Today in MacAlister history

Hector and Margaret of Kilberry

2012-03-11T11:11:00.005-05:00

On this day in 1620, Hector Macalister, 6th laird of Loup, married Margaret Campbell. Margaret was the daughter of Colin Campbell of Kilberry, who had died the previous year.

Because of his marriage to a Campbell, Clan Donald historians have traditionally assumed that Hector sided with the Covenanters (or at least didn't stand in their way) during Alasdair MacColla Macdonald's 1647 reign of destruction in Kintyre, despite the fact that the Loup family had always been Royalists and followers of the Clan Donald (from whom they originally sprang). As is often the case, however, the situation was more complicated than it appears. To begin with, although his brother-in-law was a Campbell, his son-in-law was in fact Alasdair MacColla, which means Hector was equally connected to both sides.[1] If being related by marriage to a collateral branch of the Campbell clan might make him lean towards the Campbell chief, would being related by marriage to MacColla himself not make him even more inclined to support his traditional Clan Donald ally? In fact, Campbells, Macdonalds, Macalisters, Macleans and other local clans had been intermarrying for centuries, and although these marriages did occasionally succeed in forging alliances between rival families, such alliances never lasted very long. If Hector's course were chosen based on whom he was connected to, it would have made most sense for him to simply lie low.

The few records that exist, however, suggest that Hector did not take that path. At the time that David Leslie's force passed by Tarbert (which again has been taken as evidence that the Macalisters 'allowed' the Covenanters access to Kintyre), Hector was among those besieging Skipness Castle on MacColla’s orders.[2] He is later said to have been one of two clan chiefs who approached General Leslie after the Royalist defeat at Rhunahaorine, offering to renounce their allegiance to MacColla in exchange for assurances that their clans would not be destroyed by the victors.[3] This would seem to suggest that such an allegiance had in fact existed.

In any case, Hector was not at Dunaverty with those of his clansmen who died there, he did not lose his lands like longtime associates such as Macdonald of Largie, and he is on record in later years in roles of responsibility in Kintyre. Whatever his final position in the conflict of the 1640s, the marriage contracted 11 March 1620 was destined to last for many years and produce several children. One of them, Godfrey, succeeded his father as chief of the clan about 1664. Margaret outlived her husband - she is on record in 1670.

^{^[1]}That Hector's daughter married MacColla seems to be accepted by everyone, including historians as respected as David Stevenson and Colm MacNee. Documentary evidence is said to exist, but I feel obligated to acknowledge that I have not yet seen it myself. However, without evidence to the contrary, I have no real reason to doubt those who have.

^{^[2]}A. Campbell of Airds, History of the Clan Campbell, vol. II, pp. 238-9

^{^[3]}Letter of 11 June 1647 from French ambassador Jean de Montereul to Cardinal Mazarin (J. G. Fotheringham, pp. 151-2). MacColla was at this time evacuating the main part of his force to Islay on its way to Ireland. In light of the fact that many of MacColla's local supporters were massacred at Dunaverty only a couple of weeks later, making nice with Leslie was probably the wisest move these men could have made.

Macalisters in the 1857 Gentlemen's Directory

2012-03-06T08:26:00.001-06:00

In March of 1857, the Directory to Noblemen and Gentlemen's Seats, Villages, etc. etc. in Scotland: Giving the Counties in which they are situated, the post-town to which each is attached, and the name of the resident was published in Edinburgh under the patronage of the Scottish post office. The information for this directory was obtained by means of questionnaires sent to post offices and individual residences. If a questionnaire was not returned, no information could be given about the residents, but the place was listed anyway so that the information could be included later.

The Directory gives us a glimpse of the location of significant Macalister families in Scotland at this time. The chiefly family had settled in Ayrshire some time before this, and there they are found in 1857: Major Somerville Macalister, proprietor of Kennox House, is the clan chief, Charles the 13th of Loup; also living at Kennox House is C[harles] S[omerville] M'Allister, the future 14th of Loup. James Macalester of Chapelton, near Stewarton (Ayrshire) is the brother of the chief - he is erroneously called John in the index.

N. M. Macalister, MD, represents both the Tarbert family (on his father's side) and the Strathaird family (through his mother). This is Norman, brother of Alexander of Torrisdale

who had by this year removed himself and his family from Scotland. Norman seems to have been left in charge of the Strathaird estate, although most historical references to the estate indicate that Alexander was the actual proprietor.

The Clan Alasdair Bheag is represented by James D. Macalister, a farmer in Kilcattan (Bute), and Robert Macalister of Ascog (also Bute). There are also three whose origins are not clear: Reverend D. M'Allister at Stitchell Manse (4 miles from Kelso in Roxburghshire); Archibald Macalister of West Clyth Cottage, Caithness; and William & John Macalister, thread manufacturers in Paisley, who I'm guessing were probably brothers.

It appears that Glenbarr, Balinakill, and Inistrynich were among the questionnaires not returned. The places are listed, but no further information is given. This is unfortunate, because aside from Glenbarr (which was owned by Keith Brodie Macalister), I am not sure who was living in the other two locations. Angus of Balinakill had died in 1839; his only child, Charlotte, married Edward Seaton in 1846, and by 1861 was living in England.[1] The Inistrynich estate had passed on the death of Keith Macdonald Macalister (about 1855) to his daughters Ann Amelia Crichton and Margaret Frances North. However, Ann and Charles Crichton were living in Fort William and Margaret and Brownlow North in Oxford, so neither seems to have taken up residence on their father's estate.[2] It's possible that their step-mother and young half-sister were still living there, but by 1858, when the property was rented by the painter Philip Gilbert Hamerton, ownership had evidently passed to William Campbell Muir.

The Directory of 1857 can be found online at

www.archive.org/stream/directorytonoble1857dire#page/n7/mode/2up.

[1] Sir William MacKinnon did not purchase the Balinakill estate until 1867.

[2] Journal of the House of Lords, vol. 88 (1856-7), pp. 49-50ff.

Death of a Redshank Chief

2012-02-27T16:29:00.013-06:00

On this day in 1572, Sir William FitzWilliam, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, wrote to Queen Elizabeth with an update on the situation in that country. The letter included a number of enclosures, among them "Note of Aghen M'Owen Duffe M'Alastran, otherwise called the Lord of Loope, more esteemed than Sorley Boy, and other chief Scots, slain at the overthrow of their footmen by Cheston."[1]

Although most historians who record the incident call this laird of Loup John M’Owen Duffe, the Macalister chieftain in this year was in fact Hector, 3rd of Loup.[2] The death of Hector Macalister was evidently seen by the Lord Deputy as a significant loss to the Scots. He is named, while others killed in the battle are simply 'chief Scots'. To say that he was ‘more esteemed’ than Clan Donald hero Somhairle Buidhe (Sorley Boy) - who had seized his late brother’s Ulster estates for himself and proceeded to make an enormous nuisance of himself to the English authorities in Ireland – might have been an exaggeration, but Hector was certainly “a considerable figure in Clan Donald South”.[3]

The particular battle in which Hector was killed probably took place near Carrickfergus. It does not appear to have been especially notable, just another episode in the ongoing conflict between the Macdonnells of the Glens of Antrim and the English forces in Ireland. But the record of Loup's death in this clash is significant to Macalister history because it highlights two longstanding Macalister traditions: military service in Ireland, and support for the Clan Iain Mòr.

