See also "Pettition for recognising former Keppoch Chiefs"at http://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/pettition-for-recognising-former-keppoch-chiefs/#more-1042 by Justin Kirby.

"It's a bit confusing as Alastair Macdonald (Macdonell), 16th of Keppoch was succeeded as head of his clan by his illegitimate son Angus until his legitimate son Ranald (18th Keppoch) came of age. Angus (17th Keppoch) grandson was also called Angus and became 20th of Keppoch after Ranald's son Richard (19th Keppoch) died without an heir." From Justin Kirby.

The Jacobite Peerage (1904) by Melville Henry Massue Ruvigny Et Raineval, etc, seems to have him listed as 22nd chief:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zgjlWc42iooC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=George+Keith+Maitland+theresa+keppoch&source=web&ots=2NbUDkaGtT&sig=2wKfHJXjuAFP6fZ30Gz-BSGdu6M&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result

Clan McDonald has him as Angus MACDONELL of Insch:
http://www.clandonald.org.uk/genealogy/d0005/g0000064.html#I5999

There seem to be different options about who was the clan chief. I have gone with what I found at "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1968). & "Burke's Peerage" under "Maitland". & "Burke's Landed Gentry", 1937, under "Macdonell of Keppock".

Under "Macdonald/Macdonell of Keppoch Chiefs - Historical Revisionism?" at http://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/macdonaldmacdonell-of-keppoch-chiefs-historical-revisionism/
Justin Kirby writes:
"...Angus MacDonald/McDonnell was either 20th or 22nd Chief of Keppoch depending on where I looked. So, for example, Stirnet has him listed as Angus Macdonald, 20th of Keppoch (b 1800-1, d 28.02.1855). My cousin Hamish MacLaren has him listed as Angus (20th of Keppoch) MacDonell and cites Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage (1968), and Burke’s Peerage under “Maitland”, and Burke’s Landed Gentry (1937) under “Macdonell of Keppock”. I was a little confused as The Jacobite Peerage: Baronetage, Knightage & Grants of Honour (1904) mentions that Angus succeeded his cousin Sir Chichester MacDonell as 22nd Chief of Keppoch in 1838 (see here). Well, the Clan Donald site makes no mention of my ancestor Angus being either 20th or 22nd of Keppoch on the The Chiefs of Clan Donald page. So I decided to dig a little deeper."
This is part of "a tale of downward social mobility" at http://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/
Justin Kirby goes on an explores this in more detail on this page and at "Angus Ban of Inch a Keppoch Chief?" at http://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/angus-ban-of-inch-a-keppoch-chief/#more-1000

Clan MacDonald of Keppoch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_MacDonald_of_Keppoch

Contents
1 History
2 Castle
3 Septs of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch
4 External links
5 References
6 See also

History
The MacDonalds of Keppoch are descended from Alistair Carrach Macdonald who was a younger son of Good John of Islay, Lord of the Isles, 6th chief of Clan Donald and his second wife Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland. [1]

For his involvement in the 1431 inserrection of Donald Balloch, Alistair Carrach had a large portion of his lands removed and transferd to the Chief of the Clan MacKintosh.

In 1497 some of the Clan MacLaren stole cattle from the Braes of Lochaber from the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch. The MacDonalds followed them and overtook them at a place called Glenurchy where a battle took place. The MacDonalds won and recovered their cattle. However the MacLarens then looked for assistance from Dugel Stuart of Appin. Another battle then took place where the MacLarens were now joined by the Stuarts against the MacDonalds. During the battle Dugel, the chief of Clan Stuart and the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch chief were both killed.

The 12th Chief of the Clan Macdonald of Keppoch called Alexander along with his brother was slain in 1663 in what is remembered as in gaelic as Tobair-nan-ceann meaning the Well of Heads, not far from Invergarry. This is where the heads of seven murderers were washed before presentation to the Lord MacDonnell of Invergarry.

In 1668 the MacDonalds of Keppoch fought at the Battle of Mulroy.

During the Jacobite Uprisings the son of the 15th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch was among the men who attacked British government soldiers who were preparing a surprise assault on the Glenfinnan gathering at what is now known as the Highbridge Skirmish. This was the first strike on the government during the 1745 to 1746 uprising. The MacDonalds of Keppoch were also involved in the Siege of Fort William in March 1746. This son of the chief later died at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

The MacDonalds of Keppoch were without a chief for over 150 years until the 13th September 2006 when Ranald Alasdair MacDonald was acknowledged as the lawful chief by the Lyon Court, following a 30 year fight for the right to use the ancient title of Mac Mhic Raonuill. [1]

Castle
The original seat of the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch was at Tom 'a Charraigh at Torlundy et al.

