1923 MacRae-Gilstrap CLAN MACRAE Constables of Eilean Donan Castle SCOTLAND

The Clan MacRae
With its Rolls of Honour and of Service in nthe Great War

By Ella MacRae-Gilstrap

Printed at the The Rosemount Press, Aberdeen, 1923. FIrst Edition / First Printing. Hardback, cloth, 4to, 256 pages, tipped in hand-coloured frontispiece plus 25 further platesw including pictures of Eilean Donan Castle, colour tipped in plates of the clan tartan, the Eilean Donan Cuach, the Badge of the Clan, eyc . .see images provided.

CONDITION
A good solid copy. The cloth binding is good. Little fraying to the real tartan sample that is pasted to the front board.Endpapers good and inner joints sound. All contents poresent and pages good throughout. No writing or names to the book. Overall a very good copy.

The Clan Macrae is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan has no chief; it is therefore considered an armigerous clan.

According to the late 19th-century historian Alexander Mackenzie, and Rev. Alexander Macrae in the early 20th century, the main authority for the early history of Clan Macrae is the late 17th-century manuscript account of the clan written by Rev. John Macrae. Alexander Macrae largely based his history of the clan upon John Macrae's earlier account.

According to tradition, the Macraes were originally from Ireland and shared a common ancestry with the Mackenzies and Macleans. The Macraes were said to have originated from Clunes, which is located near the southern shore of the Beauly Firth, and was within the lordship of Lovat. Alexander Macrae stated that these traditions likely refer to a period sometime in the middle of the 13th century.

The Macraes are known to have been constant supporters of the Clan Mackenzie in recorded times; in 1520, and for many years onwards, they were constables of Eilean Donan Castle. In 1539 the Clan Macdonald of Sleat besieged Eilean Donan as part of their attempt to restore the Lordship of the Isles and Duncan Macrae is credited with slaying the Macdonald chief with an arrow which brought the siege to an end. In view of their constant service to the Mackenzies, the Macraes of Kintail became known as the Mackenzies' "shirt of mail"

Jacobite risings

In 1721 William Ross, 6th chief of the Pitcalnie line, his brother, Robert Ross, and a force of their clansmen tried to levy rents in the Clan Mackenzie lands, but were confronted by Colonel Donald Murchison and three hundred Mackenzies and Macraes. Both Walter Ross, the chief's son, and Robert's son, William, were wounded  in the short Battle of Glen Affric, and the outnumbered Rosses parleyed and withdrew. Walter died of his wounds the next day.

In the Jacobite rising of 1745, the Macraes were divided. A number are known to have sided with the Jacobites under George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, while others joined the government's Independent Highland Companies under Captain Colin Mackenzie In June 1746 the Mackenzie Company at Shiramore in Badenoch had over sixty Macraes, including an Ensign John MacRae.

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