Macalister chieftains had been leading their clansmen to battle in Ireland since the very founding of the clan. Alasdair Mòr, the clan's progenitor, appears to have spent much of his adult life fighting in Ireland, and generations of Clan Alasdair chieftains followed in his footsteps. Unlike the gallòglaich, who settled permanently in Ireland to serve as mercenary forces for whoever would pay them, the Macalister chiefs were among those later described as Redshanks: seasonal warriors, coming to fight for a time before returning to their homes in the Highlands and Western Isles. It is not at all surprising, therefore, that Hector of Loup happened to be there when Captain Thomas Cheston defeated a force of Scots.

Hector's death in the service of Somhairle Buidhe (Sorley Boy), younger brother of Sir James Macdonald of Dunyvaig, illustrates the Macalisters' continued alliance with the Dunyvaig family - chiefly family of the Clan Iain Mòr or Clan Donald South. Somhairle Buidhe was head at this time of the Macdonnells of Antrim and the Glens, the Ulster branch of Clan Iain Mòr. As the Macalisters reliably supported the Dunyvaig family against its foes in Scotland (including the Scottish king), they also gave Somhairle Buidhe "their most strenuous support”[4] against his foes in Ireland (including the English Queen).

By dying in Ireland, following his military forebears in support of his clan's closest allies, 'Aghen M'Owen Duffe, Lord of Loope', gave us a snapshot of the clan in its historical context.

[1] Calendar of the State Papers Relating to Ireland, of the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, 1509-1573 (Vol. XXXV, p. 466).

[2] Apparently these writers took Aghen to be a variant of Ewen or Owen, and these names to be equivalent to Iain (the Lord Deputy himself used Owen for Iain in the chief’s patronymic); accordingly they assumed his English name was John. However, even if Ewen/Owen were the same name as Iain (which they're not), Aghen would not be a logical variant. Irish -gh- equates in Scots Gaelic not to -w- but to -ch- (compare Irish lough/Scottish loch), which makes Aghen much closer phonetically to the Scots Gaelic name Eachainn than to Iain. Eachainn was always rendered Hector in English.

[3] G. A. Hayes-McCoy, Scots Mercenary Forces in Ireland, quoted by Alastair Campbell of Airds in A History of Clan Campbell, vol. 2, p. 117.

[4] Donald J. MacDonald of Castleton, Clan Donald, p. 166

Scuffle at Balinakill

2012-02-16T11:47:00.000-06:00

In February of 1827, an altercation took place at Balinakill House between Angus Macalister, whose home it was, and Alexander Campbell, Messenger at Arms in Lochgilphead. Macalister's brother John was also involved. The meeting was "disastrous" and led to charges being filed by each party against the other: The Macalisters charged Campbell with ‘hamesucken’ (forced entry to a man's home with intent to assault him) and assault; Campbell charged the Macalisters with assault as well, along with interfering with a Messenger in the course of his duties.

The purpose of Campbell's visit is unclear, but in light of this last charge, it seems that he had come to deliver some sort of court document.[1] He then had a considerable wait for his transport to return from Campbeltown on its way back north. Angus Macalister refused to let him stay for the evening meal, so Campbell went to nearby Clachan for food. Afterwards he returned to Balinakill House, and this seems to be where the trouble began.

At this point, the accounts given by those involved diverge. Mr Campbell reported that when he returned to Balinakill (“on pretence of seeking for something”, according to John Macalister), Angus Macalister “knocked him down, repeatedly leaped upon his body, cut and bled him, and . . . called out ‘Murder’ six or seven times”. Campbell's assistant, Donald Jackson, backed up this version of events.

Upon investigating, however, the Procurator Fiscal heard a very different story from servants who were in the house at the time. They told him that they “heard no noise or quarreling or cries of Murder. One of them who was in the room saw Campbell asleep on a sofa and heard Ballinakiel refuse to give him dinner and no person saw marks of violence on Campbell except Jackson”. John Macalister claimed that, rather than being attacked by Balinakill, Campbell upon returning had struck both Macalisters violently, apparently for no real reason; a doctor confirmed that the blow was serious enough to put John’s life in danger for several days.

For the modern reader, with little knowledge of the individuals and personalities involved, it is hard not to conclude that everyone involved behaved badly. The Macalisters were inhospitable, Campbell was vindictive, and all of them were evidently prone to exaggeration. It is likely, however, that these men knew one another and had histories together that might have led to ill will. The Procurator Fiscal, who investigated, reported to the Sheriff that “ ‘I am disposed to believe that Campbell is the guilty person and that he is the one who ought to be taken up in place of Ballinakiel. For my own part however, I would not venture to apply for a warrant against either.’

"The same view was taken by the Lord Advocate's office and no proceedings took place."[2]

[1] A Messenger at Arms is a civil officer of the court responsible for serving documents (such as summonses and letters of horning) and enforcing court orders. The fact that the Macalisters were clearly not happy to have him there might be further evidence of this.

[2] This story comes from A. I. B. Stewart’s article “The Duel”, in Kintyre Magazine (issue 18, Spring 1985). Links to the web version of this publication keep disappearing, but you can find the article at http://www.ralstongenealogy.com/number18kintmag.htm#second

Campbell of Kilmory

2012-02-09T07:16:00.005-06:00

On this day in 1589, Archibald Macalister, heir apparent of Tarbert, was named in a bond of caution signed by Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglas for the good behaviour of Donald Campbell of Kilmore (Kilmory) and Donald’s son Dougall. The Kilmory Campbells were “particularly aggressive and unruly, and gave much trouble to the family of Tarbert”, according to Castleton.[1] In fact, these men had been harrying, or possibly feuding with, several local lairds - in addition to Macalister, James Lamont of Inchirin and John MacSorley of Moneydrain are named.[2]

Bonds of caution could serve several purposes, but in cases like this, they were essentially restraining orders. Donald and Dougall Campbell were henceforce to leave Inchirin, Moneydrain, and the heir of Tarbert, as well as their tenants and servants, alone. Sir James, who was a kinsman of the Kilmory family, was required to put up £1,000 as surety for Donald’s compliance and £500 for Dougall’s. The money served a double purpose: Should the Kilmory Campbells continue to misbehave, it could be given as compensation to their victims, and the threat of its loss provided strong motivation for Sir James to keep his lawless relations in line.

It appears that in this case, the bond of caution was effective; if further action was taken, I have found no mention of it. The next few glimpses we get of the Tarbert family have them in the role of aggressor, a role with which they seem to have been rather more familiar. There is however a mildly interesting post-script to the story: Prime Minister David Cameron is a direct descendant of the “aggressive and unruly” Donald Campbell of Kilmory.[3]

[1]Donald J. MacDonald of Castleton, Clan Donald, p. 167.

[2]Alistair Campbell of Airds, A History of the Clan Campbell (vol. 2), p. 96

[3]Campbell is David Cameron’s 12-great-grandfather. (This information comes from http://fabpedigree.com/s032/f104208.htm, though the page’s owner gives no source. The descent can be traced through various editions of Burke’s Peerage – see www.thepeerage.com/p19850.htm#i198494.)