Septs of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch
Septs of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch include the following. Other branches of the Clan MacDonald have different septs.
Alexander, Sanderson, MacGillivantic, MacGilp, Macglasrich, MacKillop, MacPhilip, Philipson, Ronald, Ronaldson.

The family of MacRanald, now mainly spelled McReynolds, was also a branch of the Keppoch's. A very ancient and rare name in Scotland.

External links
http://www.clandonald-heritage.com

References
^ Official website of the Clan Chief Retrieved 15 April 2007.

The MacDonells of Keppoch
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/leitrim/147/keppoch.html
When Angus Og's son, John, Lord of the Isles, came to apportion his estates between the children of his two marriages, according to the marriage settlement made with his second father-in-law, Robert II., the Lordship of Lochaber was given to the 3rd and youngest son by his second marriage, Alastair Carrach, the first MacDonell of Keppoch and Carragach. He actively supported his brother Donald (8th Chief of MacDonald) with his claims to the Earldom of Ross, with the result, that with the death of Donald in 1425 the Lordship of Lochaber was forfeited to the Crown, by whom it was bestowed on the natural son of the Earl of Mar. This grant was afterwards cancelled, but the Lordship of Lochaber reverted not to Alastair Carrach, but to the Lord of the Isles, by whom the lands of Lochaber were subsequently granted to the Mackintosh Chief, an arrangement afterwards confirmed by the Crown. The superiority, however, remained with the Lord of the Isles, who restored it to Alastair Carrach. The latter arrangement was never confirmed by the Crown, and, on the final forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles in 1493, Angus 2nd MacDonell of Keppoch, had to maintain his position in Lochaber by his strong right hand. This he and his successors succeeded in doing for two and a half centuries. Not until the final downfall of the clan system immediately after the Battle of Culloden (1746) did Mackintosh become the real Lord, and the erstwhile Lords, the brave Keppochs, had to yield perforce to the law, recognising that the day of the sword was gone.

The Patronymic "Mac-Mhic Raonuill" was derived from Ronald Mor (7th Chief), while the Gaelic designation of the clan is "Clann Mhic Raonuill na Ceapach".

On 25th September, 1663, in the Keppoch Murders, Alexander MacDonald, the young Chief of Keppoch and his brother Ranald, were stabbed to death by rivals within their clan. Nothing was done to avenge their deaths until Iain Lorn, the Keppoch Bard, nagged MacDonald of Glengarry and Sir James MacDonald of Sleat to punish the criminals. Two years later, the Privy Council in Edinburgh issued letters of "Fire and Sword" against the murderers.

At Inverlair, the seven were hunted down, killed and decapitated - a century ago their headless skeletons were uncovered. Legend says, their heads, having been washed in the Well of Seven Heads (north side of Loch Oich, near the Caledonian Canal) were taken to Invergarry Castle for display before being set up on the Gallows Hill in Edinburgh on 7th December, 1665.

The same year Lachlan Mackintosh revived an old feud by demanding arrears of rent from the MacDonalds of Keppoch in respect of lands allegedly held by them from him in Glenroy and Glenspean. Though The Mackintosh possessed unimpeachable sheepskin titles to these lands, the MacDonalds had in fact held them by simple right of occupation since time immemorial. After failing to secure satisfaction from Keppoch, Lachlan in the end obtained in 1688 a Commission of Fire and Sword against Keppoch from the Privy Council.

Armed with this and supported by a company of regular troops, making up their numbers to over a thousand men, the Mackintoshes advanced on Mulroy to the north-east of Glenspean, where they found that the MacDonalds had taken up a strong position on top of the Meall Ruadh (the Round Red Hill which gives Mulroy its name).

The MacDonalds of Keppoch were on this occasion commanded by young Coll MacDonald of Keppoch, a resourceful and remarkably effective leader who had been summoned from the University of St. Andrews five or six years earlier to assume the Chiefship of his Clan and had by his skill as a small scale raider already earned the significant title of Coll of the Cows (born 1670?, 15th Chief).

Mackintosh had installed himself in Keppoch's house. After the MacDonalds having swooped down on the Mackintoshes they came to Keppoch's house to meet the Mackintosh Chief in battle who was duly rescued by the Macphersons who had not taken part in the battle itsself.

Following the Battle of Mulroy, the Privy Council sent a strong force to deal with the MacDonalds, laying waste their land and burning their houses and crops, while Coll and his clansmen simply withdrew into the hills.

None of which, strangely enough, was in the long term to affect the Keppoch MacDonald's loyalty to the House of Stewart. On 27 July 1689 Keppoch took active part in the Battle at Killiecrankie for James VII.

