Clan MacRae Society of Australia & New Zealand

Clan MacRae Society Meeting

The next Ordinary Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at The Combined Services R.S.L. Club at 5 Barrack St, Sydney at 1.30 pm.

New Address

New address for Membership form

New Address for Treasurer.
Mr Max Browning
201 Markham St
Armidale N.S.W. 2350
Phone 02 6772 8859

Clan Macrae Gathering in Scotland

Clan MacRae Gathering In Scotland
The 2009 Garthering
It can now be confirmed that the planned dates for this event are
Friday 4th Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th September 2009.

The History of the Clan Macrae Society in Australia and New Zealand

The History
Of The
CLAN MACRAE SOCIETY 0F AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

As many of you have become members in more recent years a summary of the Society's formation and subsequent development and activities may be of interest to you.

On 26th March, 1988 a group of twenty-one clan members met at the Pitt Club in Sydney and formed The Clan MacRae Society of Australia. Since the first A.G.M. held 15"' February, 1989, the Society has met continuously at our present meeting venue, The Combined Services RSL Club in Barrack Street, in Sydney CBD apart from two visits to other venues, Armidale and Ballarat.

Our first president was William Ray. In 1989 Mrs June Christian was elected president, which position she held till 1995, when Kenneth MacRae was elected. In 1996 June Christian held the position again. In 1997 our current president Ian McCrae was elected to the position, which he has since held.

Kenneth MacRae was Vice-President 1988-1994 and 1996-2003, giving great support to the Society.

Mrs Christian and her husband Roy held annual BBQ/picnics at their Canyonleigh property "Maranoa" for several years. They were wonderful occasions which brought clansfolk from far and wide. In Brisbane's northern outskirts at Narangba, Flora Willmott had a highly successful Gathering in 1994, attended by members from as far away as New Zealand and many from interstate. She held two more successful gatherings, at Kallangur in 1998 and Narangba in 2002. When ill health prevented June and Roy Christian from holding their annual picnic we held picnics at Sydney venues for several years. BBQ lunches were held at Ian and Joan McCrae's Seven Hills home on a few occasions.

Many New Zealanders were becoming members and New Zealand appeared in the Society's title in 1991. Mrs Eileen McMillan became our first "representative" there. Following her resignation, Mrs Molly Akers accepted the position until 1996 when Mrs Sue Tregoweth became NZ representative. In 2006 Ian Rae of Dunedin accepted the position of representative for NZ' s South Island to assist Sue. In 1996 we held a very successful quarterly meeting and dinner in Armidale (NSW) and the following year a meeting and dinner were held at Ballarat which attracted Clan members from all the mainland states. Since 1997 when Sue Tregoweth held a Gathering at Te Kuiti, New Zealand Gatherings have been held at Gore, Dunedin (2), at Palmerston North and Nelson.

In Australia, Gatherings have been held in Armidale (3), Orange, Sydney and Muswellbrook in NSW, Ballarat (2), Bendigo and "Glenwillan" B&B, a McRae property at Dimboola in Victoria and at Hobart and Bothwell in Tasmania.

We have been privileged to welcome Mrs Marigold MacRae to Clan gatherings in 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2006. Accompanied by either daughter Miranda or grandson Tristan, she has attended gatherings in Armidale, Sydney (both at the Wahroonga home of Bruce McRae a former Vice - President and an active member since 1988) , Bendigo and Muswellbrook in Australia and also Gore and Dunedin gatherings in New Zealand. The journey from U.K. is very tiring and we are most appreciative of the support given to MacRaes "down under" by Mrs MacRae and her family..

In 1996, the purchase of a Clan tent was approved. During the past ten years we have had our tent, or the substitute canopy, at Bundanoon and Drummoyne /Castle Hill Gatherings with one or two exceptions at Aberdeen Highland Gathering every year since the inaugural gathering in 2000 and at Toukley except in 2000 when we were in Scotland. The tent has proved very successful as a meeting point for Clan members. Sue Tregoweth and supportive members take the Clan tent to the many Gatherings in New Zealand, though it is sometimes a challenge in the windy conditions which prevail at some venues. I have photos of Sue still smiling surrounded by a very tangled tent! Australian and New Zealand Clan members were well represented at both the 2000 Millennium Gathering and the 2005 Clan Gathering in Scotland.

In 2007, member Allan McRae of Bathurst is planning to arrange a gathering there and we look forward to the continued success of such gatherings.

