The name "McEachern," and variations thereof, means "Son of the Horse Lord." The Horse Lord took care of the horses for the Lord of the Isles. This included the blacksmith work required to make their shoes. As master blacksmiths, they also made swords that were prized across the highlands. Many of the McEachern men were highly regarded blacksmiths, but only one was the official blacksmith to the Lord of the Isles, at one time. A couple of years ago I read somewhere about the last "official" McEachern blacksmith on Islay being a John McEachern who emigrated to Canada (Cape Breton?) with his wife (Mary?) around 1825. There was probably at least one baby with them, perhaps two. I don't know if I read it in this group or some other group. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If it wasn't here, does anyone know where this information was brought up? Thanks for any help! Deborah Stewart *~~~~~~~~~~~~* *Alba gu bràth* *~~~~~~~~~~~~* *The meek shall inherit the Earth. **The Brave get Scotland*

-----Original Message----- From: Deborah Stewart via <sct-islay@rootsweb.com> To: SCT-ISLAY <SCT-ISLAY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sun, Jun 19, 2016 1:32 pm Subject: [SCT-ISLAY] Last "Official" McEachern Blacksmith on Islay http://www.mybookden.com/HorseLord.html