Other
Surnames Used by Descendants of Maolan
The
bearers of which might be considered as "Septs" of Clan
MacMillan
unless they became numerous and powerful enough to evolve into clans in
their own right
Go straight to list of Septs and Related Names
The question of "Septs"
is a contentious one; and some academic historians use the undoubted
existence in a few cases of "sept-knapping" - which the
MacMillans suffered from most notoriously at the hands of William Buchanan
of Auchmar - to rubbish the whole concept. If however septs are properly
understood, and distinguished from kindreds descending from the same
progenitor who evolve into separate clans, it is a legitimate idea.
Septs are branches of a clan that for various reasons use a different
surname.
In some cases this is because their surname remembers the given-name or
the nick-name of a particularly famous member of the parent clan (e.g. the
Cannans from Cane/Cainn M'millan or the
Baxters from the M'millan "baker");
or because their name is a very different version of the usual surname
(e.g. Bell for the Mhaoil of MacGhille-Mhaoil, or
Mulligan for Maolagain as an alternative
version of Mhaolain).
Sometimes a branch of the clan took its surname from the place it lived
in (as the Lennies in Perthshire are generally
supposed to have done - though recent research throws some doubt on this
derivation) or from the occupation of its ancestors (e.g. the
Walkers).
In the most powerful kindreds, families not descended from the clan's
namefather often became tenants or followers of the chiefs - both by
conquest and by choice - and when surnames became necessary adopted that
of their landlord or protector rather than that of their own blood-line.
There are no known examples of this among the MacMillan septs as by the
time surnames became necessary the MacMillan chiefs no longer held enough
land to attract followers from other bloodlines to settle amongst them.
The decline of MacMillan power from the 16th century onwards meant that
the branch of the clan remaining in Lochaber came to be regarded as a sept
of the Camerons in this way; though most of them stuck to their own famous
name, even if often called "Camerons" elsewhere in the northern
highlands because of their loyalty to Lochiel.
By way of contrast the surname Campbell does seem to have been adopted
from the early 16th century by the family of the old lairds of Craignish
who were also almost certainly "MacMillans" descended from
Dougall mac Malcolm mhic Mhaolain; presumably because the MacMillans in
the neighbouring Knapdale had either become tenants of the far more
powerful Campbells or had fled south to Kintyre.
Other descendants of Callum / Malcolm mac Mhaolain in Lorn chose to call
themselves by versions of MacCallum / Malcolm,
and one branch of this kindred became rich and powerful enough to evolve
into a clan in their own right: now known as the Malcolms, with their
seats at Poltalloch and Duntrune, just to the north of Knapdale.
Similarly, to the north of Lorn a number of other kindreds descended from
Maolan grew into clans in their own right; most notably the MacPhersons,
one of the leading clans in the Clan Chattan confederation (which the
MacMillans had once belonged too as well).
The fact that the MacMillans lost so much of their land and power after
the downfall of the Lords of the Isles in the early sixteenth century,
which was well before surnames were adopted by most highlanders, probably
meant that many descendants of Maolan were less concerned about using the
name M'millan, and this may account for their eventually adopting instead
some of these other surnames.
Further discussion of the
evolution of "septs" and the other clans descended from Maolan
can be found in
"The Origins and Early History of the MacMillans and Related Kindreds"
by Graeme M. Mackenzie.
For details of how to obtain this see Clan
Centre Products and Publications.
LIST OF
SEPTS AND NAMES RELATED TO MACMILLAN
Click the name to go to the relevant page
M' stands for both Mac and Mc
Clan | History | Symbols & Tartans | Heraldry | Organisation