Lachlan Mor Maclean

Sir Lachlan Mór Maclean (1558 – 5 August 1598) or Big Lachlan Maclean, was the 14th Clan Chief of Clan MacLean from late 1573 or early 1574 until 1598.[1] Mór or Mor translates as big in English, or magnus in Latin, when added to a name in Scottish Gaelic.[2]

Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean, 14th Chief
14th Clan Chief 10th Laird of Duart
In office 1573-1598
Preceded by	Hector Og Maclean, 13th Chief, father
Succeeded by	Hector Og Maclean, 15th Chief, son
Personal details
Born	1558
Died	1598 (age 40) Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart
Cause of death	Killed in action
Spouse(s)	Margaret, daughter of William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn
Children	Hector Og Maclean, 15th Chief Lachlan Og MacLean, 1st Laird of Torloisk
Parents	Hector Og Maclean, 13th Chief

Life

He was born in 1558 to Eachuinn Og Maclean. Sir Lachlan became the 14th Maclean Clan Chief at the death of his father in 1573 or 1574.[1]

"He was called 'Big Lachlan,' both on account of his stature and the greatness of his mind. He was the most accomplished and warlike chief that ever held sway in Duart. His military talents were of a very high order; his chivalrous character commanded the respect of his most inveterate foes, and his personal interest for and kindness toward his followers endeared him to his clansmen. So great were his qualities that historians have been forced to pay tribute to his memory."[1]

In June 1588, he was charged with massacring 18 members of the MacDonald clan who attended the wedding party of his mother Jonet Campbell and his new stepfather John MacKane in April 1588 at Torloisk. John MacKane of Ardmurchin was imprisoned and tortured. Because he failed to appear to answer the charges, he was denounced as a rebel.[3]

In September 1588 a ship from the Spanish Armada carrying 300 troops and silver plate for the use of noblemen was wrecked or run aground on the coast of Islay or Mull. Lachlan sent news of the ship to James VI at Stirling Castle. Lachlan became friends with the crew and borrowed two cannon and 100 soldiers to besiege the house of Angus MacAulay, leaving a hostage as a pledge. After this, a man called John Smallet set a fuse made of lint in the gunpowder store and blew the ship up.[4] In October 1588 he gathered together a force against the MacDonalds and ClanRanald including 100 Spanish soldiers and invaded the Isles of Canna, Rùm, Eigg, and "Elennole", and besieged the castle of Ardnamurchan.[5]

Maclean fought for James VI at the Battle of Glenlivet in October 1594 against the rebels Catholic earls of Huntly and Erroll. In August 1595 he wrote to the English ambassador in Edinburgh, Robert Bowes to thank him for the 1,000 French crowns Queen Elizabeth was sending him, and to discuss the recruitment of Scottish men to fight in Ireland against the Earl of Tyrone.[6]

The Earl of Argyll brought him to the king at Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond in August 1596 and he was received in royal favour and went hawking with the king.[7] He was forgiven of all his former alleged offences by James VI of Scotland in person at Holyrood Palace on 15 June 1596.[8]

Marriage and children

He married Lady Margaret Cunningham of Glencairn, daughter of William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn. They had the following children:[1]

• Hector Og Maclean, 15th Clan Chief
• Lachlan Og Maclean, 1st Laird of Torloisk
• Gillean Maclean, married to Mary the elder, daughter of John Dubh Maclean of Morvern
• Allan Maclean, married to Mary the younger, daughter of John Dubh Maclean of Morvern
• Charles Maclean
• Bethag Maclean, married to Hector MacLean of Lochbuie, 9th Chief

Death

He died on 5 August 1598 in the Battle of Traigh Ghruinneart on the Island of Islay. He was killed by the forces of Sir James MacDonald, 9th of Dunnyveg.[9][10]

His remains were left on the battlefield. A day or two after the battle, it is said that two women, of whom different accounts are given — some calling them strangers, some clanswomen, some relations of the dead — grieving to think that the body of so notable a chief as Sir Lachlan Mor should be unburied and uncared for on the moorland, came from a distance in search of it. They hired a vehicle, the only one to be had in the neighborhood, and having found the corpse, proceeded to carry it to the nearest burying-grounds, about six miles distant. The way was rough, and the driver looking behind him saw the head of the great chief, which extended beyond the car, nodding to him at every jolt, as if it had life, and were giving him directions. At the next heavy rut he looked again to please his savage soul with ferocious enjoyment. But this time the elder female, who had watched him, acted as described in the ballad, and killed the brutal driver with the chieftain's dagger. Then, along with her companion, she brought the mortal remains of Sir Lachlan to the place where they still lie buried.[1]

