The Stories of Clan MacAulay

Every month we celebrate a different Scottish Clan and July has been dedicated to the MacAulays, we have had so many lovely stories sent to us by member of the Clan, so we thought we would collate them all in one place to share our favourites with you.

My family have hailed from Uig on the west side of the Isle of Lewis as far back as we can trace. I'm incredibly proud of my heritage, and have always felt a strong connection to the land. Growing up, every summer holiday was a trip to the Western Isles to see family and catch a year's worth of colds sitting by lochs and beaches. The MacAulay motto of 'Dulce periculum' (translating to 'Danger is Sweet') speaks of the clan's long and bloody history of scrapping with the neighbouring Morrisons, who we (thankfully) get on a little better with today!

I was born in the early 1960’s. Christiane M Macaulay in the South of England. I grew up with four older brothers, they were the only Macaulay’s I knew apart from my parents till the very late 1990’s. When I got my first home computer. The first thing I did was look up the name Macaulay. My Scottish dream was born. My father had lost his father at age 4 and was an only child so I had no Macaulay cousins. I found on the internet that Clan MacAulay was making a come back and interest was sparked by Hector MacAulay from Perthshire who along with a few others was organising a mini-Gathering calling all MacAulay’s worldwide to Gather and reform.
I could not attend because of a family wedding but I wrote to Hector MacAulay and signed it with all the names of our family with the surname Macaulay, sisters-in-law’s and young nieces and nephews too, and was thrilled to receive a letter back.

The next year I attended the Gathering with my Mum and brother John, sadly my Dad died in late 1999 but he would have been thrilled that we meet with over 30 or so people with the name MacAulay. I felt like I was home. I wanted to get involved right away and so I volunteered. Hector MacAulay, the then, Clan Organiser was more than happy to have volunteers, so he invited me onto the committee. I was not sure what I could contribute but I was eager to learn more about Scotland and the History of the Clan. I had some skills in Family History and photography. So I became the Clan Historian eventually and always had my camera to hand at almost every Gathering I could attend and tried my best to record the Gatherings as they happened through photographs.

As the Clan has grown many talented MacAulay’s of all name variations and septs joined the clan and volunteered for rolls to support the ever-growing Clan MacAulay. We are now truly International. With an executive Committee from around the world bringing their talents and new ideas to bring the Clan MacAulay to all MacAulay whatever their background or race.

Some of the most memorable Gatherings for me have been, Scotland’s Home Coming 2009 where I got to march up the Royal mile with hundreds of people and practically all the Scottish Clans being represented. The Northern Ireland Gatherings in 2011 and 2017. Every Gathering including two international Gathering in the USA and Canada has been brilliant and I have met some fantastic MacAulay’s who are not related by blood but who are my kinsmen and women in every sense.

Through researching over the years I have found relatives still living in Paisley which was home to my great grandfather James MacAulay who followed 3 of his sons and a daughter out to New Zealand from 1877 onwards.
James’s eldest brother John had a daughter Jean Macaulay who married Alex McLean in 1851 in Paisley and I have traced the families down to Annie Carter now 94 and son Ken Carter in Paisley where I visited them in 2019. Ken and family have also been to visit us here in New Zealand.

My mother, Catriona MacAulay, was the Clan secretary until her passing 4 years ago. I had the absolute honour to be asked to step in & try to do her role.
My Great great Grandfather was Angus MacAulay & was one of only 79 survivors from the ill fated ship, The Iolaire. The ship hit rocks, as it returned from 4 years in the war, as it entered the harbour of Stornoway on 1st Jan 1919 with the loss of 200 souls. He was the only MacAulay in the village to have survived. His sister Christina emigrated to Canada in 1906 at 16 and never made contact with anyone from the Isle Of Lewis again. My mother was always fascinated by this story and always wondered what happened to Christina & she eventually went on the path to discover her story. This took many many years of research for my mum, but eventually she came across a message from Heather Lanthier of Vancouver who was looking for relatives of a Christina MacAulay. After much more research it became clear they were both looking for the same person and that my mother had found a branch of the MacAulay's that had been lost for 100 years. While she never met her aunt, it was her absolute thrill to have discovered family. Arlene, Shirley & Heather, came to Scotland & visited their MacAulay home of Shuilishader (pronounced Shoelishader) and met with more of the MacAulay family they did not know they had. The silence of a MacAulay branch was finally broken & long lost ties renewed.

My journey with the MacAulay Clan started in 2011 after our dear father, Edward C. Macauley passed. We were going through his belongings and we found a MacAulay Clan rubber stamp that my daughter Kaetlyn had purchased for him during a trip to Ireland. My brother Mike was intrigued when he saw the MacAulay Clan Crest, so he did some research on the internet. He spent some time on the MacAulay Clan website, and learned that there we Clan members all over the world, and many attended their local Scottish Games, wearing their appropriate tartan, and enjoying Scottish heritage and cuisine.

We wanted to better understand our family lineage, so Mike and I decided it would be a great way to honor our father, who by the way, is one of the Famous MacAulay’s, Mike took the lead on the research, and the more he learned, the more he wanted to actively participate in our heritage. For our next step, Mike felt we should go further, and participate in our local St. Louis Scottish Games. So, we printed up a few banners, set up our tent, and showed off our tartan, which at that time consisted of only a necktie! We had so much fun interacting with the other Clans, he called and suggested we both purchase a full kilt ensemble for Christmas and wear our tartan proudly during our family Christmas gathering.

Our journey continued when he reached out to then Chief, Hector MacAulay, and inquired as to our being Co-Commissioners in the state of Missouri for the MacAulay Clan. Hector informed us that there was no protocol in the Clan Charter for co-commissioners, so we dropped it. Not to be denied, and using a little Scottish ingenuity, Hector emailed Mike, and said, although we could not be co-commissioners, the committee agreed Mike could be “Northern” Missouri Commissioner, and I would be “Southern” Missouri Commissioner! Ingenious!

The journey continued when in 2015, my wife Geri and I, along with Mike and his wife Janet, and our sisters Terry, and Mary, attended our first MacAulay Clan Gathering in Scotland. We had a wonderful time meeting other Clan members and making friends from around the world while enjoying the beauty and splendor of Scotland. Mike, Janet, Geri, and I attended the event in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland in 2017. I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Clan in 2018, and have been helping plan the next outing to Scotland in 2022!

To think it all started from a small wooden ink stamp of the MacAulay Crest!

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