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Clan Maclean Heritage Trust

 

‘Celebrating the Clan Maclean’ - A review by

Professor N W L Maclean of Pennycross CMG

 

“Come o'er the stream, Charlie, and dine wi’ Maclean!” In “Celebrating the Clan Maclean: the First 25 Years of the Clan Maclean Heritage Trust” Ian MacLean of Tidnish in Canada has prepared a veritable feast for Macleans and Maclaines, young or old. His 231 pages achieve a very comprehensive history of the first 25 years of the Trust, which is ideal reading either to dip into or to read at a stretch. Its style is highly readable, with erudition lightened by flashes of humour. It has been published by Lulu Press Inc. in time for the Clan Maclean International Gathering on Mull in June 2023.

 

The book will prove a treasure trove for specialists, but also has many interesting or amusing titbits for generalists. It is a book that should grace the shelves of every Maclean bookcase around the world. Although the book’s focus, rather like that of the Heritage Trust, is on Macleans and Maclaines, one of our Septs is included, namely the Rankins, as one of Scotland’s foremost piping families and their history as pipers to a succession of Maclean Chiefs. It is to be hoped that projects relating to other Septs will be added to the Trust’s future commemorative programme. A particular pleasure for readers of the book is the wealth of illustrations, both in colour and black & white.

 

Although there are no maps, genealogical tables, or an index of people and places, the book has been carefully structured so that readers should be able to find their way by looking at the table of contents, which provides clear references to people, places and events. The author has attempted to make each chapter or story stand alone, though there is some cross-referencing.

 

A variety of notable historical events and the Trust’s commemoration of Clan Maclean involvement are covered in broadly chronological sequence. After the emigration of many Macleans following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, from page 60 the book’s focus goes international. We are transported to North America with vivid descriptions of military campaigns and Maclean heroes, first in the Seven Years War at Ticonderoga with Allan Maclean of the Torloisk family, (later a Brigadier General), and with Sir Allan Maclean of Duart Bt., who constructed Fort Dewart on the way to Prime Minister William Pitt’s priority objective, Fort Duquesne.

 

Our segue is Allan Maclean, third son of the Chieftain of Torloisk. Having watched him survive the bloodbath at Ticonderoga in 1758, we move with him to Canada in the American War of Independence and learn how he saved Quebec from an American onslaught. In 2007 the Trust unveiled a cairn at Torloisk to the “Hero of Quebec”.

 

We also learn how the Trust restored the Hatchment of Brigadier General Francis McLean in St Paul’s Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, another Maclean in the warrior tradition, whose finest hour is recounted in “The Fort” by the famous historical novelist Bernard Cornwell. McLean’s victory at Penobscot was an outstanding example of combining army and navy.

 

In this first North American section of Ian’s book, (ending on page 94), we are reminded that the proud history of Macleans was more diverse than only the military annals. Ian describes the life of Bard Iain Maclean and how the Trust laid a fine metal plaque in front of his gravestone in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, translating into English the Gaelic wording carved in stone. Born on Tiree and bard to the Laird of Coll, Iain had emigrated to Nova Scotia and is now recognized as one of Canada’s greatest poets, mainly in Gaelic.

 

Another literary Maclean, honoured by the Trust with the restoration of his memorial cross in the grounds of Ballygrant school, was the teacher and collector of traditional folklore, Hector MacLean of Islay, one of the many Scottish projects led by Trustees Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch and Fiona Maclean of Ardgour.

 

Pages 99 to 119 are antipodean, first with a New Zealand project to commemorate Sir Donald Maclean KCMG from Tiree, whose career was as Sub Protector of the Maoris, Land Purchase Commissioner and Native Minister, secondly with an Australian project to commemorate several generations of the remarkable McLeans of McLean’s Ridges, and thirdly with the Hon. Allan McLean from Tiree, a noted Australian pastoralist and politician.

 

Space does not allow mention of all the many colourful Macleans highlighted in Ian’s book, though I must include Kaid Sir Harry de Vere Maclean KCMG, Commander-in-Chief of the Sultan of Morocco’s army, and kidnapped by the bandit Raisuli, (acted by another Maclean in “The Wind and the Lion”-Sean Connery); Hector Neil McLean whose wealth and vision enabled the establishment in Australia of the H N McLean Memorial Retirement Village, now called McLean Care; Hector Lachlan Stewart Maclean, who won a posthumous VC on the North-West Frontier; Dr Archie McLean, an Australian bacteriologist, Antarctic explorer and war hero; Lieutenant Rena McLean, a nurse who set up the first Canadian hospital for war wounded in France in the First World War; Private George McLean, of First Nation as well as Maclean heritage, who won the Distinguished Service Medal at Vimy Ridge; and the Australian Dr. John Angus McLean, a pioneer in haematology and blood transfusion.

 

The last section of the book covers the story of the Maclean Kilties from New Brunswick, Canada, and the history of the Lady Maclean Fund, established under the auspices of the Heritage Trust to continue the late Mary Maclean’s work with children, for instance by encouraging local children’s choirs on Mull and Ardnamurchan to compete in Gaelic at the Mods. The Clan Maclean is also celebrated in the air, with the wartime exploits of Wing Commander J. Angus MacLean, later Provincial Premier of Prince Edward Island after 25 years in Canada’s House of Commons, and in space, with the high achievements of Dr. Steve MacLean, launched into space in September 2006 and later President of the Canadian Space Agency.

 

“Celebrating the Clan Maclean” closes with a description of some of the Trust’s acquisitions and publications it has backed, such as the late Colonel Donald MacLean’s collection of 76 famous Maclean pipe tunes (and 4 new ones), Fiona Maclean of Ardgour’s book for younger Macleans “Death or Victory”, and Marjorie MacLean of Tidnish’s Colouring Book. Among the most notable documents have been the Maclaine of Lochbuie Charter of 1493, the Kaid’s Matriculation of Arms, and a variety of Maclean-related books. At the very end is a detailed bibliography of books, magazines and articles, and Appendices of all the Trust’s Trustees and Officers over the past 25 years and a list of the benefits sent to Friends of the Trust between 2002 and 2013.

 

Near the end of the book is a section looking forward to the next 25 years and beyond. Thinking of the vast and diverse achievements of so many Macleans, Maclaines, and Septs around the world, the “veritable feast” I referred to at the start of this review may one day be seen as a mere “amuse-bouche” for an even greater banquet of projects by the Heritage Trust, in time written up and illustrated in further volumes by future generations. Meanwhile, the Clan should be immensely grateful to all the Trustees and Officers of the Heritage Trust, and to Ian MacLean of Tidnish for his informative and entertaining magnum opus.

 

 

The book costs £19.99 plus postage for the paperback or £25 for the hard cover edition.

Books can be purchased from the Duart Castle Gift Shop or Lulu