MacPhee

Gaelic Name: MacDubh-shithe

Clan Crest: A demi lion rampant, Proper

Clan Motto: Pro rege (For the king)

Origin of Name: Gaelic, MacDubh-shithe (Son of the Dark Fairy)

Clan Badge: Heather

Lands: Colonsay

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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MacPhee Clan History

The Gaelic name Mac a'Phi is spelled Macafie in English, which is sometimes shortened to Macfie or MacPhee. However, the name was most likely Mac Dhuibh Shith or "Son of the Dark Fairy" in its original form. The "dark fairy" is associated with the dark stranger who must be the first to cross the threshold at the start of the new year, bearing gifts of food and drink and symbolizing good fortune. Mac Dhuibh Shith is also anglicised to MacDuffie, another way of referring to the clan, and both names are used to refer to the same person in some early manuscripts.

The identity of this stranger is unknown, but legend claims that the MacPhee family descended from this supernatural creature from the sea. As a result, the MacPhees' descent is shrouded in legend and folklore.

The MacPhees of Colonsay were the hereditary keepers of the Lords of the Isles' records. Unfortunately, with the exception of one medieval charter, these records have vanished almost completely. This charter is written in Gaelic, indicating that the Lordship was administered both in Latin and in the vernacular.

In 1314, the MacFies fought alongside Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

Following the abolition of the Lordship of the Isles, the MacPhees remained loyal to the MacDonald clan, and were complicit in the downfall of the powerful MacDonalds when the MacPhee chief was duped into signing the infamous Statutes of Iona with other clan chiefs. When Colonsay passed into the hands of others.

Clan Donald supporters were frequently involved in clashes with the MacLeans of Duart. Malcolm, the clan's last chief, supported an uprising led by Sir James Macdonald, which resulted in Malcolm's murder by Kitto MacDonald in 1623.

The clan became so dispersed that the name MacPhee has become synonymous with the profession of itinerant tinsmiths known as "tinkers" today. Many MacPhee clansmen settled on the mainland in Cameron country, while others relocated to other islands. Lochaber was then designated as the clan's heartland.

When Bonny Prince Charlie arrived at Glenfinnan in 1745, MacFie pipers were present, and MacFie's fought on the right flank of the Jacobite army at Culloden. Many of the clansmen who died are buried alongside their Cameron allies.

Following Dr. Earle Douglas MacPhee of Vancouver, BC, Canada's worldwide rallying of Clan Mcfie members, the Lord Lyon King of Arms recognized the Clan as an active clan on May 27th, 1981. For the first time in 370 years, Clan Macfie met in Parliament on the island of Colonsay in 1993. Lord Strathcona, the current owner of the island, donated some land to erect the Standing Stone as a memorial to Malcolm Macfie, the last clan chief. An ad hoc derbhfine was called to select a suitable candidate for the position. Lord Lyon appointed Iain Morris McFie as Commander or Ceann-Cath of Clan Macfie in the autumn of 2008.

MacPhee Places & People

People of Clan MacPhee (MacFie)

Malcolm MacPhee died in 1623.

The last MacPhee chief on Colonsay, remembered for his attempt to flee his enemies and his untimely death beneath a mound of seaweed!

George MacPhee was born in 1937.

He is a renowned musician and conductor who is in high demand for recital tours both at home and abroad. He is a music lecturer at Glasgow's Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

MacPhee Tartans

MacPhee Contemporary

MacPhee Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan MacPhee Crest

Proper crest: A demi lion rampant

Coats of Arms of MacPhee

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.

On September 25, 1985, Clan Commander A. C. (Sandy) McPhie of Townsville, Q'ld, Australia, inherited undifferenced from his late father Hector Kitchener McPhie of Toowoomba, Q'ld, Australia.

In chief, a sword Argent point downwards, hilted and pommelled of the second, between two pheons also points downwards of the last, in base, a lymphad Sable under sail of the third and flagged of the first, within a bordure chequy Or and Azure for difference. Above the shield is a Helmet befitting his degree, with a Mantling Azure doubled Or, and for Crest a demi-lion rampant Sable charged with a pheon point downwards Or, with the Motto "PRO REGE" in an Escrol over the same.