At the behest of the Western Chiefs, Coll MacDonald of Keppoch had escorted Bonny Dundee into Lochaber at the head of some 800 men and had later laid siege to Inverness. Dundee (James Graham of Claverhouse) had later encouraged Coll to drive off some more Mackintosh cattle.

True to his nickname, Coll of the Cows, he had responded enthusiastically and for good measure had later burned to the ground Mackintosh's new house at Dunachton. In 1698 the Privy Council of the day renewed at the King's personal behest The Mackintosh's Commission of Fire and Sword and mobilised a considerable force to deal with Coll of Keppoch.

Tha latter, who lived bravely a dozen miles from the newly strengthened garrison at Fort William, did not for once allow his daring to outweigh his common sense, but entered into negotiation with The Mackintosh, with whom he arrived a mutually acceptable and enduring arrangement in respect of the lands in dispute. Coll held lands for 40 years by the sword and was after the '15 succeeded by his son Alexander.

Alexander Macdonell of Keppoch was killed in 1746 at Culloden Moor fighting for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/leitrim/147/keppoch.html

Clan MacDonald
The MacDonalds of Keppoch
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/other_keppoch.htm

I have been advised by the Chief of Keppoch that this history is not accurate. The Chief and his Seanachaidh are collaborating in re-writing the first authentic History of the MacDonalds of Keppoch.

BADGE: Fraoch gorm (erica vulgaris) common heath.
SL0GAN: Dia ‘s Naomh Aindrea.
PIBROCH: Ceapach na fasaich, and Blar Mhaol rua’.

AN interesting subject for the pen of the Scottish historical student would be the mass of evil consequences, extending for centuries afterwards, which flowed from the moral indiscretion of Robert II., first of the Stewart kings. As a warrior and a statesman the Stewart was in every way worthy of his grandfather, King Robert the Bruce. It was his private conduct, in the matter of his conjugal relationships, which entailed such endless woes upon his descendants and upon Scotland. Though legitimated by a Papal dispensation in 1347, eight years before his second marriage, there can be no question that the Stewart’s early connection with Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan was irregular. Out of this fact arose the claim of the children of his later marriage with Euphemia Ross, the Earls of Strathearn and Atholl, to be the proper heirs of the Crown, a claim which brought about the assassination of James I. and the terrible Douglas Wars against James II. At the same time, by their own acts the children of Elizabeth Mure brought a heritage of woe on Scotland. The eldest son, John, ascended the throne as Robert III., but the third son, the ambitious, able Robert, Duke of Albany, ruled the country, secured the death of Robert III.’s elder son, by starvation, at Falkland, and the capture and long imprisonment of the king’s second son, afterwards James I., by the English, for which betrayal a fearful nemesis was suffered by his own son and grandsons on Stirling heading hill. Elizabeth Mure’s fourth son was the savage Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, better known as the Wolf of Badenoch, whose defiance of the laws of God and man kept the northern half of Scotland in fire and bloodshed for more than twenty years. To mention only one other of the twenty-one children of Robert II., his eldest daughter Margaret, who was married to John, Lord of the Isles, in 1350, carried with her what seems to have been nothing less than a curse. To make way for her, the Lord of the Isles set aside his first wife, Amy MacRuari, with her children, and from that day the misfortunes of the great House of the Isles began, and the downfall of the whole race of Macdonald. It was Margaret Stewart’s son, Donald of the Isles, who married a sister of the Earl of Ross, and on that Earl’s death claimed the Earldom. This was claimed also by his uncle, Robert, Duke of Albany, for his own younger son. To assert his claim Donald, in 1411, marched across Scotland and fought the bloody battle of Harlaw, where he was defeated by his cousin, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, eldest natural son of the Wolf of Badenoch. It is true that in 1431, the tables were turned, when the same Earl of Mar was defeated by the Islesmen, under Donald Balloch, in the fierce battle of Inverlochy; but the victory brought down upon Alexander, the next Lord of the Isles, Margaret Stewart’s grandson, condign punishment at the hands of his other cousin, King James I., and the misfortunes of the house went from less to more, till in 1493 John, "fourth and last" Lord of the Isles, died a forfeited and landless man in Paisley Abbey or Dundee.

