".
Clan Davidson is a Highland Scottish clan and a member of the Chattan Confederation.
Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, also known as Clan MacDonellof Keppoch or Clan Ranald of Lochaber, is a Highland Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The progenitor of the clan is Alistair Carrach MacDonald, 4th great-grandson of the warrior Somerled. The clan chief is traditionally designated as the "Son of Ranald's son".
Clan MacBean, is a highland Scottish clan and is a member and historic sept of Clan Chattan.
Clan Macqueen is a Highland Scottish clan and a member of the Chattan Confederation. The clan does not currently have a chief and is therefore considered an armigerous clan.
The Raid on Ross was a conflict that took place in 1491 in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Mackenzie and several other clans, including the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, Clan MacDonald of Clanranald, the Clan Cameron, and the Chattan Confederation of Clan Mackintosh.
The Stand-off at the Ford of Arkaig occurred in September 1665 at Achnacarry, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Fort William, Scotland. The Chattan Confederation led by the Clan Mackintosh assembled an army to challenge Clan Cameron in a 360-year-old dispute over the lands around Loch Arkaig. After a week of stalemate, the long-running feud was ended by a deal in which the Camerons bought the land from the Mackintoshes.
Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, known as "Cluny Macpherson", was the Chief of Clan MacPherson during the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He took part as a leading supporter of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. After the rebellion was crushed, he went into hiding and eventually escaped to France. He was the uncle of poet James Macpherson, who collected, translated, and adapted the epic poem Ossian, based upon the Fenian Cycle of Celtic mythology.
Duncan Alexander Eliott Mackintosh of Mackintosh-Torcastle and Clan Chattan was the 31st Chief of Clan Chattan, a confederation of Scottish Highland Clans. As a result of the 29th Chief's preferment of a more distant cousin and Arbell Mackintosh becoming the 30th Chief until her marriage to Anthony Warre it devolved on the 29th Chief's next heir in line, Duncan Alexander Eliott Mackintosh by the order of Lord Lyon King of Arms issued on 27 March 1947 who became 31st Chief and matriculated ‘as of right and without brisur or mark of cadency Ensigns armorial of and appropriate to Mackintosh of Mackintosh-Torcastle and Clan Chattan, marshalled as effeirs for the Inheritor of the Honourable the Clan Chattan… as Head of the ‘‘haill kin of Clan Chattan’’’. At this juncture the chieftainship of Mackintosh and Clan Chattan split.
The surname Gow is a sept of the Clan Macpherson, a Highland Scottish clan. The Clan Macpherson are in turn a member of the confederation of the Clan Chattan. Within the clan the surname Smith is considered synonymous with that of Gow and this is due to the family's progenitor being either of the surname Smith or of having been of the occupation of Blacksmith. They are known in Scottish Gaelic as the Sliochd an Gobh Cruim which means "the race of the crooked smith".
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