Article
MacArthur
Motto: Fide et opera (By fidelity and labour)
Arthur is derived from the Gaelic ‘Artair’, Middle English ‘Artair’; Early Irish ‘Artuir’; from the Old Irish ‘Art’ a bear; and Welsh ‘Arth’. The name may point to any early Celtic worship of the bear.
Aedan MacGabrain, King of Dalriada, whose mother was a British princess, named his eldest son Arthur.
As a clan, the MacArthurs were at the height of their power in the middle of the fourteenth century. They received large grants of land in Lorne, having taken their part against the MacDougalls of Lorne, and received the Keepership of the Castle of Dunstaffnage from Robert the Bruce, whose cause they espoused in the War of Independence.
Early in the 15th century their power was broken when the chief, John MacArthur, was beheaded by James I, and most of the estates were forfeited.
The seat of the clan was Strachur, and a sept of the name were the hereditary pipers to the MacDonalds of the isles.
Some MacArthurs dropped the Mac, but not all Arthurs were of the Clan. The Arthurs are acknowledged septs of the Clan Campbell, and could wear that tartan in addition to the two of their own. However, not all MacArthurs would have been with the Campbells, particularly those who were pipers to the Lords of the Isles. People from that line might also claim the Clan Donald tartan in addition to their own.
Choose from one of the MacArthur tartans listed below:
