My family "tartan" is woven from threads in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Renfrewshire, Dumfriesshire, Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Northumberland, England, Belfast and Carrickfergus,. Co. Antrim, (N.) Ireland, and of course Lanarkshire. I have some Hielan' names thrown in for good measure, but who's to know where my McLean and McDougall lines came from originally. The McLean history goes back to before the middle of the fourteenth century and the ancestral home is Duart Castle.on the Isle of Mull. The McDougalls were the Lords of the Isles, before Robert the Bruce usurped them. I make no claim to be descended from any big high heid yins as my McLean and McDougall lot have all been plain Janes and no nonsense, McLean from Wigtownshire and McDougall from Glasgow (so far as I can deduce). I waded through Glasgow born Nigel Tranter's "Robert the Bruce Trilogy" and at the end of it was convinced that William Wallace was the true hero of Scotland, particularly after reading about the wheeling and dealing by Robert the Bruce that resulted in "my" McDougalls being decanted as Lords of the Isles, with the Campbells once more in the mix! A snippet found on Google. ------------------------- [edit] Wars of Scottish Independence The MacDougalls were supporters of William Wallace and King John I of Scotland but were later driven out by supporters of King Robert I of Scotland during the civil wars in Scotland which formed part of the Wars of Scottish Independence. Two years later as Bruce led an army of three thousand men against the MacDougalls. John MacDougall of Lorne set an ambush for them but after a savage engagement the MacDougalls were broken and forced to flee. The MacDougalls lost most of their lands in Argyll which were then passed to the Clan Campbell for their loyalty to the King. However Clan MacDougall fought against Robert the Bruce and the Earl of Atholl at the Battle of Dalry in 1306 where the MacDougalls were victorious. However the victorious MacDougalls later fought against Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Pass of Brander in 1308 where they were defeated. Alistair MacDougall married the sister of John Comyn of the Comyn, Scotland's most powerful man. John's son, the "Red Comyn", was next in line as King of Scotland after the Balliols. However this was the time when Bruce made his bid for the Crown. Bruce slew the Red Comyn at the altar rails in Dumfries and the MacDougalls entered into the feud which ended in the utter destruction of the Clan Comyn and the loss of the MacDougalls' islands to Bruce.----------------------------- As noted, though many on my side came from different airts, Glasgow and Lanarkshire have provided some of the thicker threads of the weft and woof of my "fine tartan sett." The following should give would-be researchers second thoughts about just confining themselves to Lanarkshire, given that it is surrounded by eight other shires or counties. --------------------------- Lanarkshire (Siorrachd Lannraig in Gaelic) was formerly a county of Scotland. It was bounded to the north by Stirlingshire and a detached portion of Dunbartonshire, to the northeast by Stirlingshire, West Lothian and Midlothian, to the east by Peeblesshire, to the southeast and south by Dumfriesshire, to the southwest by Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire and to the west by Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire. Lanarkshire was for some purposes treated as three separate counties: the upper, middle and lower wards, until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. --------------------------- I'm pleased that Wayne Hannay contributes data from the Wigtown Free Press to the Lanark site that could also have connections with surrounding areas to allow us to expand our genealogy horizons, if you will.. One never knows whose lot moved from where to there, an ebb and flow, because of employment opportunities, marriage, or other reasons. Maisie