In these matters the Macdonalds of Keppoch shared the misfortunes of the great House of the Isles from which they had sprung. Their ancestor was Alastair, third son of John, Lord of the Isles, and Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II. Angus Og, the father of John of the Isles, who figures as the hero in Scott’s poem, had received from King Robert the Bruce, as a reward for loyal support, the lands of Morven, Ardnamurchan, and Lochaber, forfeited by his kinsmen the MacDougals of Lorne, and John of the Isles made his third son Lord of Lochaber. In a deed of 1398 Alastair is termed "Magnificus vir et potens," and for three hundred years his descendants were known as the race of Alastair Carraich. It was not till the end of the seventeenth century that the Keppoch Chief, Colla MacGillieaspuig, on the persuasion of his kinsman, the Glengarry Chief, Lord MacDonell and Aros, resumed the family name of Macdonald. The stronghold of the Macdonalds of Keppoch stood on high ground at the meeting of the Roy and the Spean, where, within the last hundred years the fruit trees of their old garden continued to blossom and bear fruit.

Meanwhile much water had flowed past the walls of that Lochaber fastness. Notably in 1431 while Alexander, Lord of the Isles, lay a prisoner in Tantallon, and his mother, the Countess of Ross, was immured on Inchcolm, Alastair Carraich joined the formidable invasion of the Islesmen under his cousin, Donald Balloch, Chief of Clanranald, which routed the Royal forces under Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, and the Earl of Caithness at Inverlochy. For this the lordship of Lochaber was forfeited and bestowed by James I. on his loyal supporter, the Mackintosh Chief, Captain of Clan Chattan. This grant proved a cause of trouble for several centuries. Like the MacGregors further south, the Macdonalds resisted the Mackintosh’s parchment tenure, and continued for the most part to hold their lands by the ancient coir a glaive, or right of the sword.

Alastair Carraich’s son Angus, the second Keppoch Chief, had two sons, Donald and Alastair. Of these, Donald was slain in 1498 in a battle with the first Appin Chief, Dougal Stewart, and his son John earned the enmity of his clan by an act which the Highlanders invariably regarded as unpardonable. One of his tribe, having committed some offence, fled to him for protection. John, however, weakly handed the man over to the Mackintosh Chief, as Steward of Lochaber. By this act he sealed his own fate. The clan deposed him from the chiefship, and made his cousin and heir-male presumptive, Donald Glas, chief in his place. Ranald, the son of Donald Glas, met a still more tragic fate. Along with the Captain of Clan Cameron he took part, in 1544, in supporting the stout and capable John Moydertach, natural son of the late Chief of Clanranald, in his claim to the chiefship, which had been conferred upon him by his clan, in despite of the weak and unpopular legitimate heir, Ranald Gallda. For a time, while Moydertach was imprisoned by James V., Ranald was placed in possession of the Moidart estates by his mother’s people, the Frasers; but on James’s death and Moydertach’s return, Gallda fled, and his rival, helped by Keppoch and the Camerons. carried fire and sword through the Fraser country. These disorders brought into action the Earl of Huntly, as King’s Lieutenant in the North. With a force of the Frasers, Grants, and Mackintoshes, he drove out Moydertach and his raiders, and replaced Ranald Gallda in possession of his estates. On their way back Huntly’s forces separated in Glen Spean, and Lovat with 400 men went homewards by the Great Glen. There, at the head of Loch Lochy, he was intercepted by the Macdonalds, and in the terrible battle of Kin-Loch-Lochy, or Blarnaleine, had his force completely cut to pieces, and was slain himself, with his eldest son and the luckless Ranald Gallda. It was in the following year that the Earl of Lennox Invaded the West of Scotland in the interest of Henry VIII., and he found it easy to gain over John Moydertach and his allies. These transactions proved disastrous to Keppoch. In 1546, along with the Captain of Clan Cameron, he was secured by Mackintosh as Deputy Lieutenant and handed over to Huntly, who first imprisoned them at Perth, and afterwards carried them to Elgin, where they were tried and beheaded in 1547.

Ranald’s son and successor, Alastair of Keppoch, was mixed up with the affairs of that turbulent chief, Sir James Macdonald of Islay and Kintyre, chief of clan Ian Vor, and last representative of the second son of John of the Isles and the daughter of King Robert II. When Sir James, after trying to burn his father and mother in their house of Askomull in Kintyre, was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, he made several attempts to escape. After the first of these he was confined in irons, and in the second attempt the irons severely injured his ankle as he leapt from the wall. At last, however, in 1615, by the help of Alastair of Keppoch and his eldest son, he succeeded in getting away. His estates in Islay had by this time been feued to Sir John Campbell of Cawdor, brother of the Earl of Argyll, and Sir James proceeded to raise his forces to make a last stand against the usurpations of the Campbells, who for centuries had been ousting the ancient House of the Isles from its heritage. In the struggle he was vigorously helped by Keppoch, and the affair caused an immense commotion in the Western Isles. In the end, however, the Earl of Argyll himself was brought from England, whither he had fled, it is said, to escape his creditors. Armed with the King’s commission he gathered his forces at Duntroon on Loch Crinan, drove Sir James and his supporters from Islay and Kintyre, and finally secured these territories as Campbell possessions. Keppoch seems to have followed his leader to Spain, and when they were recalled to London and pardoned by King James VI. in 1620 he received a pension of 200 merks, while Sir James got one of 1,000.

