Clan MacGregor
Crest & Motto
The MacGregor crest shows a lion’s head crowned with an antique crown, and the Gaelic motto is ’S Rioghal Mo Dhream: royal is my race.
History
Clan Gregor claims descent from Griogar, traditionally a son of King Alpin, hence the proud motto. The clan’s original heartland was Glen Orchy, Glen Strae and Glen Lochy on the Argyll and Perthshire border, spreading east into Glen Lyon, Balquhidder and the Trossachs around Loch Katrine. Holding land by right of the sword rather than by charter, the MacGregors were steadily dispossessed by the Campbells of Glen Orchy, who acquired the legal titles to MacGregor country and turned the clan into tenants and outlaws on their own hills, the Children of the Mist.
Catastrophe came in 1603. After the MacGregors routed the Colquhouns at the Battle of Glen Fruin, King James VI issued an edict abolishing the very name MacGregor. Bearing the name became a capital offence, MacGregors were hunted with bloodhounds, and the chief was executed at Edinburgh. The proscription was lifted in 1661, reimposed in 1693, and not finally repealed until 1774. Through those generations MacGregors lived under borrowed names such as Murray, Drummond, Grant and Stewart.
The most famous clansman, Rob Roy MacGregor (1671 to 1734), cattle dealer, outlaw and folk hero, lived through the harshest years of proscription and lies buried at Balquhidder. The clan was out for the Jacobites in 1715 and 1745. After the repeal the restored clan elected a new chief, and the present chiefly line descends from him. Dispossession drove MacGregor emigration earlier and harder than most clans, seeding large communities in North America and Australasia.
Clan Chief
The current chief is Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor, 7th Baronet, 24th Chief of Clan Gregor.
Clan Tartan
Septs and Family Names
Family names associated with Clan MacGregor include: Gregor, MacGregor, McGregor.
Unsure how clan names, crests and septs work? Our guide to Scottish clan names explains the rules.
Further reading
The Clan Gregor Society, founded 1822, one of the oldest clan societies.
American Clan Gregor Society, founded 1909.
The MacGregor Crest as a 3D Model
You can download the MacGregor crest as a 3D model file (£10 to £25) and print it on any 3D printer, or carve it in wood on a CNC machine.
See the MacGregor country, from Glen Orchy to the Trossachs, on our interactive clan map of Scotland.
