Clan MacDougall - Unleash your inner tartan

The MacDougall's are one clan who have a long and interesting history, from castles to brooches and even a Gaelic-Norse warrior (who is described as half man, half legend) thrown into the mix. Today we take a look through everything that makes up the story of Clan MacDougall.

In the early 14th Century Robert The Bruce betrayed Clan MacDougall by murdering the nephew of clan chief at that time, John of Argyll. Understandably the clan were hurt and seeked revenge, and so at the Battle of Dalrigh in 1306 John of Argyll planned to dismount Robert The Bruce from his horse, but in the end only managed to pull off his cloak and brooch, The Brooch of Lorn. This famous brooch was returned to Dunollie Castle after the Battle and held by Clan MacDougall until 1647 when it was stolen, and only returned to Clan MacDougall in 1824, after being found by Major Campbell of Bragleen. It is now rarely ever taken out in public, one known appearance was in 1956 when the MacDougall Chief wore it for Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Oban.

Spoiling this tale historians who have examined the brooch believe it dates to a period long after Robert The Bruce had died, meaning it could never have belonged to him, thinking instead that perhaps the original brooch fell to pieces and this was the brooch that replaced it. We of course prefer to imagine the first more romantic version of the story and look forward to hearing the views of MacDougall's out there on the subject.

Dunollie Castle, with it's beautiful sea view, is located just outside Oban and dates back over 1300 years to 686 when it was originally built by the Vikings. Since then it has been destroyed and re-built many times and it is currently being restored thanks to the MacDougall of Dunollie Preservation Trust. The Castle is the ancestral home of Clan MacDougall and is also their current seat and home to the clan chief Madam Morag MacDougall of MacDougall. Today it is open to the public to visit and there is even a museum within the grounds where you can learn all about the fascinating history of Dunollie Castle and Clan MacDougall.

Of course, Dunollie Castle on the mainland was not the only castle built by the almighty MacDougall clan, as they also built Castle Coeffin on the islands, following the building style of nearby Castle Sween, using a stone design with huge curtain walls surrounding a square tower within. The lands on which Castle Coeffin sit were originally owned by the Gaelic-Norse Warrior, Somerled. King Somerled gifted lands to his three sons, one of whom was named Dougall, who received the lands of Lismore, including Castle Coeffin, along with the Isle of Mull, Jura, Tiree, Coll and others. Somerled's son, Dougall, is actually where the Clan MacDougall name originally came from, and this Celtic christian name comes from the Gaelic "dubh-gall" translating as "black stranger".

Also available to view at the Dunollie Castle museum is the Hope MacDougall Collection. Hope MacDougall was the daughter, sister and aunt to three consecutive Clan MacDougall chiefs. Through this she had a keen interest in both Scottish history and the lives of Scottish people, and so she began collecting items that resembled the rich Scottish culture. Throughout her lifetime she collected thousands of items from professions such as bee keeping, shoe making, agriculture, distilling and so many more. It is worth visiting the museum to understand the extent of her collection, a really interesting look into 20th century Scotland.