MacDonald of the Isles

[figheadair]

I think that this is really a tartan question, or that at least is how it is developing, and it may therefore more properly belong in the 'Tartan Place' and recommend that it is moved there.

There is no branch of Clan Donald called MacDonald of the Isles and as CMcG correctly states the name owes its origins to the only MacDonald given by the Sobieski-Stuarts' in their Vestarium. The name was clearly based on the old title Lord of the Isles which was appropriated by the Crown in 1493 and is currently one of Prince Charle's titles. Unlike the majority of the Highland clan tartans in the VS, the Stuarts invented this design rather than base it closely on an existing MacDonald sett. I guess at a stretch one could argue that the overall colour scheme, but not the proportions, follows the theme of the Clan Donald/Clanranald/Glengarry settings of the late 1700s/early 1800s.

One needs to be careful with the entries in the STR as some are erroneous and others incomplete. So it is with the MacDonald of Sleat. This is at best a very late 18th century sett but is more likely post-1800. It is amongst the Wilsons' samples in the Cockburn Collection of 1810 where it is called Lord MacDonald and by which name it was known until 1850 when the Smith Brothers published it in their book and included it under the name MacDonald of Slate.

Whether in error or by design, Wilsons' Lord MacDonald was presumably based on the the coat of the younger of the MacDonald Boys in Mosman's portrait of c1750. It appeared in D.W. Stewart's 'Old & Rare Scottish Tartans under the name MacDonald Lord of the Isles by which it is still commonly sold today although it is sometimes seen under the name Lord of the Isles Red.

The similarity of either of these setts to the most common MacQuarrie is down to Grant's poor research and interpretation.

I don't think MacDonald of Staffa was ever an armigerous title. It was another of the Wilsons' tartans from the early 1800s. It probably owes its name to the combination of the popularity of Staffa following Boswell and Johnson's visit to the Hebridies and the fact that at the beginning of the 19th century it belonged to MacDonald of Lochboisdale.