The clan MacNachtan

James Irvine Robertson looks at another of Scotland's great familes

?Spelling was never a subject of much interest to our ancestors. Anything seemed all right so long as others knew what was intended. When it came to family names, only the advent of the census in the 19th century led to some kind of codification and, when the clerk was an English speaker and the name was Gaelic, some curiosities resulted. So just as people of the same descent can be Stewart, Stuart, Steuart and so on, so the MacNaughtons are the same as the MacNachtans and both are pronounced MacNorton.
The name means from ‘Son of Nechtan' an old Pictish royal name that appears several times in the king lists from the 5th century in north east Scotland. It was also used by the Cenel Loarn, the royal house of Lorne in the Dark Ages and, since the Clan MacNachtan first appear in the record as land holders in Argyllshire, it is probable that the founder of the clan first won power in the west of Scotland. The first chief in the record was Malcolm MacNachtan, mentioned as the father of Gillechrist MacNachtan who built a church at the head of Loch Fyne and presented it to Inchaffray Abbey in 1246. He received a charter of hereditary keepership of the royal castle on Fraoch Eilean, the heathery isle, in the middle of Loch Awe from Alexander III in 1267. A mile further up the loch lies the mighty Castle of Kilchurn built by the Campbells and the MacNachtans did a remarkable job in keeping their identity in the shadow of such powerful neighbours. In 1292 Gilbert MacNachtan was one ...

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• By : James Irvine Robertson
• In : Clans
• Issue : 57
• Page : 70
• Words : 1,087