Clan Macaulay

Anderson attributes this clan to one of the branches of the Siol Alpen, from whom also descend the Macgregors. It has equally been asserted that they stem from Almhalidh, a younger son of the Earl of Lennox. Nisbet, in his commentary on the Ragman Roll of 1296, states that Maurice de Arncaple, who submitted to Edward I of England, was the ancestor of the Lairds of Ardincaple, which was to become the principal Macaulay seat. In 1587 Sir Aulay Macaulay of Ardincaple was noted as a principal vassal of the Earls of Lennox. Whether the connection between the Macgregors and the Macaulays was one of descent or not, they became closely connected, and a bond of manrent was entered into on 27 May 1591 between Macgregor of Glen Strae and the Laird of Ardincaple; in it, Macaulay acknowledged the superiority of Macgregor and agreed to pay him tribute in cattle. The historian Skene stated that 'their connection with the Macgregors led them to take some part in the feuds that that unfortunate race were at all times engaged in, but the protection of the Earls of Lennox seems to have relieved the Macaulays from the consequences which fell so heavily upon the Macgregors'. The Macaulays were certainly keen to renounce any connection with the Macgregors when they were declared outlaw, The Macaulays of Lewis asserted that they were of Norse descent, their name meaning simply, 'son of Olaf'. One of the chiefs of the Lewis Macaulays in the sixteenth century was known as Donald Camm, meaning Donald One-Eye. The son of Donald Camm followed the Marquis of Montrose in his campaign for Charles I during the civil war, and died at the Battle of Aldern in 1645. Thomas Babington Macaulay, the nineteenth-century politician and historian, was descended from the line of Donald Camm. He is best remembered for his works, History of England, which is still read by historians today, and Lays of Ancient Rome. He died unmarried in 1859 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.