![MS 1467, folio 1, verso](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/MS_1467%2C_folio_1%2C_verso.jpg)
The MacMhuirich bardic family, known in
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...
as ''Clann MacMhuirich''
and ''Clann Mhuirich'', and anglicised as Clan Currie was a prominent family of
bards and other professionals in 15th to 18th centuries. The family was centred in the
Hebrides
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebr ...
, and claimed descent from a 13th-century Irish bard who, according to legend, was exiled to Scotland. The family was at first chiefly employed by the
Lords of the Isles
The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles
( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...
as poets, lawyers, and physicians.
With the fall of the Lordship of the Isles in the 15th century, the family was chiefly employed by the
chiefs of the
MacDonalds of Clanranald. Members of the family were also recorded as musicians in the early 16th century, and as clergymen possibly as early as the early 15th century.
History
Supposed origins
The family claimed descent from
Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh (''
fl.''1200–1230).
Muireadhach Albanach was a member of the eminent
Ó Dálaigh bardic dynasty. This family is sometimes traced back to either of two men named ''Dálach'': one is the legendary student of Abbot
Colmán mac Lénéni of Cloyne; the other is another legendary figure, who was a descendant of the 8th-century Irish king
Fergal mac Maíle Dúin, son of
Maíle Fithraig. Muireadhach Albanach gained the nickname ''Albanach'' ("the
Scot
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...
") in reference to the time he spent in Scotland.
He supposedly spent 15 years in there, after being exiled for killing a
steward of Domhnall Mór Ó Domhnaill (1207–1241),
Lord of Tyrconell. While in Scotland, Muireadhach Albanach was employed as a bard by the
Earls of Lennox, and it appears as if members of his family also settled in
the Lennox
The Lennox ( gd, Leamhnachd, ) is a region of Scotland centred on The Vale of Leven, including its great loch: Loch Lomond.
The Gaelic name of the river is ''Leamhn'', meaning ''the smooth stream'', which anglicises to ''Leven'' (as Gaelic ' ...
, as a "Kathil Macmurchy" is recorded in the Lennox in the mid 13th century. In a
lament
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...
that Muireadhach Albanach composed on the death of his wife, Maol Mheadha, he stated that she bore him 11 children.
A professional family
An early member of the MacMhuirich family was Lachlann Mór MacMhuirich, who authored the battle-incitement poem of
Clan Donald (''Clann Domhnaill'') sometime before the
Battle of Harlaw
The Battle of Harlaw ( gd, Cath Gairbheach) was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland a ...
, which took place in 1411. A possible descendant of Lachlann's was one "Lacclannus mcmuredhaich archipoeta", who witnessed a charter of
Aonghas of Islay, son of the last member of ''Clann Domhnaill'' to be recognised as
Lord of the Isles. Other members of the MacMhuirich family, possibly one or two, composed poems of Aonghas's murder that are preserved in the ''
Book of the Dean of Lismore
The ''Book of the Dean of Lismore'' ( gd, Leabhar Deathan Lios Mòir) is a Scottish manuscript, compiled in eastern Perthshire in the first half of the 16th century. The chief compiler, after whom it is named, was James MacGregor (''Seumas Mac ...
''.
From about the 1490s and onwards, members of the family are also recorded as clergymen (and possibly as early as 1432, if the "John Muaritti" recorded in the
Apostolic Camera is indeed a ''
MacMhuirich'').
Following the collapse of the Lordship of the Isles, the MacMhuirich family appears to have been chiefly employed by the chiefs of the
MacDonalds of Clanranald (''Clann Raghnaill''). The earliest poet of the MacMhuirich family on record is Niall Mór MacMhuirich ( - c. 1613). A member of the family was the ''
seanchaidh'' (story-teller and genealogist) who authored much of the ''
Books of Clanranald'', which date to the 17th and early 18th centuries.
One of these books, the so-called ''Red Book'', is best known for its account of the history of ''Clann Domhnaill'', which was composed by Niall. The other book, the so-called ''Black Book'', is more of a miscellaneous compilation, although it contains a version of Niall's history composed by a member of the
Beaton kindred, another learned family of professionals that was once centred in the Hebrides.
Other noted members of the family were Cathal MacMhuirich (''fl.''1625) and
Niall MacMhuirich (''c.''1637–1726),
the last fully competent practitioner of the family and who was still working in the first quarter of the 18th century. In the first part of the 16th century members of the family are also recorded as
Harpers, and one "John oig M
c murcquhie leiche in Ilay", a physician, is recorded in 1615.
In the second half of the 17th century, Ruairidh MacMhuirich (anglicised as
Roderick Morison
Roderick Morison ( gd, Ruairidh MacMhuirich), known as An Clàrsair Dall (The Blind Harper), was a Scottish Gaelic poet and harpist. He was born around 1646 in Bragar, Lewis and educated in Inverness, but he also learned to play the clàrsach (Cel ...
), known as ''an Clàrsair Dall'' (the Blind Harper) was a bard who served Chief John MacLeod "the Speckled" of
Clan MacLeod
Clan MacLeod (; gd, Clann Mac Leòid ) is a Highland Scottish clan associated with the Isle of Skye. There are two main branches of the clan: the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan, whose chief is MacLeod of MacLeod, are known in Gaelic as ' ("se ...
until the latter's death in 1693. John's successor, the similarly named Rockerick MacLeod "the Younger", was an
absentee landlord
In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 book ...
for whom Morison composed ''Oran do Mhac Leoid Dhun Bheagain'' ("A Song for MacLeod of Dunvegan"), rebuking the chief for not performing his traditional duties to his subjects and failing to support traditional Gaelic culture. Morison died in 1713. The last of the family to practice Classical Gaelic poetry was Domhnall MacMhuirich, who lived on
South Uist
South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth Uist) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the ...
, as a tenant of Macdonald of Clanranald, in the 18th century.
Modern day
In 1959, descendants of Clann MacMhuirich (known today as Clan Currie) elected
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
veteran Colonel William McMurdo Currie as their chief. Before his death in 1992, he named Robert Currie, who established the non-profit organisation The Clan Currie Society, as his successor as "Clan Commander". The Society continues to promote traditional Gaelic music and poetry.
Notes
References
See also
*Beaton medical kindred
The Beaton medical kindred, also known as Clann Meic-bethad and Clan MacBeth, was a Scottish kindred of professional physicians that practised medicine in the classical Gaelic tradition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era.
The kindred ...
- another major learned Gaelic kindred.
Further reading
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{{Ó Dálaigh
Scottish families
Clan Donald
History of the Outer Hebrides