Twenty-five years later, during the Civil Wars, the House of Keppoch was very active on the side of King Charles. When the King’s general, the Marquess of Montrose, made his astonishing march in the snows of winter to overthrow the pusillanimous Marquess of Argyll at Inverlochy, it was a member of the clan, John MacDonald, the famous lain Lom, the poet, who guided Montrose’s army through the difficult mountain passes. After the death of Montrose the bard of Keppoch composed a lament in his honour.

At a still later day lain Lom played a dramatic part in another tragic episode in the history of his clan. The tradition runs that a Keppoch Chief, Donald Glas, sent his two sons to France to be educated, and died during their absence. On the return of the lads, Alastair and his brother Ranald, they were barbarously murdered, in September, 1663, by certain members of the clan, who took possession of their land. No one seemed disposed or powerful enough to avenge the crime: only the poet seemed to feel the outrage, and he exerted himself unceasingly to induce some chief to take the matter up. At last he managed to enlist the interest of Glengarry, who had recently been raised to the peerage as Lord MacDonell and Aros. By this chief a body of men was sent to Brac Lochaber, and the murderers were attacked in their dwellings and slain. The sequel is told in the inscription on a curious monument with an apex representing seven human heads which stands near the south-west end of Loch Oich. The inscription runs :—"As a memorial of the ample and summary vengeance which, in the swift course of feudal justice, inflicted by the orders of the Lord McDonell and Aross, overtook the perpetrators of the foul murder of the Keppoch family, a branch of the powerful and illustrious clan of which his lordship was the Chief, this monument is erected by Colonel McDonell of Glengarry, XVII. Mac-Mhic-Alaister, his successor and representative, in the year of our Lord 1812. The heads of the seven murderers were presented at the feet of the noble chief in Glengarry Castle, after having been washed in this spring, and ever since that event, which took place early in the sixteenth century, it has been known by the name of ‘Tobar-nan-ceann,’ or ‘The Well of the Heads.’ "

In its chronology the inscription is somewhat astray, as lain Lom was not born till about 1620. At the Restoration in 1660 he received a pension, and he is sometimes referred to as the poet laureate of Charles II. He was present with the Jacobite army under Dundee at Killiecrankie in 1689, and celebrated the victory of the Highland army on that occasion in a poem, " Rinrory."

Meanwhile the Macdonalds of Keppoch had been making history vigorously in their own way. In 1682 Archibald Macdonald of Keppoch died and was succeeded by his son Coll, then a youth at St. Andrews. After his father’s funeral Coll went to Inverness and tried to arrange terms to settle the old difficulties with the Mackintosh Chief. The latter, however, replied by throwing Keppoch into prison, and it took an order from the Privy Council to set him free. After this treatment Keppoch naturally refused to have dealings with Mackintosh, and in the end the latter procured a commission of fire and sword against him. It was in July, 1688, that the Mackintosh Chief, irritated by Keppoch’s refusal to pay rent and admit his authority, at last raised his clan, and, accompanied by a body of Government troops under Captain Mackenzie of Suddie, descended upon Brae Lochaber, and encamped on the height of Maol rua’, near Keppoch’s stronghold. The upshot, however, was far different from what he expected. His force numbered about a thousand men, while Keppoch had his own force increased by the Macdonalds of Glengarry and Glencoe and some Camerons. At dawn on the 4th of August Mackintosh beheld his enemies descending upon him from the ridge above. They charged without shoes, stockings, or bonnets, and did dreadful execution with their swords and Lochaber axes. Suddie was killed and Mackintosh himself taken prisoner, while his banner only escaped by its bearer leaping a chasm over which no one could follow him. The battle of Mulroy, which was the last clan battle in the Highlands, was celebrated with characteristic vigour by Ian Lom.

Mackintosh complained to the Privy Council, which sent two companies of foot and a troop of dragoons into Lochaber to destroy the Macdonalds, "man, woman and child" and burn their houses and corn. The Macdonalds, however, managed to escape to the hills, from which they witnessed the destruction of their homes and crops. In the following year, Mackintosh having refused to join the Jacobite forces under Dundee, Macdonald had the satisfaction of driving off his cattle, and burning his new mansion of Dunachton. For his activity in cattle-raiding for the Jacobite army Dundee nicknamed Keppoch as "Coll of the Cows."

