The Macfadyen – Mcphadden Family in Coll and Tiree Part 2: Genealogy
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The MacFadyen – McPhadden Family in Coll and Tiree Part 2: Genealogy Reports by Glenda McPhadden Franklin & Gene Donald Lamont © 2010 Glenda McPhadden Franklin & Gene Donald Lamont All rights reserved 4. DESCENDANTS OF DONALD McPHADEN OF CAOLES IN TIREE AND NORTH AMERICA History compiled by Glenda McPhadden Franklin, July 2010 The name MacPhaiden, meaning son of Paiden, was first recorded in Kintyre, Scotland, in 1304. Legend says the McPhaddens/McFadyens were a very old tribe and the first possessors of Loch Buie, on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. When expelled from Loch Buie by the MacLeans in the mid 1400’s, they became a race of wandering artificers, known as the race of Goldsmiths. Many settled on the Isle of Coll and years later some moved to the neighbouring island of Tiree, Scotland. My sister Kay first began collecting family history in the 1980's and when she passed away in 1988; her records were given to our sister Fern. A special thank you goes to Fern who researched for years and compiled volumes of history on descendants of the McPhaddens of Caoles, Tiree. Generation No. 1 1. DONALD2 MCPHADEN (MCPHADEN1) was born between 1707 and 1717 on the Isle of Tyree or the neighbouring Isle of Coll, Argyll, Scotland. Donald married MARY MCLEAN abt. 1740 in likely Caoles, Tyree, Argyll County, Scotland. Mary was born between 1722 and 1729 in likely Tyree, Argyll County, Scotland. My great, great, great, great grandfather was Donald McPhaden of Caoles, Isle of Tiree, Argyll, Scotland. He was born between 1707 and 1717. (Donald was listed as 69 in 1776 and 62 in 1779). When we first began researching we found a reference to Donald McPhaden listed in the September 1779 List of Inhabitants of the Argyll Estate, and their ages. They were tenants living in Caoles; Donald, aged 62 years, along with wife Mary McLean, aged 50 and son Lachlan, 25. This family is listed right below Charles McPhaden, aged 30 and his wife Christian McPhail, aged 26, with their young son John 1/2 years. There are 127 people in Caoles in 1779 and thirteen are McPhadens (all wives are listed by their maiden names). It is reported that in 1774, Tiree folk were 'well-clothed and well-fed, having an abundance of corn and cattle'. Charles McPhaden, son of Donald, is my great, great, great grandfather, and father of Alexander McPhaden, the emigrant to Glengarry County, Ontario, Canada. The headstone of Alexander McPhaden, the emigrant, is in the Maxville Presbyterian Cemetery, Kenyon Township, Glengarry County, Ontario, Canada. On his head stone is written ALEX’R McPHADEN DIED DEC 2, 1878, AE 88 Y’S, NATIVE OF TYREE, SCOTLAND. That was when Fern first discovered our ancestry was from Tyree, a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. Tiree is twenty-two miles west of the nearest point on the Scottish mainland, Ardnamurchan and about forty- five miles west of the port of Oban. The island is the same latitude as southern Alaska. Tiree is just a little over ten miles at it’s longest, five miles at its widest, and a little over half a mile at its narrowest. A walk of forty-six miles would take you around the coastline, much of it along white sandy beaches of shell sand. The land is mainly low and level and is the most fertile of the Hebrides. Tiree means ‘The Land of the Corn’ and is often described as ‘The Land Below the Waves’ or ‘The Sunshine Isle’. Tiree boasts of an extraordinary number of bards and songs. Our ancestors lived at Caoles, or Kelis as it was once spelled, a large crofting township on the eastern end of Tiree. The McPhaden croft was called Croish, meaning Cross, as there was once a cross on the ridge between Caoles and the township of Ruaig. There is an Ancient Burial Ground located on the McPhaden croft, west of the McPhaden home. On the 1768-69 map of Tiree, drawn by James Turnbull, it shows a group of buildings a little east of Croish where a village was located. In 2008, researchers sent me the 'List of Inhabitants on Tiry' and their ages in 1776. The list of Tenants in Kelis (Caoles) says Donald McPhaden is 69 years old, with his wife Mary McLean 54, Charles McPhaden 25, Lachlan McPhaden 20 and also listed with the family, Kirsty McKinnon, a servant, age 16 years. That confirmed that our Charles was indeed the son of Donald. The 1776 records states ‘Donald McPhaden can 99 Occupy 4 Mail-Land. He has 5 cows and 5 horses’. A Mail-Land roughly consists of three soums, that is, grazing for 3 cows or 3 horses or 15 sheep. Four mail-lands would be about 50 