McEwan history

[Mac_McEwan]

Just wondering if any body knows the history/geneology of the McEwan name?

[Polwarth]

Hello Mac
This information was taken from http://www.electricscotland.com. Please note that electric scotland freely admit that they do not verify information submitted by posters to their site - so you should seek another site to check that the information is correct! Another good Scots site is http://www.rampantscotland.com

From the following information it would seem that there is no clan chief - the line died out hundreds of years ago.


'The clan MacEwen trace their descent from the Kings of Ireland and claim a common ancestor, Anradan, with the Lamonts, MacLachlans and the MacNeils; together these clans were in possession of the greater part of the district of Cowal. The MacEwens were established on a strip of land along Loch Fyne between the lands of the Lamonts to the south and those of the MacLachlans to the north. The earliest chief of the clan on record was Eoghain na' h' Oitrich (Ewen the Otter) who lived at the beginning of the 13th century. He was succeeded by Severan II of Otter. For a century little is known of the chiefs or the history of the clan. Gillespie V of Otter assumed the chiefship about 1315 and was followed by Ewen, John and Walter. The last chief of the clan to hold the barony of Otter was Swene MacEwen IX who in 1431-32 granted a charter of these lands to Duncan Campbell and resigned the barony to James I. He received it again from the King with the remainder to Celistine Campbell, son and heir of Duncan Campbell of Lochow. After Swene's death in 1513, King James V confirmed the barony on Colin, Earl of Argyll and thereafter the lands of Loch Fyne remained in the possession of the Campbells and the MacEwens became a "problem" clan. The MacEwens found their way to many districts, some became absorbed by the Camerons and Mackintoshes others stayed on in Argyll and associated with the Campbells and the MacDougalls. Many of the clan settled on the shores of Loch Lomond in the Lennox country and are claimed to have fought on the side of Mary Queen of Scots at the battle of Langside in 1568. Some moved on into Galloway and others to Perthshire. However despite the fragmented nature of the clan, the ruins of MacEwen's castle can still be seen on the coast of Loch Fyne, and as a commemorate mark, the MacEwen Clan Society erected a cairn at this spot in 1990.

Thanks to James Pringle Weavers for the following information

MACEWAN: The clan was one of the early Celtic tribes of Dalriada, which in the 12th century, with the Lamonts, Maclachlans and Macneills, controlled the greater part of Cowal from Toward to Strachur. The ancient home of the MacEwans was at Otter, on the eastern shore Loch Fyne, in the parish of Kilfinan, where as late as 1750, there existed the ruins of 'Caisteal mhic Eoghain' (MacEwan's Castle). Their earliest recorded chief was Eoghain na h-Oitrich (Ewen of Otter), ca.1200, from whom the clan takes its name. At the time of the Battle of Bannockburn (1314), Gillespie, 5th of Otter, held the chiefship, and was succeeded by Ewen, John, Walter and Swene, the 9th and last chief, who died about 1450. Swene granted a charter of certain lands of Otter to Duncan Campbell, son of the Earl of Argyll, in 1431-32, and this was the beginning of the transference of the MacEwen inheritance to the Campbells. In 1493, King James I confirmed the lands to Archibald, Earl of Argyll. In an Act of 1587, a Campbell is entered as 'the Laird of Otter'. Devoid of lands, the MacEwens became a scattered clan and henceforth, as circumstances dictated, sought new alliances and places of residence. Some remained and joined the Campbells and Maclachlans, while others became associated with the Colquhouns of Luss and Camerons in Lochaber. Others resettled throughout Scotland, particularly the Lennox and Galloway. Traditionally, the MacEwens were hereditary bards to the Campbells, and as such, in 1572, they held free lands in Lorne. Since the death of Swene in the 15th century the line of the chiefs has been lost, but the late Lord Lyon, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, related that the chiefship was, in his time, claimed by MacEwen of Muckley, - as yet, no steps had been taken to have this recognised. McEwen of Bardrochat (Ayrshire), and Marchmont, (Berwickshire), is the only landed family presently extant.'