MacQuarrie The primary clan that I affiliate myself with is the MacQuarrie clan.
My ties to this clan come from my mother's line. My mother's maiden
name is Allen and on that side I have been able to trace my genealogy back
to my immigrant ancestors, Josiah Allen, who migrated to SC from England
sometime between 1812 and 1820, and Mary Elizabeth McGuire, who migrated
from Ireland, also prior to 1820. The McGuires of Ireland are associated
with the MacQuarrie clan in Scotland. In 1249, the chief of the MacQuarries,
Cormac Mhor, joined Alexander II in his expedition against the western
isles. Cormac was slain by Haco of Norway, and his two sons, Allan
and Uidhir (Guire) fled to Ireland. Allan returned to become chief
of the MacQuarries and (according to legend) Guire stayed in Ireland and founded the powerful
MacGuire (Maguire) line.
I consider MacQuarrie to be my primary clan
of allegiance, even though the connection is distant, because McGuire is
my closest Gaelic family name, and I consider the concept of "clan"
to be a very Gaelic one, and the wearing of the tartan and the kilt a part
of Gaelic Highland culture. The MacQuarrie clan is small and not
well known, and so to promote the clan I have set up a MacQuarrie
web page and mailing list, which you can see here:
http://albanach.org/macquarrie
These are the McGuire arms. The MacQuarrie tartan
is shown
here. If you want to see the MacQuarrie arms, other MacQuarrie
tartans, or the MacGuire tartan, you can find a lot more at the
MacQuarrie
page.
I have a kilt in the MacQuarrie tartan, woven
in the colors used by William Wilson and Sons of Bannockburn in the early
19th century. It is a 4-yard, box pleated kilt, as was common in
that era. My wife Joannie has a skirt in the matching tartan (she
also has possible ties to the MacQuarrie clan through the Irish family
of McGarry, but we are still looking into that association).
Through the MacQuarrie connection, we are also
tied to various other clans. The MacQuarrie clan is one of seven
clans that can claim descent from the MacAlpines, and so we are considered
part of the extended family of that clan (along with MacGregor, MacNab,
MacKinnon, MacAulay, Grant, and MacFie). The MacQuarries, though
always an independent clan, were part of the Lordship of the Isles, and
so followed the leadership of the Lords of the Isles, the clan Donald (or
MacDonald). After the breakup of the Lordship in the 15th century,
they tended to follow their more powerful neighbor on Mull, the MacLeans.
So through the MacQuarries I have ties with these other clans.
Armstrong My maternal grandmother is Edith Mae Armstrong.
Her father was Henry Hugely Armstrong. I don't know too much about
him or his background. The Armstrongs were a powerful Border family
in Scotland, in the West March. I have been to Langholm castle, which was
one of their strongholds.
I'm pictured below in an Armstrong kilt, in the ancient tartan. It's a 4-yard
casual kilt.
Go to the
Clan Armstrong web page.
The Armstrong tartan, and me in my Armstrong kilt.
Ogilvy My grandmother's mother was Freddie Jewel Storey. My grandmother
has some genealogy on this side of her family, which I want to compile
soon. I recently found out that the Storey family (from the Norse inn
Stori, or "the big") is affiliated with the Ogilvy clan. The
Ogilvy clan has an interesting history, with some classifying it as a lowland
family, others as a Highland clan. It also has an interesting tartan.
The Ogilvy of Airlie tartan is the most complex tartan ever recorded.
I have written a letter to the Ogilvy clan society to confirm the Storey
affiliation with the clan, and never recieved a response, so I don't know how
active the clan society is. If there is a definite connection, I want
to get a light weight kilt in the Ogilvy of Airlie tartan. I have
never seen it in a kilt, and it would certainly be unique! Because
this tartan is so complex, there are many different variations of it.
Here is the Ogilvie tartan, in one of its simpler forms. The more
complex version would be too large to show here.
I have looked for an official Clan Ogilvy web site and have yet
to find one, although there are many with information about the clan.
Bruce My grandfather is Calvin DuPont Allen, and his mother was Susie
Lou Carlisle. The Carlisle family was from southern Scotland and
northern England, and are affiliated with the Bruce clan, although I have
never looked into it much to find out why. I have visited the town
of Carlisle in northern England and toured Carlisle castle--very beautiful,
and nice pubs! The castle itself if made of red sandstone.
It's the only pink castle I have seen!
Go to the Clan Bruce Society
If you want to see if your family or clan society has a web page,
check
this listing.
This is the private web site of Matthew Newsome and does not represent the
opinions or positions of any other group or individual in any way, shape or
form.
If
you want more MacGuire/Maguire resources, try this page:
