MacDonald of Sleat

Gaelic Name: MacDhomhnuill

Clan Crest: A hand in armour fesswise 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: Skye

Historic Seat: Dunscaith Castle, Skye

Clan Chief: Sir Ian MacDonald Of Sleat Bt

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MacDonald of Sleat Clan History

Hugh, the third son of Alexander, 3rd Lord of the Isles, is the ancestor of the MacDonalds of Sleat. Hugh was gifted and powerful, and he served on the Council of the Isles.

Hugh obtained a charter to retain his own lands after the Lordship was forfeited in the 1400s due to attempts to reclaim the MacDonald mainland possessions. These were passed down to his son John.

An artist's interpretation of the former seat of Dunscaith Castle on Skye.

John had five sons, each to a different woman, and these MacDonalds threw the clan into a destructive evil period. One of them, Black Archibald, grandson of Torquil of Lewis, is said to have a soul as dark as his skin. He plotted the murder of his eldest half-brother, whom he strangled, with two of his half-brothers.

He invited his other brother, Donald Hearach, to dinner to see his newly constructed gallery. He stabbed Donald in the back during the meal. Black Archibald appeared to be the only brother to survive the violent retaliation until his nephews Donald and Ranald Grumach murdered him. In 1518, Donald was appointed Clan Chief.

After nearly a century of feuding, including MacDonald battles with the MacKenzies and MacLeans in attempts to reclaim lost Sleat property, all relevant chiefs were summoned to meet Lord Ochiltree, the King's representative, to discuss the royal intentions for the Isles' governance.

The chiefs were imprisoned because they did not agree with the King's plans. Donald was imprisoned at Blackness Castle. His release was granted when he finally surrendered to the King. He died in 1616, and his nephew, Sir Donald MacLeod, succeeded him as the first Baronet of Sleat.

The Sleat possessions remained secure because Sir Alexander MacDonald did not participate in the 1745 rising.

MacDonald of Sleat Places & People

Sleat People Clan MacDonald

John Alexander MacDonald (1815-91).

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 of Sleat Tartans

MacDonald of Sleat Modern

MacDonald of Sleat Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan MacDonald of Sleat Crest:

Crest Description: A fesswise hand in armour holding a cross crosslet fitchée Gules

Coats of Arms for MacDonald of Sleat:

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.

Sleat McDonald's Standard

SLEAT MacDONALD

Quarterly, Or, a hand in armour, fessways, Proper, holding a cross crosslet fitchée, Gules; 3rd, Or, a lymphad, sails furled and oars in action, Sable, flagged, Gules; 4th, Vert, a salmon, naiant, in fess, Proper.