About Clan MacIntyre
The MacName Game
So much can be researched online about all of the clans but perhaps many will be reading this for the first time or the information is new to you. I'll direct you to some favorite links that would allow further and more in depth information of Scottish history and Clan MacIntyre than my knowledge is capable of covering efficiently! The work has already been done and my contribution would do our history a sorry injustice! Further, I am not a fan of taking someone else's hard earned research and even remotely claiming it to be mine. I will diligently give credit to many that went before me, and gladly take credit only for being the messenger. These resource mentions are for your benefit if deeper historical knowledge is desired.
One of my most cherished and very readable histories of Clan MacIntyre is the 2nd edition of "Clan MacIntyre" by Martin L. MacIntyre. Years ago I managed to find an old copy of the 1st edition, and have been anxiously awaiting publication for this edition. I've gifted this to both of my brothers (Tim and Scott) and my copy has a place near a few other MacIntyre artifacts collected over the years. This book is listed on the Home page and includes an email link to purchase the book.
Macintyre means "son of a carpenter" or Mac an t-Saoir in Scot's Gaelic. A man's name in Gaelic culture was traditionally handed down from their father, hence the "mac or mc", which means "son of". The surname was often a reflection of the man's occupation or trade. Our name "saoir" in Scot's Gaelic is plural for a joiner or a carpenter. Gaelic uses a dative or prepositional case form in the language, which is why the 't' is in front of "Saoir" and preceded by "an". The 't' is a lenition, or softening of the beginning Saoir, so the pronunciation has a "tse" blended sound.
Our McIntyres were from the Atholl region of Perthshire, not the same area where the clan was historically positioned in Glenoe, along the banks of Loch Etive. Wondering what our Scottish ancestors sounded like, their accents and inflections is what prompted me to study Scot's Gaelic. It takes me back to their place in time, at least in my imagination! Admittedly, my Gaelic "mother tongue" is still sounding like it's missing a few generations! Interestingly, a few of the individual entries on the fascinating website https://www.borenich.co.uk/ indicates when a person did not speak English, supporting the idea that most of our ancestors most certainly spoke Gaelic. The Borenich website is worth reading for a rich understanding of life during the time of Alexander. The focus on this site is Clan Robertson territory, where Alexander's mother Elizabeth was born and raised, and in the same region as to where our McIntyre's lived. Another site worth visiting is the Facebook "In Jacobite Footsteps" page. Give it a 'Like' and you'll enjoy some photos of the Blair Atholl area. There are some very interesting photos of ruins from communities past.
There are variations of how each of us spell our last name, and may have a regional or familial bearing. In the family entries of the Old Parish Records, the last names of Alexander, his father Donald and grandfather Alexander, were all spelled as "McIntyre". My family line and going back several generations, spelled our name "McIntire". As a schoolgirl, my last name was forever being mispronounced or misspelled. My corrective mantra would be CAPITAL M, c, CAPITAL I, n, tire, all the while lowering my voice pitch for the lower case "c" and "n" and strongly emphasizing the "i" in tire!
Some in our family did adhere to the original "tyre" spelling and as we journey through our individual families, I will attempt to acknowledge whichever spelling was used. Please correct any name misspellings of your traditional family way! For a list of other spellings, both ancient and modern, take a look at this link:
Clan MacIntyre also recognizes and embraces several septs, or family names that are associated with our clan. The anglicized surname Wright along with Tyre and MacTear are commonly recognized septs of Clan MacIntyre. Several of my friends are "Wright" and have made it known they too are Scottish and part of Clan MacIntyre and indeed they are!
I am a hopeless lover of all things tartan! Christmas is my favorite time to showcase all the tartan wrapping paper, ornaments, decorations, tableware, candles and anything else found in tartan! Finding strictly MacIntyre tartan is tricky, so at the holidays, nothing celebrates Scottish like a mixture of tartan, aka plaid! Sigh. However, tartan probably wasn't used to decorate homes, given the intense work it took to make and of course the expense and scarcity of materials. Tartan was most used by a blood family or family affiliation the person or persons identified with. In some situations, a group of people might identify with a larger, stronger clan if they lived in the territory and needed the security and protection. On the battle field, a soldier wore their tartans like a uniform!
