Badge-According to some, Boxwood,
others, Red Whortleberry.
According to the Mackintosh MS. Histories (the first of which was compiled about 1500, other two dated in the 16th century, all of which were embodied in a Latin MS. by Lachlan Mackintosh of Kinrara about 1680), the progenitor of the family was Shaw or Seach, a son of Macduff, Earl of Fife, who, for his assistance in quelling a rebellion among the inhabitants of Moray, was presented by King Malcolm IV. with the lands of Petty and Breachly and the forestry of Strathearn, being made also constable of the castle at Inverness. From the high position and power of his father, he was styled by the Gaelic-speaking population Mac-an-Toisich, i.e., “son of the principal or foremost.” Tus, tos, or tosich, is “the beginning or first part of anything,” whence “foremost” or “principal.” Mr Skene says the tosich was the oldest cadet of a clan, and that Mackintosh’s ancestor was oldest cadet of clan Chattan. Professor Cosmo Innes says the tosich was the administrator of the crown lands, the head man of a little district, who became under the Saxon title of Thane hereditary tenant; and it is worthy of note that these functions were performed by the successor of the above mentioned Shaw, who, the family history says, “was made chamberlain of the king’s revenues in those parts for life.” It is scarcely likely, however, that the name Mackintosh arose either in this manner or in the manner stated by Mr Skene, as there would be many tosachs, and in every clan an oldest cadet. The name seems to imply some peculiar circumstances, and these are found in the son of the great Thane or Earl of Fife.
MACKINTOSH.
Little is known of the immediate successors of Shaw Macduff. They appear to have made their residence in the castle of Inverness, which they defended on several occasions against the marauding bands from the west. Some of them added considerably to the possessions of the family, which soon took firm root in the north. Towards the close of the 13th century, during the minority of Angus MacFerquhard, 6th chief, the Comyns seized the castle of Inverness, and the lands of Geddes and Rait belonging to the Mackintoshes, and these were not recovered for more than a century. It was this chief who in 1291–2 married Eva, the heiress of clan Chattan, and who acquired with her the lands occupied by that clan, together with the station of leader of her father’s clansmen. He appears to have been a chief of great activity, and a staunch supporter of Robert Bruce, with whom he took part in the battle of Bannockburn. He is placed second in the list of chiefs given by General Stewart of Garth as present in this battle. In the time of his son William the sanguinary feud with the Camerons broke out, which continued up to the middle of the 17th century. The dispute arose concerning the lands of Glenlui and Locharkaig, which Angus Mackintosh had acquired with Eva, and which in his absence had been occupied by the Camerons. William fought several battles for the recovery of these lands, to which in 1337 he acquired a charter from the Lord of the Isles, confirmed in 1357 by David II., but his efforts were unavailing to dislodge the Camerons. The feud was continued by his successor, Lauchlan, 8th chief, each side occasionally making raids into the other’s country. In one of these is said to have occurred the well-known dispute as to precedency between two of the septs of clan Chattan, the Macphersons and the Davidsons. According to tradition, the Camerons had entered Badenoch, where Mackintosh was then residing, and had seized a large “spreagh.” Mackintosh’s force, which followed them, was composed chiefly of these two septs, the Macphersons, however, considerably exceeding the rest. A dispute arising between the respective leaders of the Macphersons and Davidsons as to who should lead the right wing, the chief of Mackintosh, as superior to both, was appealed to, and decided in favour of Davidson. Offended at this, the Macphersons, who, if all accounts are true, had undoubtedly the better right to the post of honour, withdrew from the field of battle, thus enabling the Camerons to secure a victory. When, however, they saw that their friends were defeated, the Macphersons are said to have returned to the field, and turned the victory of the Camerons into a defeat, killing their leader, Charles MacGillonie. The date of this affair, which took place at Invernahavon, is variously fixed at 1370 and 1384, and some writers make it the cause which led to the famous battle on the North Inch of Perth twenty-six years later.
As is well known, great controversies have raged as to the clans who took part in the Perth fight, and those writers just referred to decide the question by making the Macphersons and Davidsons the combatant clans.[186]
Wyntoun’s words are—