Clan MacLean Stories

Every month we choose a clan to celebrate, we highlight their history, castles, famous faces and an interview or two with interesting people from the clan or society. As part of our celebration we always ask clan members to share their stories with us too as we love hearing more about the lives of the modern day clan. This month we are delighted to share the story of Clan MacLean.

From left to right in the photo Captain (Retired) Iain MacLean, The Royal Canadian Regiment wearing MacLean of Duart Dress weathered tartan, Margaret MacLean wearing MacLean of Duart Dress modern, Tara Sweeney wearing MacLean of Duart Hunting weathered tartan and Lieutenant Colonel Kevin MacLean , the Governor Generals Foot Guards.

22 February 2020, just prior to world wide shutdowns due to COVID-19 we donned our best tartans and attended the Paardeberg Ball in our nations capital. The ball celebrates the first overseas battle honour won by Canada’s senior regiment of the line, The Royal Canadian Regiment, while serving in South Africa during the Boer War. The Battle is also known as the Dawn of Majuba in which British forces were defeated by an overwhelming Boer force almost fourteen years to the day.

From my grandfather's generation, 3 of the 4 siblings left Edinburgh after the war and immigrated to South Africa where my father (and later I) was born. When I was a teenager, my parents immigrated from South Africa to Australia where I lived for about 8 years before moving the UK. My brother did similar, but has since moved to the USA and my sister has recently arrived in the UK having been working in the UAE. On my wife's side, although English, also have links to Scotland as both my wife and her brother studied at St Andrews and my brother-in-law's family now live in Scotland, meaning we regularly visit there - so our ties remain close to Scotland, despite the 1,000s of miles travelled.

So, when it was time for my wedding (I proposed to my future wife in the shadow of Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull the year before) it was a huge logistical effort to assemble everyone, with friends & family flying in from Australia, South Africa, the US as well as the usual UK round up.

Flower girl wearing MacLean of Duart Modern Bow

We used the tartan subtly as a theme throughout the wedding, with MacLean ties, cufflinks and handkerchiefs for the wedding party men, large tartan bows for the flower girls and tartan trews for the page boy (all from ScotlandShop) and we also purchased a large amount of MacLean dress tartan fabric from ScotlandShop and my future mother-in-law made 10 table runners to decorate the tables (we later gave these as gifts to the McLeans at the wedding), I've attached pictures of them on the tables. A few more pictures of the preparations attached showing where we used our MacLean wax seal on wedding invitations & the order of service with a dress tartan ribbon.

Wedding Table featuring MacLean of Duart Modern

Having a Scottish heritage and keeping those links alive at celebrations really adds a seam of richness to our lives.

Lachlan and Donald showing off their MacLean pride!

The Pink House on Loch Glass

I do feel incredibly proud to be Scottish and part of the MacLean Clan. I have a large family and we have always been pretty close which I am extremely grateful for. When I was younger, my family used to have a big New Year's gathering, we would eat lots of food and set off fireworks in the garden - I will cherish those memories forever. My favourite tartan would probably have to be ‘Scotland Forever’ because I always remember my brother’s wearing it at my cousin’s wedding and thinking it looked so classy and smart on them. In my spare time I love to paint in watercolours – and I usually tend to paint scenic Scottish landscapes because I think, honestly, there is nothing quite as stunning. I’m also quite musical (I play the guitar and piano) which I think was most likely influenced by the Feis Rois scene, introduced to me in primary school.

Sandy McLean with Sir Charles MacLean (the then Chief of Clan MacLean)

All my memories at Duart Castle have been brilliant, (especially the day I picked up my table made from the original 1912 restoration doors) but my favourite has to be the time I went with my dad, 2 brothers and best pal (who was an Ogilvie). We all had our kilts on that day, anyway Sir Charles (Sir Lachlan's dad) got speaking to my dad, near the end of our visit, Sir Charles and Lady McLean invited us into their private quarters where we had a chat, and talked about our visit to Duart Castle, (thanks to my mum and dad, we became life members of the Clan Maclean Association the year before) then Sir Charles said we should have a toast to the Maclean's, and he looked towards my pal and said Ogilvie, I think it was Crawford 5 star we had and Sir Charles had Sherry. After we had finished our toast, Sir Charles said you looked like you enjoyed that and poured us another (the biggest whiskies I had seen). Also it was the 1st time we met Sir Lachlan, happy memories indeed.

Sandy McLean with Sir Lachlan MacLean (current Chief of Clan MacLean)

We went to Duart Castle on the 13th and met Sir Lachlan (our Clan Chief), as we were speaking I mentioned how much I liked the table in the tearoom, Sir Lachlan said to me follow me, I have a table that I could sell to you if you want it. I didn't even need to see it, I had to have it, so I said to Sir Lachlan that I would buy it. What makes this table so special is it was made from the original 1912 Duart Castle restoration doors, my favourite piece of furniture in the house!

The table made from the door of Duart Castle on a MacLean Hunting Tartan rug

Now that April has come to an end, that certainly doesn't mean our love for Clan MacLean is over, so be sure to get in touch with us if you fancy chatting all things MacLean!