Clan Macrae
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Macrae (or MacRae ) is the name of a Scottish clan originating from Kintail , which is roughly between Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye . The clan has no chief recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms , which is why he is considered the Armigerous Clan .
history
The name is derived from the Gaelic Mac Rath , which means "son of grace", but the clan was best known for its loyalty and willingness to fight to the MacKenzies of Kintail. You have to know that the MacKenzies were historically one of the most powerful tribes in this area. The Macraes occupied the posts of chamberlain and vicar of Kintail and from 1520 also the constable of Eilean Donan Castle , which is now owned by the clan again. A Macrae compiled the Gaelic Fernaig manuscript from the 17th century.
The clan's motto is Fortitudine ("With bravery").
The origins of the clan
The Scots came from Northern Ireland and settled in Argyll during Roman rule. Around 500 AD there was a new influx from Ulster , a kingdom in Ireland , from the area called Dalriada. This is Gaelic and means "the tribe of the Riada". They settled in what is now Dunaad in Kilmartin Glen . This name is also Gaelic and means Dun = fort, fortress. Aad is the river in Kilmartin Glen. Thus the place was called Dunaad = fortress on the river Aad.
Naming of the clan
As already described, the name McRae comes from the name Dalriada, the tribe of Riada. The word riada can be translated as "prosperity" or "divine grace". Since "Mac" means "son", "MacRae" means "the son of Riada". The Mac spelling is often also abbreviated as Mc or M. In earlier traditions the word Mic was also used in part (MicRae), which is derived from the Gaelic word for "daughter".
The spelling of the name Rae has changed over the generations; partly from one generation to the next. Today, however, the spelling has been preserved, which means that there are no more changes nowadays. There are therefore different spellings that come from the tribe of the Riada:
Crae, Cree, Macara, Macarra, Maccra, Maccrath, Maccrae, Maccraith, Maccraw, Maccray, Maccrea, Maccreath, Maccree, Maccrie, Mackereth, Macrath, Maccroy, Macgrath, Macgraw, Machray, Macra, MacRae, Macraith, Macrach, Macraw Macray, Macrie, Rae, Raith, Ray, Rea, and Reath.
Maurice Macrath - on arrival in Scotland
The earliest references to the MacRae clan point to Maurice Macrath (c. 1280 - c. 1350) on the land of Lord Lovat of the Clunes. Maurice Macrath and two other men, Colin Fitzgerald and Gileoin na Tuaigh, arrived in Scotland after an argument broke out in Ireland following a wedding reception. When they arrived in Lovat Land Clunes, southeast of Kintail , they met an attacker who attacked Bissett the Lord of Lovat. The other two men refused to help because they had just fled because of the trouble they caused. Maurice Macrath, however, killed the attacker and was gratefully invited by Maurice Bissett to his estate in Lovat. Macrath received a piece of land from the Bissetts on which to build his fort.
Between 1305 and 1333, the Bissetts lost control of Lovat to the Frasers as there was no male heir and Mary Bissett married a Fraser. The family stayed in Macrath Lovat for several generations. At least three generations of the Frasers and the Macraths ruled the country during this time. The Macraths and Frasers maintained a close relationship through the generations, so the Frasers wrote the following inscription over the door at Beaufort Castle in Beauly :
"Fhad 'sa bhitheas Frisealach a stigh, na biheadh Macrath a muigh" (As long as a Fraser lives here, no Macrath stays outside.)
From the 12th and 13th centuries, the clan inhabited the Clunes' lands in the Beauly district in the 12th and 13th centuries and Kintail since the 14th centuries. The founder of the Kintail branch was Fionnla Dubh MacGillechriosd (Finlay MacRae), who died in 1416. Duncan Kintail, whose arrow caused the death of Donald Gorm the Sleat on Eilean Donan in 1539, got the land from Inverinate around 1557. This remained in the family's possession for over 200 years. In 1677 Alexander, the eldest son of Rev. John MacRae von Dingwall, got a share of the lands of the Conchra and Ardachy and became the progenitor of the Macraes of the Conchra.
- These are the three main branches of the MacRae clan
- Clan MacRae of Kintail = Finlay Macrae
- Clan MacRae of Inverinate = Duncan Macrae
- Clan MacRae of Conchra = Alexander MacRae
literature
- Alan Bold: Scottish tartans. Pitkin Pictorials, London 1978, ISBN 0-85372-245-5 , ( Pitkin "Pride of Britain" Books ).