The genealogies of all Highland clans - especially their origins and early history - are matters of continuing doubt and debate, since they are mostly founded on oral traditions only written down relatively late in the middle ages; and relate to a time and place about which there are few surviving contemporary records to check these accounts against. Such chronicles as do exist come from sources reflecting the diverse origins of the Highland clans (Pictish, British and Gaelic Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans and Flemings) and using a number of languages (Gaelic, British/Welsh, Latin and Norman-French) in which not only do the same names appear in a variety of forms; but the same individual may appear with entirely different names in different sources! So, for example, the MacMillans' royal ancestor known in the Scots chronicles as MacBethad mac Findlaech (i.e. Macbeth - meaning "Son of Life" - son of Finlay), appears in the Viking sagas under the name Karl Hundisson (i.e. Karl - meaning "The Hound" - son of Hundi; Hundi being the name by which the Norse knew Finlay king of Moray). Macbeth's great-great-grandson appears in MacMillan genealogies both as Cormac mac Airbertaich (Cormac son of Airbertach), and as Gillespic Mor (Gille-Easbuig Mor, "the Great Bishop"); while his son, whose nick-names Maolan and Gillemaol make him the namefather of the MacMillans, appears in the Book of Deer with his given-name and patronymic as Gilchrist mac Cormaic.
There is thus from the
earliest period in the clan's history - the eleventh and twelfth centuries
- a confusion emanating from given and nick-names in different languages
and from different sources. This is further complicated from the
thirteenth century onwards by the very gradual introduction - and at first
only amongst clans' chiefly families - of a further sort of name; and
again we may find the same individuals bearing more than one of what
appear to be, or are later known to be, "surnames". As most clan
surnames derive from patronymics the transition from the one to the other
is a complicated and long drawn-out process; and while at first it may
appear bizarre that the late thirteenth century MacMillan chief Cainn
mac Dougal (his patronymic) should only appear on the record
bearing what appears to be an early form of the surname of another clan
(as Cane Mcgillolane - from which comes the modern clan
surname MacLellan) one has to remember that at this
transitional stage MacGhilleFhaolain - "Son of the
Devotee of (Saint) Fillan" - is what might best be called a
patronymic-nickname; and that while in due course some of Cane/Cainn's
descendants will choose that as their surname, others will prefer to
remember their famous tonsured ancestor Gilchrist by calling themselves
MacGhilleMhaoil or MacMhaolain.
Cainn's own sons are generally recorded bearing versions of the patronymic
name mac Cainn: i.e. MacCane or McKan; and
in the English records, fitz Cane, which is the Norman-French
equivalent of mac Cane. Some of their descendants in Galloway,
where he was one of the greatest lords of his time, chose in due course to
bear surnames that remembered him rather than his ancestor Maolan or the
saintly cult he espoused; so they called themselves Acanne or Cannan,
a well known name in the vicinity of the MacMillan lands in Galloway. Thus
from the confusion of names by which the early "sons of Maolan"
were known in the middle ages arose kindreds, some of whom became clans in
their own rights - and Clan Clannan is on record as early as the
fourteenth century - while others became, in effect, the first septs of
the Clann an Mhaoil (in exactly the same way as the MacMillans'
later septs arose).
Added to these natural
sources of confusion from medieval times are those sown in the early
modern period by some shennachies and clan chiefs who shamelessly altered
their pedigrees for political reasons, or simply to fit the foibles of
fashion (which in the 17th century preferred an Anglo-Norman descent to
the Gaelic one that has been sought after since the late 19th). The
classic discussion of such phenomena is to be found in an article by David
Sellar, whose work on the early MacDonalds and Campbells (amongst others)
has made him the leading authority on such matters, called "Highland
Family Origins - Pedigree Making and Pedigree Faking" which was
published in The Middle Ages in the Highlands, edited by Lorraine
Maclean (Inverness, 1981).
Sellar refers in this article to the collection of pedigrees, commonly
called MS 1467, which contains the first surviving account
of the MacMillans' genealogy; and the questions that he raises - along
with all the above matters - are fully discussed in Graeme Mackenzie's
forthcoming "Origins and Early History of the MacMillans and Related
Kindreds" (for the progress of which see the
News page of this website). In the
meantime some more of the conclusions reached in that work can be found on
this website on the Clan History,
Chief's Family, and
Septnames pages; as well as in the brief
discussion about the clan's later genealogy which follows here.