In 2008 our Clan MacRae Society of Australia and New Zealand will celebrate 20 years and we look forward to it flourishing long into the future!

Clan MacRae In The Future

The future operation and management of The Clan MacRae Society came under discussion.
Points raised were:

1
Future Offic-barers may be from regional areas without access to quarterly meetings in Sydney
2
One option - an AGM for all members supprted by less frequent meetings for all /or an executive.
3
Decentralising to Regional meetings. (Held May, 1996 meeting in Armidale and May, 1997 meeting in Ballarat - both very successful) Possibly hold one regional meeting per year.

4
Possible use of Telephone Coonferncing ($70 for Half Hour.

This whole issue will be debated at future meetings and your thoughts on the matter will be welcomed for inclusion in discussions

Surnames In Scotland

Surnames in Scotland

From the 14th century on, the Lowlanders were mostly speakers of Scots (an English dialect) and the Highlanders of Gaelic. By the 15th century, bynames and nicknames were becoming inherited surnames in the Lowlands, and most people had a fixed family surname by the 16th century. In the Highlands, patronymics continued to be used regularly into the 17th century and sometimes later. Until the 17th century, a woman always retained her own byname or surname on marriage and it was not common practice for her to adopt her husband's name until the late 19th or early 20th centuries. Modern Scottish law tends to identify a woman by her original name.

Many Scottish clan and family names are preceded by Mac (son of) so were originally patronymics. Many surnames which are not recognised as a separate clan are associated with one (i.e., a sept) and are entitled to wear their chief's tartan.

Of the name Macraith

Originally an old irish personal name; Macraith (MacGrath), the family with surname Macraith is still a recognized clan in Ireland. Two native Irish families adopted the name, one based on the borders of the modern counties of Donegal and Fermanagh, around Termon MacGrath, the other in Co Clare. The sept in County Clare were famous as hereditary poets to the ruling O'Brien family of Thomond. The sept on the borders of Donegal and Fermanagh was a `co-arb' family. Comharba `heir' denoted a situation where an abbot of a religious foundation, `the heir of the founder', had become a lay-lord and his family held the property from father to son. The co-arb usually provided a priest for the abbey.

Neither area can claim to have large numbers of the surname today. The southern family spread eastwards, into counties Tipperary and Waterford, while the northern familys descendants are now mainly to be found in County Tyrone, where they settled around Ardstraw after being driven from their homeland by the O'Donnells.

Of the name MacGrath

The Gaelic MacGrath (pronounced magraw - the 'th' is silent in Gaelic), and its many variants: Magrath, MacGraw, Magra, comes from the Irish personal (first) name of MacRaith, originally from the personal name Rath (pronounced raw - the 'th' is silent), meaning 'grace' or 'prosperity'. The name Macraith in its many forms is not patronymic, and was applied to men ‘endowed with more than an ordinary measure of sanctity or grace.’

The first written appearance of the name is found in The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters (AD 448) in reference to Macraith the Wise, a member of the household of St. Patrick.

Clan MacRae Name Variants and Septs

The name sept is given to members of a Clan who do not share its name, although they may or may not be of the same blood. Within a Clan, following the Highland tradition of designating people by the names of their fathers, grandfathers, and sometimes more remote ancestors, other names could be used for certain family groups. The word Clann (or Clan) in Gaelic means "family" and there were many such groups who made no pretence to set up as major powers on their own, but who followed the local chief and became members of his Clan. Sometimes these smaller kindred were widely spread and their branches would follow different Chiefs. Very often the same name could come from a whole range of unrelated sources, particularly in the case of Mac-names, or patronymics, which mean "Son of".

The following surnames are recognized by the Clan MacRae Society as official variants and sept names of the clan, with [Mc] or [M'] being acceptable in place of [Mac] in all cases: CraeCreeMacaraMacarraMaccraMaccrathMaccraeMaccraithMaccrawMaccrayMaccreaMaccreathMaccreeMaccrieMacrathMaccroyMacgrathMacgrawMachrayMacraMacraithMacrachMacrawMacrayMacrieRaeRaithRayReaReathMacraeMackereth

Given (Personal) Naming Conventions

The following guidelines were often used for given or personal names. Although not "hard and fast" rules as such, they do provide some assistance to the family historian or genealogist for confirming possible family connections in support of other references or sources:

1st son named after paternal grandfather, may use mother's maiden name as middle name.2nd son named after maternal grandfather.3rd son named after father's eldest brother.4th son named after father.1st daughter named after maternal grandmother.2nd daughter named after paternal grandmother.3rd daughter named after mother's eldest sister.4th daughter named after mother.