In the interest of King James, Coll threatened Inverness with a force of 8oo men, but was drawn off by Dundee, and he led a thousand Highlanders to the battle of Kiliiecrankie. After the building of Fort William in 1690, however, he saw it to his interest to become reconciled to the law, and he entered into an arrangement with Mackintosh to pay a regular rent for his lands in Lochaber. He still, however, remained loyal to the Jacobite cause, and at the rising of 1715 he joined the Earl of Mar and fought at Sheriffmuir.

It was the son of Coll of the Cows, Alexander Macdonald of Keppoch, who played a very notable part in the rising under Prince Charles Edward in 1745. At the Prince’s landing he was one of the first of the Highland Chiefs to declare for him, and it was in his country, at the bridge over the Spean, that the first shots of the rising were fired and two companies of Government soldiers taken prisoners. Keppoch himself led three hundred clansmen to the raising of the Prince’s standard at Glenfinan, and having been an officer in the French service he proved of very great value throughout the campaign, till the last onset at Culloden. Since Bannockburn the Macdonalds had claimed the place of honour on the right of the Scottish armies. At Culloden this was denied them, and from their assigned place on the left they refused in consequence to charge. As the critical moment was passing, Keppoch, who was their colonel, uttered the cry, "Have the children of my tribe forsaken me?" and rushing forward himself, sword and pistol in hand, received a bullet through the breast and fell dead.

Following the battle, Lochaber was burned, houses, corn-stacks, and woods, with ruthless barbarity, by the red soldiers under the Duke of Cumberland, and two of the clansmen who went to Fort William to deliver up their arms and avail themselves of the proffered pardon were immediately hanged at a spot still pointed out near the mill. In 1752, however, Keppoch’s son, Ranald Og, petitioned for the restoration of his property on the ground that his father had fallen before the passing of attainder. He served in the Fraser Fencibles, each company of which was commanded by a chief, and he distinguished himself very highly at the siege of Quebec. The chiefs remained tenants of the lands of Keppoch till Major Alexander Macdonald had to leave, in consequence of quarrels with Sir AEneas Mackintosh. The representative of the ancient chiefs was afterwards lost sight of in America.

Only less celebrated than Ian Lom was a poetess of the clan, Sheila Macdonald, daughter of Gillespie MacAlaistair Buidhe, sixteenth chief, who became the wife of Gordon of Baldornie in Aberdeenshire. In addition to her poetry she was a noted performer on the harp, and is said to have had the gift of improvisation.

Septs of Clan MacDonald
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/other_keppoch.htm

Ranald Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch
Inauguration of the Chief of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber Mac Mhic Raonuill
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/keppoch3.htm

On the 13 September 2006 in the heart of the Highlands of Scotland, an ancient historic ceremony was re-enacted, when Ranald Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch was publicly recognised as the Chief of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber Mac Mhic Raonuill.

What was important about this event, was the fact that there was no officially recognised chief of the clan since the demise of the last chief in 1848, although Raonuill's great great-grandfather Raonuill Mor MacDonell was accepted as Chief by his clan in the duthchas, of Lochaber, that is, the clan territory, at that time. However, Raonuill Mor simply accepted his hereditary title, and did not consider it necessary to rematriculate his Arms, or indeed his Letters Patent in Lyon Court.

Raonuill set out to complete the protocol. However, to enable him to do that he had to prove beyond any doubt that he was heir to his great great-grandfather Raonuill Mor MacDonell 22nd Chief of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber Mac Mhic Raonuill. That involved deep research into primary sources, held by his family and in the State Records in Register House in Edinburgh. He was also given assistance through the archivist in Fort Augustus Abbey, where an earlier Abbot had undertaken personal scholastic research into both the Glengarry line and the Keppoch line of Chiefs. Aeneas MacDonald, the Abbot concerned, was a Glengarry clansman but was also connected through the bloodline of the Keppoch MacDonald clan. He had therefore a dual-interest. His complete personal file was put at the disposal of Raonuill, to enable him to substantiate his claim to the Chiefship of Keppoch, not just by the ancient oral tradition, but by written testimony from the family archives. That is what was
demanded of him by the Lord Lyon.

During Raonuill's 32 years of research, he uncovered substantial evidence to fully back his claim. In achieving that, he had the expert help and guidance of the leading Gaelic scholars in Scotland. The late Reverend Norman MacDonald Emeritus Minister of Glenelg/Kintail, Rosshire, Corresponding Member of the Royal Gustavus Academy Sweden, author of the 3rd Statistical Account of that district, archived in National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge Edinburgh, Life Member of the Clan Donald Society, direct descendant of the Jacobite Chief of Sleat, Sir James MacDonald. He was held in high esteem by Clan Donald, because of his Gaelic expertise, as this was his native language, and his expert knowledge on Clan Donald History.

