Our Macfarlane Clan

Top Ten Things a Hamby Should Know

#9 – WE ARE DESCENDED FROM THE SCOTCH IRISH CLAN MACFARLANE

If you enjoy St. Patrick’s Day, there’s a reason.  Did you know our ancestors are from an important Scotch Irish clan, the Macfarlane clan? And our ancestors fought in the name of Protestantism, almost to the point of clan extinction? And that we are related to first lady Elizabeth Truman and author George Eliot?

Granny Louie Hamby’s maternal grandmother was Mary Paralee Price Arendale. Mary’s parents were Daniel Price, infantryman in the War of 1812 buried near her grave at Mt. Carmel in Jackson County, and Ann Washington MacFarlane Price, buried 50 years later with a daughter in Texas. It is through Ann, the maternal great grandmother of Granny Hamby, that we are of the Macfarlane clan.

Let me briefly trace the MacFarlane name from Ann to our fascinating origins (note spelling variations). Ann’s father was Joseph McFarlane from Augusta, Virginia, who located in Jackson Co., Alabama. Joseph’s father was Robert Henry McFarlane. Robert’s father was Alexander McFarland, patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War. Alexander, my 6^th great grandfather, was wounded in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October of 1774 and lost sight in one eye. He re-enlisted after the war as a military scout and fought the Cherokee along with McFarland relatives. He owned 200 acres in the meadows on the north side of the Nolachucky River.

Alexander’s father was Duncan McFarland, the original immigrant of our Scotch Irish family born about 1700 in Weter County, Ireland. He migrated to Augusta, Virginia and is buried in an unmarked grave near Warm Springs. He was a creative man, a weaver by trade. He married the daughter of a sea captain, Anne Porter. They had to abandon their cabin cave in 1773, on the east side of the Jackson River opposite their cabin, after seeing their home, livestock, and belongings destroyed by Cherokee. They moved to an area now in Tennessee, not far from Jackson County where Duncan’s son (our ancestor) Alexander located.

Duncan McFarland was from the Macfarlane clan, one of the Highland Clans in Scotland. Some say there is no clan with more interesting history. The name originated from the first Celtic colonists from Spain. The clan was founded by Gilchrist in about 1150 A.D. He was brother of Malduin, the third Earl of Lenox who inherited the position of Earl. The chief castles of the clan were Dumbarton and Ballock. There have been at least 23 Lairds (owners of large estates) of Macfarlane. Gilchrist, founder of our clan, received from his father, second Earl of Lenox, a large tract of land north of Lenox at the head of Loch Long, in the highlands of Scotland. This tract, called Arrochar, was the hereditary possession of the clan for almost 600 years (1200-1784). One of the original Lairds was named Duncan, a popular clan surname eventually given to our immigrant ancestor. One Duncan, the 13^th Chief of the clan, was killed in 1547 in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh against the English.

The entire clan became Protestant starting in the 1500’s, and often got in trouble for that. After the murder of a Laird, they joined civil warfare against Queen “Bloody” Mary in the conflict between Protestants and Catholics. Members of our clan captured three of Queen Mary’s standards, which were long preserved in the family. The Macfarlane war cry was “Loch Sloy” and their badge was the cranberry. Their crest motto reads “This I’ll Defend.”

In 1594 the MacFarlanes were denounced as robbers and oppressors. They had become among the most savage of the Highland clans and raided the Lowlands. The clan was noted for its daring night time cattle raiding of neighboring clans, so much so that it is said the full moon became known in the Scottish Highlands as "MacFarlane's Lantern." In 1608 they were declared rebels by law, and by 1624 many of the clan were driven out of Arrochar. During these decades, many took advantage of tempting offers to immigrate to Ireland, including our family’s direct ancestors.  When a large part of the clan went to Ireland in 1601, the spelling became McFarland. This spelling identifies our branch of the family, which located primarily in the Ulster Province of Northern Ireland. Eventually, our Duncan McFarland was born in about 1700 and migrated to America.

It is interesting to know of our famous distant cousins. One is first lady Elizabeth “Bess” Truman is a cousin from a common McFarland ancestor, our Duncan McFarland’s father Robert. Author George Eliot is also descended from the same common McFarland ancestor. “This I’ll Defend.”