Macalisters in the 1694 Hearth Tax lists

2012-02-02T20:20:00.018-06:00

On this day in 1694, Alexander McArthur, subcollector of the hearth tax in the shire of Argyll and Bute, presented to the authorities his list of 'hearths' (or dwellings) in these shires. The hearth tax was levied in the 1690s to raise money for one of William II's wars against Catholic France. Each hearth was assessed at 14 shillings, so that bigger dwellings - those with multiple hearths - paid more. (The very poor were not required to pay the hearth tax.)[1] The lists compiled for this purpose thus give the name of the landholder, the location of the dwelling, and the number of hearths in each.

These lists provide a glimpse into who was living in the area at this point, but some caution is needed as the accuracy and completeness varies from shire to shire. There are nine Macalisters listed in Kintyre; in Knapdale (part of which is now considered North Kintyre) there are eleven. They are settled in small clumps from as far north as Lochgilphead all the way south to the Mull of Kintyre. The Alexander McAllester residing at Ardpatrick, which is where the Loup family lived at this time, probably represents that family; and John McAllester 'of Lochead' - Macalister of Ceannlochcaolisport - is also named. But some Macalister families known to have been in the area are omitted. The Balinakill estate is not listed under any name at all, although it’s possible that Balinakill was between residents and therefore lacked inhabitants to tax.[2] A more glaring omission is Archibald Macalister of Tarbert. There are two Macalisters in Tarbert proper, but neither is an Archibald, and the only Archibald living on Tarbert lands is found not in the castle but on a multiple-tenant farm at Glenakill.

There are also Macalisters who appear on the list in disguise, such as Isobel Campbell of Daill. Isobel was the daughter of Archibald Macalister of Balinakill. She married Malcolm McKellar, wadsetter of Daill, in 1673; staying on the property after his death in 1686, she married again, this time to a Mr Campbell.

Macalister hearths in Kintyre:

Hector & Angus McAlester - 2 hearths in Kilcolmkill (now Keil)

Ronald McAllester & Charles McAllester, 1 each in Kilirvan

Ronald McAllester - 1 in Campbelton

Donald McAllister - 1 in Ulodell (parish of Killean, Saddell & Kilchenzie)

Archibald McAllester - 1 in Bellochger (same)

Allexander McAllister - 1 in Auchaluskin & Killean (same)

Angus McIllester - 1 in Drumore (near Campbelton)

Hendrie McAllester - 1 in Putachan (Killean)

Macalister hearths in Knapdale:

Allexander McAllester - 5 hearths in Ardffadrick (Ardpatrick)

John & Hector McAllester (along with three Smiths, possibly brothers) - 5 hearths in Ashens

Archibald McAllester (along with three other men) - 4 hearths in Glenakill

Allexander and Coll McAllester (along with quite a few others) - 12 hearths in Tarbert

Charles McAllester - 1 in Lochhead

John McAllester of Lochead (probably Ceanlochcaolisport family) - 1 in Lochead

Allexander McAllester - 1 in Ellary

Ranald McAllester - 1 in Brenfeorlin

Duncan McAllester - 1 in Barbe (Barbrae Ross)

[1]National Archives of Scotland: Taxation (http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/taxation.asp).

[2]John Dow Macalister of Balinakill died in 1693; five years later the estate was purchased from a Campbell family by Archibald Macalister.

Macalisters in Viet Nam

2012-01-27T06:45:00.001-06:00

On this day in 1973 the Peace Paris Accords were signed, officially ending the United States’ part of the Vietnam War, although the last troops did not leave for months. There were certainly Macalisters among the Americans lost in the conflict (the name appears in various forms twelve times on the Vietnam Wall memorial in Washington, DC), and many others served but survived.

But Americans were not the only Macalisters to serve in Viet Nam. Among the nearly 60,000 Australians who fought there were at least eighteen members of this clan.[1] New Zealand sent about 4,000 combatants altogether, including Squadron Leader D G McAllister and Sgt. R L McAllister.[2] Canada was officially a neutral country, but “while Canada as a nation was not involved, Canadians themselves formed the largest foreign contingent in the U.S. military during the Vietnam era”. Perhaps 12,000 Canadians saw combat in Viet Nam[3]; it is not unlikely that some of these were Macalisters. (For several reasons, details about individual Canadians who fought in Viet Nam can be difficult to find.)

All of the Australian and New Zealand Macalisters appear to have survived the war, but Vietnam veterans of these countries faced the same difficulties back at home as their American comrades. They returned to fellow citizens who were at best indifferent and at worst actively hostile to them. Veterans of their nations' previous wars often refused to acknowledge their service and suffering. For years their governments denied that exposure to chemical agents like Agent Orange might have caused the lingering physical problems some of them faced, and so the medical help they needed was often not forthcoming. In Australia and New Zealand, as in the US, it was not until the late 1980s that the sacrifices of these veterans were recognised and they were formally welcomed home.

The experience of Vietnam vets who returned to Canada has been a bit different. The war in which they fought was not a Canadian war, and so they are not recognised as veterans in their own country. This means that many of the support structures available to other Canadian veterans are not open to them. They are not usually included in Remembrance Day events or admitted to official veterans organisations.[4] Many Canadians (and most Americans) are unaware that they even exist. It can certainly be argued that since their government didn't send them to Viet Nam, it has no responsibility to acknowledge or reward their service there. However, the isolation of these vets and the lack of any official support have made the lot of Canada’s Vietnam veterans (and any Macalisters among them) perhaps the most difficult of all.

[1] Australian Government Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs, Nominal Roll of Vietnam Veterans (http://www.vietnamroll.gov.au/home.aspx)

[2] New Zealand History Online (http://vietnamwar.govt.nz/resources/veterans-roll?page=3&apage=M)

[3] Fred Graffen of the Canadian War Museum, in an article that first appeared in Vietnam Magazine. It is now available on-line (http://www.vwam.com/vets/allies/canadians.html).

[4] Ibid. That said, there are several informative web sites operated by individual veterans of Canada's own military which have attempted to make people aware of these veterans, and they are honoured along with veterans of other conflicts in the Canadian War Museum.

Macalister Hall and the Campbeltown Library

2012-01-20T15:00:00.031-06:00

On this day in 1899, James Macalister Hall was awarded the Freedom of Campbeltown. He was only the third person to receive this honour (the first two having been the Duke of Argyll and the Marquess of Lorne), which suggests that his contribution to the area must have been felt to be considerable. According to the Scotsman, the award was presented to Macalister Hall at his home because of his age and ill health.[1]

Macalister Hall grew up in Campbeltown, the son of a grocer. His mother, Grace, belonged to a family of Macalisters from one of the Cumbrae Islands. They have no obvious connection to any of the leading clan families. Like the Strathaird family, however, these Macalisters made names for themselves in the British East India Company, of which James eventually became Director. They then set about acquiring property. James Macalister Hall purchased the estates of Killean and Tangy in 1875; at his death in 1904, the property passed first to his brother Stuart, who died childless, then to a nephew, and eventually to James and Stuart’s sister, Grace. The estate was broken up about 1940. Another brother, Peter, rented Torris- dale Castle in the 1860s; Peter’s son William actually purchased Torrisdale, changing his name to Macalister-Hall in the process, and that estate remains in the Macalister-Hall family to this day.

James Macalister Hall was very successful and became quite wealthy. He used his resources to benefit his hometown. About 1895, when local civic groups declared the absence of a public library “an affront to civic dignity”, James Macalister Hall offered to fund the building of a library. "Campbeltown's new Library and Museum was formally handed over to the town” in January 1898.[2] The building, constructed by Glasgow architect J. J. Burnet, is known as the Burnet building.

