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Clan MacDonald (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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MacDonald / Donald

Gaelic Name: MacDhomhnuill

Clan Crest: On a crest coronet Or, a hand in armour fessways couped at the elbow Proper holding a cross crosslet fitchée Gules

Clan Motto: Per mare per terras (By sea and by land)

Origin of Name: Gaelic, Domhnull (World ruler)

Clan Badge: Heather

Lands: The Western Isles

Historic Seat: Finlaggan Castle, Islay

Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon. The Lord MacDonald

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MacDonald Clan History

Print depicting the ruins of Ardtornish Castle in Morvern. Built in the 1300s by the MacDonalds, it was in use until the 17th century. In 1098, King Magnus Barefoot of Norway sailed across the North Sea to reestablish his country's power in Celtic lands. He agreed with Edgar, King of Scots, that he would settle for all the west coast islands he could reach while his boat's rudder was fixed in place. He then had his boat towed around by his men and claimed not only the isles but also the peninsula of Kintyre.

King Somerled reclaimed Kintyre and the islands fifty years later. When King Somerled was killed fighting Malcolm IV in 1164, his son Dougall took his place. Dougall would be the progenitor of the Clan MacDougall, and Dougall's son Ranald would be the progenitor of the mighty Clan Donald.

In 1424, James I returned from English imprisonment to begin his Scottish reign with a flurry of executions, imprisonments, and punishments for all who had not backed him. In 1427, he summoned the powerful of the Highlands to Inverness for a parliament.

Alasdair MacDonald and his mother, the Countess of Ross, went to Inverness in place of his father Donald and were immediately imprisoned. Others, including their cousin Alasdair MacDonald of Garmoran, were executed. When Alasdair of the Isles was released, he immediately launched a rebellion and burned Inverness.

In Tantallon, James I imprisoned him once more. After two years, the men of the Isles rose up again, and James I agreed to release Alasdair on his word. In 1435, he was made Earl of Ross, and his people enjoyed a prosperous period during which literature, history, Greek and Arabic sciences flourished.

When Alasdair died, his son John signed the secret Treaty of Ardtornish with Henry VIII of England in 1462. The agreement was that if England defeated the Stewarts, the Douglases would rule English-speaking lowland Scotland. He would rule over the entire Gaelic-speaking North, with the King of England as his sovereign. The treaty was discovered in 1476, and John of the Isles was stripped of his mainland possessions.

By 1495, the Lordship had been revoked, and anarchy and violence swept through the Highlands as Campbells, Gordons, and others pillaged MacDonald land for themselves.

A Gaelic poet wrote:

Without Clan Donald, there is no joy.

It is useless to be without them.

I've abandoned you because of sorrow and sadness.

Wisdom and knowledge.

MacDonald Places & People

Sleat People Clan MacDonald

John Alexander MacDonald (1815-91) was the father.

Sir John was born in George Street, Glasgow, after his crofting family was evicted from their Dornoch home, and lived there for another five years before emigrating to Canada. He studied law in Kingston, Ontario, and was elected to the Provincial Assembly as a Conservative, eventually becoming its leader in 1844, a position he held almost exclusively for forty-five years.

His most notable accomplishment was undoubtedly his role in the creation of the British North America Act of 1867, which united the separate, distrusting colonies as a federal dominion of Canada, becoming its first Premier.

Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald (1853-1903)

This crofter's son was born in Dingwall and worked in a drapery shop before joining the 92nd Gordon Highlanders, where he rose from foot soldier to Major-General, a difficult climb in a time when such positions were reserved for the aristocracy.

The heroic 'Fighting Mac' was first recognized for his fighting abilities during the Second Afghan War. When he returned to India as a 2nd Lieutenant, he demonstrated his mettle once more at Majuba.

During his time in Egypt and Sudan from 1883 to 1899, he was a British hero once more. In the Boer War of 1900, he led the Highland Brigade as Major-General.

The Governor-General received 'an opprobrious accusation' made against MacDonald in 1902, while serving as army commander in Ceylon. Early the following year, while on leave, MacDonald shot himself in a Paris hotel room. The people of Dingwall erected a massive tower in his honor.

Ramsay MacDonald, James Ramsay

MacDonald, James Ramsay (1866-1937)

Mary Ramsay gave birth to her son in the two-room Lossiemouth home of her mother. Her lover had been a ploughman named MacDonald from the Black Isle. James Ramsay MacDonald was sixteen when he was given the position of pupil and teacher at his Drainie Board School.

After his first encounter with socialism in Bristol, he relocated to London and joined the Fabian Society. As a journalist, he aided the Social Democratic Federation and, after writing to Keir Hardie, was admitted to the Independent Labour Party in 1894, standing as their candidate in Southampton the following year.

By 1906, he was the MP for Leicester, and his abilities as an orator and organizer propelled him to the position of Prime Minister by 1911. Because of his pacifist beliefs, he resigned from his position in opposition to the First World War. He later changed his mind about Britain's involvement in the war, but he had lost the support of his constituents and, as a result, lost his seat in 1918.

However, in the following election, he represented the socialists of Aberavon and was re-elected to Westminster and the Labour Party leadership.

Labour won the election in 1923, and James Ramsay MacDonald became Britain's first Labour Prime Minister. He held the position twice more, from 1929-31 and 1931-5. The latter term, in coalition with the Conservatives, saw him govern with little progress toward socialism for the poor and the end of this association with the Red Clydesiders, who had previously backed him strongly.

Emmanuel Shinwell took it from him in 1935.

MadDonald, James (1906-91)

James MacDonald, born in Dundee and raised in Philadelphia, is heard but never seen around the world. He worked as a drummer at the Walt Disney Studios, where he created sound effects such as Snow White's waterfall and Alice in Wonderland's shimmering cobwebs.

He was also yodeling for the Seven Dwarfs and purling for Pinocchio's whale.

When Walt Disney refused to provide the distinctive voice of his most famous character after 1947, MacDonald took over as the new Mickey Mouse.

MacDonald Tartans

Ancient MacDonald

McDonald Contemporary

Weathered by MacDonald

McDonald's Dress Is Modern

Lord of the Isles Hunting MacDonald

Hunting Ancient MacDonald of the Isles

Modern MacDonald of the Isles Hunting

MacDonald Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan MacDonald Crest:

Crest Description: A coronet on a crest. Alternatively, a hand in armour fessways couped at the elbow. Holding a cross crosslet fitchée correctly Gules

Coats of Arms of MacDonald:

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.

The Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdonald, MacDONALD of MacDonald

Gules, an eagle displayed, surmounted by a lymphad, sails furled and oars in action, Sable.

Godfrey, the Right Honourable 8th Lord Macdonald, James Macdonald of Macdonald, Chief of the Name and Arms

DUNNYVEG's MacDONALD and the GLENS

Quarterly: Or, a lion rampant, Gules; 2nd, Or, a dexter arm issuant from the sinister fess point out of a cloud, Proper, in the hand a cross crosslet fitchée, erect, Azure; 3rd, Argent, a lymphad, sails furled, Sable; 4th, Azure and Vert, a dolphin, naiant, Proper.

These arms were matriculated on 30 April 1965 in the name of Roderick Hector Macdonald, OBE, of Pymble, New South Wales, Australia. Macdonald's father was born on the island of Benbecula and died in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1940.

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