Clan McCorquodale
Encyclopedia
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
, recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...
, though without a chief
Scottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
so recognised. The last chief of the clan died in the 18th century. Because the clan does not have a recognised chief, it is considered an armigerous clan
Armigerous clan
An armigerous clan is a Scottish clan, family or name which is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon and once had a chief who bore undifferenced arms, but does not have a chief currently recognized as such by Lyon Court...
, and has no legal standing under Scots Law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
. Historically, the clan inhabited lands west of Loch Awe
Loch Awe
Loch Awe is a large body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Loch Awe, or Lochawe. There are islands within the loch such as Innis Chonnell and Inishail.- The loch :It is the third largest freshwater loch in Scotland with...
, in Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
. These clan lands were centred at Loch Tromlee, where an island castle served as the clan seat. The line of Clan McCorquodale chiefs, first recorded in the 15th century, have been untraced since the 18th century.
Origin of the name
The surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
McCorquodale
McCorquodale
-People with the surname McCorquodale:*Alastair McCorquodale, Scottish athlete and cricketer.*Corky McCorquodale, professional poker player.*Joe McCorquodale, American politician.*Malcolm McCorquodale, 1st Baron McCorquodale, British politician....
is an Anglicisation
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
of the Gaelic Mac Thorcadail (or MacCorcadail), meaning "son of Torcadal". The Gaelic personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
Torcadal is of Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
origin and means "Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
's kettle" (a more romanticised meaning for the name has been given as "cauldron of the thunder spirit"). In 1881, the surname was most frequent in lands which constitute the current Paisley postcode area
PA postcode area
The PA postcode area, also known as the Paisley postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Appin, Bishopton, Bridge of Orchy, Bridge of Weir, Cairndow, Campbeltown, Colintraive, Dalmally, Dunoon, Erskine, Gourock, Greenock, Inveraray, Isle of Bute, Isle of Coll, Isle of Colonsay, Isle...
. This, more or less, corresponds with the Clan McCorquodale's traditional lands in Argyll. The clans Macleod of the Lewes and Gunn
Clan Gunn
Clan Gunn is a Scottish clan associated with northeastern Scotland, including Caithness and Sutherland as well as the Orkney Islands.The clan's origins stretch over the sea to Norway, and the Clan Gunn themselves claim descent from the legendary viking Sweyn Asleifsson, the progenitor of the clan,...
claim variations of this surname as sept
Sept (social)
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
s of theirs. Septs are families which claimed allegiance to stronger chief and his clan, or that lived upon lands controlled by a stronger chief and his clan. The majority of those McCorquodales recorded in 1881 were located far from the traditional lands of these two clans.
History of the clan
Alpín mac Echdach
Alpín mac Eochaid may refer to two persons. The first person is a presumed king of Dál Riata in the late 730s. The second is the father of Kenneth MacAlpin...
, father of Kenneth MacAlpin, was killed in battle, and his head was carried off by enemy Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
. Alpin's head was then displayed in the Pictish town of Camelon
Camelon
Camelon is a large settlement within the Falkirk council area, Scotland. The village is in the Forth Valley, west of Falkirk, south of Larbert and east of Bonnybridge...
. The story goes on to state that the claimed ancestor of the McCorquodales, Thorkil, recovered recovered Alpin's head. For this deed, Thorkil was said to have been rewarded with lands on Loch Awe side. Be that as it may, the earliest record of the clan occurs in the 15th century. The Barons McCorquodale are recorded at this time, as holding sway over lands in Argyll, west of Loch Awe. They were centred at Phantelane (Anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic: Fionnt Eilean), or the "white island". Eilean-a-Bharain (from Scottish Gaelic: "the baron's island") was located in Loch Tromlee, on which their castle was located. Today the loch has been affected by drainage, the site of the castle ruins is no longer always an island. At one point in time, the entire shore of Loch Awe from Avich to Ard-an-aiseig was owned by the chiefs of the clan.
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
of Duncan McCorquodale of Phantelane bore the legend, "S.duncan.mak.corkatill", which surrounded a shield with, a stag trippant couped halfway paleways. By 1612, Duncan was dead and his younger sons, Iain and Lachlan, were declared by the Privy Council
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...
as "notorious thieves and the supporters of Clan Gregour". These MacGregors who were wanted for many crimes, including the theft of a brown mare from the deceased Duncan. The barony passed from Duncan to his son, Duncan. According to Moncreiffe
Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk
Sir Rupert Iain Kay Moncreiffe of that Ilk, 11th Baronet, CVO, QC was a British officer of arms and genealogist. He used various forms of his name: His columns for Books and Bookmen wete signed Iain Moncreiffe; Royal Highness is by Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Bt.; Simple Heraldry is by...
, this baron seems to have had sons by different wives, as the legitimacy of his heirs was "hotly disputed between the two litters". In the 17th century the clan supported the Campbells in the Civil wars.
In 1645, while campaigning, Alasdair MacColla
Alasdair MacColla
Alasdair Mac Colla was a Scottish soldier. His full name in Scottish Gaelic was Alasdair Mac Colla Chiotaich Mac Domhnuill . He is sometimes mistakenly referred to in English as "Collkitto", a nickname that properly belongs to his father. He fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, most notably...
and his men marched along the shore of Loch Tromlee. MacColla ordered his men to leave the castle and lands of the McCorquodales to be left un-molested. At the same time, Baron McCorquodale had his men standing to with orders not to fire. However, one of McCorquodale's men opened fire upon MacColla's men, and as a result one Macdonald clansman was killed. In retaliation MacColla ordered the destruction of the island castle of the McCorquodales. Duncan McCorquodale of Phantelane was one of the Justices of the peace for Argyllshire, appointed in 1656 by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
. In the 18th century, the last Baron McCorquodale to hold the clan lands around Loch Tromlee died, leaving the clan without a chief to this day. By the end of the 18th century there were McCorquodales living on Loch Aweside, who claimed to be descended from the legendary founder of the clan.
Clan profile
Crest badgeToday, those who profess to be members of Clan McCorquodale are permitted to wear a crest badge
Scottish crest badge
A Scottish crest badge is a heraldic badge worn to show allegiance to an individual or membership in a specific Scottish clan. Crest badges are commonly called clan crests, but this is a misnomer; there is no such thing as a collective clan crest, just as there is no such thing as a clan coat of...
which shows their allegiance to the clan. Crest badges are of relatively recent origin, and usually consist of strap an buckle surrounding the clan chief's heraldic crest and motto. The crest badge suitable for a member of Clan McCorquodale contains the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
motto: vivat rex, meaning "long live the king"; and the crest of a stag
STAG
STAG: A Test of Love is a reality TV show hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding. The cameras then follow the groom on his bachelor party...
at gaze proper attired gules. These two heraldic elements are derived from the coat of arms of "Duncan Macorquodaill of that Ilk", registered in 1672. These arms are recorded in the Lyon Register as argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
, a stag gules attired Or
Or (heraldry)
In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...
issuing from a fess wreathed of the second and third. In Scotland, it is against the law to appropriate the arms of another individual. Even the heraldic elements of the clan member's crest badge, do not belong to members of Clan McCorquodale, but to the clan's chief (or last recognised chief).
See also
- McCorquodaleMcCorquodale-People with the surname McCorquodale:*Alastair McCorquodale, Scottish athlete and cricketer.*Corky McCorquodale, professional poker player.*Joe McCorquodale, American politician.*Malcolm McCorquodale, 1st Baron McCorquodale, British politician....
, a disambiguation page listing occurrences of McCorquodale in Wikipedia