520 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1904. IV. AN ACCOUN E ABERAOH-MACKATH F TO Y BANNER EXHIBITEW NO , D E NATIONATH N I L MUSEUM REVY B .. MACKAY.A , WESTERDALE MANSE, HALKIKK. The earliest reference to the Aberach-Mackay Banner of which we have any knowledge, meantime, is in the article on Tongue parish in e Firstth Statistical Account, written abou e tEev th 179 . y b 2Wm . Mackenzie, and is as follows :— " There is a cave in tlie rock upon which the Castle [Varrich, near Tongue] is built called Leabuidh Evin Abaruich, i.e. John of Lochaber's bed, whither he is said to have retired in times of danger. A family of Mackays is descended fro mreportee ar him d an , d stil havo t l thein ei r possessio s bannernhi , with the motto wrought in golden letters, Biodh treun—Biodh treun, i.e. Be valiant." The writer of this article was inducted minister of Tongue in 1769, and laboure n thai d t parish s deattilhi l n 1834i h t beforbu ;s hi e settlement at Tongue he was minister at Achness on Strathnaver from 1766 to 1769, as we are informed by his descendant, James Macdonald, Esq., W.S., Edinburgh s lond intimatHi gan . e acquaintance wite th h Mackays both on Strathnaver—where he had a daughter married and settled—and at Tongue, Lord Reay's seat, coupled with his taste for family lore, as we gather from Sage's Memorabilia Domestica, give considerable weight to his passing reference to the Aberach-Mackay banner. When he says that the banner of John Aberach was then e possessioth reporten s descendantsi t hi relatine b f bu no s o d t gwa e h , whas traditionallwa t y believed durin e latteth g e 18trth h half o f century, viz., that this e bannebattle-flath s wa r f Joho g n Aberacho wh , Mackaye th e battld th le f Druim-nan-Cout o sa e n 143i pd becam an 3 e progenitoe th e Aberach-Mackaysth f o r e banne Th s occasione. ha r da Gaelic proverb known throughou norte th tf Sutherlandho dailn i d y an , use among Strathnaver people at the present day. When a Strathnaver man would expres n Gaelisi e ideth ca conveye e Englisth n di h saying hills,e th invariable s "h a d ol "s a y use phrase th s e cho seann i bratachr ABERACH-MACKAY BANNER. 521 e Aberacth s a n hAbraehd ol na banner) s (a e banne Th . r whics i h shown to be very old by this Gaelic proverb, is made to date from the earlie e 15trth hal hf o f centur e traditioth n i y n recorde Eeve th .y db Win. Mackenzie; while both prover d traditioan b n agre n sayini e g that it was the flag of the Aberach-Mackays. Housee th d Clan n I an f Mackay, o publishe n 1829i d e historiath , n relates1 thaAberace th t h " family-colours " wer e possessioe th the n i n n Aberachn oa f , residin t Thursoga , e Highlandercalleth y b d s Hutfheon na Brataicli (Hugh of the banner). Both in the body of the book and e genealogicath n i l account e showh , s that thi e lineas th Hug s l wa h descendant of Neil Williamsoii Mackay, who was killed at Thurso in 1649. He also states that the said Neil obtained possession of the said family colours, which rightfully pertaine s unclhi o edt Murdo Mackay, the Aberach chieftain, and that in consequence of this act of usurpa- tion d feelin ba s ,engendere wa g d between uncl d nephewan e t thabu , t s descendanthi Neid an l s continue retaio t d bannee th n r henceforward. From thi t appearsi s thae banneth t r descended linea,lly from fatheo t r son, and was always possessed by the Aberach chieftain for the time being until shortly before 1649, when it passed into the possession of Neil Mackay. This also agrees with traditions among Strathnaver people presenth t a e t day. offee e followinW th r g explanatio e transferencth f no e banneth f o e r from the family of Murdo the chieftain to that of Neil his nephew. The Eeay family and its adherents supported the falling cause of Charles I. and Charles II., while the Sutherland family and its adherents adopte opposite dth winnind ean gresula sides f thiA o t . s unfortunate fatad an l policy estate th , Donaldf eo , Lord Eeay, becam impoverisheo es d that the lands of Strathnaver and others were appreysed for debt, and charters over them were obtained by adherents of the house of Suther- Aberach-Mackayse th and.t Bu c claimeo wh , uppee dth r hal f Stratho f - naver as theirs in virtue of the grant2 obtained by their progenitor 1 History House e o th fCland an of Mackay, . 