Macaulay family of Lewis
The Macaulay family of Uig in Lewis, known in Scottish Gaelic as Clann mhic Amhlaigh, were a small family located around Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. There is no connection between the Macaulays of Lewis and Clan MacAulay which was centred in the Loch Lomond area, bordering the Scottish Highlands and Scottish Lowlands. The Macaulays of Lewis are generally said to be of Norse origin because of the etymology of their surname and also because of the islands' Viking Age past. However, a recent analysis of the Y-DNA of men with Scottish surnames has shown that a large number of Hebridean Macaulays are of Irish origin. In the 17th century, however, tradition gave the Macaulays an Irish origin. By the end of the 16th century the dominant clan on Lewis was Clan Macleod of The Lewes. Other notable Lewis clans were the somewhat smaller Morrisons of Ness and the even less numerous Macaulays of Uig. The Macaulays were centred in the area surrounding Uig on the western coast of Lewis, and had a deadly, long-standing feud with the Morrisons, whose lands were located on the northern coast around Ness. Today the Lewis surname Macaulay is considered to be a sept name of the Macleods of Lewis. There are two other nearby clans of Macaulays who may, or may not, be connected to the Lewis clan—the Wester Ross Macaulays, and the Uist MacAulays.
Origins
Etymology of the name and the persistence of Norse in Lewis
The surname Macaulay, when found in the Scottish Hebrides, is thought to be derived from the Scottish Gaelic MacAmhlaidh, which is a patronymic form of the Amhlaidh / Amhladh. These names are ultimately derived from Gaelic forms of the Old Norse personal-name Áleifr and Óláfr. The personal name Óláfr is derived from the Old Norse anu, meaning "ancestor"; and liefr, meaning "heir", "descendant". The name was popular among the Norsemen and is common in the mediaeval Icelandic manuscripts: the Flateyjarbók and also the Landnámabók which details the original Norse settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries. It was the name of Saint Olaf, an early king of Norway who encouraged the spread of Christianity within his kingdom. The name was also a royal name among the mediaeval kings of Mann and the Isles.The use of personal-names and place-names may hint at the level of Norse control in the islands and coasts of Scotland. From the Viking Age on, the Hebrides were known to the Gaels as Innse Gall, meaning the "Isles of the Foreigners". The analysis of the Norse place-names containing settlement elements, within the Hebrides, shows that they most often occur in Lewis and Skye. About 79 percent of the village-names in Lewis are considered to be purely Norse and in Skye it is about 66 percent. The frequency of such names diminishes dramatically in the lands and islands to the south. According to archaeologist Iain Crawford, the use of Norse personal-names and patronymic-names on Lewis, Harris, Skye and the adjacent mainland may also hint at the level of influence, or persistence of the language. Crawford noted that the use of such 'Norse' names in these areas was in complete contrast to the adjacent islands and lands to the south. He added that this pattern seems to be echoed by the distribution of Norse loan-words in Gaelic. In consequence, Crawford has argued that the use of Norse may have persisted in Lewis and Harris, in some form, until the 15th century.
A recent analysis of Y-DNA of men with Scottish surnames has revealed that a large genetic lineage of men with the surname Macaulay, many of whom are from Lewis and Harris, have their genetic origins in the south-west of Ireland. The specific Y-DNA marker borne by these men appears to be extremely rare in Scotland, where it is only found in the Western Isles, and the Northern Isles. One hypothesis, suggested by population geneticist Jim Wilson and author Alistair Moffat, is that this marker may represent Irish slaves brought to Scotland by the Vikings. According to Wilson, this may explain why such a distinctive Irish marker is found areas where Vikings were once active, and why it is borne by Scots with surnames of Norse origin. Scottish radio presenter Fred MacAulay is one of the men who has been found to bear this marker. According to Moffat, there is a larger and unrelated genetic lineage of men with the same surname. The genetic marker of these men suggests that they descend from Vikings.
