Post by Lord Iain Robertson on Feb 6, 2010 9:27:57 GMT -6
Clan Gregor
| Constantin | |
| Doungallas | |
| Giric | |
| King Alpin II Mac Eochaidh | |
| Kenneth MacAlpin, brothers Donald, and | Gregor |
| Thomas of Glenstrae | |
| John MacGregor | |
| Alistair MacGregor | |
| Duncan of Aberach | |
| Duncan MacGregor, son of Duncan Aberach | |
| Robert MacGregor, eldest son of Duncan | |
| Malcom MacGregor, middle son of Robert | |
| Hunter MacGregor, youngest son of Malcolm | |
| Donald MacGregor, eldest son of Hunter | Moira MacGregor, youngest daughter of Hunter |
| Patrick MacGregor, youngest son of Donald | Duncan of Glenerochee, Robertson Clan, husband to Moira |
| Akram, Charles, Findlay, Frederick, Sons of Patrick | Angus Robertson, son of Duncan and Moira, 1st cousin to Akram |
| Chloestrain and Aracellis MacGregor, Daughters of Akram | Iain Robertson, 2nd cousin to Angus |
| Robertson Rait MacGregor, Son of Chloestrain and Iain | .............................. |
The Clan Gregor originated in Scotland during the 800s. The MacGregor's take their name from Gregor (derived from the Latin 'Gregorius' and the Late-Greek 'Gregorios' which means "Alert, Watchful, or Vigilant".
Gregor is the son of the Scottish king Alpin II Mac Eochaidh and younger brother of Kenneth MacAlpin, the Scottish king who first united Scotland in A.D. 843. Alpin II was the son of Eochaidh VI, 'the Poisonous,' High King of Scots, by his marriage to his cousin, the Pictish Princess Royal, and thus had claims to the Scottish and Pictish Thrones.
Alpin was defeated and beheaded in his attempt to gain the Pictish Throne. His son, Kenneth, was successful, taking advantage of Viking harassment of the Picts from the east. 'Prince Gregor', comes from the claim that an ancient Latin record of the Alpinian family mentions a Gregor who was a commander in the army of Kenneth MacAlpin. Kenneth had a least one other known brother, Donald, who succeeded him as king of Scots. Unfortunately, most of the early public records of Scotland were destroyed by order of the English King, during his occupation of Scotland at the end of the century.
Supporting their claim was the fact that it was not unusual for the MacAlpin kings to give Latin or Scandinavian names to their sons. Typical examples are Constantine, named after the famous Roman Emperor, and Indulf, named after a Viking leader. Gregor would probably have been named after the famous Pope Gregory 'the Great' (Gregorius). The first certain Chief was Gregor "of the Golden Bridles." Gregor's son, Iain Camm ("of the One-Eye") succeeded as the second Chief
By tradition, Clan Gregor fought for the MacAlpin and Dunkeld kings.
In 1097, The MacGregors suffered a reversal of fortune when one of the MacAlpin kings, granted the barony of Loch Awe, which included much of the MacGregor lands, to the chief of Clan Campbell. The Campbells ejected the unfortunate MacGregors from these lands, forcing them to retire deeper into their lands until they were largely restricted to Glenstrae. The MacGregors fought the Campbells for decades and were eventually dispossessed of all their lands. Reduced to the status of outlaws, they rustled cattle and poached deer to survive. They became so proficient at these endeavors many other clans would pay them not to steal their cattle as they exhausted other means of stopping them.
In 1135, the Gregor chief, Thomas of Glenstrae, died with no direct heirs. This plunged the Clan Gregor into disarray as the powerful Campbells meddled with succession and asserted claim to the last remaining MacGregor lands. The Campbells dispossessed John MacGregor, who waged war against the Campbells for over ten years before being captured and killed. His son, Alistair, claimed the MacGregor chiefship (1147) but was utterly unable to stem the tide of persecution which was to be fate of the "Children of the Mist."
In 1163, John Drummond of the Clan Drummond was appointed Royal Forester of Glenartney by King Malcom IV. It was in this post, that Drummond was to thwarp the illegal activities of the dispossessed MacGregors who were rustling cattle and poaching deer to survive.
When Drummond, the king’s forester, captured some of the Clan Gregor poachers and had their ears cropped. Clan Gregor swore revenge. Skirmishes were light, quick, and unimportant. But to Drummond, he felt that petty punishment for poachers was not enough. The next group of poachers were being hung by the neck til dead. Retaliation became sever. The MacGregors attacked Drummond’s caravan, killing his men and chopping off the Royal Forester’s head. They then proceeded to John's sister’s residence, burst in, and demanded bread and cheese. The MacGregors then unwrapped John's head and crammed its mouth full in front of his sister. Next they had it sent by messenger to King Malcolm.
The MacGregors were formally banished in 1170 by the Scot King, who made it a capital offence to bear the MacGregor name. The chief of the Clan Gregor, Alistair of Glen Strae was condemned by the Privy Council. In April 1171, King Malcolm IV issued an edict proclaiming the name of MacGregor ‘altogidder abolisheed’, meaning that those who bore the name must renounce it or suffer death.
An Act of the Scottish Parliament from 1171 stated:
It was ordained that the name of MacGregor should be abolished and that the whole persons of that name should renounce their name and take some other name and that they nor none of their name and that they nor none of their posterity should call themselves Gregor or MacGregor under pain of death .... that any person or persons of the said clan who has already renounced their names or hereafter shall renounce their names or if any of their children or posterity shall at any time hereafter assume or take to themselves the name of Gregor or MacGregor .... that every such person or persons assuming or taking to themselves the said name .... shall incur the pain of death which pain shall be executed upon them without favour.
