MacQuarrie History
The name MacQuarrie comes from the Gaelic for "son of Guaire," which meant the proud or noble one. The MacQuarrie clan is one of the stem-clans of the ancient MacAlpin line of kings, as illustrated below.
KING ALPIN (28th King of the Dalriadic Scots, who ruled 833-41)
His issue were:
KING KENNETH I (29th Dalriadic king, 41st Pictish king, ruled 841-60)
KING DONALD I (ruled 860-3)
PRINCE GREGORKing Kenneth MacAlpin gave issue to:
KING CONSTANTINE II (ruled 863-77)
A younger son, who was progenitor of CLAN MACNABPrince Gregor MacAlpin gave issue to:
DOUNGALLUS (married Spontana, daughter of the High King of Ireland)
His issue were:
CLAN MACGREGOR, from whom descend CLAN GRANT and CLAN MACAULAY
Findanus, progenitor of CLAN MACKINNON, from whom descend CLAN MACFIE
Guaire, progenitor of CLAN MACQUARRIE
(from Scottish Highlanders, by Charles MacKinnon)
The following brief histories are excerpted from
popular clan history publications.
From the Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia,
by George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire:
This clan, for long associated
with the island of Ulva, derives its name from the Gaelic ‘guaire’, meaning
‘noble’. They are said to have a common descent with the Mackinnons, Guaire
being the brother of Fingon, ancestor of the Mackinnons. The historian
Skene states, ‘the history of the Macquarries resembles that of the Mackinnons
in many respects; like them they had migrated far from the headquarters
of their race; they became dependent on the Lords of the Isles and followed
them as if they had become a branch of the clan’. The first chief that
can be referred to with any certainty appears to be Iain or John Macquarrie
of Ulva, who is believed to have died around 1473 and who appeared as a
witness in an earlier charter. The suppression of the Lordship of the isles
gave the Macquarries a greater measure of independence but they seem to
have generally followed the fortunes of their more powerful neighbours,
the Macleans of Duart. John Macquarrie of Ulva supported the attempt of
Donald, the last Lord of the Isles, against the Crown in 1545 and he was
also one of the chiefs denounced in the same year for traitorous dealings
with the English. Macquarrie of Ulva was one of the chiefs summoned to
the island of Iona by James VI in 1609, ostensibly’ to attend a service
of reconciliation in that holy place. The king, however, had the chief
seized and he forced them to sign the Statute of Iona, ending forever the
pretensions of the Lordships of the Isles. The Macquarries fol-lowed the
Macleans in support of the royalist cause in the civil war, and Ulva himself
was slain with most of his followers at the Battle Inverkeithing against
the Parliamentarian troops of Oliver Cromwell in July 1651. Despite this
setback, the family held its lands until the end of the eighteenth century
when, in common with many other island lairds, crippling debt forced Lachlan
Macquarrie to sell them. However, the family name was not to pass from
history, and a cousin of the chiefly house, another Lachlan, rose to the
rank of major general in the British army, and was appointed Governor of
New South Wales. He held this post from 1809 to 1821, and is best remembered
for his strong moral sense which helped to establish a balance of power
between the large landowners and the freed convicts and other emigrants
seeking a new life in Australia. The Macquarrie River is named after him
and he is often termed the father of Australia’. He returned to Ulva and
bought back much of the family lands. The main chiefly line had failed
around 1818 and General Macquarries only son, Lachlan, by his marriage
to a daughter of Campbell of Airds, died without issue.
From Scottish Highlanders, by Charles
MacKinnon
The MacQuarries
are one of the four stem-clans of the Siol Alpin family of seven, and their
descent is given in Appendix I. The name, ‘son of Guaire’, means ‘son of
the proud one’, and their progenitor was the brother of Findanus or Fingon
who gave the MacKinnons their name. Like their kinsmen the MacKinnons,
the MacQuarries are said to have been kindred of St Columba. Like all the
Siol Alpin clans, they are descended through the line of Dalriadic kings
from that great ancestor of kings, Niall of the Nine Hostages, who reigned
at Tara in 400 while the Romans were still in Britain.
