Clan MacBean

SCOTTISH CLANS - MACBEAN


MOTTO TOUCH NOT A CATT BOT A TARGE	CLAN TARTAN MACBEAN COLOURS

There are several possible Gaelic origins for this name, but the most likely appears to be ‘bheathain’, meaning lively one. This could also have been rendered as ‘Mac’ic’ Bheatha’, or Macbeth, a name evocative of Scotland’s early history.

The earliest record of the name in its current form appears in an old Kinrara manuscript of the mid 14th century, which names both Bean Macmilmhor and his son, Milmor Macbean. The Macbeans supported Robert the Bruce in the struggle for Scottish independence. Paul Macbean, the 12th chief, was weighed down by heavy debts and was forced to relinquish his lands around 1685. The loss of the clan lands at Kinchyle must have been sorely felt, but happily the present chief has continued the work of his father, who retrieved some of the clan lands and established the Macbain memorial park on the slopes above Loch Ness.

The clan supported the Jacobite rising of 1715, and as a result, many were transported to the USA after the Stuart defeat. This did not deter Gillies Mor Macbean, grandson of the 12th chief, from taking up a commission as a major to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie. At Culloden in 1746, Gillies, a giant of a man said to be at least 6 feet 4 inches, saw government dragoons breaking through to assault the Highlanders in the flank. The major threw himself into the gap and, with his back to the wall, cut down 13 or 14 of his assailants until he himself was mortally wounded. A Hanoverian officer called back his men in an attempt to save a brave fellow soldier, but Macbean was already dead.

After Culloden the chief struggled to keep the remaining clan lands together, but they were finally sold in 1760. The chiefly line has continued to flourish down the centuries, first in Canada and now in the United States.