Part Two: The Morrisons of the Outer Hebrides by Andrew Morrison
Nobody can tell for certain what our origins were. But it is worth mentioning a study by "mac Gille Chaluim" (son of a servant of St Columba, or, in English, probably " Malcolm"). His examination of the names of brieves In any case variants of "Cian" (otherwise a very rare name) remained in use by Morrisons for some time, and many were known interchangeably as Mackinnons (mac Cianain), as well as MacVurichs (mac Mhuirich), while in no way connected to the principal clans of those names. Incidentally, traditions traceable to the late 17th century would explain this by making our eponymous ancestor be the 14th century son of a "Ceadhain mac Mhuirich" of the line of Somerled (thus linking us to royalty via the MacDonalds rather than the MacLeods): it is quite possible that a leading MacDonald did marry into, and adopt the name of, the Morrisons; but, given the meaning of mac Ghille Mhuire, any attempt to find an eponymous ancestor in the conventional way is likely to appear suspect. (Another legend explains the name by saying that a defeated leader promised to name the clan after the Virgin if she would only deliver them from their foes: she did, using a variant of the device employed by Moses at the Red Sea, and hence the name!) As for the name mac Mhuirich, its root is close enough to mac Ghille Mhuire to raise the possibility of a common origin.
Mac Gille Chaluim's theory, linking us to much earlier settlers from Ireland, ties in intriguingly with evidence of the travels of one of the early Irish saints, St. Moluag (or Lugaid) of Lismore. Might "Clan Cian" or Clan Morrison even be the remnant of a Moluag "familia", in the same way that we speak of the Columban familia, including such places as Iona, Derry and Kells?Could they have survived the brutal Viking raids beginning in 794, which brought "red martyrdom" to the monks of Iona and other Christian settlements? Perhaps, if their base (Pabbay?) was relatively unattractive and they had made known their decision to use the arts of war in their own defense. There might even be found, in their resistance, the seeds of some future reputation for the manufacture of "magical" weapons.
It is possible that the Brieves were originally something more than mere arbiters of civil disputes, but, as representatives of the Lords, had an extended function almost like that of Governors. This would explain why the institution survived and flourished during the sovereign Lordship, why it was resented by the MacLeods, why the brieveship could not long survive the demise of the Lordship, and why we see a MacLeod enlisting the support of the Scottish crown in Dunfermeline to aid his feud with the clan. Ultimately, all one can really claim for this theory, is plausibility. But it is worth noting that it does also make sense of the tradition, in those ancestor stories, that the original stronghold of the clan was not in Lewis, but on the Isle of Pabbay between Harris and North Uist. If they were deliberately planted in Ness, and if they were really Gaelic rather than Norse, then it makes sense that their old home base in the Hebrides was somewhere further south. Even the name Pabbay (a Norse word meaning the priests' isle) has a real Morrison air to it. Nobody lives there today (the last Morrisons were evicted in the 1840s by the exciseman for illicit whisky distilling) but the family of Pabbay (Teaghlach Phabbay) survives and it is from this ancient line that the chief, Morrison of Ruchdi, traces his descent. Meet the author, Andrew Morrison
Back to The Morrisons of the Outer Hebrides, Main Page |
Thursday, December 26th, 2019
Attention visitors: Tartans.com is back. Please note that this is a snapshot of the site as it existed nearly 20 years ago and you may encounter broken links; we are still combing through the site and correcting those as we find them. Please also note that some sections are currently not functional, primarily the discussion forums/clan chat boards.
** HOME - First Time Visitors - Glossary - - Contact Us ** Awards | Bibliography | Clan Calendar | Clan Chat | Clan Finder | History | Famous Scots | Genealogy | Great Hall of the Clans | Links | News and Features | Scots on the Net | Search | Site Map The Gathering of the Clans
Copyright 1995- Tartans.com - All Rights Reserved. |