Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 18 on 8/1/2005.

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The great survivors (MacGregors)

No clan has suffered more than the MacGregors. But as James Irvine Robertson reports, it has survived and is flourishing

That the clan survives is astonishing, that it flourishes even more so, for its history and the record of oppression against it is unique in the Highlands, and dreadful.

For two and a half centuries they were persecuted. At times the name was banned; anyone who killed a MacGregor was entitled to his property; the women were branded on the cheek; and hounds were used by the authorities to track members of the clan and kill them.

It was even said that these beasts were suckled on the breasts of women of the clan so that they should be able to scent MacGregors and follow their trail. And it all stemmed from a single, terrible misjudgment.

The origin of Clan Gregor is similar to many others. Its alternative name is Clan Alpin since it claims descent from a brother of King Kenneth MacAlpin who united Pict and Scot in the ninth century.

More likely is that the clan had existed since time immemorial, its members being the first to ‘make smoke’ in the lands of Glen Orchy, Glen Lochy and Glen Dochart in the southern Highlands.

They emerge from obscurity in the reign of Malcolm Canmore (1057-1093) and by the time of Alexander II, (1214-1249) were vassals of the Earl of Ross. The clan fought at Bannockburn and the chief, Malcolm, was wounded in the service of King Robert Bruce’s brother Edward in Ireland.

Clan Gregor held its territory by the sword. The Campbells began their expansion from the west in the reign of David II (1329-1371). They obtained a charter from the king over Gl.....

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By James Irvine Robertson

Section : Scottish Clans

Page number : 47