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Clan Gillanders, also known 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 ...
as ''Clann Ghille Ainnriais'', is 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 ...
whose genealogy is preserved in the 15th-century manuscript '' MS 1467''.


''MS 1467''


Transcriptions and translations


Summary

According to this manuscript, the clan's chief was Paul Mactire, a man who appears in contemporary records in the 1360s. The manuscript records that Paul's 3rd great-grandfather was Gillanders, who was in turn eight generations in descent from Gilleoin of the Aird, who is also recorded within as the progenitor of the Mackenzies and the Mathesons. Gilleoin of the Aird is thought to have flourished around 1140, and is thought to have governed a large expanse of land in the north of Scotland, independent of the 12th century mormaers of Moray. According to Alexander Grant, he is likely to have filled the vacuum in southern Ross, left by the reduction of Norse power in the later part of the 11th century. According to
William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene Writer to the Signet, WS FRSE Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA(Scot) Doctor of Civil Law, DCL Legum Doctor, LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-found ...
, this manuscript shows that Paul descended from a brother of Fearchar, Earl of Ross. W. D. H. Sellar pointed out that there are too many generations between Paul and Gilleoin of the Aird. Sellar considered that the genealogy combined the descendants of Gilleoin of the Aird with the ancestors of Paul; thus, that the genealogy should actually start with the ''Paul'' who appears in the manuscript as Gillander's grandfather. However, according to William Matheson, it is possible that this ''Paul'' is Páll Bálkason, a 13th-century sheriff of
Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...
. Matheson considered that Páll Bálkason's father was an ancestor of the MacPhails, MacKillops, and the MacLeods. The personal name '' Gillanders'' is an
Anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
form of a Gaelic name meaning 'Servant of (St) Andrew'. The Gaelic name was a common one in mediaeval Scotland. According to Grant, there are two men who appear in contemporary records in the 13th century, that may belong to the clan. These men are Gillanders MacIsaac, and Isaac MacGillanders, who are thought to be father and son. According to Grant, since Gillanders MacIsaac flourished in about 1231, this could make him a contemporary of the ''Gillanders'' recorded in the manuscript, and possibly could mean they are the same individual. Grant suggested that the lands of Gillanders MacIsaac may have been on the
Black Isle The Black Isle (, ) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Resolis, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and North Kesso ...
, or lower Strathconon, or around
Dingwall Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north ...
.


Clan Ross

A 17th-century tradition stated that the daughter of Paul Mactire married a Ross of Balnagown, and from then on the Rosses were known in Gaelic as .


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend Clan Ross Gillanders