Gilchrist MacNachtan (also known as Cristinus), son of Malcolm MacNachtan, was a thirteenth-century Scottish
magnate
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
.
Gilchrist was likely a native of
Lorne. Two charters, dating to about 1246 and 1247 respectively, reveal that he made two grants of the church of Kilmorich, located at the head of
Loch Fyne, to
Inchaffray Abbey
Inchaffray Abbey was situated by the village of Madderty, midway between Perth and Crieff in Strathearn, Scotland. The only traces now visible are an earth mound and some walls on rising ground which once (before drainage) formed an island where ...
. The first grant describes Gilchrist as a "baron of the realm", and both grants record the name of his wife, Bethoc, and the name of his father, Malcolm MacNachtan. A
seal of green wax is attached to the second charter is
blazoned ''a
bend surmounted of a
label of five points in
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 ...
'', and reads in
Latin "''S Gilecrist Macnachten''". The seal's
heraldic elements may be evidence that Gilecrist's family was related to the
Bissetts.
In 1267,
Alexander III, King of Scots
Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...
granted Gilchrist the custody of the castle on
Fraoch Eilean
This is a list of islands called Eilean Fraoch or Fraoch Eilean, which provides an index for islands in Scotland with this and similar names. Literally meaning "Calluna, heather island" in Scottish Gaelic, it is a common Scottish island name. It ma ...
, an island in the northern end of
Loch Awe
Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Obha'') is a large body of freshwater in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Loch Awe or Lochawe. There are islands within the loch such ...
. The king's charter to Gilchrist states that the latter was to hold the castle of the king, and to be prepared to offer hospitality to the king whenever he should wish to visit. There is reason to suspect that the charter documenting the grant is spurious. Be that as it may, such a grant fits into the context of ongoing consolidation of Scottish royal power in the western fringes of the kingdom in the years following the
Treaty of Perth. The earliest phase of construction at the castle site dates to the twelfth- and thirteenth-centuries, and the castle's remains dating from this period closely resemble the earliest remains of
Castle Sween.
In 1277, an indenture between Hugh of Abernethy and Gilchrist's widow, Ethena, records that the latter possessed a third of Gilchrist's lands "by right of and by the law of the land". It is uncertain whether the form of Ethena's name in this source is a Latinised form of Bethoc's name, or if Ethena was a latter wife of Gilchrist. Gilchrist is one of the earliest members of
Clan Macnaghten to appear on record—his father being the earliest. Other contemporary sources reveal that Gilchrist had two brothers, Ath and Gilbert.
[ Moncreiffe of that Ilk (1967) pp. 103–104; Macphail (1914) p. 106 n 2; Lindsay; Dowden; Thomson (1908) pp. lxxxiii–lxxxiv.]
Citations
References
Primary sources
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Secondary sources
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External links
Gilchrist, son of Malcolm MacNachtan @ People of Medieval Scotland, 1093–1314Christian, son of Banchauer @ People of Medieval Scotland, 1093–1314Bethoc, wife of Gilchrist son of Malcolm MacNachtann @ People of Medieval Scotland, 1093–1314Eithne, wife of Christian son of Banchauer @ People of Medieval Scotland, 1093–1314
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacNachtan, Gilchrist
People from Lorne, Scotland
Nobility from Argyll and Bute
13th-century Scottish nobility