Volume 1 Issue 9 News of the worldwide Clan Maclean April 2006 as well, where nearly a third of our visitors come by coach. The islanders on Mull are fighting hard to stop this ridiculous proposal, it is extraordinary Sir Lachlan Maclean of Duart and Morvern, Bt., CVO, DL. the local council can even consider such a draco- Twenty-eighth chief of Clan Gillean nian measure for an island where business is al- ready difficult and the cost of living so much Dear Members of the Clan: higher than on the mainland. The highlight for our family in 2005 was the The Tobermory Games again provided an oppor- wedding of Alexandra to Colin Allan, in April. tunity for Macleans to meet at the Clan Tent. It Colin's family is linked to the Macdonald's of has grown in popularity and last summer there Clanranald. was a constant flow Macleans to sign the visitors' book. The games are still very traditional and are We had hoped by April the weather would have held on the Tobermory Golf Course, in fact the been rather better, but we woke up on the morn- landing pit for the long jump is one of the bunkers ing of the wedding to find it had snowed and the on the course! If any of you are on Mull at the marquee was leaking! But by the afternoon the beginning of July, do come to the games, they are weather improved, the sun shone and everything a very happy occasion and I would be delighted seemed to go to plan. Colin and Alexandra now to meet you, either there or at Duart. live in London. I am retiring from my job this spring, so I hope to Cosimo Amati, my eldest grandson, has become spend more time at Duart in the summer. I am a fanatical supporter of Scottish Rugger. It has asked what I will do in retirement and I try and been a good year to start supporting the Scottish explain that I still have a full time job looking af- team, as they have just beaten both France and ter Duart! England. We are all looking forward to the Gathering in In the summer of 2005 Gleneagles was the 2007. Colonel Donald and his team are well into venue for the G8 Summit, which caused signifi- the planning of all the activities for the week, the cant disruption in Scotland during June and itinerary will be as varied and as fun as in the July. At the same time there were bombings on past. the London Underground which everyone in the UK found hard to understand; young men born There are many members of our great clan and brought up in this country killing them- throughout the world who work very hard to keep selves and ordinary people with their suicide everyone aware of what is happening within the bombs. In spite of this terrible tragedy visitors clan. We owe them a great debt of gratitude and I continued to visit the UK and the season at would like to thank them personally for all that Duart was very similar to 2004. they do. In particular to Mary Hoff, who has taken over the editorship of the Battleaxe and to The major concern on Mull at the moment is the Donald Maclean who has retired from this de- threat, by Argyll and Bute council, to put a manding task. weight restriction on all the roads on Mull, apart from the main road from Tobermory to Craig- My best wishes to you all. nure and Iona. If it does come into force it will affect every business on the island, hill farming, fish farming, forestry and the business at Duart BattleAxe / Vol 1 Issue 9 www.maclean.org 1 2006 CLAN MACLEAN ANNUAL SCOTTISH GATHERING The Gathering will be held in the Normandy Hotel. by Glasgow Airport, on Saturday 28th October 2006 and the tickets will cost £30 each. The Normandy Hotel has offered the Clan accom- modation at £30 per person bed and breakfast. Lieutenant Colonel Donald MacLean MBE, JP. (two sharing a room). The Hotel is very accessible In last year’s Battle-Axe, I said that I would be standing by road (M 8), rail ( Paisley Gilmour Street) or air (Glasgow). down in the summer as President CMIA on completion of three years in the job. It was subsequently agreed that I should stay on until the 2007 International Gathering and do Application for tickets should be sent to; a live handover in Mull to Duncan Maclean. It does seem Lt Col Donald MacLean, 2 Fullerton Drive, Seamill, to make sense, since it is the only occasion when the world- Ayrshire, KA 23 9HT, UK. Tel; +44(0)1294 823240 wide Presidents actually meet in person and have a real face-to-face meeting rather than one on the Internet. EVENTS IN SCOTLAND 2006 It now looks as though the Clan Maclean Association in On- tario has ceased to exist. This is very disappointing particu- larly when it is known that there are many Macleans living 1. May Edinburgh CMA Edinburgh Party in that Province. If any of you have Maclean contacts in (date to be confirmed) Ontario who could help, please put them in touch with me. 2. July 20 Tobermory Mull Highland Games 3. Aug 12 Glasgow World Pipe Band I thought that the 2005 Battle-Axe was very good indeed Championships and our thanks for this goes to our Editors, Donald H. Mac- 4. Sep 16 Dunoon Camanachd Cup Final Lean and Mary Hoff. Donald has now stood down and 5 Oct 13-21 Dunoon Royal National Mod Mary Hoff will be sole Editor this year. Good luck, Mary! 6. Oct 28 Glasgow Clan Maclean Annual Scottish Gathering I would like to record my appreciation to Ian Maclean, our Webmaster from Glasgow and Alasdair White, President These events are included in the worldwide schedule Maclean Net, for all their hard work in upgrading the Mac- maintained at www.maclean.org/gatherin.htm lean websites. It is worth emphasising that the websites are only as good as the input received, so please keep the ma- terial and photographs coming. