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Sgian Dubh
In Gaelic, this name is rendered as Macaoidh meaning “son of Hugh,” but is thought that the name comes from a branch of the ancient Celtic royal house. Walter Mackay, chamberlain to Adam, bishop of Caithness, married that prelate's daughter, and had a son, Martin, who received from his maternal grandfather certain church lands in Strathnaver. Martin had a son, Magnus, who fought at Bannockburn under Bruce, and had two sons, Morgan and Farquhar. From Morgan the clan derived their Gaelic name of Clan-wie-Worgan, or Morgan. In 1411, Donald, Lord of the Isles, was attacked at Dingwall by Angus Dubh. Having been taken prisoner, Angus was released by the Lord of the Isles, who gave him his daughter in marriage along with many lands in 1415. James I arrested Angus Dubh with is four sons but later pardoned and released him with three of them. The eldest, Neill Mackay, was kept hostage for good behaviour in the Bass at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. In 1437, he was released and assumed the chiefship. In 1556 Iye Mackay, the chief at that time, was captured by the Sutherlands and sent as a prisoner to Edinburgh Castle. In 1806, Eric, 7th Lord Reay, was elected one of the representative Scottish peers. He died, unmarried in 1847 to be succeeded by his brother Alexander the 8th Lord Reay (b. 1775) who was barrack-master at Malta. Being in debt, Eric, 9th Baron Reay, was encouraged to borrow money from the Earls of Sutherland who consequently acquired all the estates when Eric died unmarried in 1875. Donald, 11th Baron, was Governer of Bombay, Under Secretary of State for India and a Knight of the Thistle. He was additionally created a peer of the United Kingdom, but this title became extinct at his death in 1921. On the 11th Baron’s death the title passed to his Dutch cousin whose father had been Prime Minister of that country. The chief's son became a British subject in 1939 and worked in the Forgein Office during the Second World War. In 1966 an unexploded shell was dredged up from the moat of Ophemert Castle.
Septs of the Clan: Allan, Allanson, Bain, Bayne, Kay, Key, MacAllan, MacBain, MacCaa, MacCaw, MacCay, MacGaa, MacGaw, MacGee, MacGhee, MacGhie, MacKay, MacKee, Mackie, MacPhail, MacQue, MacQuey, MacQuoid, MacVail, MacVain, MacVane, Morgan, Neilson, Nelson, Paul, Pole, Poleson, Pollard, Polson, Reay, Scobie, Williamson. |
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