acres on average. From research of others, we know several McPhaden families once lived on the neighbouring Isle of Coll. The first McPhaidens that were found in the records of Coll were two brothers "Duncan and Dugall Mc Donald Vc Eane" who were part of the garrison of Breacachadh Castle in July 1679 when it surrendered to the Earl of Argyll. Against their names, it is written: "these two are Mcphaidens". "Duncan and Dugall Mc Donald Vc Eane" transcribes as Duncan and Dugall, sons of Donald, sons of John (Mcphaiden). Source - Inveraray Castle Papers (ICP) Argyll Transcripts 2 July 1679, researched by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol of Breacachadh Castle, Coll. Through patronymics, Gene Lamont knows his ancestors descended from Dugall (known as Red Dugald) Mcphaiden of Coll. The MacFadyen Pedigree compiled by Gene’s great grandmother Sarah MacDonald named Dougall Roy as the progenitor of his line and referred to him as "Red Dugald of Coll", inferring that he was the first of his MacFadyens to have come to Tiree from that neighboring island. This was confirmed by Alexander MacFadyen of Balmeanach, Fishnish, Craignure, Mull in May of 2006, who gave me a chart showing the genealogical descent of John Mcphaden, grandfather of Red Dugald, showing Dougall Roy in Ardnish, Coll in 1679 and later in Tiree. This chart was prepared by Nicholas MacLean-Bristol of Coll. The descendants of Red Dugald settled in Salum, Tiree, a small township that boarders Caoles. It is not known if my McPhadden families were descendants of the Coll McPhadens, but we likely are. Another source, "The Inhabitants of the Inner Isles of 1716", edited by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol, lists the arms that were handed in and by whom at the end of the 1715 Rebellion. Only one McPhaden is listed in Kelis - ‘Duncan Mcphaden in Kelis has no arms, not in the rebellion’. We know our family lived in Kelis, so perhaps Duncan is the father of my great, great, great, great grandfather, Donald, who was born around 1717. Duncan may also be a brother to Gene Lamont’s Donald of Salum, and if so, also a descendant of Red Dugall of Coll. Other McPhadens on Tiree in 1716 were John (has no arms), Rorie (gave in his sword - Confesses he was in the rebellion) and Donald (gave in his gun, being all the arms he had - not in the rebellion) of Ruaig; Paden (has no arms) and Charles (has no arms) of Kenovay; John (has no arms) of Scarinish. In the "Rental of Tyrie of 1747", we find two McPhaden men listed in Kelis (Caoles), Donald and Neill. This Donald McPhaden would be our great, great, great, great grandfather. Donald McPhaden has 3 Mail-Lands. Donald paid his rent in Victual - (Grain). Neill McPhaden has 2 Mail-Lands. Descendants of the Donald, then Charles, then Neil McPhaden family have had the same croft, called Croish, for near 300 years. Ewan MacKinnon and family live on and farm this croft today. He is the eighth generation to farm this land. ANCIENT BURIAL GROUNDS CROIS A CHAOLAIS ‘THE CROSS OF CAOLAS’ The ancient Burial-Ground of ‘Crois a’ Chaolais’ is located on the McPhaden croft of Croish, Caoles, Tiree. This croft was farmed by the McPhaden family from the mid-late 1700’s until the present time. Donald McPhaden (born about 1707-1717) had this croft, then his son Charles. My great, great grandfather, Alexander, the emigrant, and son of Charles, would have been born at Croish in 1790. Alexander’s brother Neil inherited the croft. When I visited Tiree in 2002 and 2006, I walked around the sacred area and took several photos of the ancient burial-ground and also of the stone with the cross carved on it. Only mounds of rock remain in the ancient burial-ground, covered with sand, soil and grass. Donald McPhaden and his wife Mary McLean and many of their descendants would have been buried there. The cross carved stone is no longer located beside the burial-ground, but further east down the Caoles Road. The stone lies in a field that is located across the road from John MacFadyen’s home. Professor Meek told me the Croish graveyard was in use until the late 18th Century-probably until the crofts were allocated. The identity of the last person to be buried there is known. Professor Meek’s family of ‘Coll View’ inherited John MacFadyen’s croft. 100 Information from a book at Angus MacLean of The Coolins, Tiree: Only the faintest traces remain of the ancient burial-ground of Crois a’ Chaolais. These are in a small enclosure by the roadside, half a mile from the ferry which formerly existed between Tiree and Coll. There is neither material evidence nor tradition of the Chapel which stood at this spot.