Tartan

The clan name is derived from Mac-an-Toich, and means “son of the thane (chief).”  The founder of the clan is traditionally said to have been the son of MacDuff, ancestor of the Earls if Fife.  The Mackintoshes are one of the clans forming the Clan Chattan Confederation, the chiefship of which devolved on the chiefs of Mackintosh through the marriage in 1291 of Angus, 6th Laird of Mackintosh, to Eva, heiress of Clan Chattan.

The first mention of the Mackintosh as Captain of Clan Chattan is in a charter granted to William Mackintosh by the Lord of the Isles in 1337, and confirmed by King David II in 1359.

 

The rise of the Mackintoshes led to a period of feuds with the Earls of Moray and Huntly; and, the clans Cameron, MacDonells of Keppoch, and Gordon.  In 1639 when Huntly supported the King, Mackintosh joined the Covenanters north of the Spey, and he formed an army in 1650 that opposed Cromwell.  At the Revolution the Mackintoshes supported the new government and refused to join Viscount Dundee.

 

They were prominent in the Jacobite Rising of 1715 under Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum.  Angus, chief in 1745, was on service with the Loudon’s Highlanders when the rising took place, but Lady Ann his wife (who was a Farquharson) raised the clan for Prince Charles; and, her strategy was responsible for the Rout of Moy when 1500 of the government troops were put to flight by half a dozen of Lady Mackintosh’s retainers.  Here was killed the famous piper Donald Ban MacCrimmon who accompanied the Royalist force.  Following the death of in 1938 of the 28th Chief, the chiefships of the Clan Mackintosh and Clan Chattan were separated.

 

On the 30th of August 1954, following a request from Clan Ayson of NZ, a letter in reply was received from Rear Admiral Lachlan Donald Mackintosh, CB, DSO, DSC - he was the 29th Chief of Clan Mackintosh, and also Chief of Clan Chattan.  In this letter, Lachlan Mackintosh welcomed Clan Ayson of New Zealand as Clansmen of his Clan Mackintosh; and, gave Clan Ayson full permission to wear the Mackintosh Tartans.  He mentioned there were now two tartans officially registered in 1951 with the Lord Lyon King Of Arms, ie. The Clan Tartan and the Hunting Tartan.

It was agreed by the Executive of Clan Ayson (in Nov 2014) to adopt the bright dress tartan as being the official tartan for wearing at formal occasions.  However, it would also recognise both Tartans as being their official Tartans (both dress and hunting).  

 

Note: There are many variations to the Mackintosh Tartans including a dress hunting tartan, but the two below are the samples to be adopted by Clan Ayson

 

 

 

 

Note:   The individual Clans of the Chattan Confederation had their own tartan. However, there is a Clan Chattan tartan, formerly known as Mackintosh Chief, recognised by Lord Lyon in 1938.

a. The book: “The Clans and Tartans of Scotland” by Robert Bain (Harper-Collins 1938, 8th impression 1993).

 

b. Wikipedia.