The Spirit Of The macRae

THE SPIRIT OF THE MACRAES
The earliest record of whisky being distilled in Scotland was in 1494 when an entry in the Scottish Exchequer Rolls recorded ‘eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aquavitae’. However, it is probable that the spirit was being produced for hundreds of years before that, particularly in our remote western seaboard and islands. The early product varied greatly from area to area, often being made from unmalted grains such as oats and barley and was very different from the whisky that we know today.
We know that liquors were being distilled in India from rice and flowers as early as 800 BC. It is thought that the secrets of distillation were then brought to Ireland and Cornwall by the Phoenicians and from there by the Celts as they migrated to the westernmost fringes of Scotland. These settlers produced their whisky mostly for their own use as a part of a subsistence existence and was perhaps necessary to survive the deprivations of a Scottish winter! As agriculture developed the distilling of whisky from the farmer’s surplus grain provided not only liquid comfort but also came to be a commodity that could be exchanged for cash to help pay the rent. When Distilleries came to be licensed at the beginning of the 19th century, a number were actually built by the more progressive landlords to create a market for their tenants’ surplus grain.

It was around this time that illicit production of whisky reached its peak and prominent in that activity was our own Hamish Dhu MacRae of Pait. Hamish lived and worked by the shores of Loch Monar, high above Strathfarrar on the old drove road that crossed the mountains between Beauly and Kintail. Hamish was not a farmer but a true whisky man. His father, Alister Mhor, had come to Pait around 1840 and built his home on a tiny island just yards off the shore of Loch Monar. The cottage followed the local tradition, constructed of rough hewn boulders and with a stout heather thatch roof. It consisted of only two rooms and at the end a byre for the cow.

A few years later, when the laird had proved not only willing to turn a blind eye to his illegal activities but also a willing customer, Alister felt secure enough to build a causeway linking the island to the mainland. Although he grew some barley, the ground around his cottage was rough and stoney and it must have been a struggle to cultivate. He found it much easier to barter for grain with the farmers down the glen, not much chance of money changing hands there! Porridge, potatoes and fish from the loch constituted their diet, together with what game they could acquire without upsetting the laird. His stills were housed in a little bothan by the burn at Cosaig, not far from the edge of the loch, handy for Alister but also handy for the gaugers. These excise officers scoured the wild countryside for illicit distillers and it was not long before a large group found Alister hard at work. They arrested him and marched in triumph to Dingwall, but there was no shame in being caught distilling ‘illicit’ whisky, an activity that had been an essential part of Highland life for hundreds of years.

Convicted and fined, he returned to Pait determined not to be caught again. He rebuilt his stills in a new and even more remote location, high on the slopes of Meall Mor and it was here that the young Hamish learnt his trade. Long before his father died at the age of 97 Hamish had surpassed him with his skills and his ‘Pait Blend’ was renowned as a whisky of the highest quality.

When they died, both father and mother were carried back over the hills to Kintail for burial in the traditional manner, with relays of men taking turns to carry the coffins. Mother seemed to have been of particularly sturdy build as one member of the party remarked ‘she was a big heavy woman’! However, an essential part of the tradition was an abundance of whisky, before, during and after the journey and there are stories of other burials when coffins were dropped down the hillsides by inebriated bearers! One lady of much slighter build than Hamish’s mother was found still laid out on the kitchen table when a well refreshed funeral party returned after carrying her empty coffin many miles and interring it in the family grave.

Much of Hamish’s distilling took place during the long winter months when snow made it hard for the gaugers to travel but they made at least one excursion up the loch by boat looking for telltale wisps of smoke on the hillside. No doubt the considerable local support that the MacRaes enjoyed had resulted in the boat being delayed and a warning sent ahead. On another occasion the excisemen were persuaded to enjoy the local hospitality at Ardchuick while on their way to apprehend Hamish. The next morning they were unable to continue their mission, ill as a result of drinking ‘bad’ whisky, and they dragged themselves back to Dingwall. Hamish went to great lengths to assure the district that the ‘bad’ whisky was not of his making!