In its early days, the museum was operated by the librarian. Donations were accepted of almost anything, the result being a rather eclectic collection. Although the library was eventually moved to a new leisure centre, the Campbeltown Museum remains in the Burnet building[3] – the most visible of the contributions for which this clansman was given the Freedom of Campbeltown on 20th January 1899.

[1]“Freedom of Campbeltown”, the Scotsman, 19 May 1945, p. 4

[2] “Campbeltown's New Library and Museum, 1899", Michael Davis, in Kintyre Magazine web edition, issue 45: Spring 1999

[3] http://www.visitkintyre.info/activities/campbeltown-museum/index.htm

The Askomil Incident

2012-01-09T11:09:00.006-06:00

On this day in 1598, Godfrey Macalister of Loup, Sir James Macdonald of Dunyvaig, and several hundred armed retainers—“barbarous wikked and bludie Hieland men", according to records of the trial[1]—attacked and burned Askomil House, with James’s parents and Godfrey’s cousins inside. Everyone escaped, although James’s father, Angus Macdonald, was badly burned.

A year and a half earlier, Angus had renounced his lands and position to his son in effort to protect the family's position from his own forfeiture. Angus probably saw this as a tem- porary measure, a way to get through the crisis with as little damage as possible. James, however, seems to have felt that the lands were now his, and he was attempting to take over his father's role as the chieftain of Clan Donald South. “A quarrel among the Macallasters of Loupe favoured his designs, and seems to have suggested to him the idea of procuring his father’s death, as if by accident. . . .”[2] Angus had taken in the sons of the Tutor of Loup, whom Godfrey had recently killed (see 'A Macalister Murder', 26 December 2011). But Godfrey was “verrie desyrous to haif thair lyves”[3], and when Angus refused to turn them over, the two rebels set fire to the house.

We do not know what happened after this between Godfrey and his kinsmen, but Sir James apparently never patched things up with his parents. His mother and father both testified against him when he was put on trial in 1609, for the Askomil incident and various other misdeeds. Sir James was convicted and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out. After six years in prison, he was allowed to go abroad; he died in London in 1626, the last of the Dunyvaig chieftains.[4]

As for Godfrey, although he was probably the instigator, his role in the Askomil incident appears to have been overlooked. The transcripts of Sir James’s trial clearly state that Godfrey had murdered his tutor, but he was evidently never prosecuted for either of these crimes. Later histories often fail to mention the Loup connection at all. From the govern-ment's perspective, it probably made more sense to go after James. The West Highlands were still outwith anything approaching royal control, and Sir James was de facto chieftain of one of the most powerful septs of the Clan Donald - a clan whose very existence seemed to spark insurrections. It may be that the government looked on Askomil as an opportunity to finally bring down the Macdonalds of Dunyvaig. Clan Alasdair, on the other hand, could be allowed the occasional murder or house-burning. They were simply not as dangerous.

[1] Pitcairn’s Trials, vol. III, p. 6

[2] Gregory, pp. 280-1

[3] Pitcairn, ibid.

[4] The reason for his lenient treatment was never given, but at the time of his trial, Sir James claimed to have a letter from the king commissioning him to raise a force against his father. If this letter really existed, it throws a very different light on his actions. Some historians have suggested that James used the letter to buy his own life.

Ceannlochcaolisport

2012-01-03T10:47:00.009-06:00

On this day in 1685, the testament of Elizabeth Campbell was registered in Argyll. Elizabeth was the wife of John M'Alester ‘of Kendloch of Kelisport', one English rendering of Ceann-lochcaolisport. This is one of the very few records I’ve been able to find concerning this family, but the little information available does tell us a few things.

For one thing, we know where they lived. Ceannlochcaolisport means 'at the head of Loch Caolisport', which is exactly where this family's lands were. Where they originated is less clear. Loch Caolisport is a fair bit north of either the Tarbert or the Loup lands, which makes it difficult to even guess which family these Macalisters belonged to - if either. But the fact that they are 'of' Ceannlochcaolisport tells us that they were a significant family in their own right by the time they first appear on record. Another piece of evidence for this is the inclusion of ‘Hector McAlister, son to Kenlochkeillisport’, in a list of those permitted to act as cattle drovers from June to October of 1684. Cattle rustling was not a new problem in the Highlands – one writer has called it a national sport - but at this point the government was making a fresh attempt to establish its authority in these parts, and "strict controls were enforced on the movement of beasts. . . . [A] drover was frequently a man of some standing, reflecting the importance of the cattle trade in the economy, even at this period.”[1]

Available evidence also gives us a glimpse of the family’s politics. Government lists of those who took part in the Earl of Argyll's rebellion in May 1685 include ‘McAlaster, fiar of Kin-lochshallifort at Kilmichael’.[2] This is interesting in light of the fact that both the Laird of Loup and the Captain of Tarbert actively (if ineffectively) opposed Argyll's mostly-Lowland forces. Perhaps it reflects this family’s location, which put them closer to the lands tradi-tionally owned by the Campbell chiefs. Or it might indicate a Presbyterian bent that those Macalisters further south had yet to acquire.

What happened to this family requires more research. It's possible that their involvement in the Argyll rebellion cost them their lands. Although they are mentioned in the Statistical Account of Scotland (“there are four ancient chapels, which have suffered but little from the rust of time. A fifth was removed by the Macalisters of Ceannlochcaolisport, on account of its contiguity to their house”[3]), by the time of the New Statistical Account (1840), the Macalisters of Ceannlochcaolisport appear to be no more.

[1] Alistair Campbell of Airds, A History of Clan Campbell, vol. 3, pp. 38-9; source is Register of the Privy Council.

[2] ibid., vol. 3, p. 56, from a combined list held by Argyll archives

[3] Stat. Acct., parish of South Knapdale, pp. 313-4.

Mistaken Identity

2012-01-01T15:05:00.007-06:00

On this day in 1661, Hector Mcalaster of Loup is named for the last time in parliamentary records.[1] In an Act of Parliament written on this day, he is one of the Argyllshire men that Charles II "appoints and ordains . . . . to be commissioners . . . for regulating, ordering and uplifting" of an excise voted to him by parliament. This sort of special tax was raised on oc- casion for various reasons, and on the surface the only thing it tells us about the Macalister chief is that he was, at this time, viewed as a reliable citizen.

In fact, however, its significance is greater. Many respected and otherwise reliable historians claim that Hector of Loup was hanged with his sons shortly after the 1647 massacre at Dunaverty. At first glance, this is not an unreasonable assumption, since Loup like his clan had sided with Alasdair MacColla (who was probably also his son-in-law). It would make sense for someone who opposed Argyll and the forces of General Leslie to have shared the fate of several hundred at Dunaverty Castle and forfeited his life. However, Captain Ian MacDonald, who has made a close study of the branches of Clan Donald in Kintyre, including the Macalisters, states emphatically that this was in fact Hector McAlester of Glenlussa.[2] The compilers of Burke's Peerage agree with him.

So where did the idea come from that it was Loup who was hanged after Dunaverty? It appears that many writers may have taken at face value the testimony given by MacDougall of MacDougall at the trial of the Marquess of Argyll.[3] MacDougall claimed that the MacAlister chief had surrendered to Argyll and was allowed to go home, only to be dragged from his home and hanged anyway. At least the first half of this might well be true: Although he was in Edinburgh at the time and admitted his information was obtained second-hand, a French ambassador reported in a letter home that two clan chiefs – he specifically named Macalister – had come to Argyll the night before the siege of Dunaverty and, hoping to spare the lives and lands of themselves and their clans, had surrendered to him.

