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Mac is a prefix in modern Irish and Gaelic signifying 'son', as MacDonald, son of Donald. But there are numerous historical uses of the prefix in the sense of 'great', evidently a corruption of the 'mag' in 'magnus'. The Welsh equivalent is Map or Ap, the Norman equivalent Fitz and the Irish O'.
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A Clan (Gaelic for a tribe or family), among the Highlanders of Scotland, consisted of the common descendants of the same progenitor, under the patriarchal control of a chief, who represented the common ancestor. The name of the clan was frequently formed of that of the original progenitor with the affix mac (son): thus the MacDonalds were the sons of Donald, and every individual of this name was considered a descendant of the founder of the clan, and a brother of every one of its members. The chief exercised his authority by right of primogeniture, as the father of his clan: the clansmen revered and served the chief with the blind devotion of children.
The clans each occupied a certain portion of the country, and hostilities with neighbouring clans were extremely common. Next in rank to the chief were a certain number of persons, commonly near relations of the chief, to whom portions of land were assigned, during pleasure or on short leases. Each of these usually had a subdivision of the clan under him, of which he was chieftain, subject, however, to the general head of the sept. The jurisdiction of the chiefs was not very accurately defined, and it was necessary to consult, in some measure, the opinions of the most influential clansmen and the general wishes of the whole body. It was latterly the policy of the government in Scotland to oblige the clans to find a representative of rank to become security at court for their good behaviour; the clans who could not procure a suitable representative, or who were unwilling to do so, were called broken clans, and existed in a sort of outlawry
The most notable instance of a proscribed and persecuted clan was that of the ancient clan MacGregor, who long continued to hold their lands by the coir a glaive, or right of the sword. The rebellions of 1715 and 1745 induced the British government to break up the connection which subsisted between the chiefs and the clansmen. The hereditary jurisdiction of the chiefs was therefore abolished, the people disarmed, and even compelled to relinquish their national dress. Few traces of this institution now remain, except such as have a merely sentimental character; thus all those who possess the same clan name may still talk of their 'chief,' though the latter have now neither land nor influence.
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Donald Bane was King of Scotland during 1093.
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Donald Campbell was a British soldier. He was born in 1735 and died in 1763. While he was stationed at Detroit he met with Pontiac, who was then besieging the city, in conference. Donald Campbell was treacherously not permitted to return, and was tortured to death by the Indians.
Donald Campbell was a British speed racer. He was born in 1921 and died in 1967. The son of Malcolm Campbell. He broke the world water speed record on Ullswater in 1955.
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Donald Cargill was a Scottish covenanting preacher. He was born about 1610 and died in 1681. He studied at Aberdeen, and became minister of the Barony Church in Glasgow in 1650. In 1679 he took part in the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, where he was wounded. He had a principal hand in the Queensferry and Sanquhar Declarations. For formally excommunicating Charles II, the Duke of York, and others, he was executed at Edinburgh for high treason.
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Donald G Nutter was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Montana from 1961 until 1962.
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Donald was King of Scotland from 860 to 863.
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Donald II was King of Scotland from 878 to 889.
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Donald Maclean was a British diplomat. He defected to the Russians with Guy Burgess in 1951.
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Donald Alexander Smith (Lord Strathcoma and Mount Royal) was a Canadian politician. He was born in 1820 at Archiestown, Morayshire and died in 1914. He emigrated to Canada when he was eighteen years old and worked as a junior clerk in the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1866 he became general manager of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada, and eventually governor of Montreal. In 1886 he was knighted and in 1896 was made high commissioner for Canada in England. In 1897 he was made a baron of the United Kingdom with the title Lord Strathcoma and Mount Royal.
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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