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The MacHeths were a Celtic kindred who raised several rebellions against the kings of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their origins have long been debated.
Origins
The main controversy concerning the MacHeths is their origin. The key question relates to the paternity of Máel Coluim MacHeth, the first of the kindred known. The present orthodoxy makes Máel Coluim the son of one
Beth (or Áed or Eth),
Mormaer of Ross, who witnessed two charters in the early reign of
David I David I may refer to:
* David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399
* David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741)
* David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881)
* David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048)
* David I of Scotland ...
. Earlier theories involved conflating two persons generally now seen as distinct: Máel Coluim MacHeth and
Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair
Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair () was an illegitimate son of Alexander I of Scotland, and was an unsuccessful pretender to the Scottish throne. He is a relatively obscure figure owing primarily to the scarcity of source material, appearing only in p ...
, an illegitimate son of
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of A ...
.
Even when it is accepted that Máel Coluim MacHeth was the son of Áed of Ross, this has raised further questions concerning the background of the kindred and the nature of their claims. The general consensus favours a background in Ross, and claims to the Mormaerdom; descent from the Scots royal house, perhaps through Domnall, son of
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, who died in 1085, has also been proposed.
Dramatis personae
Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair
Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair () was an illegitimate son of Alexander I of Scotland, and was an unsuccessful pretender to the Scottish throne. He is a relatively obscure figure owing primarily to the scarcity of source material, appearing only in p ...
Máel Coluim, now presumed to be the son of Alexander rather than MacHeth, first appears in 1124, when
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
reports:
It is not certain whether it was this Máel Coluim, the royal bastard, who married a sister of
Somerled
Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the ...
, king (or lord) of
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
. If it were he, then this must have been prior to his capture and imprisonment in 1134. He was held at
Roxburgh, and was still there in 1156 when his son was captured at
Whithorn
Whithorn ( ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christ ...
and imprisoned with him.
Máel Coluim MacHeth
If it is accepted that this Máel Coluim and the son of Alexander I are not one and the same, Máel Coluim MacHeth appears in 1157, when it is said that he was reconciled with the king,
Malcolm IV. It appears that he was restored to the mormaerdom of Ross, which he held until his death in around 1168.
Domnall MacHeth
The existence of Domnall MacHeth is dependent upon accepting that Máel Coluim MacHeth was the prisoner of Roxburgh and the husband of Somerled's sister. If this is so, then Domnall was involved in a rebellion early in the reign of Malcolm IV, was captured at Whithorn in 1156 and was, perhaps, released in 1157 when his father was restored as Mormaer of Ross in 1157.
Adam mac Domnaill
In 1186, a certain Adam son of Domnall, "the king's outlaw", was killed by
Máel Coluim,
Mormaer of Atholl, in the sanctuary of the church at
Cupar
Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fi ...
, and the church burnt with 58 of Adam's associates within. It may be that this Adam mac Domnaill was a son of
Domnall mac Uilleim
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The Meic Uilleim (MacWilliams) were the Gaelic descendants of William fitz Duncan, grandson of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, king of Scots. They were excluded from the succession by the descendants of Máel Coluim's son David I during the ...
. However, his identification is not certain. One reading would give his name as ''Áed mac Domnaill'', and it may be that he should be counted among the MacHeths.
Kenneth MacHeth
As with the Meic Uilleim, the MacHeths disappear from history in the years around 1200. It may be that there were no adult male MacHeths to press their claims to Ross, or that the record is incomplete. This is the period in which
Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse: ''Haraldr Maddaðarson'', Gaelic: ''Aralt mac Mataid'') (c. 1134 – 1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter ...
,
Earl of Orkney, appears as the chief threat to the Kings of Scots in the north.
The next, and last, MacHeth to be reported is Kenneth (or Cináed), who joined with Domnall Bán mac Uilleim and an unnamed Irish prince, to invade Ross in 1215, shortly after the death of king
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
. This invasion proved to be no threat to the new king,
Alexander II, as it was defeated by
Ferchar mac in tSagairt, the future
Mormaer of Ross, who killed the leaders and sent their heads to King Alexander. With this, the MacHeth claims to Ross appear to have ended.
The
chiefs of the Highland
Clan Ross
Clan Ross ( gd, Clann Anndrais ) is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.
History
Origins
The first recorded chief of the Clan Ross was "Fearcher Mac an t-Sagirt" which in English meant ...
were direct descendants of the aforementioned Ferchar mac in tSagairt, Mormaer of Ross and according to one historian the
chiefs of the Highland
Clan Mackay
Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish ...
were probably direct descendants of the aforementioned Kenneth MacHeth.
[Mackay, Angus. (1906). pp. 26 - 27 & pp. 35.] The two clans later feuded in the 15th century.
See also
*
Clan Mackay
Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish ...
Notes
References
*
Barrow, G.W.S., ''Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306.'' Reprinted Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1989.
* Duncan, A.A.M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002.
* Grant, Alexander, "The Province of Ross and the Kingdom of Alba" in E.J. Cowan and R. Andrew McDonald (eds.) ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era.'' Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2000; reprinted John Donald, Edinburgh, 2005.
*Mackay, Angus. (1906).
The Book of Mackay'. (St Andrews University). Printed by William Rae, Wick.
* McDonald, R. Andrew, ''Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266.'' Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003.
*
Oram, Richard, ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland.'' Tempus, Stroud, 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macheths
Scandinavian Scotland
Scottish families