I. NOTES ON THE NAMES OF CLAN CHATTAN, AND WHAT THEY INDICATE JOHY B .N MACPHERSON, M.D. COMMUNICATED BY JOHN STUART, ESQ., LL.D., SECRETARY. t beinI gsora standinf o t g jok n Scotlandi e , that though most people have Clae hearth nf do Chattan knowetn itma o s o hmemberwh n , s are, I thought tha I tmigh t attemp elucidato t subjecte eth makiny b , glisa t of such names belongin clane I migh th s a ,o gt t come across readinn i , ga few work f somo s e authorit sucn yo h matters. This paper, accordingly, consists mainly of an enumeration of names, which is very dry indeed, but which nevertheless is interesting, in so far as it serves to point to differences of origin of different branches of the clan. It is probably a mistake on my part to have entered on the subject at all, having had no access to any new sources of information, and being in complete ignorance of the Gaelic language; but a non-intelligent acquaintance with that speec hitherts hha o served rathe obscuro t r e such subjects; and I have the advantage, I .venture to hope, of being indifferent to point Highlanf so d honour I ,shoul d say—pride. " Tros Tyriusvee "ar possibles i t I . , alikthame e mer o th t e e statemen f facto t s m thaa I t about to make may induce those who are really competent to examine the NOTES ON THE NAME OF CLAN CHATTAN. 113 subject, free from family prepossessions t puttinno mucd o gto an , h faith "in Highland traditions, which hare ever varied, or in Celtic etymologies, which often prove to be Will-o'-the-Wisps. Ther always eha s teen something peculia relatione th clane n th ri f so s forming the confederation of Clan Chattan. There was no other con- federation of exactly similar character. Its history is on this account the more worth investigating, and also because there have always been more or less distinct traditiont havinno s git f originallso y occupie groune dth d 16te th hwhicf detaile o centurys th it d t hpossessei n f en so O e . th t da internal organisatio nI shal attempt no l entero t t . The old or mythical history of the Clan Chattan is, that a certain number of the Catti of Tacitus (whose name survives in Hesse Cassel and Katzenellenbogen, where there has been the same play on the word n Scotlandi Cas a t ) were driven from central German e Loweth o t yr Rhine; that from thence they reached the north, of Scotland, which, after them s callewa , d Caithness; that they gradually moved southd an , called the next district Sutherland; that, finally, they moved further sout settled han Inverness-shire,—n di " Thos camo t intwh eno eo Bade- noeh (in Inverness-shire) went by other names." It need scarcely be said, tha shada t t ther historicaf no eo s ei l evidenc l this neer al r no ;edfo I point out the improbability, or rather the impossibility, of its being true. Only two deductions from the story are of any importance,—that Caithness was inhabited by a people-called Cati or Catho, and that there has bee a nnotio n fron earla m y date thae Clath t t n no Cata s nha always bee Inverness-shiren i . therf i t ns ei oBu evidenc f Clao e n Catan having reache s presendit t seat from Caithness, I think that we shall find a very strong presumption, froe mon e thawhic th t leas a td t hderivei a portiotan , it names f dit no , reached it from a very opposite quarter. I Name Chattan.—No satisfiew no s i de wit on derivatioe hth Claf no n Chatain, or of the word Catan, from the Catti, 01 from the men of Suther- land or Caithness, or from the wild cat of the country, or from the word Catanach, believe meao t d n Bellicosus e followin Th e opinio.th s i g n now generally entertained as to the origin of the name :— The confederation of clans known under the name of Clan Chattan, VOL . PARx . T i. ii 114 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAKCH 10, 1873. also as Clan na Gait, seems to have been a particularly ghostly one, and derives its name from a saint, either born in Bute or a Dalriad. If he was a Dalriad, there are very insignificant traces of him in Ireland. He lived and died a saint or devotee in Bute. Of himself personally little is known. s exacHi 1t chronolog t preciselno s yi y ascertained t Colgahu , n assigns the year 560 as that of his death. Only one place in Ireland is named after him, the townland of Kilkatan, near Londonderry ; but he gave his name to Kilchattan and Suid Chattan in Bute. He seems to have bee verna y insula d churcheha r e sainth r s fo ,name dn i aftem hi r the island f Coloiisayo s , Gigha Liungd s possibli an ,t I . e thae th t churc t KeitS f hIslo n h i e Taransay, near Bernera outee th rn i , Hebrides, may have been dedicated to him. His remains rested either in Bute, or at Scarinch in the island of Lewis. The traces of him on the main- lan scantys foune i dar e patros H da . n sain Abbef o t y Ruthvenr fa t no , from priore Perthth f d Ardchattayo an ; Argyleshirn ni doubtless ewa s named after him, for it is found, curiously, that another name for that plac s Bai e l Maodan Maodad an ; s believeui havo dt e been t fatheS f o r Katan. Further north than Ardchattan the name does not seem to have travelled; and I am assured that the names Corieviechatan in Glen Fine, and Achatriechatan in Glencoe, have no reference to him. The name founde b plac y affixeo s t a ,an t e o no withit d s i e limitnth s occupiey db Clan Chattan in later times. In earlier days it was extremely common to assume the name of a patron saint, and to call yourself his servant or gillie; and just as we have among Mussulmans, Gulam Mahomed, servant of Mahomed, so we have among the Celts, Gillieehattan, Gilbride, &c., devotees of St Katan, St Bridget. There is, therefore, no reasonable doubt that the great name of Gillieehatta derives wa r d nMo fro saine mth Butef to . The date when the Clan Chattan was first spoken of is uncertain. The earliest official document which recognise e Clath s n e Chattath f o s ni year 1467; but Bower, writing about 1440, speaks of Clan Chatan in 1429. Bellenden s translatiohi n i , f Boeceo n , about e 1525firsth ts i , He is said to have written meditations, secret confessions, and his apparitions. 1 I ain ther y sorrsoms sa ewa o y et scandal abou s sister becamhi o t wh ,mothee eth r of Saint Blane. NOTES ON THE NAME OF CLAN CHATTAN. 115 who talks of the clan having been at the Inches in Perth in 1396, and this prohably owing to a misprint in the original, of Clan Quhete for Quhele'. He calls it Quhattan. II. Names of Individuals of the Clan.—Our first inquiry shall' be, of what names the clan consisted. The following list of names, selected from official documents and from lists of Inverness people, gives a fair specimen of the names probably prevailing among members of the Clan Catan up to the end of the 16th century. 1219. Gilpatrick MacBwen. 1502. Donald MacgilhdufF. 1234. Ferquhar, son of Seth. do. Macficar. Gillespie MacComM. Angus MacThomas. 1338. Skaith Ferquharf o n so , . 1502. Angus Macquean. 1375. Sha Mackintosh. Ferquhar MacGillespie. 1382. Ferquhar Mackintosh. Findlay MacGillipatrick. 1396. Sha, son of Ferquhar. Andro Makayn. Christie Johnf o n .so , John Maceyrmit (Diarmid ?). 3 404. Gilmore Macphail. Donald Macandro. BrideChristief o n so , . 1517. M'Kinla, Eugene, do. William son. John Brideson. Glass. Paul Duff. 1522. Duncan Makfarson (Isla). Gilbride Macmichael. 1538. Duncan MacBehan. 1427. Gillies, son of Farquhar. 1543. M'Gillies. John Clericus. M'Quean. Ferquhar, son of Bean. M'Ane. Duncan Macgilliglass. M'Fail. MacGillamie. M'Wlmoir. Gillespie, son of Christie. Williamson. Duncan, son of Ferquhar. M'Thomas. Finla Carpentarius. M'Farson. 1436. William MacWilliam. M'Robert. 1446. Alexander Makfarson. 1546. William Mackintos Dunf ho - Robert Farquharson. achten. Alexander Farquharson. 1591. Andro Macferson of Cluny. 1481. Bean Makfarson. William M'Ane. 1485. Donald Macgilliereoch. M'Farquhar. 1495. Thomas Fersynsone. M'Thomas. 116 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MARCH 10, 1873. IIIs SixteenU . r nexRaces.Ou t inquir— y shal lthos w ber ho o ,e similar names were aggregated. usualls ha t I y been considered that Clan Chatan consiste sixteef do n tribe l suc al septr so hn i s: question s much depend e familth n yo s pre- possessio compilee th e listf th no ,f o mucr perioe h th als n whico doo t h the list refers. What is a mere family in one generation becomes a sept anothen i r one whar havy o ; ma et bee ngreaa t nam dwindly ema e down into insignificance, like nameth e f MacHeto s r Mao h c Williame Th . followin a sor f averags o i gt e chieeth lisf o tsept s belongin Clao gt n Catan some 250 years ago, arranged without much reference to their relative importance :— Shaw.