Hamish and his sister were by now getting older, the stills were worn out and the increased activities of the excisemen made operating increasingly difficult. His father had been a large and well proportioned man of exceptional strength with a reputation of being wild when roused and the gaugers had been more than a little wary of him. Although Hamish was of similar build and strength the excisemen had become more organised and better resourced and he was not regarded with the same apprehension that his father had been.

In 1901 Hamish decided on a final twist of the gaugers' tail. He reported the finding of a still (his own) and after leading them to the site he claimed the £5 reward offered by the Government and retired from what most highlanders had regarded as an honourable trade. He lived on at Pait with his sister for some years after that and then they both retired to Kilmorack. He was a larger then life character, much liked and well respected in his community. Despite his very basic way of life, he would regularly don full Highland Dress on a Sunday and visit the laird for a dram and a blether. When he died he too was taken to the little burial ground at Clachan Duich where he lies beside his father, mother and sister.

The secrets of his ‘Pait Blend’ died with him. Although it was a popular whisky in its time, it is unlikely that it would appeal to the palate of today. Perhaps the barley that Hamish bought in was malted but that which he grew himself certainly was not. The result was a whisky that could not be described as either ‘Scotch’ or Malt whisky. Our 21st century dram must, by law, be matured for a minimum of three years in oak casks under carefully controlled conditions before it can even be called Scotch Whisky. In practise, most whiskies are matured for considerably longer than that to allow the flavours to develop and the raw edges to be smoothed off. Hamish’s whisky would have been sold and drunk as soon as he could distribute it. In the difficult winters, he might have been able to build up some stock, and that stock might have been allowed to age for a few months, but most whisky would only be a matter of weeks old when it was consumed. It would have been a rough, fiery and very powerful drink with considerable character! The same adjectives might have been used to describe our ancestors, James ‘Hamish Dhu’ MacRae and his father Alister Mor!

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Australia by CHANCE

I have read over the years in the Newsletter of the Clan MacRae Society of Australia and New Zealand of MacRaes emigrating to Australia aboard the ship CHANCE. My MacRae ancestors also travelled to Australia on this vessel and I thought I would share some of the history of this ship with everyone.

CHANCE was built in 1851 in Richibucto in New Brunswick in Canada by Lestock P W DeBrissay and launched on the 10 September 1851 from the Building Yard of DesBrisay. She was reregistered in 1851 in Miramichi, New Brunswick. CHANCE was built of copper fastened Hackmatac, Birch, Oak and Pine. Later on in 1852 she was sheathed in felt and yellow metal, partly fastened with iron bolts. CHANCE was 1,049 tons, had a length aloft of 163 feet, an extreme breadth of 30 feet and a depth of hold of 22 feet.

The Owner of CHANCE was Coltart and Co. of Liverpool, England and her Port of Registry in 1852 was Liverpool. CHANCE made her maiden voyage in 1852 departing Liverpool on the 24 July 1852 under the command of Captain Alfred Hayes, arriving Melbourne 26 October 1852.

On that maiden voyage CHANCE had been chartered by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission with 466 Government immigrants, among them my great great grandparents John and Ann Macrae. Deaths on the voyage numbered 41 and there were 7 births. On the voyage storms in the Atlantic tore away masts and rigging and CHANCE hit another storm in Bass Strait. CHANCE suffered casualty and with the overcrowding, much sickness onboard. On arrival in Melbourne CHANCE was ordered to take up quarantine anchorage. She was finally released from quarantine on the 11 November 1852, I guess much to the relief of our forbears.

They had a rule in those days that no ship shall be allowed to clear out with a proportion of persons onboard greater than One person for every Two Tons of registered Tonnage. Being just over 1000 tons and with 466 emigrants aboard, CHANCE was pushing the limits.

CHANCE finally cleared Melbourne on the 20 November 1852, bound for Callao. From what I have been able to determine from the Records CHANCE made several more voyages to Australia through the 1850s, 1860s and into the 1870s. The end of her life occurred on the 3 November 1872 on a voyage from Pensacola to Sunderland when she was abandoned at sea.

I do not currently have an image of CHANCE. I was able to make contact a few years back with the descendents of the shipbuilder in New Brunswick, LPW DesBrissay to see if they knew of any drawings but I lost contact with them. I reckon if I can ever get to the New Brunswick part of the world I could find a sketch in a library. Interestingly, I was able to obtain from the Maritime Museum in Greenwich in London, a copy of a Survey Report undertaken on CHANCE on the 20 July 1852 in drydock in Liverpool, two days prior to her maiden voyage to Melbourne.