Macleans rule the world

Here are just a few famous Macleans of various spellings. There are many thousands of us scattered all over the globe, some famous, some memorable, some we would rather forget. Clan Maclean: descended from Gilleain-nan-Tuagh (Gillian of the Battle Axe), a descendant of the Kings of Dalriada. Gillian fought against King Haakon of Norway at the Battle of Largs in 1263. The first recorded mention of the Macleans of Duart is in a Papal Dispensation of 1367, which allowed the Maclean Clan Chief to marry Mary MacDonald, the daughter of the Lord of the Isles. The Macleans supported King Charles I against the Parliamentarians. Sir Hector Ruadh Maclean and eight hundred of his clansmen were slain at the Battle of Inverkeithing in 1651 by Cromwell’s New Model Army (actually 40 got home). In 1876 Sir Harry Maclean resigned his commission in the British Army to join the army of the Sultan of Morocco and became military leader and personal advisor to the Sultan. Many more military men, too many to mention here.

The maclist; David @ GlenOrd distillery;  grand man. Steve @ Glenfarclas Distillery;  great guy, always smiling and handing out drams. Charlie; enough said. Paul: aye well, related to the Kings of Dalriada. Dougie; famous singer/songwriter. Sir Fitzroy Maclean – WW2 British Spy and real-life inspiration for Ian Flemming’s James Bond. Alistair Stuart MacLean – the best-selling novelist The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, both made into films. Allan McLean (1855–1881), Canadian outlaw and son of Donald McLean, fur trader and explorer, Donald McLean (1805–1864), Hudson’s Bay Company fur trader and explorer, father of Allan McLean. Bitty McLean, British/Jamaican reggae singer. James “Buddy” McLean, Irish-American gangster. Roderick McLean (19th century), Scottish poet who attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria. Charles Hector Fitzroy Maclean of Duart, Baron Maclean (1916–1990), Scottish nobleman, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth II 1971–1984. Infamous Donald Duart Maclean (1913–1983), British intelligence agent and spy for the Soviet Union during WWII. Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean (1871–1897), Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross. Sorley MacLean (1911–1996), Scottish Scots Gaelic poet.  All the Maclean’s who died at Culloden are hero’s.

In 1916, the 236th Overseas Battalion, (The New Brunswick Kilties, – Sir Sam’s Own), C.E.F. (Canadian Expeditionary Forces) began life as a New Brunswick based battalion (their correspondence, and newsletters referred to them from the beginning, as the Maclean Kilties). The Battalion 1087 strong, embarked for England on His Majesty’s Troopship “Canada”, and arrived in Liverpool on November 19, 1917. A final name change resulted in the battalion becoming the 236th O.S Battalion, C.E.F. MacLean Highlanders. Enough said, a famous gang of men. Now then … Feared by the government, adored by workers, celebrated by Lenin and Trotsky; the head of British Military Intelligence John Maclean ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’: Hero of Red Clydeside. Lewis Maclean – Maclean’s bakery; Originally from the Western Isles, producers of traditional Shortbreads and Sweet Biscuits, Oatcakes, located in the Highlands, of Scotland. Macleans toothpaste; ok.  “Big Donald MacLean” or “Donald MacLean of Lewis,” Born in 1908, when his older brother Murdo took up the pipes to help in the recovery of a lung wound suffered in the Great War Donald borrowed the chanter and soon both were being taught by Peter Stewart of Barabhas.“It is probably true to say that many of the competitions following the cessation of hostilities were completely dominated by Pipe Major Donald MacLean. His instrument was a legend itself and few pipers could blow it. Those who did were never quite the same afterwards.” He won the Gold Medal at Oban in 1951 with “MacDonald’s Salute” and at Inverness in 1953 with “Black Donald’s March”.  Further afield, Maclean is a small rural town in northern NSW Australia, on the banks of the Clarence river, known as Australia’s most Scottish town. Maclean is a county in Virginia USA.

Finally here … My dad Ronald McLean, my hero (sadly has been an angel for some 60 years); Paul McLean.