288p . 2 Vide Earldom of Sutherland, p. 66. 522 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1904. fro eldes mhi r brother Neil Vass about 1437, energetically resistee dth filching of what they considered their property. In this struggle Neil Mackay, nephew of the chieftain, was the leading spirit so long as he lived afted s fal an ,1649n hi ri l e conflicth , continues wa ts sons. hi y 1db In these circumstances it was but natural that Neil and his sons should possess.themselves of the banner, as they were the virtual leaders of the Aberach-Mackays. But it is also quite likely that this caused some friction between them and the family of the chieftain. The writer of this paper was born and brought up at the foot of Strathnaver, was intimately acquainted with old people who had been driven from the heights of the Strath in consequence of the " Sutherland clearances " in the second decade of last century, and was frequently an interested auditor of their tales and traditions. Many of them never read the History of the House and Clan of Mackay, but they were unanimou n sayini s g thae Aberach th a tbanner d d thaha an s, t this banne safels wa r y preserve t Thnrsda o durin e seventiegth f laso s t century. Of this they had no doubt at all. To one of these old people, William Mackay, army pensioner, Dalcharn, Bettyhill muse w , t make more particular reference. William Mackay was born in Strathnaver in 1797, joined the 78th or Boss-shire Highlanders in 1823, and after an army service of twenty- two years, settle t Dalcharda 1845n ni , wher diee e h 1893n di . Donald Mackay , e saifatheth d f o Williamr , marrie s firshi ts a n dwif An e Mackay, siste f Hatcheono r a Brataich,n t Willia bu a chil s f o dmwa Donald's second marriage. As William, the pensioner was a near neigh- bour of ours, we knew him intimately; and he often used to tell us that for two years before he joined the army he resided at Whitefield, near Thurso, with his kinsman, commissary Donald Macleod, a first cousin of Hutcheon na Brataich. During these years, between 1821 and 1823, Hutcheon Brataic.lia n welcoma s wa honoured ean d visito t Whitefieldra , bannee th William d w t differena r an sa tol e , h dus s a , t times n 184I . 2 r furtheFo 1 r particular f thio s s strugglr Genealogicaou e se e l Accoune th f o t Aberach-Mackay Booke Th n si o f Mackay. ABERACH-MACKAY BANNER. 523 William returned home on furlough, called at Thurso by the way, and was again shown the banner by Hugh Angus Mackay, nephew of Hutcheon na BrataicJi, in whose possession it then was. When in 1881 Hugh Angus, the said nephew, died at Thurso unmarried, William the pensione vers wa ry anxiou securo st e banneeth d solicitean r r helou dp o thit t si passe t endbu d, shortly afterwards inte possessioth o f o n Alexander Mackay, assessor for the county of Caithness. The assessor die t Thursoda , 15th January 1895, leavin issueo gtowardn d an , close sth e of 189 e administratorth 7 s estathi f eo s hande e banneth d r over into the custody of the Clan Mackay Society, who in turn deposited it for preservatio e Edinburgth n i n h Antiquarian Museum, whert i e now rests. Eeve Th . Wm. Mackenzie, writin 179gn i 2 from information gathereo dn doubt whe labouree nh t Achnesda s between 176d 1769an 6 , gavs hi e testimon alreads ya ythue quotedar se warranteW . concludinn di g that the banner was treasured by the Aberachs about the middle of the eight- eenth century as the genuine flag of John Aberach, and dating back to the first half of the fifteenth century. In 1829 the historian of the HOUSK and Clan of Mackay states that this banne e possessio s th the n wa ri n f o n Hutcheon na Brataich at Thurso, and in more recent times the testimony of William the pensioner links us back to that of the historian. Among other traditions William the pensioner told us that this banner was carried nearld an , Aberache y th lost y b fierca , n si e encounter which they had on Strathnaver with the Sliochd Ean Ruaidh, another family of the Clan Mackay.