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The Macdougalls, Macdugalls, Macdovals,
Macdowalls are all the ways the name is spelled. The clan derives its descent from Dugall,
who was the eldest son of Somerled, the common ancestor of the clan Donald; and it has
hitherto been supposed, that Alexander de Ergadia, the undoubted ancestor of the clan
Dugall, who first appears in the year 1284, who was the son of Ewen de Ergadia, who
figured so prominently at the period of the cession of the Isles. This opinion, however,
Mr Skene conceives to be erroneous; first, because Ewen would seem to have died without
leaving male issue; and, secondly, because it is contradicted by the manuscript of 1450,
which states that the Clan Dugall, as well as the clan Rory and the clan Donald, sprung
ont from Ewen, but fron Ranald, the son of Somerled, through his son Dugall, from whom
indeed they derived their name. Mr Smibert's remarks, however, on this point are deserving
of attention. "It seems very evident," he says, "that they formed one of
the primitive branches of the roving or stranger tribes of visitants to Scotland of the
Irish, or at least Celtic race. Their mere name puts the fact almost beyond doubt. It also
distinguishes them clearly from the Norsemen of the Western Isles, who were always styled
Fion-galls,that is , fair strangers (Rovers, or Pirates).
The common account of the origin of the Macdougallsis, that they sprung from
a son or grandson of Somerled, of the name Dougal. But though a single chieftain of that
appelation may have flourished in the primitive periods of Gaelic story, it appears most
probable, from many circumstances, that the clan derived their name from their descent and
character generally. They were Dhu-Galls, 'black strangers.' The son or grandson of
Somerled, who is said to have specially founded the Macdougall clan, lived in the 12th
century. In the 13th, however, they were numerous and strong enough to oppose Bruce, and
it is therefore out of the question to suppose that the descendant of Somerled could do
more than consolidate or collect an already existing tribe, even if it is to be admitted
as taking from him its name,"
The first appearance which this family makes in history is
at the convention which was held in the year 1284. In the list of those who attended on
that occasion, we find the name of Alexander de Ergadia, whose presence was probably the
consequence of his holding his lands by a crown charter; but from this period we lose
sight of him entirely, until the reign if Robert the Bruce, when the strenuous opposition
offered by the Lord of Lorn and by his son John to the succession of that king, restored
his name to history, in connection with that of Bruce. Alister having married the third
daughter of the RedComyn, whom Bruce slew in the Dominican church at Dumfries, became the
mortal enemy of the king; and, upon more than one occasion, during the early part of his
reign, succeeded in reducing him to the greatest straits. |