Sir Lachlan Mor MacLean was buried in the churchyard of Kilchoman on Islay, near the south wall of the church, and over his grave is laid a great stone. There is a churchyard, Kilnave, near the battle-field; but the body was taken to Kilchoman that it might be more honored, for he was buried inside the church, and when a new church was built there, around 1829, the wall was so constructed that the grave was left outside the church.[1]

Legacy

The plaque that marks the spot where he died says: "This cairn indicates the spot where, on the 5th August, 1598, Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean of Duart fell in a desperate encounter with his nephew Sir James Macdonald of Knockrinsay. The battle of Traigh Ghruinneart is the best known incident in the feud between the Macleans and the Macdonalds for the Rinns "[11][12]

Ancestors

Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean's ancestors in three generations

Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean	Father: Eachuinn Og Maclean	Paternal Grandfather: Eachuinn Mor Maclean	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Lachlan Cattanach Maclean
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Katherine, daughter of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll
		Paternal Grandmother: Mary MacDonald of Islay and the Glens	Paternal Great-Grandfather: Alexander MacDonald of Islay and the Glens
			Paternal Great-Grandmother:
	Mother: Janet Campbell of Argyll	Maternal Grandfather: Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll	Maternal Great-Grandfather: Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll
			Maternal Great-Grandmother: Jean, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly
		Maternal Grandmother:	Maternal Great-grandfather:
			Maternal Great-Grandmother:

References

 This article incorporates text from A history of the clan Mac Lean from its first settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the present period: including a genealogical account of some of the principal families together with their heraldry, legends, superstitions, etc, by John Patterson MacLean, a publication from 1889 now in the public domain in the United States.

1. MacLean, John Patterson (1889). A History of the Clan MacLean from Its First Settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the Present Period: Including a Genealogical Account of Some of the Principal Families Together with Their Heraldry, Legends, Superstitions, etc. R. Clarke & Company. p. 224. Sir Lachlan Mor became chief. He was called "Big Lachlan," both on account of his size and the greatness of his mind. It is recorded that he was the most accomplished and warlike chief that ever held sway in the castle. This assumption might be owing to the nearness of his time, whilst those remote might grow dim as ages melt away. His military talents were of a high order; his chivalrous character everywhere commanded respect, and his devoted interest in behalf of his people endeared him to all. Historians have written of him in unstinted praise. His reign covers a very interesting period, though varied and much given to tumult. He fell in a clan battle with the MacDonalds of Islay, on August 5, 1598 ... His issue by Margaret, daughter of William Cunningham, sixth earl of Glencairn, was Eachann Og, his eldest son and successor, Lachlan Og, of whom the family of Torloisk was descended, Gillean, married to Mary the elder, Allan, married to Mary the younger, both daughters of John Dubh of Morvern, and Charles. The only daughter married Hector MacLean of Lochbuy, the first Protestant of his family also.
2. "Mór". MacBain's Dictionary. Retrieved 17 April 2009. great, Irish mór, Old Irish mór, már, Welsh mawr, Old Welsh, Cornish maur, Breton meur, Gaulish -mârós; Gothic -mêrs, famed, mêrian, proclaim, Old High German mâri, famed, -mar in Germanic names German märchen, a tale, Norse moerr, famous; Slavonic -meru (Vladimir, etc.); Latin merus, English mere. A shorter form of the stem (mâro-) appears in mò, greater (mâ)
3. David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1585-1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 290-1.
4. William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), pp. 618-9, 627-9, 635.
5. David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1585-1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 341-2.
6. Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 684-5.
7. M. S. Giuseppi, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 3-4.
8. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 295.
9. Reverend Angus Macdonald and Reverend Archibald Macdonald (1900). The Clan Donald, Volume 2. A fierce battle was fought at a place called Traigh Ghruinneart, at the head of Loch Gruinneart. ...
10. Conflicts of the Clans: The Death of Sir Lauchlan Maclean in 1598. Foulis Press. 1764. Sir Lauchlan Maclean's ambition, together with his desire of revenge, thrust him on to claim the inheritance of the whole Isle of Islay, being always the possession and ancient inheritance of the Clan Donald, all which Maclean thought easily now to compass, Sir James Macdonald (the just inheritor thereof) being young, and his father, Angus Macdonald, aged. ...
11. NR2767 : Lachlan Mor Maclean of Duart Fell Here. geograph. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
12. Cairn - Flickr flickr. Retrieved 26 January 2015