Professor William Gillies, Gaelic Scholar and Head of the Gaelic Department School of Scottish Studies, Edinburgh University, and Dr David Sellar Edinburgh University Civil Law and the present authority on sloinneachan, that is, Highland pedigrees in the Highlands of Scotland, both testified to the authenticity of Raonuill's claim by supplying the Court of the Lord Lyon with supporting affidavits.

Mr Hugh Peskett world-famous Genealogist researched Raonuill's pedigree over an 18 year period, and produced the written proof to substantiate his claim. And, finally, on the 30 January 2004 the highest court in Scotland, the Court of Session, Edinburgh, heard the evidence presented to it by Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw QC.Bt., and the three senior judges sitting together at that date, unanimously upheld Raonuill's legal right to the Chiefship of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber Mac Mhic Raonuill. As a matter of interest, Mac Mhic Raonuill is a Gaelic Title, meaning The Son of Ranald's Son, and is the official title of the Chiefs of the MacDonalds of Keppoch of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber. Only such a Chief can ever use that title. Raonuill's family retained the shortened version of that title in the family from generation to generation. A Gaelic Highland Chiefship sloinneachan normally runs to 7 or eight generations. In some cases, a shortened version is maintained by a family of the direct line for practical purposes when naming the next in line. Usually, the important ancestor heads the top of the sloinneadh. When a shortened version is retained by a family, the first and the last named are always retained. Raonuill's sloinneachan fulfils both requirements.

His line was legitimate from start to finish, and as previously stated was recognised, as such by the highest court in Scotland and then ratified by Lord Lyon. There can be no argument against that whatsoever!

Raonuill's inauguration was hosted by the Highland Council of Lochaber in their Council Chambers in Fort William in Lochaber the clan duthchas, where a wonderful warm Highland welcome was given to him, his clansmen, friends and supporters. It was very well supported by all concerned. They travelled far and wide to be there on the day, from Reno, Nevada U.S.A. from Ireland and from various areas of Scotland. The clansmen from Donegal in Eire donned full Highland plaid as well all the main supporters, Chieftains and family members.

The Keppoch Chieftains donned the Ancient Keppoch Tartan worn by the Keppoch Clan at Culloden. Their skeletons dug up from makeshift graves, had a faded version of that tartan clinging to their bones. Those remains were dug up and re-interred at a selected spot on the battlefield of Culloden, where they remain today under the commemorative stone erected over their grave.

This stone is known as "The Keppoch Stone" and details of that notorious battle are inscribed on its face. Clansmen from all across the diaspora come to pay their respects and honour those brave intrepid warriors, and a commemorative ceremony is held there annually.

The Convener of Highland Council, Lochaber Mrs Olwyn MacDonald JP made a short welcoming speech to which the Chief replied.

The ritual went very smoothly. The Keppoch Bard Gilleasbuig MacLachlain 'ic Ill'easbuig 'ic Lachlain 'ic Ill'easbuig recited the new Chief's sloinneachan going back to Righ an Domhain, literally King of the Universe his eponymous. The renowned fighter fought for the sheer love of fighting, for fighting was the breath of life to him. He conquered the whole of Europe, from the Middle East to the Atlantic coast of Spain, and gave ample proof that mere possession of territories was not so much his objective as the sheer thrill conquest, for he and his conquering armies never settled down for length of time to enjoy the fruits of victory and consolidate their gains. They had to be forever on the march conquering and to conquer. The mantle of the great warrior who made mighty Rome tremble on its foundations, fell on his descendants on almost every clime and age known to history." Quotation from the late Reverend Norman MacDonald. And from him descended Conn Ceud Cathach 123AD - 173AD, literally Conn of the Hundred Battles fame, generation by generation, through Mighty Somerled Rex Insularum, who cleared Scotland from the Vikings, and for his bravery was murdered in his tent at the so-called Battle of Renfrew in C1164 right down to Raonuill himself.

The Bard then administered the clan oath to the Chief and his clansmen. After which, Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw QC.Bt., read from the Chief's Ensigns Armorial & his Coat of Arms, granted by and signed by the Lord Lyon, King of Arms in Scotland. The Chief held his framed Letters Patent & Coat of Arms aloft for all present to see. Afterwards it was placed on the Chief's presentation table before him, so that everyone present could see and read at closer inspection.

The Chief was then presented with special dram of uisge bheatha,Gaelic (whisky) in a silver cuach, Gaelic (a drinking cup). He thanked Mrs Olwyn Macdonald, JP. Convener of the Highland Council of Lochaber, raised it in front of his clansmen, family, friends and supporters and in a strong passionate voice quoted his clan motto "Dia 'S Naomh Aindrea! Then drank deeply of the "Water of Life".

