Clan MacLean

Crest & Motto

Clan MacLean crest 3D model with Virtue Mine Honour motto, STL file for 3D printing or CNC carving The MacLean crest shows an embattled tower, and the motto is Virtue Mine Honour.

History

Clan MacLean descends from Gilleain na Tuaighe, Gillean of the Battle Axe, a 13th century warrior whose name means servant of St John. The clan rose to prominence in the 14th century when Lachlan Lubanach Maclean married Mary, daughter of the MacDonald Lord of the Isles, receiving Duart on the Isle of Mull. From Duart Castle, commanding the Sound of Mull, the chiefs ruled a west coast territory taking in much of Mull, Morvern on the mainland, and the isles of Tiree and Coll.

The Macleans were among the fiercest fighting clans of the west. At the Battle of Inverkeithing in 1651, fighting for Charles II against Cromwell’s army, the clan was decimated. Tradition holds that as chief Sir Hector fell, clansmen died one by one shielding him with the cry “Fear eile airson Eachainn!”, another for Hector. Weakened by debt and Campbell pressure, the Macleans lost Duart and their Mull estates to the Earl of Argyll in 1691.

Landless chiefs did not end the clan’s loyalties. Macleans fought for the Jacobites at Killiecrankie in 1689, Sheriffmuir in 1715 and Culloden in 1746, where Maclean of Drimnin led the clan regiment and was killed. The 19th century saw heavy clearance and emigration from Mull, Morvern, Coll and Tiree, scattering Macleans to Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

In 1911 Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 26th Chief, bought back and restored the ruined Duart Castle after more than two centuries, one of the great symbolic homecomings of any Highland clan. Duart remains the chief’s home and the focus of worldwide clan gatherings.