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. CONTENTS On a pleasant note, the Presidents of the Clan Maclean Inter- The Chief’s Message....................................................1 national Association, unanimously decided to appoint Don- 2006 Annual Scottish Gathering ..................................2 ald H. MacLean as an Honorary Vice President of the Asso- 2007 Gathering...............................................18, 19, 20 ciation. This was in recognition of his outstanding service Atlantic (Canada) .....................................................8, 9 to the International Association both as its Founder and as Australia .....................................................................13 its first President. Book Review................................................................7 California/Nevada ......................................................14 Incidentally, I do hope that there will be a big turnout at the Clan Gillean USA.........................................................5 Clan Maclean Association International Gathering on Mull CMA (Scotland) ...........................................................3 from 19 th to 24 th June 2007. Details of the Gathering and CMIA ..........................................................................2 how to Register and book for the Events, are shown else- where in this magazine. Also, the Clan Maclean Associa- CMIA Council............................................................17 tion is to be congratulated on setting up an online booking Editorial......................................................................12 system for the Gathering as well as the usual offline one. Events in Scotland in 2006...........................................2 France...........................................................................9 Lastly, I would like to welcome all the new Association Heritage Trust...............................................................7 Presidents of this worldwide organisation and wish them Isle of Mull Museum..................................................11 every success during their tenure of office. Kaid Sir Harry MacLean ............................................10 London .......................................................................11 MacleanNet ........................................................14, 158 Donald New South Wales.......................................................16 New Zealand ..............................................................12 President, CMIA Pacific Northwest (USA)..............................................6 Western Australia........................................................ 4 2 www.maclean.org BattleAxe / Vol 1 Issue 9 Another year, another President! enjoyed excellent piping and Gaelic singing before In September 2005 Marcus and Brooke were married taking to the dance floor. Numbers were up on the in Australia, and as they intend to spread their time year and we were joined by Nigel, President of the between Australia and Scotland he felt he should step London branch, and five from France, including Alan, down as President. We wish them every happiness. President of the French Association. Roderick The combined Clan Maclean and International Battle- & Axe magazine was very favourably received by mem- Rona bers of the Association and indeed by anyone who saw with it. Marcus and his brother in Australia have kindly Hamish, agreed to continue editing and publishing this for the Barbara time being, in conjunction with Mary Hoff in Califor- & Isobel nia. Our grateful thanks go to all of them. at the Inverness Council met as usual four times in the year, with three Games of the meetings held in the Western Club, Glasgow. We are currently without a General Secretary which adds to the load on others, mainly Colonel Donald and A highlight of the year for Fiona and me was our visit th his wife Vera, so hopefully we can resolve this issue to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to open the 10 Tennes- before too long. see Highland Games. Our visit was very kindly and generously sponsored by Clan Gillean U.S.A. This The July meeting was held at Ardgour, and we were was a great event and in the opening 'March of the pleased to have Brian McLean from Western Australia Clans' there was a fine march-past of the seventy- join us. After an excellent lunch provided by Fiona we seven Macleans, by far the largest contingent from any all headed over to Mull for the Tobermory Games the clan. Clan Maclean was the 'Honoured Clan' so a next day.