Our Clan
Tales told by the fire
A brounie in the cellar, a horse that swam Loch Fyne, and a chief who sent his taxes by deer. Some of it may even be true.
Legends of the chiefs
c. 1249
The roebuck’s gold
Ordered by King Alexander II to send his taxes “by the fleetest messenger,” Lachlan Mòr tied the money bags to the antlers of a roebuck. It is why two roebucks support the chief’s arms, and why our newsletter is called The Roebuck.
The Middle Ages
A pair of gloves on a rock
Each year the chief paid his feu duty by laying a pair of gloves on a great rock called Capull Cruaidh near Strachur. Once he turned away, his servant quietly picked them up and carried them home for next year.
The Crusades
A promise between neighbours
The MacLachlan chief and the Campbell laird of Strachur swore that if either fell fighting the Saracens, the other would bring his body home to Lochfyneside. For generations afterwards, each house attended the other’s funerals.
The clan’s guardian
Master Harry, the brounie
Castle Lachlan had its own brounie, a household spirit named Master Harry who watched over the family for generations. He was so offended by the first MacLachlan–Campbell marriage that he made the whole wedding feast vanish.
In the summer of 1745 the young chief found Master Harry weeping in the cellar. “There is a stranger arrived this day in the North,” the brounie mourned, “whose fortunes you will follow and never return.” Prince Charles had landed. Lachlan sent out the fiery cross and rode to join him, and he fell at Culloden, as the brounie foretold.
Omens of Culloden
The chief’s horse. On his way to join the Prince, Lachlan stopped to pray at the old chapel of Killevin. When he remounted, his horse turned three times widdershins, against the sun. Lachlan knew then that he would never see Argyll again.
The riderless return. After the battle, the chief’s horse broke away from the survivors, swam across Loch Fyne, and brought the first news of the disaster home. It lived on in the ruined castle, and some still say they hear a horse whinny among the walls.
Tales of the families
MacLachlans of Auchentroig
Kidnapped by Rob Roy
After a MacLachlan offended him at the Aberfoyle fair, Rob Roy MacGregor attacked the laird’s house. He failed, came back, and carried off the laird and his son for ransom. Records of the payment survive, and the two men are said to have become friends afterwards.
MacLachlans of Kilbride
The runaway bride
A MacLachlan who went to Aberdeen to buy cattle eloped with the Duke of Gordon’s daughter. Years later they sent their two little boys ahead to the castle, and the Duke and Duchess recognized their grandsons at once.
MacEwens of Galloway
Blood is thicker than water
In 1745 four MacEwen brothers fought on opposite sides at Blair Castle. Ordered to shoot his Jacobite brother, John MacEwen refused, and his commander, Sir Andrew Agnew, kept him on anyway.
MacEwens of Lennox
The strongmen of Luss
The MacEwens of Loch Lomondside were famed for their strength. One is said to have carried a stone coffin under one arm, and its lid under the other, from the loch to the churchyard at Luss.
MacLachlans of Kilchoan
The wailing waterfall
This family had a brounie too. It wailed at a nearby waterfall whenever a son went off to war. The last of the line fought in America and came home with a Newfoundland dog that swam the flooded River Euchar beside him.
MacLachlans of Coruanan
The hidden banner
After Culloden a MacLachlan of Coruanan, hereditary standard bearer to Cameron of Lochiel, escaped with the Cameron chief’s banner. The family hid it until 1877, when it was returned to the Camerons.
Bring your family’s stories to the tent.
Members share their own family legends in The Roebuck.