

They are said to be descended from Kenneth MacAlpin, the king who united Scotland back in the 13th Century. McGregor Family Crest & HistoryĬlan Gregor, also known as MacGregor, is one of the oldest clans in Scotland. The most common are the MacGregor Red and Green, dating from approximately 1810, and the MacGregor Red and Black, also known as the Rob Roy MacGregor and probably being the oldest MacGregor Tartan despite a relatively late adoption by the clan. There are a large variety of tartans associated with the MacGregor, but only the five tartans depicted above are recognized as Clan MacGregor tartans by the current clan chief.

In order: MacGregor Red and Green, MacGregor Red and Black, MacGregor of Cardney, MacGregor of Glengyle and MacGregor Green. Nowadays, under Scots law, anyone who shares the clan surname is automatically considered part of that clan. But they were united equally, living and sometimes dying in service to their clan. Those who worked for the clan would take the surname, and those who needed protection would pledge themselves to the chief and accept the clan name as their own. But to be a member of a clan didn’t automatically mean you were related to the chief. The word clan is a derivative of the Gaelic word for children. Thanks to the outlaw, Rob Roy MacGregor, who captured the public imagination, MacGregors would remain ‘MacGregors despite them.’ Despite such catastrophic fortune, the MacGregor name survived, and today they flourish. They were legally hunted down and tortured or beheaded, often by Campbells. This meant that male MacGregors could not use their surname, own property or even, in the worst times, possess a knife. For nearly two centuries Clan MacGregor was a victim of Proscription. History calls them the Children of the Mist. The MacGregor story is one of dogged survival and endurance in appalling conditions. The Robin Hood of the Highlands: Rob Roy.Scotland Clan Map: MacGregor Territories.Scottish Clan Feuds: MacGregors and Campbells.