Traditional origins of the clan
According to Rev. William Matheson, the eponymous ancestors of most west highland clans first appear in around the 13th century. At the beginning of the 13th century Lewis was under Norse control. The mediaeval manuscript known as the Chronicles of Mann shows that at least one eminent Óláfr had connections with Lewis at this time—Olaf the Black—who would later become King of Man and the Isles. Today the Macaulays of Lewis are generally said to be of Norse descent, and in consequence a favourite modern tradition of theirs is a descent from Olaf the Black. However, according to Matheson, there is no real evidence for any descendants of Olaf the Black to have lived on Lewis. A tradition of the Macaulays of Uig was that they descended from "Magnus, King of Norway"; the family of the Victorian era historian and politician, Lord Macaulay termed him "Olaus Magnus, King of Norway". Matheson was of the opinion that the name Magnus may possibly be significant because Olaf the Black had a son so named. The 19th-century historian, Thomas, wrote that there was no real tradition among the Macaulays of Lewis as to their eponymous ancestor. Thomas maintained that the claim of descent from Olaf, King of Mann was an example of "historical induction": where a historical figure is grafted on to a tradition. Thomas also showed that in the 17th century the belief on Lewis was that the Macaulays descended from an Irishman. Olaf the Black has also been claimed as ancestor of the Macleods and Morrisons of Lewis, as well.Origins according to the 'Indweller' of Lewis
In the late 17th century, the origin of the clan was documented within an historical account of Lewis written by John Morrison of Bragar, 'Indweller' of Lewis. According to Matheson, the Indweller's own mother was a Macaulay. The Indweller wrote this account sometime between about 1678 and 1688 and stated that the early inhabitants of Lewis were three men from three separate races.The name which the Indweller gave as Iskair is rendered in Scottish Gaelic as Sgàire. This traditional masculine Gaelic name has been Anglicised in various forms of the Biblical name Zechariah. This Gaelic name is peculiar to the Macaulays of Lewis, and to this day it, and its Anglicised forms, are still used by the clan. The Hebridean genealogist Bill Lawson stated that as far as he was aware, the Bernera branch of the Lewis Macaulays was the only branch to still use the name Sgàire. There is, however, little known about this Gaelic name; it is thought to be of Norse origin, however there is no known Norse personal-name that would correspond to Sgàire. One possible origin of the name is the Old Norse skári, meaning "sea mew", "young sea mew". Alexander Macbain and William J. Watson stated that the Norse word was also used as a byname; later Matheson speculated that the Gaelic personal name Sgàire could have begun as a nickname for an individual. This Gaelic name appears in that of an old chapel—Cill Sgaire—in Bragar. A form of it may also appear on North Uist, in the place-names of Loch Scarie and Dun Scarie, near Hoghagearraidh.
The Indweller's account made no mention of a royal ancestry to the Macaulays, but instead gave them an Irish ancestry. When noting this and the name Iskair, the 19th-century historian William C. Mackenzie pointed out that the Icelandic Irskar means "Irish". Matheson, however, made no note of this when he stated that he considered it was possible that the Indweller gave an Irish descent to the Macaulays because there are numerous clans in Ireland with Gaelic names which can equate to Macaulay. Matheson also noted that the Indweller's account may reveal the two earliest names in the Macaulay's traditional genealogy—"Awlay" and "Iskair". Thomas took the Indweller less literally than Matheson; and considered that when the Indweller wrote "Irish" and "Irishman" in the 17th century, these terms would equate to "Gaelic" and "Gael" in more modern times.
Earliest attested Macaulays
It has been said that the first Macaulay of Lewis on record is Dòmhnall Cam, in 1610. However, there appear to be two Macaulays recorded as witnessing a 1572 record of sasine, following a grant of land to Torcail Conanach Macleod. The document, unknown to Matheson, records the names of "Johanno roy mcLachlayne McOler", and "Murdo mcRorie mcLachlayne". According to Aonghas MacCoinnich, the name McOler would appear to be Macaulay, likely meaning that these were Uig Macaulays. The Lewis traditions, gathered by Thomas in the 19th century, had an Iain Ruadh, as grandfather to the Macaulay hero Dòmhnall Cam. However, Dòmhnall Cam is on record in 1610, and Thomas's traditional genealogy implausibly puts his grandfather in the 1450s. MacCoinnich noted that the traditions noted by Thomas seemed to link the Macaulays of Lewis to Wester Ross and Loch Broom; and although any real connection may have been forgotten by tradition, the Macleod trans-Minch lordship would have made such connection quite possible. See Wester Ross Macaulays below, for more info on the Wester Ross Macaulays.Hebridean feuds
Massacre of the Macaulays
There are traditions on Lewis which tell how the Macaulays were massacred by the Macleods sometime in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Macaulays held farms at Reef, Valtos and Kneep in Uig, which were next to farms held by Tormod Mòr, brother of Ruaidhri chief of Lewis. Tormod Mòr's son, Tormod Oig, was said to have held the farm of Baile na Cille, also in Uig. According to Thomas, the chief of Lewis allowed all the rent collected from Uig go to the upkeep of Tormod Mòr and his family. When a dispute over cattle arose Tormod Mòr was injured and in revenge his sons led the Macleod clansmen to murder almost every Macaulay they could get their hands on. Tradition has it that the only survivors of the Macaulays were the chief's youngest son Iain Ruadh and his illegitimate half-brother. According to Matheson, this tradition may be a muddled account of the Earl of Huntly's expedition to Lewis in 1506. In that year Huntly invaded the island to suppress the rebellion of the Lord of the Isles claimant Donald Dubh who had been under the protection of Torquil Macleod of Lewis. During the conflict Clann Thormoid and the Morrisons of Ness seem to have sided with the invaders against the Lewismen.The continuous feuding between the Macaulays and Morrisons are a large part of Lewis tradition. One great clan battle is said to have been fought between the clans near Barvas, and there commemorated by the tall standing stone Clach an Trushal. According to tradition, it was erected by the Morrisons to mark their victory over the hereditary foes; however, the 19th-century historian, William C. Mackenzie, dismissed this part of the tradition as being unlikely. The stone is thought to have formed part of a stone circle, possibly like the nearby Callanish Stones. According to a 19th-century Lewis senachie, the 14th-century Lewis chieftain Torquil MacLeod, acted as a conciliator between the Macaulays and Morrisons, following a battle fought between them near Barvas.