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 BY FIDELITY AND FORTITUDE Clan Crest © Art Pewter Silver Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland |
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The Clan Shaw originates from Shaw McDuff, who was the younger son of the Thane of Fife and was the keeper of the royal castle of Inverness. The clan is often referred to in relation to the Macintosh clan, who also claim descent from Shaw McDuff.
The Shaws allied themselves, through marriage, with the Clan Macdonald in a bid to protect themselves from their enemy, the Clan Comyn. As a result of this union, the Clan Chattan emerged, as did the first chief of the Shaw clan. The Shaws became one of the largest sets of the Clan Chattan. The Chattans and Camerons were enemies which was having a devastating effect on the lands held by the two clans. In order to resolve this dispute it was decided that a battle of champions should be organised. This involved over fifty highlanders in a battle at Perth, with an audience which included the Dauphin of France. The event has been immortalised by Sir Walter Scott in the ‘Fair Maid of Perth’. There is evidence that as far back as 1396 there were Shaws in Rothiemurchus. There is also evidence that by the time of the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 the clan had lost these lands to the clan Grant, by whom they are held to this day. The lowland Shaws come from the place of the same name in the south-west. There is evidence of Shaws there since the Ragman Rolls of 1296.The 21st chief of the clan, was reinstated in 1970 by the Lord Lyon, after a vacancy of 400 years. |