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Here are some MacDonald stories and accounts over the years:

Lord of the Isles

The clan takes its name from Donald, the 3rd Lord of the Isles and grandson of Somerled, who lived until 1269.  It was Donald's great grandson Angus Og, the 6th Lord of the Isles, who sheltered Robert the Bruce at the lowest ebb of his career.  Later, leading a small group of Islemen, Angus Og was instrumental in Bruce's defeat of the English at Bannockburn. 

Angus Og's grandson Donald, the 8th Lord of the Isles, commanded an army of 10,000 men, including every clan of the Highlands and Isles.  They regarded the MacDonalds chiefs as heads of the ancient "race of Conn" and lineal heirs of the ancient kings of the Dalriadic Scots going back to the 6th century.

Donald of Harlaw's son and grandson were both Earls of Ross and Lords of the Isles, commanding both Argyll and Inverness as well as Antrim in northern Ireland (as MacDonnell).  The Earldom was lost in 1471.  But the Lordship of the Isles was not absorbed by Scotland until the middle of the 16th century. 

Armadale Castle

The MacDonalds arrived in Skye from the Southern Hebrides in the 15th century.  They occupied Dunscaith and Knock castle, both within a few miles of Armadale.

By 1650 there were two farmhouses at Armadale; but after 1690 the family moved back to Duntulm castle at the northern end of Skye.  The farm and gardens at Armadale were looked after by various other MacDonalds.  The famous Flora MacDonald was married at Armadale on November 6, 1750.

In about 1790 the first Lord MacDonald returned to build a new mansion house, part of which remains as the white section of the building seen today.

MacDonalds and Culloden

Much has been made of the story or legend that the MacDonalds, on being refused the premier position on the right of the line (which, it is said, they had claimed since Bannockburn), sulked and refused to charge.

Sir Walter Scott related how MacDonell of Keppoch advanced to the charge with a bitter exclamation, "Mo dhia, an do thrieg clann mo chinnidh mi?" or "My God, have the children of my tribe foresaken me?"  However, Andrew Lang has maintained that the MacDonalds did not foresake their leader.  If Keppoch used the expression, it was instead a hasty and irritable one during a momentary hesitation.

Clan Donald may not have added to their laurels during that fateful day.  But they deserved no ignominy. Young Clanranald himself was badly wounded.  All three regiments lost many officers and men, including MacDonald of Scotus, killed with twenty of his men around him, and Keppel's brother Donald.

The Glenaladale Settlers

Glenaladale is a settlement in South Uist in the Western Isles.  The islanders there were being forced out by Colin MacDonald, the tacksman of Boisdale.  The story goes that he had a very religious wife who was trying to force the Catholics there to become Protestant.  They beat the people to church with a yellow rod and Protestantism came to be called the religion of the yellow stick. 

In February 1772, Captain John MacDonald of Glenaladale went to Greenock and chartered the Alexander. Three months later this vessel, with 210 emigrants, set sail for St. John, New Brunswick.  One hundred of these were from Uist and 110 from the mainland.  The family heads included Donald and Angus MacDonald from Boisdale and John MacDonald from Stonybrig.  They were accompanied by Father James MacDonald and by a Dr. Roderick MacDonald, who owing to his medical prowess and their own prudence, successfuly combated the cases of fever which occurred. 

They arrived safely in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the end of seven weeks and dropped anchor in what is now known as the harbor of Charlottetown, opposite to a spot that had been partially cleared of woods in preparation for this new colony.

Eminent Canadians

MacDonald	Birth	Place	Position
John	1787	USA (New York)	Canadian politician
John	1791	PEI (West River)	PEI politician
John	1800 c.	Scotland	Toronto merchant
John S.	1812	Ontario (Glengarry)	Ontario Premier
John A.	1815	Scotland	Canadian Prime Minister
Donald	1816	USA (New York)	Canadian senator
Donald A.	1817	Ontario (Glengarry)	Ontario Lt. Governor
			brother of John S.
Daniel	1822	PEI (St. Andrews)	Catholic bishop
Ranald	1824	USA (Oregon)	English teacher in Japan
John	1824	Scotland	Canadian politician
Hugh	1827	Nova Scotia (Antigonish)	Nova Scotia judge
James	1828	Nova Scotia (Pictou)	Nova Scotia judge
Andrew	1829	PEI (Three Rivers)	PEI judge
William F.	1831	PEI (Tracadie)	Tobacco manufacturer
Ronald	1835	Nova Scotia (Antigonish)	Catholic bishop

Archibald MacDonald and the Hudson Bay Company

Archibald McDonald grew up in Invergarry, Invernessshire where his father was the head forester to Edward Ellice.  There he learnt to shoot, fish, hunt, and stalk the deer under the expert guidance of his father.

Edward Ellice also recruited for the Hudson Bay Company.  As he commented later, "I took great care to send out the best men we could find, principally from the north of Scotland.  They went out first as apprentices, then were made clerks, and gradually advanced to higher positions in the service."  Archibald MacDonald was enlisted for this company.

Archibald sailed for North America in the summer of 1854 on the Prince of Wales, a sailing ship of 600 tons, on the annual voyage from London to York Factory via Hudson Strait and Bay. 

The influence of the fur traders stretched at that time from Labrador to the mouth of the Columbia river.  Except for the Red river settlement, the territory was entirely populated by feuding tribes of nomadic Indians.  Trading posts were positioned at intervals of 200-300 mile distances on waterways navigable by canoes and rowing boats.  Large numbers of Indians were employed as voyageurs and hunters.  They were not easy to handle and it required men of strong character, tact, good judgment and fair dealing to win their respect and to exercise discipline over them.  Such was the test that awaited a young recruit from Scotland.

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