But MacDougall, who was an infant when he survived the massacre at Dunaverty (in which his father and scores of his clansmen were killed), was hardly an impartial witness, and other aspects of his testimony were flatly contradicted by witnesses who were old enough at the time to actually remember these events. Believing the worst of Argyll, perhaps he naturally assumed that the Hector hanged after the massacre was the same Hector, and that it was merely further proof of Argyll’s duplicity that he would hang someone who had already surrendered.

Hector Macalister's appointment as commissioner on New Year’s Day 1661 thus has significance in that it proves he was still very much alive.

[1]I believe the Macalister of Loup named in 1663 is also Hector but the first name is not given. He is dead by 1665, when his son Godfrey is styled ‘of Loup’ in his brother’s marriage contract, although Godfrey is not named in Parliamentary records until 1678.

[2] Glenlussa was the ancestor of the later Kingsburgh, Strathaird and Glenbarr families.
[3] Argyll was tried for treason in 1661; found guilty on what were, to be fair, partially trumped-up charges, he was executed.

A Macalister Murder

2011-12-26T22:16:00.037-06:00

At some time late in 1596, Godfrey Macalister of Loup killed his former guardian, the Tutor of Loup. Godfrey had succeeded to the chieftainship as a minor, and he was placed under the care of a guardian, thereafter known as the Tutor of Loup. According to the record of the 1609 trial of James Macdonald of Dunnyveg, "the sons of the late Tutor of Loup were in [James Macdonald's] father's house of Askomil, in Kintyre, and . . . the Laird of Loup (who had slain their father) was very desirous to have their lives".[1]

According to clan legend, as related by several later writers, Godfrey wished to be married to the daughter of a nearby laird, but his Tutor thought the young lady better suited to one of his own sons. Apparently something was done to nix the relationship between Godfrey and his intended, because the Tutor and his family, fearing retribution, fled the area. Some time later, after Godfrey had come of age, the Tutor seems to have decided it was safe to return. When Godfrey caught wind of this, he met his former guardian en route and stabbed him to death. The Tutor’s sons sought the protection of Angus Macdonald of Dunnyveg, who was the strongest of the local lairds and a traditional ally of the Macalister clan.

How much of this is true and how much romantic embellishment, of course, cannot be known. We only know that the killing occurred. Though he was writing of a completely unrelated story in the history of his own clan, Alistair Campbell of Airds’ conclusion applies equally well to our story of Godfrey Macalister and his Tutor: “As so often happens with tales of this sort, there is no historical evidence to support it, but it is not impossible that something of the kind might have happened.”[2]

[1]Robert Pitcairn, Esq., Criminal Trials in Scotland, from AD 1488 to 1624, vol. III, pp. 5-6. The Tutor’s sons were not killed, in the end.

[2]A. Campbell of Airds, A History of Clan Campbell (Edinburgh: Polygon, 2000), vol. 1, p. 31.

Archibald of Tarbert

2011-12-16T14:00:00.319-06:00

On this day in 1737 was registered the testament of Archibald Macalister, 7th laird and 4th Captain of Tarbert. Archibald had lived a relatively long life in eventful times. Though probably born after the civil wars of the 1640s had ended, he nonetheless grew up in the wake of devastation they left on Kintyre. His early childhood was spent under the Common-wealth, surrounded by people who were probably still angered, and perhaps still shocked, by the loss of their autonomy and the death of their king.[1] On top of that, the war had taken on a very local hue in Kintyre, becoming the latest, and possibly the most destructive, battle in the ongoing feud between the Macdonalds (with their allies) and the Campbells (with theirs). Each group in turn had committed acts that would now be considered atrocities, and yet they continued to live side by side; suspicion and hard feeling must have persisted.

The Tarbert family seems to have done well after the wars. Archibald’s father held local appointments under Charles II in the 1670s and maintained the official position of Captain of Tarbert under the Campbells of Argyll. However, 1685 - the year in which Archibald suc- ceeded his father as captain - was a turning point. At the death of King Charles, the Earl of Argyll joined in a rebellion against the newly crowned – and Catholic – James VII; the rebellion failed, the earl was executed, and his family lost its possessions in Kintyre.[2] The Macdonalds and their allies, seeing an opportunity to avenge the wrongs done them in the wars of the previous generation, ran amok over what had been Campbell territories. Archi- bald did his part, raiding Campbell strongholds with his friends. Based on the number of things they stole, it's possible that Archibald joined in the destruction more as an opportunist than out of any real grievance against the Argyll family. On the other hand, more than one observer has pointed out that loyalty to the Stuart kings and opposition to the Argyll family were essentially the same thing in seventeenth-century Kintyre. Certainly when King James was ousted four years later, Archibald became an early and enthusiastic Jacobite, apparently remaining so all his life.

In 1689 Archibald joined in the first of the Jacobite risings. On the 16^th of May, along with Macalister of Loup and MacDonald of Largie, he took part in the last battle fought in Kintyre, the Battle of Loup Hill. The Jacobites were routed, however, and Archibald fled to Ireland. He took no part in the Jacobite victory at Killiecrankie in July, and the death in that battle of Viscount Dundee effectively ending the rising. William and Mary remained on the throne and Argyll's son was restored to all his father's titles and possessions, including the Tarbert properties. Archibald returned to submit to the new government in September.

After this, he seems to have lived at peace with both his Campbell overlord and the new administration. He appears in a legal capacity as executor of the testament of John Macalister of Balinakill in 1693, and purchases the Balinakill property from another Camp- bell family five years later. In 1704, he is on record as a Commissioner of Supply for Argyllshire, suggesting that he was trusted by the authorities - at least with their money![3] In 1705, in one of its final acts before ceasing to exist, the Scottish parliament granted Archibald the right to establish a quarterly fair and weekly market in East Tarbert - events that continued for centuries.

But the records hint that Archibald's Jacobite sympathies remained. A list made in 1715 of the heritors of Argyll marked him as one of those believed to have signed an address of welcome to James VIII ('the Old Pretender'), whose invasion was imminent. Of the 19 named heritors in the Argyll division, only six are so marked, two of them Macalisters. Not long after this, a list was sent to King George of those Argyll landlords he could rely upon for support; Archibald's name is noticeably missing. It appears that despite his family's longstanding connection to the Argyll family, Archibald's loyalties lay entirely with the exiled Stuarts. Perhaps he even anticipated that another opportunity would arise to fight for his king. As it was, he died eight years too soon.

[1]Even Charles's enemies in Scotland, including the Marquess of Argyll, had been appalled by his execution. The Covenanters, led by Argyll, had sought to limit the king's powers, especially over the kirk, but they had never questioned his right to rule. When the English Parliament tried and executed Charles for treason, they killed not only their own king, but also the king of Scotland, a separate nation in which he had been neither tried nor convicted of any crime. It didn’t go over very well in Scotland.

[2]Tarbert castle and its lands reverted to the Crown, which left the Macalisters in place as Captains of Tarbert. However, the Tarbert family ceased to live in the castle at about this time. According to Dr Paul Hopkins, Tarbert, along with most of the area's other castles, had been dismantled in the wake of Argyll's 1685 rebellion; other sources say that it had simply fallen into disrepair, but whatever the reason, the Macalisters built themselves a new home nearby.

