Mactosich

  General Notes:

The 6th Chief of Clan Mackintosh married Eva, only daughter of DougalD oul, 6th Chief of Clan Chattan. In Eva's right, Mackintosh became als o 7th Chief of Chattan upon Dougal's death. In 1325, the seat of the Chief became Moy Hall, at Moy, Inverness-shire, where it has remained for the past 651 years. The ancient lands of the Clan between Petty a nd Lochaber, south of Inverness in Moray.

It is noted that the lands of Strathbran, which lay west of the town o f Dunkeld, in Perthshire, are only about 30 miles southeast of Moy, Cl an headquarters.

In 1745, the Clans, in virtual mutiny against government by a Regencyt hey did not trust, and longing again for a Scots King, brought Prince Charles Stewart from exile in France and rose to his support.

In all their long history, that afternoon of April 16, 1746, on the Mu ir near the town of Culloden in northern Moray, was their blackest hou r. Lady mackintosh ("Colonel Anne") had raised Mackintosh/Chattan Clan s, put Alexander MacGillivray in charge of the battalions, and joinedw ith the other Clans for a concerted effort. Her husband, Angus, theCh ief, was at the time a Captain in the Black Watch Regiment of the Roya l Army and though the sympathies were with his Clan, it was not expedi ent that he be involved.

It was a day of bitter sleet. The Highlanders, famished and weary fro m a night march, intended (unsuccessfully) as a surprise, met the Engl ish troops on Drummossie Muir, near Culloden. The terrain gave the En glish room to move their cannon and cavalry. The Clans had neither.Cl an Mackintosh led the first charge, on foot, with sword and lance, an d desperate valor. The first lines were literally mown down, MacGilli vray died, leading his men, beside a well that still bears his name.

The English were commanded by William, son of the English King, dubbe d the Duke of Cumberland. He ordered "no quarter", placing, that day , one of history's blackest marks on England's already badly soiled es cutcheon.

The wounded were shot where they lay, their bodies stripped of kilt an d tartan, left to the mercy of the wolves. Prisoners were thrust nake d into jail at Inverness, their daily ration a half pount of meal a da y. Others, taken to prison ships, were herded on the earth ballast tod ie in darkness; those who lived to beheaded for the edification of Lon don crowds.

Women and children were stripped and driven from their homes, many top erish in the still frigid weather. Men who had no part in the rising were rounded up, shot without questioning. Cattle were driven off an d killed; houses, fields, haystacks burned ... the very shell-fish plo ughed under on the shore! Alasdair, gaelic scholar and poet, relates when his wife and children were turned out of the house, the cat was s hot lest it serve food! One needs no further details, though there ar e plenty ... all sickening.

Price Charles got safely away to France. England had been frightenedt o its roots. Its parliament now acted rashly to eradicate the people and the culture of the Highlands ... their religion, their gaelic lang uage, their Clans, even their dress. From 1746, no Highland might wea r the kilt or tartan of his fathers, except in the Army, on pain ofdep ortation. This was not lifted until 1782.

Confiscatory taxes were now levied on the Highlands, forcing people t o give up the only homes they had ever known. Vast areas of the Highl ands soon lay dessolate. The Clans went underground. Thousands of Hi ghlanders emigrated, mainly to the American colonies, fusing their sta unch blood and qualities into our American heritage. They did yoemans ervice in the American Revolution.