![Clan member crest badge - Clan Mackie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Clan_member_crest_badge_-_Clan_Mackie.svg)
Clan Mackie is a Lowland
Scottish clan. The clan does not have a
chief
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
recognised by the
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...
therefore the clan has no standing under
Scots Law
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...
. Clan Mackie is considered an
armigerous clan, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a recognised chief, or a chief who possessed the
chiefly arms of the name; however, no one at present is in possession of such arms.
Origins
The clan-name Mackie is an
Anglicised
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
form of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''MacAoidh''.'". The Gaelic
personal name
A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...
''Aoidh'' is an old one and means "fire".
History
Clan Mackie was a prominent
Galwegien family in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The Mackies of were the principal family of the clan. At the beginning of the 17th century, Sir Patrick Mackie of was one of the original fifty Scottish undertakers of the
plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...
. About of his lands, near
Donegal Donegal may refer to:
County Donegal, Ireland
* County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster
* Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland
* Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
, were however later taken over by John,
earl of Annandale
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
. The Mackies of acquired the lands of
Bargaly in
Kirkcudbrightshire and Auchencairn near
Castle Douglas. Today there are still Mackies in
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The town lies southwest of C ...
.
One prominent cadet house was the
Mackie of Corraith.
Symbols
The arms of Mackie of is blazoned ''
Argent, two ravens pendant from an arrow fessways piercing their necks Proper, on a chief
Azure
Azure may refer to:
Colour
* Azure (color), a hue of blue
** Azure (heraldry)
** Shades of azure, shades and variations
Arts and media
* ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987
* Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013
...
a lion passant of the Field armed and langued
Gules
In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple).
In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
''. The origin of these arms is explained by tradition. Mackie of was to have been in the company of
Robert II and was boasting of his prowess in the skill of
archery
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
. The
king of Scots
The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...
, growing weary of this, pointed out two
raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...
s on a distant tree and asked Mackie of to prove his boasts. However, much to the chagrin of the King, Mackie of Large skewered both ravens with his arrow. Tradition goes on to state that because of his feat Mackie of was granted the right to bear on his
shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
two ravens pierced by an arrow through their neck, together with a lion which alluded to the king.
The 1906 book ''The Book of Mackay'' by Angus Mackay gives the following information: According to Barbour's Metrical History of Bruce, the hunted Robert escaped from the beagles of John MacDougall in 1306 and made his way alone on foot. He arrived at an appointed trysting place near Loch Dee in Galloway where he could safely wait. He came upon a widow, Anabel, and her three sons who were very good archers, M'Kie, M'Clurg and Muiredach; they hospitably entertained the Bruce. During the night the king was joined by his brother Edward and Sir James Douglas with about 150 men. The next morning the widow's sons gave an exhibition of their prowess with the bow which greatly delighted the Bruce. With one arrow M'Kie transfixed a brace of ravens perched upon a rock, while his brother Muiredach brought down the third corbie on the wing. Bruce asked the sons to join him as he could use their skills.
[ ]
This incident is supposed to account for the brace of pierced ravens which find a place on the shield of M'Kie (Mackie). The arms of M'Kie of Larg were never recorded in the Lyon Register, but they are described in the Heraldic Manuscripts of Sir James Balfour as follows: Argent, two ravens pendent from an arrow fessways piercing their necks proper, on a shield azure a lion passant representation, and the crest and motto, which are respectively a raven proper and Labora.
In addition later the Bruce rewarded the loyal widow and her gallant sons, who had fought for him so well, bestowing upon the family, "...the hassock of land 'tween Palnure and Penkill," to wit, the thirty pound land of Cumloden in the parish of Minnigaff and stewartry of Kirkcudbright.
Possible connection to the Clan Mackay
According to historian Angus Mackay, the Mackies of Galloway may have been descended from Martin who was the third son of Iye MacHeth, 1st chief of the
Clan Mackay who lived in the thirteenth century.
Angus Mackay states that in the 17th century, Sir Patrick Mackie of Lairg in Galloway commanded a company of the regiment that was commanded by
Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay.
He also states that the idea that the Clan Mackay family of
Strathnaver were related to the Mackie family of Galloway through Martin of Stathnaver was evidently accepted by
Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet and that Gordon was closely acquainted with both Sir Donald Mackay of Stathnaver and Sir Patrick Mackie of Lairg, Galloway, and would have therefore gathered information from both.
The Mackay of Stathnaver ''Blackcastle Manuscript'' also states that Martin of Stathnaver settled in Galloway in agreement with Sir Robert Gordon.
Angus Mackay also notes the similarities in the coats of arms of the
Mackay of Aberach branch of the Strathnaver Mackays and the Galloway Mackies.
Sir Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and Sir Patrick Mackie of Lairg, Galloway, both signed themselves as Mackie.
Angus Mackay concludes that the Mackie form of the name was common in both Strathnaver (Clan Mackay territory) and in Galloway, but that the majority of those named Mackie would have been from Galloway.
See also
*
Mackie (disambiguation)
*
Clan Mackay, a separate Scottish clan which also derives its name from the Gaelic ''Aodh''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackie
Scottish clans
Armigerous clans