[3]Commissioners of Supply were local men appointed to collect various special assessments when these were felt necessary by the government. These assessments sometimes related to the costs of wars, other times to necessary infrastructure improvements or other temporary needs.

Thanks, but Can't We Just Go Home?

2011-12-06T22:14:00.007-06:00

In December of 1651, Alister MacAllister, Daniel (probably Donal) MacAllister, and John MacAllister arrived in New England, becoming the first Macalister immigrants to the future United States on record, as far as I know. This does not mean, of course, that they were the first to arrive: Many 17^th-century Scots who arrived in the colonies did so as indentured servants, and their arrival went unrecorded.

Emigrating was costly, and some of those who had the best reasons to leave were the very ones who couldn’t possibly afford to do. Indentured servitude - essentially a form of tem- porary slavery - made emigration possible. Indentured servants contracted with a master who would pay their passage for them; in return they would work for the master for a specified amount of time (often seven years). There was no escape clause; the indentured servant was stuck no matter how bad the situation turned out to be. Still, at the end of the indenture the individual usually would be given a small parcel of land and the basic tools to start his or her new life. Many of those who hoped for a better or less uncertain future took the long view and decided it was worth the price.

But indentured servitude – even emigration itself – was not always voluntary. When there were entire continents out there with land that cost almost nothing (to the Europeans, anyway), transporting undesirables to far-off places offered the authorities both a solution to crime and a workforce for the colonies. It was a solution they made good use of. In these cases, emigration itself was part of the punishment: Those being sent to the New World didn’t necessarily want to go, and many of them would never be able to afford a return home.

Apparently the arrival of people headed for indentured servitude was not always deemed worthy of recording. But those who were sent to the colonies for some crime or another were more likely to be noted, and the Macalisters who arrived in December of 1651 fall into this category. They came not as criminals but as prisoners of war. Like many of the West Highland clans, the Macalisters had fought for Charles II in Scotland’s civil war[1]; evidently some of them followed the king into England to fight on in theirs. After the Royalists were finally defeated at Worcester, these Macalisters were among the many taken prisoner and transported.[2] How they felt about this is unknown. They might have spent the rest of their lives as broken, disillusioned men. Or they might have seen it as a wonderful opportunity to start anew. But the fact that they came to the New World as prisoners of war may well be the only reason we know they existed at all.

[1]Where the chief stood is a matter of debate. His wife was a Campbell, which might incline him to the Covenanters, but his son-in-law was Alasdair MacColla, the leader of Royalist forces in the north. He must have hoped to avoid choosing a side. It appears that he might have followed the Clan Donald in supporting the king initially and then switched sides when General Leslie’s army overran Kintyre. This will be the topic of a later post.

[2]Their arrivals specify that they were prisoners of war, but they might have been taken at Dunbar the previous year. Most of the Dunbar prisoners seem to have been shipped out in 1650, though.

Death of a Librarian

2011-12-01T06:00:00.221-06:00

On this day in 1925, Sir John Young Walker Macalister died in London, aged 69. Sir John was one of the Macalisters of Tarbert, though the Tarbert lands had been lost long before his time and he was raised in Aberdeen and Liverpool. His memory is often overshadowed by that of his illustrious brother, Sir Donald Macalister, who was principal of Glasgow Uni- versity for twenty-two years and chancellor for four years after that, but it could be argued that his influence was felt much more widely.

Forced by ill health to abandon a medical degree at Edinburgh University, Sir John instead pursued a career in librarianship. After working in Liverpool and Leeds, he settled in London, where he combined his two interests to become the resident librarian for the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society. He then joined the struggling Library Association, which he completely transformed: From a handful of mainly London-based library clerks with ex- pertise in a variety of subjects but no proper training as librarians, he built it into a nation- wide organisation of professionals. He organised international conferences so that librarians from different countries could learn from each other. When, in 1877, the Library Association received its Royal Charter, it was almost entirely due to Sir John’s efforts.

Macalister also wrote extensively on librarianship. At a time when open access was con- troversial, he advocated public libraries that would make information accessible to all. His concern that there should be uniformity in the standards of librarians’ knowledge and service was part of what led to the establishment of the first library school, at University College, London. For years he edited the Library Journal, through which he was able to spread his ideas about librarianship as a profession. In fact, many of the principles valued by the library profession today were first articulated by Sir John Macalister.

During the First World War, Sir John was founder and secretary of the War Office Surgical Advisory Committee; he organized an Emergency Surgical Aid Corps for the Admiralty, War Office and Police, and in 1919 he was knighted in recognition of these services. By all accounts he was well liked, counting many respected intellectuals among his friends, including the writer Mark Twain (whose personal archive includes their correspondence). One scholar observed that the “life and career of Sir John Young Walker MacAlister reads like a history of librarianship in Britain.”[1] But his influence is felt far beyond his own country. By the time of his death, he had transformed librarians’ views of their profession, which in turn transformed the profession - not only in the UK but in much of the Western world.

At his own request, Sir John Young Walker Macalister was laid to rest with his ancestors in Tarbert.

[1] Anne M. K. Collins, review of The Incomparable Mac: A Biographical Study of Sir John Young Walker Macalister in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 72(3) July 1984: 321.

Anthony Alexander, Master of Works

2011-11-29T06:00:00.338-06:00

With the death of Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton, Anthony Alexander became general surveyor and principal Master of Works in Scotland on this day in 1634.[1] Anthony (second son of Sir William Alexander, who was later Earl of Stirling) belonged to the Menstrie branch of the Clan Alister. He had attended the University of Glasgow before spending three years on the Continent studying languages and architecture. When he returned he was appointed jointly Master of Works with Sir James, who had held the title since 1607.

The position of Master of Works was an ancient one, involving responsibilities that seem to have varied over time. Originally concerned mostly with the financial aspects of building projects, it later became somewhat confused with the job of master mason or project overseer. By the seventeenth-century, the principal Master of Works was responsible not only for the financing of building projects, but also for the quality (and possibly design) of new construction, for keeping track of necessary repairs to older structures, and for ensuring that workmen were appropriately qualified.

Although there were a number of other Masters of Works in Scotland at this time, none of the others had the power of Anthony and Sir James, whose authority apparently covered any profession even remotely connected to construction of any sort: buildings, bridges, even ships. Kilbaberton's death therefore left Anthony Alexander in a position of considerable importance and prestige.[2] He was knighted the following year.

[1] General works almost inevitably give Sir James Murray a death date in December. In his book The Origins of Freemasonry, Scottish historian David Stevenson writes: "According to his testament . . . Murray died in December, but this is an error; a contemporary diary records his death the previous month" (p. 61, note 24). That diary belonged to Sir Thomas Hope of Craighill and is available on-line; on Monday the 1st of December 1634, Hope noted that Murray had died the previous Saturday.

[2] In fact, with his father, who tutored both of James VI's crown princes and founded the Nova Scotia colony; his elder brother, Lord Alexander, who governed the new colony; and his younger brother, Henry, who succeeded him as Master of Works in Scotland and eventually became the 3rd Earl of Stirling, Anthony Alexander was part of perhaps the most widely influential single family in Macalister history.

Kintyre Macalisters support James VII

2011-11-06T16:46:00.021-06:00

On this date in 1688, a number of what Dr Paul Hopkins calls the ‘non-Campbell’ clans of Kintyre signed an address of loyalty to King James (VII of Scotland, II of England and Ireland); included among them were Alexander MacAlister of Loup and a brother of Archibald of Tarbert.

William of Orange had landed in England the day before, having been offered the throne by several prominent Englishmen by right of his wife, Mary, who was James VII’s daughter. This invitation had been written in June in response to the birth of a son to the king’s second wife – a male heir reviving fears of a Catholic succession. It seems unlikely that news of William’s arrival on the 5^th would already have reached Kintyre by the 6^th, although his invasion had been expected. But even if they’d known, most of the Western clans were no longer Catholic themselves – arguably, they had as much reason as the English Protestants to be concerned about a Catholic succession.

As is so often the case in Highland history, local politics appear to have been the deciding factor in Kintyre. Hopkins sees the early Jacobitism of the Kintyre lairds as arising primarily out of fear that if James were ousted, the Campbell family of Argyll would stage yet another of its semi-miraculous comebacks and have their forfeited estates and enormous power reinstated. This was not a groundless fear: Although the execution of the 9^th Earl of Argyll had cost his family their lands, the earl’s son had been actively working to bring William of Orange to the throne, specifically in hopes of restoration.

It is not surprising to find Alexander of Loup signing this declaration of loyalty – he had already shown where he stood in 1685, when instead of answering Argyll's invitation to join in the rebellion, he turned the letter over to the Privy Council. In May of 1689, he would be one of the first to join Viscount Dundee in the first Jacobite rising. He fought at the Battle of Loup Hill, at Killiecrankie, and probably at the Boyne in 1690.

Rather more surprising is the signature of a representative of the Tarbert family, which later actively opposed the Jacobites. Because it was Archibald's brother who signed, and not Archibald himself, it's possible that Archibald of Tarbert was engaging in the Highland practice of protecting his family's interests by having members on both sides of a conflict. However, Archibald himself seems to have taken part in the early stages of Dundee's rising, so perhaps the fact that they signed this address of loyalty lends weight to Hopkins’s claim: It appears that while the Argyll family were still without power in Kintyre, the Tarbert Macalisters supported James VII; it is only after they were once again Argyll’s tenants that their loyalties changed.

Clann Alasdair Bheag (or, Walter MacAlester meets with the King)

2011-11-02T06:00:00.472-05:00

On this date in 1585, Walter MacAlester was one of about forty men who ‘repair[ed] to [King James] at Stirling’ with ‘their friends, servants and dependents’ and whose ‘honest and comely demeanour’ convinced the king that they were ‘his obedient lawful and trusty sub- jects’. As a result, forfeitures and other penalties against them were overturned by an act of parliament in December.[1]

The fact that Walter MacAlester is among those mentioned by name in the relevant docu- ment suggests that he must have been a person of some note. Certainly the others in the list were prominent men. This raises the question – which I’ve not yet been able to answer – of exactly who this Walter was. He does not seem to fit into any of the main families of the clan in Kintyre. Based on the fact that more than half the others named belong to the House of Hamilton, my guess is that Walter was one of the 'Clann Alasdair Bheag'[2] - the Macalisters of Arran and Bute.

The Isles of Arran and Bute lie to the east of Kintyre (rather than to the west, like the Hebrides) and were controlled by subjects of the Scottish kings rather than by the Lords of the Isles. Although Macalisters are named among the 'old families of Arran' by Mackenzie MacBride (1911) and the 'old native families of Bute' by James King Hewison (1893), the earliest of this clan on record in Arran to my knowledge was Ranald M'Allister, whose name first appears, as Reginald MacAlexander, in 1440. In 1506, Donald Makalester is named in a land grant in Bute. However, until well into the 17th century, the Macalisters along with the Macdonalds were best known in Arran and Bute as the ‘cursed invaders from Knapdale and Kintyre’, repeatedly inflicting destructive raids on these islands in the course of Clan Donald's war with the Scottish Crown.

In the 1500s, a handful of Macalisters had begun to settle in Arran and Bute - about the same time that the Hamilton family began its rise to power there. In the Book of Arran, W. M. Mackenzie states that the Hamiltons "had struck an alliance with the MacAlisters" and describes a family of Macalisters who were formally installed in the Arran lands of Shiskine in 1563 as ‘henchmen’ for the Hamiltons.[3] By the 1930s, "the M'Alisters were the most numerous clan in Shiskine".[4] A recent peek at the phone book showed Macalisters living there still.

The nature of Walter MacAlester's crime and its punishment are not stated. In view of their close association, it's possible that the Macalisters had been forfeited with the Hamiltons when the latter lost their lands in 1579 (ostensibly for their support of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been forced to abdicate; in fact it had more to do with the political finagling of the rival Stewart lords). On the other hand, the act of December 1585 was a blanket restitution for all who had incurred the wrath of the government during the minority of James VI, ex- cluding only those involved in several high-profile murders, so Walter's need for restitution might be completely unconnected. In any case, the record of his meeting with the king on 2 November 1585 has sparked my interest in the history of the Clann Alasdair Bheag, a subject that is relatively new to me and deserves more research.

[1] Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 (http://www.rps.ac.uk/): NAS, PA2/13, ff.40r-43r.
[2] The 'little clan Alasdair' - so called to distinguish them from the Macalisters of Kintyre, although they were never a separate clan.
[3] Book of Arran, p. 87.
[4] 'Clans of Shiskine, Past and Present', paper presented by Charles Robertson, 10th March 1936, Glasgow.

Sinking of the Comet

2011-10-21T06:38:00.011-05:00

On this day in 1825, the P(addle) S(teamer) Comet II sank half a mile off-shore after colliding with the Ayr near Gourock, Scotland. The Comet had no lights, both lookouts were appar- ently otherwise occupied, and by the time the boats spotted each other, it was too late to avoid a collision. The Comet went down in 3 - 4 minutes, killing 62 of its 80 or so passengers, among them Charles MacAlister of Strathaird, aged 32, Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh. Charles was the 3^rd of three brothers to die within 15 months. (His nephew John MacAlister also perished, but apparently his dog survived: 16 year old Jane Munro reported that a dog "belonging, it is believed, to Mr M'Allister" came up beside her in the water and "materially aided" in her own survival.)

Although a nearly identical collision had sunk the Catherine only three years earlier, the ‘quality’ of the passengers lost with the Comet meant that a much greater fuss was made over this incident. It was immediately suggested that in light of the rapid speeds with which these boats travelled – up to 10 miles an hour! – greater regulation was called for (not to mention better lighting), and as a result, steam travel on the Clyde did become safer. For the Strathaird family, however, this was probably little comfort.

You can read more about this incident at:
http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=11229

Original newspaper reports are also available on-line:

http://archive.scotsman.com/article.cfm?id=TSC/1825/10/26/Ar00103

Somerled and the Battle of Renfrew

2011-10-20T03:00:00.122-05:00

On this day in 1164, with a large army from Argyll, Ireland, and the Western Isles, Somerled invaded mainland Scotland and met the Scottish army at Renfrew.

