Clan MacFarlane

History

Clan MacFarlane traces its descent from the old Celtic Earls of Lennox. Tradition holds that Gilchrist, a younger brother of an early Earl of Lennox, was granted the upper lands of Arrochar, and that his descendants held this ground for centuries afterwards. The clan's name is said to come from a later member of the family known in Gaelic as Parlan, or Bartholomew: his descendants became Mac Pharlain, sons of Parlan, in time anglicised to MacFarlane.

Arrochar sits at the head of Loch Long, hard against the western shore of Loch Lomond, and this narrow, hilly ground was MacFarlane country for centuries. The clan mustered at Loch Sloy, a modest stretch of water tucked beneath Ben Vorlich, and turned its name into their rallying cry, shouted on the march and, tradition says, loudest of all when the men rode out on a raid.

The MacFarlanes had a long-running and often violent rivalry with their neighbours Clan Colquhoun, and the clan's name became attached to a particular kind of local mischief. They built a reputation for lifting cattle from neighbouring lands after dark, and a bright full moon, handy light for that sort of work, earned itself the nickname 'MacFarlane's lantern'.

Like most clans of the western Highlands, MacFarlane fortunes were tied to the wider conflicts of Scotland. The clan is said to have lost its chief at Flodden in 1513 and again, along with other kinsmen, at Pinkie in 1547. At Langside in 1568 the MacFarlanes fought on the side of the infant King James VI against the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the clan's crest and motto are said to commemorate this stand in defence of the crown.

Clan strongholds moved between two island castles on Loch Lomond over the centuries: Inveruglas, the older seat, and later Eilean a' Bhùth, also known as Island I Vow. Inveruglas is reported to have been destroyed around the time of the civil wars of the 1650s, after the clan had supported the Stewart cause.

The chiefly line's fortunes declined through debt in the eighteenth century, and the Arrochar estate passed out of the family's hands. The direct succession of chiefs is understood to have run out entirely in the nineteenth century, and since then no one has re-established a chiefly claim recognised by the Lord Lyon. Clan MacFarlane today is organised through clan societies rather than a chief, with members tracing descent to the old Arrochar family and its many related names.