Fabric and textiles were fashioned by weaving warp and weft on a loom and made into cloth to be used in a multitude of ways. I had the pleasure of watching a weaver at work on the Isle of Harris on a very old machine. Harris Tweed is a desirable commodity in Scotland and can only be made on the Isle of Harris if it is to be marketed as an authentic Harris Tweed. This man was using a very old machine (ok, he was also "elderly"!) and followed tweed weaving patterns passed down through the generations. Although he wasn't making tartan cloth, the process is very similar. The patterns for his cloth, were made from wool yarn, also made right on Harris, from local sheep's wool. What a delight and an honor to witness this!! Of course, we all purchased beautiful Harris tweed cloth from Norman, as he was called. Sadly, he passed away several years after this photo was taken.
"The chief of the Robertsons is said to have travelled around Atholl asking the old men of his clan what the true clan pattern was, but no one could agree. Eventually he sealed as the true Robertson Tartan a piece of what is now called Hunting Robertson or Robertson of Kindeace, which is thought to be the tartan used for kilts by the Loyal Clan Donnachie (Robertson) Volunteers, a sort of home guard, raised in 1803. Like all such variations of the Government tartan, this pattern cannot be dated earlier than the late 18th Century and so it cannot have been the old Robertson clan tartan. Indeed, there are other old patterns associated with the clan which would have a better claim to being the 'clan tartan' had one existed in c. 1815".
Furthermore, after the Jacobite uprising in 1746, clans were forbidden to wear their tartan or kilts. This ban was called the "Act of Parliament of 1746, the Disarming Act" and was instituted by the British to bring about peace in the Highlands. The Highlanders were those living in the northern half of Scotland, including the Western Isles. They were primarily rural and most spoke Gaelic as their primary language and which followed their clan system as they had for hundreds of years. The English viewed the Highland clans as uncivilized and barbaric as opposed to the urbanized Lowland clans which were more accustomed to the British way of life and supportive of the English Crown. The Disarming Act was repealed in 1782, but not before the Highland clans were forced to leave their lands and culture, including bagpipe music, their tartan wear and traditional way of life. This systematic disruption known as the Highland Clearances, dispersed not only the Highlanders, but with it the traditions previously handed down through generations. The "old timers" were gone as was the memory and legacy of crafting clan tartan patterns. More on the Dress Act can be read here:
The Scottish Register of Tartans Act of 2008 defines a tartan as "a design which is capable of being woven consisting of two or more alternating coloured stripes which combine vertically and horizontally to form a repeated chequered pattern.' The tartan pattern is traditionally known as the sett of the tartan".
The registry has well over 1,000 different tartans with new ones also being registered, often to honor a person or event. Clan tartans are identified by several categories such as modern, hunting, ancient or weathered. Originally the colors were produced using natural dyes made with available plant materials, but are now made synthetically, offering a vibrant and infinite palette to choose from. The Ancient, Hunting and Modern designations are based on the traditional use of these tartans. For example, the Hunting colors were produced to blend into the countryside while hunting, however now this distinction doesn't limit how the tartan is worn. Several years ago my cousins and brother were visiting for a family wedding, and I brought out a MacIntyre kilt made from the Hunting pattern that I found on Ebay! The colors don't show up well in these photos thanks to lighting and use of a cell-phone camera, nonetheless, some of us were having a wee bit of Scottish fun with a pint of "Kilt Lifter" while trying out this MacIntyre kilt! My cousin's mother, Virginia McIntire Hedges was my father's sister. When his mother passed away, his dear father John Hedges wore a McIntire Hunting patterned tie to the service, in her honor. Very sweet.
https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk
Another tartan fabric purchased was this heavyweight Glen Orchy pattern, below, very similar to the Modern Red colorway, but with a larger woven pattern. Great Grandfather Martin Luther McIntire owned this oak rocker that his daughter, Nellie McIntire Clark kept after his death in 1927. At a much later time, she gave it to my parents (Roderick, her nephew, and Elaine McIntire) The rocker eventually landed in my living room after my Mom left Phoenix for Colorado several years after Dad passed away. The seat structure is in sorry shape and Mom recovered it herself, in her own "style". It seems to have been manufactured in the early 1900's, so most likely the original seat was upholstered in leather, or possibly a heavy cloth. The plan is to have it restored and the seat covered in this heavyweight tartan, in honor of Martin. Hopefully soon!!
This link takes you to the Clan MacIntyre Association website. There is also a link for the Facebook page on that site. The photos posted on this site of the World Gathering of Clan Macintyre in Scotland, 2017 display more examples of MacIntyre tartans in various patterns and styles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_MacIntyre
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