A Mackay Clan Site

Jim, Sue, Helen and Hannah welcome you to our Mackay home page. We hope you enjoy your visit and welcome your feedback to:

james.mackay4@ntlworld.com

Currently based in Woking, Surrey, England, Jim hails from Cardiff, Wales, and Sue from Beckenham, Kent, England. One of our main reasons for connecting to the web is to conduct family tree research and much of the Mackay family tree has been placed at:

http://www.v3space.com/a/a99/68/mackay/

 

More about us:

Jim currently works for the British Home Office. He does most of the family tree research and is happy to share information on the various branches of the family with anyone researching their own family history. The vast number of names included in the family tree can be found at our alternative site:

http://www.v3space.com/a/a99/68/mackay/

 

Sue, formerly a TRUNCHION, is a lipspeaker, level three VQ, for deaf people, and also has a level two qualification in British Sign language. Her CV includes working in conferences, various meetings, court (civil and criminal cases), hospitals, and churches.

 

Clan Mackay

· ·Motto: Manu forti - “With a strong hand”.

· ·Badge: A hand holding a dagger.

· ·Tartan: Green/Blue checks

· ·Septs: There are many septs of this clan, including Allan, Bain, Kay, MacBain, MacCaw, MacGee, Mackie, MacQuoid, MacVain, Morgan, Neilson, Paul and Reay.

The Mackays descended from the Royal House of Moray through the line of Morgund of Pluscarden and were originally known as Clan Morgan. The clansmen were removed to Sutherland where they rose to a powerful position, at one time owning lands from Drimholisten to Kylescue. Their later title of MacKay comes from a chief so named living at the time of David II. The first record of the name was in 1326 when Gilchrist M’ay, progenitor of the Mackays of Ugadale, made a payment to the Constable of Tarbert. The Mackays supported Bruce and fought with him at Bannockburn and by 1427 the chief, Angus Dubh Mackay was described as leader of “4 000 Strathnaver men”. Their fortunes fluctuated over the centuries and many bitter feuds ensued with the Sutherlands and Rosses.In the troubles of the 17th and 18th centuries the Mackays supported the Hanovarian forces against the Jacobites and helped secure the far north for the government.The Mackays of Strathnaver are especially remembered for the famous “Mackay Regiment” raised for the service of the Dutch and Swedish crowns during the 17th century. As a result of this many clansmen settled in Holland and Sweden and gave rise to a number of noble families there. In 1628, Sir Donald Mackay was raised to the peerage of Lord Reay by Charles I. His grandson, Colonel Aenean Mackay of the Scotch-Dutch Brigade, married the heiress of the Baron van Haefton. The Mackays suffered badly in the Strathnaver clearances between 1815 and 1818 and finally in 1829 the Reay estate was sold to the Sutherland family and in 1875 the chiefship passed to Baron Mackay van Ophermett who became 10th Lord Reay. His nephew Baron Aeneas Mackay, prime minister of the Netherlands was the great grandfather of the present chief.

 

“The sportsman now roams o’er the Sutherland hills

And down where the Naver runs clear;

And the land a brave race had for centuries owned

Is now trod by the sheep and the deer.

The halls, where our ancestors first saw the light,

Now blackened in ruins they lie.

And the moss-covered cairns are all that remain

Of the once pleasant homes of MacKay.

 

Happy homes by an alien’s base mandate o’erthrown

Tender maidens and brave stalwart men

Were ruthlessly scattered like leaves in a gale

Far away from their dear native glen.

Brave clansmen who fought in fair liberty’s cause

In the lowlands of Holland they lie.

For bravest in battle and second to none

Has aye been the Clan of MacKay

 

Not yet are they silenced through peaceful they lie,

And though far from the green mountain said,

They meet in the City of famous renown

On the banks of the dark flowing Clyde,

Where hearts still undaunted and beating as true

As when under a northern sky

They grasped their claymores when the slogan they heard

And followed the flag of MacKay.

 

Unflinching they bore the proud ensign aloft

When their foemen the penalty paid;

And the same noble spirit inspires them to-day

Their poor broken clansmen to aid.

The aged and weak they have sworn to protect

By the “Strong Hand” and kind watchful eye.

For faithful in friendship and valiant in war

Has aye been the Clan of MacKay.

 

Then flock to the standard and join the roll call!

Once more the banner’s unfurled

The slogan’s been sounded, and kinship been claimed

By clansmen all over the world.

Exiled or at home, love of country and clan

Are feelings we’ll never let die;

Defy and defend, stand true to the end,

And honour the name of MacKay.”

 

- By Elizabeth MacKay

Bridge of Allan 1889

 

 

 

 

 

 

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