Clan MacGillivray is a Highland clan centred historically on Dunmaglass in Strathnairn and connected with the Clan Chattan Confederation. Its best-known episode is the role of Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass in the Jacobite charge at Culloden in 1746. The family’s documented history continued at Dunmaglass long after that battle, however, and should not be reduced to a single heroic ending.
Where does the MacGillivray name come from?
The Gaelic clan name is commonly written Clann Ghillebhraith, with English spellings including MacGillivray and McGillivray. Older explanations often render the personal name behind it in terms of a “servant” or “devotee” and judgment, but exact linguistic interpretations vary. A shared spelling tradition does not by itself prove that every modern bearer descends from the Dunmaglass chiefly line.
Clan tradition places earlier roots in western Scotland before the family became established in Inverness-shire. The early genealogy mixes later clan tradition with documentary evidence, so precise medieval relationships should be treated cautiously.
Dunmaglass and Strathnairn
Dunmaglass in Strathnairn became the principal seat of the MacGillivray chiefs. The clan’s position there connected it with other families across the central Highlands and with the wider Clan Chattan network. The estate remained associated with later MacGillivray chiefs for generations after Culloden; it was not lost immediately because Alexander fell in 1746.
The last chief to live at Dunmaglass was Captain John William MacGillivray, who sold the estate in the late nineteenth century. The chiefship then passed to a Canadian cousin, John Farquhar MacGillivray, who died in 1942. Clan Chattan’s current profile states that there has been no recognised chief since 1914 and that the Lord Lyon appointed Iain D. MacGillivray as clan commander in 2016. These dates describe different aspects of residence, succession and formal recognition and should not be collapsed into one event.
How did Clan MacGillivray fit within Clan Chattan?
Clan Chattan was a confederation rather than a single-surname clan. Its member families acted together for mutual security while retaining their own identities. The MacGillivrays became one of those constituent clans and followed the Mackintosh leadership within the confederation.
The Clan Chattan history explains that alliance structure, while the Clan Mackintosh history covers the family whose chiefs served as captains of the confederation.
What happened at Culloden?
At the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746, Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass led the Mackintosh or Clan Chattan regiment on the Jacobite side. He was killed during the battle, and the place traditionally associated with his death is known as the Well of the Dead. The event is well established in clan memory, but claims about his exact age, the precise moment of death or every movement of the regiment should be stated only where a reliable source supports them.
The Jacobite charge did reach the government front in places, so it is misleading to say that grapeshot and musket fire simply broke the MacGillivrays before they reached the lines. The assault caused fierce close fighting but could not overturn the government army’s formation and firepower. For the wider context, see the history of the Battle of Culloden and the clans involved.
What happened after Culloden?
The battle brought severe loss and repression across Jacobite communities, but it did not end the MacGillivray line at Dunmaglass. Later economic pressures, succession and the eventual nineteenth-century sale of the estate belong to a longer chronology. MacGillivray families also moved elsewhere in Scotland and overseas, including to Canada, but no single migration story applies to everyone with the surname.
William McGillivray of the North West Company became a notable figure in the Canadian fur trade. His career belongs to the wider surname history; it should not be used as automatic evidence that all North American McGillivrays descend from the Strathnairn chiefs.
What is the MacGillivray motto?
The Clan Chattan Association records the MacGillivray motto as Touch Not This Cat. The longer phrase Touch Not the Cat Bot a Glove is associated with Mackintosh and broader Clan Chattan heraldic tradition, but it should not be substituted for the clan’s own recorded motto. Neither wording proves a personality trait or a family’s conduct in battle.
Tracing MacGillivray ancestry
Start with certificates, census entries, parish registers, wills and migration records tied to a known ancestor. Strathnairn is an important historical centre, but a surname match alone does not establish descent from Alexander MacGillivray or the Dunmaglass chiefly family.
The MacGillivray Scottish Clan Gifts collection offers exact-name decorative designs. These pieces celebrate the surname and its Highland associations; they are not genealogical evidence or personal grants of arms.