The Siol Murdoch were an ancient Scottish family and a

sept A sept () is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used both in Scotland and in Ireland, where it may be translated as Irish , meaning "progeny" or "seed", and may indicate the descendants of a person ...

of the

Clan Donald Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs a ...

or MacDonald, a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. Siol Murdoch in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

means ''seed of Murdoch'' with the full Gaelic being Siol Mhurchaidh and may also be known by the Anglicised Gaelic surname of MacMurchie. They inhabited

North Uist North Uist (; ) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Etymology In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist are described as one isla ...

History

The Siol Murdoch are noted for their feud during the 14th and 15th centuries with the Siol Gorrie (surname MacGorrie) who were another sept of the Clan Donald. The Siol Gorrie were apparently the legitimate possessors of

but this was disputed by the Siol Murdoch and a struggle began between the two factions. The Siol Murdoch inhabited the valley of Hosta and the Siol Gorrie apparently dug away the soil embankment of a nearby loch, which in turn formed a new loch, the present Loch Hosta, and in the resulting deluge many people of Siol Murdoch were killed. The survivors however attacked the Siol Gorrie near the township of Udal and there was only one survivor who found refuge in Lochboisdale. According to tradition there are those in Uist who pride themselves as being descended from the ''legitimate and honourable'' Siol Gorrie and not from the ''deceitful and illegitimate'' Siol Murdoch. A short Gaelic verse about the Siol Murdoch is as follows: This translates in English as: Angus MacDonald who was a member of the Siol Murdoch family (Sio Mhurchaidh in Gaelic) from North Uist was named as the last piper of the

Great Highland bagpipe The great Highland bagpipe ( 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British Armed Forces, British mili ...

s who could play the ''Lament for the Laird of Valley'' all the way through. This Angus MacDonald was a veteran of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

References

{{reflist

Murdoch Murdoch ( , ) Is a Scottish and Irish surname and given name. An Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal names ''Muireadhach'' ‘mariner’, ''Murchadh'' ‘sea-warrior’, and ''Muirchertach, Muircheartach'' ‘sea-ruler’, the first element i ...

North Uist 14th century in Scotland 15th century in Scotland Gaels