The Clann an Mhaoil are one of the oldest of Scottish clans, and therefore in theory one of the largest; but because they broke up into far-flung branches relatively early in their history - before surnames became commonly used in the Highlands - many of the “children of Maolan” ended up bearing names other than MacMhaolain or its alternative Gaelic form, MacGhillemhaoil; as explained above. Some of these are recognised today as Septnames of the clan; and amongst these the most important - because the most widespread and numerous - is “Bell”. Though it was widely adopted in the South West Highlands and Islands in the 18th & 19th centuries as an Englished form of MacGilveil/M’Ilvoyle, it’s use as a surname can be traced back to the 13th and 14th century in Perthshire and Galloway, where many bearers of it then were probably also M’millans (Mac-Ghille-mhaoil appears in the second oldest surviving genealogy of the clan - the Leny tree of c.1539 - as Mac-Gili-bile). In certain areas of the Highlands - particularly Argyllshire - Bell and M'millan were used interchangeably as the surnames of the same families, depending on the whims of the Ministers or Session-Clerks making the records, or on the places where the families lived. See the Bell page on this website.
In addition to having their name “Englished” in this way, some M’millans appear in the 18th, 19th and even the 20th centuries bearing the surnames of other clans, such as Buchanan and Cameron: the first because of the 18th century claim that the clan were a sept of the Buchanans; and the second because the Lochaber branch of the clan followed the Cameron chief. Again there are documented cases in the 18th and 19th centuries of the same families appearing on different occasions, and in different places, as either M'millans or Buchanans; or as M'millans or Camerons. There is even one case in the early 19th century where a set of parents and their children are recorded under all three of these surnames - M'millan, Buchanan and Cameron. Such apparent carelessness about surnames was just that; the Highlander couldn't care less what officials called him, because he was not accustomed to using a surname, though he knew very well what clan he belonged to. It does seem, however, that when emigrating from the Gaidhealtachd (the Gaelic-speaking Highlands) many "Bells", "Buchanans" or "Camerons" realised that their true identity might be lost if they did not insist on M'millan as their surname, so generally speaking the confusion is confined to Scotland; though there are reports of a substantial family of "Camerons" in the Chicago area - sadly unidentified at present - who are really M'millans.
A study of the clan’s history will suggest which alternate names usually apply to which branch in Scotland; and if you are from outside of the old country, from which branch of the M’millans your emigrant ancestor is most likely to have come (since different branches had favoured destinations in the New Worlds). See the Clan Centre Information Sheets on the MacMillan branches in Knapdale, Galloway, Lochaber, and Glen Urquhart.
Even if your ancestors have
always, since a surname was first required, used that of the clan, life
remains more difficult for the M'millan genealogist than for many others;
though all Scottish clans suffer to a greater or lesser extent from the
similar problems. Within the Gaelic language there were - as there are
today in English - regional variations in accent which led to many
different phonetic forms of the same name being recorded over the
centuries in different parts of the country. It's important to remember as
well that consistency of spelling was not considered a necessary virtue in
Scotland - and especially in the Highlands - until our own century; and
for these reasons over 190 different spellings of the name M'millan have
so far been discovered.
Please remember that, however strongly you or your immediate ancestors feel or have felt about the way your family spell your surname, it simply would not have been an issue for your earlier ancestors in Scotland; and unless you totally disregard it, and search amongst all possible variations, you may entirely miss the next step in the search for your M'millan ancestors.
See
the Basic Info page of this website
for general advice on researching Scottish ancestors.
As the Clan MacMillan
Centre uses and recommends the genealogy software FAMILY TREE MAKER for
Project MAOL Complete Family Files you will find a good deal of M’millan
genealogy already on the Internet at the FTM’s own website: <www.familytreemaker.com>.
Another huge database is held by the Mormon Church. Indices to this can
be accessed on-line at <www.familysearch.com> and the
church's local Family History Centres will be able to give you access to
filmed copies of original records from all over the world - just for the
cost of the postage involved in getting them from the nearest of their
libraries that hold the record in question. Finally, if you know your
family had a connection with a particular part of the world before moving
to your present home, you can always try asking for information through
the local Clan MacMillan Society; who may have unknown cousins of yours as
members. For names and addresses of the main Clan MacMillan societies,
branches and family groups see Organisation
- Addresses.
If, instead of - or at the
end of - all that, you want expert help, then the Clan Genealogist is at
the Clan Centre to assist. Free advice is available to all clanspeople;
free or discounted searches of our existing genealogical records are
available to Members of
Clan MacMillan International; and professional research in
Scotland can be commissioned from the Clan Genealogist via his Highland
Roots for M'millans service; with a substantial discount on his
usual professional fees available to Clan MacMillan International members.
Please note that all M’millan and sept-name ancestry details
discovered by the Clan Genealogist will be entered into Project MAOL and
made available to the rest of the clan.