The Chief then made a further short prepared speech, in which he thanked the Committee and Staff of Highland Council, all his clansmen, friends and supporters, those present and those absent. This included the late Dr John E MacLennan Brain Surgeon, Reno Nevada, Chief of the MacLennans of Glenelg & Kintail Obit 2004, his lady Barbara, and all their family, for their long and loyal support and encouragement since 1977. And the continuing support of his son Dr Jon G MacLennan heir to the Chiefship of the Clan MacLennan of Glenelg & Kintail.

The Chief included his own son Chieftain Raonuill Mor who travelled over from Reno, Nevada with his grandson and fiancée Erin Albright, daughter of Judge Albright, Reno. And all those present who had also travelled from various parts of Scotland and Ireland. He thanked God Almighty for his long support retained in his motto "Dia 's Naomh Aindrea!" Gaelic meaning "God and St. Andrew!" and last though not least, his beautiful loving wife, loyal and ardent supporter over the long 32 years of "a few obstacles and some minor difficulties".

John C Hutchison JP. Temporary Sheriff Area Manager Lochaber was introduced to the audience. In honour of the Chief and of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber, he sang in Gaelic, the epic poem "Latha Inbhir Lochaidh" - "The Day of Inverlochy" or Battle of Inverlochy c1645 composed by the famous Keppoch Bard, Iain Lom MacDonald of Keppoch, Gaelic Poet Laureate, the title being bestowed by King Charles II, and the only Gaelic Poet Laureate ever created in Scotland by a Scottish and British Monarch.

The Chief then presented Convener Olwyn Macdonald JP. with a present of seven inscribed and signed copies of the history book, "Six Millennia of the Irish & Scottish Highlanders" by Robert Bruce MacColla MacNial MacIntyre, Seanachaidh and author from his restricted publication of 250 copies of this very fine history of the origin of the Gael. They were sent by airmail from Oklahoma U.S.A. by the author for that purpose. An excellent review of his book has been sent to the author by the University of Guelph, Ontario, by one of their top professors of the department of Scottish Studies in that university. This in turn has been sent to the Highland Council of Lochaber. An ideal gift for the Highland councillors. And a handsome gift in return for their excellent Highland hospitality.

The ceremony was concluded at 6pm, and the rest of the evening was spent in celebration in the Alexandra Hotel Fort William, where everyone had a great time, meeting family members and friends that they had not seen for many years, and some for the first time ever. Memories were shared and renewed contacts for the future. The Gaelic clann means family "And that is what clan is all about!". This is an exact quotation from the Chief's address to the audience at his inaugural ceremony.

Only one small incident occurred, that was reported to the new Chief of the Honourable Clan Ranald of Lochaber by his piper Connell MacBride, at the celebrations in the hotel in the evening. Apparently, a disaffected, broken clansman, who had hoped to become known as the Chief of the MacDonalds of Keppoch, had unbeknown to the Chief, arranged for a live interview broadcast by BBC Radio programme "Good Morning Scotland" on the very morning of the Chief's inauguration. He has made libellous accusations, which are actionable and will be addressed by the Chief, Mac Mhic Raonuil, as he has been offered, and has accepted, an opportunity by BBC "Good Morning Scotland" to redress the balance of that scurrilous unfounded libellous statement by the person involved. Ironically, the person Rory Macdonald of Blarour, Speanbridge, Lochaber, has no basis of a legal claim to the Chiefship of Keppoch, being descended from Sliochd an taighe Iain dubh Bohuntin, and is barred as a result. That line being illegitimate!

The new Chief Ranald Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch, has made it perfectly clear, that any member of his clan, is free and welcome to contact him directly though the clan web site, that he has posted online for that purpose. It also gives the names of the official branches and Septs of the clan, as well as a short history and other useful information. His URL is www.macdonaldofkeppoch.org
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/keppoch3.htm

• Married: ABT 1835

1. Charlotte Theresa (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 28 AUG 1836
2. Annie Margaret (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 13 SEP 1837
3. Donald Nicholas (21st\23rd of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 3 JUL 1839 in Melburn, Australia. unmarried
4. Jessie Mary (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 20 DEC 1840
5. Marie de St Gabriel Rose (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 15 APR 1843
6. Christine Mary Theresa (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 14 MAY 1845 in Invernessshire, Scotland
7. Frances Joan Baptist (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 26 AUG 1848
8. Josephine (of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 20 MAY 1852
9. Alice Claire (22nd of Keppoch) Macdonell b: 31 JAN 1855