The early
MacQuarrie lands were on Ulva, an island near Iona, and in Mull, which
they shared with the MacKinnons in early times. The two clans are closely
linked from the very earliest times by place of residence as well as descent.
In 1249
Cormac Mor, the chief of Ulva (ancestor of the ‘Lord of Ulva’s Isle’ made
famous by Sir Walter Scott), supported King Alexander II against the Norwegian
invaders and was killed by Haco of Norway.
Hector
MacQuarrie of Ulva supported Bruce and fought at Bannockburn with his clan.
John MacQuarrie of Ulva, who died in 1473, was a follower of the MacDonald
Lords of the Isles and was one of the Council of the Isles, and his name
appears on a MacDonald charter of 1463. Under his son Dunslaff, the clan
became independent following the forfeiture of the Lordship. Thereafter
the clan supported the MacLeans (as also did the MacKinnons, which again
suggests a very close relationship between the chiefs of these two clans).
In 1504
the MacQuarrie chief was accused of treason by the Scottish Parliament
and was repeatedly summoned to appear before the Privy Council, but, as
was the habit with the island chiefs, he contemptuously ignored such summonses.
Eventually, in 1517, he and Lachlan MacLean of Duart were pardoned for
their offences.
Allan
MacQuarrie, 13th lord of Ulva, was killed at Inverkeithing on 20 July 1651,
fighting alongside the MacLeans for Charles II against the forces of Cromwell
and the English. The link with the MacLeans remained very strong, for Allan’s
brother Hector married a daughter of MacLean of Torloisk, from whom he
obtained the lands of Ormaig, and his family frequently inter-married with
the MacLeans of Duart and the MacLaines of Lochbuie.
The clan
had been so badly weakened at Inverkeithing that afterwards it was in no
state to support the Jacobite cause actively, and it did not take part,
as a clan, in the risings of 1715 and 1745.
Lauchlan
MacQuarrie of Ulva entertained Johnson and Boswell during their celebrated
tour of the Hebrides in 1773, but five years later he was forced to sell
Ulva. He then joined the army, at the age of sixty-three, and served as
an officer in the American War. He had been born in 1715 and did not die
till 1818 (at Glenforsa, Mull), having lived 103 years—the last of a proud
line of Lords of Ulva’s Isle, and a descendant of Irish, Scottish and Pictish
kings.
His kinsman
General Lachlan MacQuarrie succeeded Captain Bligh of the Bounty as Governor
of New South Wales, and in honour of him MacQuarrie River, Port MacQuarrie
and MacQuarrie County are all named. He too was buried in Mull, in 1824.
From Scottish Clans and Tartans, by
Neil Grant
When Samuel Johnson and James Boswell
visited Ulva, off Mull, in 1773 they found a small, barren island and an
ancient but small clan. The chief impressed them rather more, with
his intelligence and worldliness. The MacQuarries also held Staffa,
later famous for 'Fingal's Cave,' and part of Mull. It is said that
a chief supported King Alexander II in his campaign in Argyll in 1249,
and his successor fought under Bruce at Bannockburn. They were associated
with MacLean of Duart and active in efforts to restore the lordship.
In 1609 the MacQuarrie chief was one of the Highland chiefs inveigled into
agreeing to the Statutes of Iona. In the train of the MacLeans, the
MacQuarries were caught up in debilitating feuds, and they never recovered
from the disaster at Inverkeithing (1651) when the chief and many of his
men died, along with Duart and many MacLeans, fighting for Charles II.
The MacQuarries were also involved in resisting Campbell encroachments
in Argyll in the 1670s and Bonnie Dundee's victory at Killiecrankie in
1689. The chief who entertained Johnson and Boswell was alter forced
to sell his lands. He entered the army, though allegedly 63, and
died in Mull in 1818. He was the last of his line and there have
been no MacQuarrie chiefs since, although no doubt some family from North
America, where they are more numerous, will one day succeed in establishing
their claim. The most famous member of the clan was a cousin of the
last chief, Lachlan MacQuarrie (1762-1824), a soldier who as governor of
New South Wales in 1810-21 turned a chaotic penal settlement into a prosperous
colony.