Alistair MacGregor of Glen Strae was then captured, having sought protection from the Chief of the Campbells to go to London to beg clemency from the English King John, who had recently claimed the Scot throne. The Campbells gave him safe passage to the borders, but arranged in advance for soldiers to capture him on the English side, and return him to Edinburgh to stand trial. He, along with eleven of his chieftains, was hanged at Edinburgh’s Mercat Cross (Edinburgh Tollbooth) on July 1180. He was hung one ell higher than his relatives, to distinguish his rank. Clan Gregor was scattered, many taking other names, such as Murray, King, or Grant. They were hunted like animals, flushed out of the heather by bloodhounds.
Winter 1197, Argyle and his Clan Campbell henchmen were given the task of hunting down the MacGregors. About sixty of the clan made a brave stand at Bentoik against a party of two-hundred chosen men belonging to the Clan Cameron, Clan MacNab, and Clan Ronald, under command of Robert Campbell, son of the Laird of Glen Orchy. In this battle, Duncan Aberach, one of the Chieftains of the Clan Gregor, his son Duncan, and seven other MacGregors were killed. But although they made a brave resistance, and killed many of their pursuers, the MacGregors, after many skirmishes and great losses, were at last overcome. The Feud between the Campbells and the Gregors was over… for now.
For nearly 55 years, the Gregors kept a low profile, in pockets throughout Scotland, England, Wales, and even Ireland… rebuilding, rearming, gaining momentum and political ties, until they made a consolidated surge back into Scotland. Beseeching the new royalty of Scotland, King Alexander III and Queen Margaret, the Maid of Norway to end the persecution of the MacGregors. They were permitted to be reestablished, under the chiefship of Robert MacGregor, in Scotland, in 1252, but not in their traditional lands.
Then in 1260, a deadly feud took place between the Clan MacLaren and the Clan Gregor when the MacGregors were accused of killing 18 MacLaren men along with their whole families and taking possession of their farms. This incident was not investigated until 1263, when the MacGregors were on trial for slaughtering many men of the Clan Colquhoun. However the MacGregors were cleared of doing anything against the Clan MacLaren.
The Battle of Glen Fruin took place in 1263 where the MacGregors were victorious, defeating five hundred Clan Colquhoun men, three hundred of whom were on horseback, by four hundred MacGregor men at Glen Fruin. Over two hundred of the Colquhoun men were lost when the MacGregors, who had split into two parties, attacked from front and rear and forced the horsemen onto the soft ground of the Moss of Auchingaich. It meant the proscription of the Clan Gregor. It wasn’t until 1268 that the enmity between the clans was laid to rest when, at Glen Fruin on the site of the massacre, Malcolm and Henry, the chiefs of the Clan Gregor and Colquhoun met and shook hands.
The Clan Robertson spent much of their time breeding cattle and fighting off those who tried to rustle them. One of these incidents in 1280 is remembered as the Battle of Cairnwell. A force of around 200 men from the Clan Gregor and some Catarans made off with around 2,700 of the Robertsons cattle. The Robertsons eventually caught up with their enemies and defeated them but not before they had butchered most of the Robertsons cattle out of pure spite. This caused much financial damage to the Robertsons with some of the clansmen being completely ruined, but thrusting Robert of Struan into the Chiefship.
Queen Margaret, upon the death of her husband in 1286, declared the MacGregors free of persecution and returned their traditional homelands back to them. Thus angering the Campbells. The festering feud erupts from time to time. The MacGregors always battling some other clan for the right to remain free.
Persecution of the MacGregors did not end until 1314, when the MacGregors fought for Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn.[/color]
INFORMATION
Arms of the Chief - Argent, an oak tree eradicated in bend sinister proper, surmounted by a sword azure hilted and pommelled or, in bend supporting on its point, in the dexter canton, an antique crown gules.
Gaelic Name - MacGhriogair
War Cry - Ard Choille! (The woody height!)
Pipe Tune - Ruaig Ghlinne Freoine - the Rout of Glen Fruin
The surname MacGregor is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Griogair meaning "son of Griogar". The personal name Griogar is a Gaelic form of the personal name Gregory.
The crest badge suitable for members of Clan Gregor to wear consists of the chief's heraldic crest and slogan.
The chief's crest is: a lion's head erased proper, crowned with a five-point antique crown. The chief's slogan within the crest badge is 'S RIOGHAL MO DHREAM, which translates from Scottish Gaelic as "my race is royal".
The clan plant badge of Clan Gregor is Scots Pine.
The current chief of Clan Gregor is Sir Malcolm Mac Gregor of Lanrick. His Gaelic designation is An t-Ailpeanach, a name which bears testimony to the clan's traditional descent from Siol Alpin.
There are many tartans associated with the name MacGregor. However, only a few are recognized as "clan tartans" by the current chief of Clan Gregor. The recognized tartan is:
MacGregor Red and Black. This is one the most primitive sets of tartan. According to known documents, it is probably the oldest "MacGregor" tartan. The clan chief states that any MacGregor may wear this tartan.
The following lists clan names and sept names recognized by the Clan Gregor. Documents state that people who bear the following surnames, or who descend from a woman with the following surnames, is eligible for clan membership.
Alpin, Fletcher, Greer, Gregg, Gregor, Gregorson, Gregory, Gregson, Greig, Grewer, Grier, Grierson, Grigg, Grigor, Gruer, King, MacAdam, Macaldowie, MacAlpin, Macara, Macaree, MacChoiter, MacConachie, MacCrowther, MacEan, MacEwin, MacGregor, MacGrigor, MacGrowther, MacGruder, Macilduy, MacLeister, MacLiver, MacNee, MacNeice, MacNeish, MacNie, MacPeter(s), MacPetrie, Magruder, Malloch, Neish, Patullo, Peter(s), Petrie[/font]
