Relationship between McFaddens and Maclaines
My name is ***, and I'm a ** year old Canadian, and I have been doing research on my geneology. I have a few questions as I believe I may have descended from this group. My great-grandmother was named I*** McFadden, and she was either born in Scotland and immigrated to Victoria County, Ontario, quite young; or was born to recent Scottish immigrants already in Ontario. She was born in the late 19th century. My question is mainly focused on how I find out what clan I am connected to. So far, my research has told me that the name McFadden, and its variants, are connected to the Maclaine Clan. Does my grandmother having this surname mean I am connected to this clan as well? If I have made a mistake, what are the best resources for finding out more about the different clans and which one I may belong to?
Answer:
You ask about the McFaddens... or as the surname was originally spelt – Macphaiden.
The MacFadyens (MacFaddens) are officially a “sept” of Clan Maclaine of Lochbuie. Their roots prior to the 1300’s were in Ireland. In the early 1300’s they migrated to the west coast of Scotland and for a short time acted as mercenaries to the MacDougall chief who lived in Argyll. Sometime between 1330 and 1350 they relocated to the island of Mull and to the Lochbuie area in particular.
In 1360 Hector Maclean was given vast swathes of land in Argyllshire and the nearby islands, including Mull, by the then Lord of the Isles (MacDonald). Hector chose Lochbuie as his preferred area of residence and became known as Hector Maclean of Lochbuie - the 1st Lochbuie chief.
At this time, the then MacFadyen chief and his followers were living in the Lochbuie area, but when “confronted” by the new owner of the region, submitted to Hector Maclean, and the MacFadyens have since that time been considered as the senior sept of the Lochbuie clan. A number of the clan’s current senior office bearers are MacFadyen cadets (especially those with the Patton spelling).
Via you grandmother – or any blood connection – you are indeed connected to the Clan Maclaine of Lochbuie. As you can imagine, back in the 1300’s, 1400’s and 1500’s our ancestors were forever marrying one another, hence the ties of clanship are still preserved today. As you probably know – the word “clan” means “family”.
Just as an aside, I would guess I have seen probably 40 different ways of spelling MacFadyen or MacFadden or Patton or etc, etc. I have also added a document about the MacFaddens which you might find interesting, which you can view by clicking here.