Somerled, a powerful West Highland and Hebridean warlord, first appears in the historical record in the early 12th century. The Gaels of western Scotland had by Somerled's time intermingled with the invading Norse of earlier centuries, creating a population that was ethnically mixed. Although historians still debate to which group Somerled's family be- longed, John Marsden concludes that “virtually everything that is known of or has been claimed for Somerled, even the most obviously apocryphal anecdotes found in the most doubtful sources, reflects some aspect of the characteristic fusion of Norse and Celt which binds the cultural roots of Gaeldom”.[1] Whatever his ancestry, Somerled is credited with finally driving the Norse from the western Highlands, and in his lifetime the Gaelic language and culture experienced a resurgence.

Somerled's 20 October invasion has usually been seen as a grab for power by a chieftain who got too big for his breeches, but recent scholars have pointed out that the mediaeval chroniclers, from whom we get much of our information about this period, were under the patronage of the Scottish king and the church. The chroniclers present the military actions of Somerled and other warlord chieftains as rebellion against their rightful loyalties, but that was not necessarily the case. For one thing, a good part of Somerled's lands were held of the Norwegian king, not the Scottish one, and Scotland's kings had occasionally tried to take these lands from his family by force. Furthermore, feudal lordships established by followers of the Scottish kings had been slowly encroaching on all of the semi-independent peripheral regions, and Fergus of Galloway had already been defeated. Seen in this light, Somerled's 'invasion' might well have been defensive in nature.

Whatever the reason for the invasion, Somerled was killed and his army defeated. Tradition holds that he was betrayed and assassinated before the battle, but this story does not seem to have appeared before the 17th century. It is more likely that he fell in battle, along with his son Gillebrigte and many of his followers. Despite this defeat, Somerled's descendants maintained possession of the Isles and Kintyre and continued to rule the west for centuries. DNA evidence suggests that roughly a quarter of today's Macdonalds, a third of today's Macdougalls, and about 40% of today's Macalisters, both in Scotland and elsewhere, are direct descendants of Somerled.[2]

[1] Marsden, Somerled and the Emergence of Gaelic Scotland (Edinburgh, 2005), p. x.

[2] Bryan Sykes, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland (New York, 2006), p. 214.

Col. Macalister, Governor of Penang

2011-10-17T06:42:00.013-05:00

Col. Norman Macalister of the Kingsburgh family was sworn in as lieutenant-governor of Penang on this day in 1807. This made him ruler of part of the British Empire, but not an employee of the British government. In fact, Penang, then known as Prince of Wales Island, was governed by the Honourable East India Company, a nineteenth-century mega- corporation that resulted from several mergers of similar companies in the preceding century.

Like those it absorbed, the HEIC began as a commercial venture, trading with the far-flung colonies of the British Empire. Although its commercial activities continued, by 1807 the Company had found a new role in the Empire: serving as proxy government to a good number of Britain’s colonial possessions in the east. It had its own armies, fought its own wars, and in some places it even issued its own money.

The Kingsburgh family was deeply involved with the Company. Five of Col. Macalister's brothers served the Company in India; three of them died there. One of his nephews served with him in Penang; a second nephew would die in the Company's service in 1825 in Italy. His younger daughter married an HEIC man.

As for Governor Macalister himself, he served in Penang's top post until 24 March 1810, when he was appointed second member of the governing council and commandant of local forces. The legacy of his time in office includes the present structure of Fort Cornwallis, built by convict labour during his term, and two streets named in his honour in the capital city. But he, too, was destined to die in the Company's service - or at least on its ship: Shortly after his term as governor ended he went down with the HEI Ocean in the South China Sea, apparently on his way home to Scotland.

Once Upon a Time in the West . . .

2011-10-01T00:07:00.028-05:00

On this day in 1596, Godfrey MacAlister, 5th of Loup, is on record as witness to a letter of renunciation by Angus Macdonald of Dunyvaig in favour of his son, James.

After the Lord of the Isles was stripped of his power at the end of the 15th century, the government found it nearly impossible to maintain order in the western Highlands and Isles. The Highlands were still a tribal society, and in the absence of effective authority old feuds frequently flared up; a conflict between two chiefs or their clans could quickly involve everyone for miles, as neighbouring clans took sides.

One of the ongoing feuds at this time in the southwestern Highlands was that between the Macleans and the Macdonalds of Dunyvaig, who had been fighting over the Rinns of Islay, off and on, for more than half a century. By 1587, when King James VI required the western chiefs (including Lachlan Maclean, Angus of Dunyvaig, and MacAlister of Loup) to subscribe to his General Band 'for the quieting and keeping in obedience of the disordered subjects, inhabitants of the borders, highlands and isles', so many clans had become involved in the Maclean-Dunyvaig war that, according to Kintyre historian Andrew McKerral, "[t]he whole of the West Highlands was set aflame." The MacAlisters, who had been allied to the Dunyvaig family throughout the 1500s, were among the clans that sided with Macdonald.

By 1596, the government had had enough, and a military excursion to the Western Highlands was planned in hopes of suppressing the general lawlessness. As often happened, once they realised the king meant business all of the chiefs submitted to him . . . except Angus of Dunyvaig. The excursion was then aimed at Angus and his vassals alone. Angus's son James, who had been a hostage in Edinburgh for years by this time and was well regarded by the government, was sent ahead to try to talk some sense into his father. Instead, the two of them conspired to protect the family's landholdings and power base by turning all of Angus's property over to James. It was the letter to this effect that Godfrey MacAlister witnessed on the 1st of October 1596.

Battle of Largs

2011-09-30T06:54:00.019-05:00

On this day in 1263/4, Norwegian ships that were part of an invasion force under Haakon IV were driven ashore by a storm at Largs; over the next three days they engaged in a military confrontation with a Scots force under Alexander III. The men of the western seaboard were divided; Angus Mòr, first chief of the Clan Donald, supported Haakon (either enthusiastically or reluctantly, depending on which history you read).

What actually happened is still debated. Earlier historians tended to view it as a major massed battle, but archaeological evidence does not support this. It was probably little more than a skirmish, and mostly fought at sea. Equally unclear is which side actually won: 800 years later, both Norway and Scotland still claim the victory. What is known, though, is that Haakon died in Orkney less than two months later, and in 1266 his successor ceded the Western Isles to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth. Largs is thus seen by historians as a turning point in Scottish history.

To the clans in the Isles, however, it probably made little difference whether their king was far away in Bergen or far away in Edinburgh. Angus Mòr submitted to Alexander, and his influence went unchecked; his descendants, the Lords of the Isles, would be the real power in the west for the next three centuries.

A little background

2011-09-28T16:34:00.025-05:00

Before I start posting MacAlister-related history, perhaps I should start with a bit of back- ground.

The MacAlister clan -- more properly the Clann Alasdair -- originated in the early 14th cen- tury as the senior cadet branch of the Clan Donald. They were located primarily on the Kin- tyre penninsula, although there were some in northern Ireland from the very beginning, fighting as galloglasses in the Irish wars.

After the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles (1493), they became an independent clan, although they continued to be closely associated with the MacDonalds of Dunyvaig and the Glens (Clan Donald South) for centuries. If many of my posts seem a bit MacDonald-centric, this is why. One branch, however, held their lands from the Campbells of Argyll (along with Tarbert Castle, of which the MacAlisters were hereditary Constables in the 16th-18th cen- turies), which illustrates that relations between the west coast clans were less cut-and-dried than we tend to believe.

The MacAlisters eventually had several branches, not all of which still exist (though presum- ably their descendants do). You can read about them on the page labelled 'Branches'.