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MacLeod

Crest: A bull's head cabossed Sable, horned Or, between two flags Gules, staved at the First.
Motto:  Hold fast
Badge: juniper
 
Olaf the Black was the Norse King of Man and the Isles who lived in the early 13th century. Leod was his younger son who, around 1220, married the daughter and heiress of MacRaild on Skye. She brought him Dunvegan Castle and inherited the islands of Lewis and Harris.  Following the battle of Largs in 1263, Leod found himself virtually in control of the Hebrides.

 

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His four sons gain further lands which included Dunvegan Lewis and Raasay and in due course came into possession of Assynt, Cogeach and Gareloch on the mainland. The MacLeods of Dunvegan supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence and followed the Lords of the Isles at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411.

The MacLeods managed to remain in favour throughout the Crown's attempts to subdue the Highland Chiefs. Disputes with the MacDonalds came to an end 1542 with the acquisition of the title to Trotternish in the north of Skye.

The MacLeods of Dunvegan fought for the Royalist Cause at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 losing over 500 clansmen. This made effective participation impossible in either the 1715 or 1745 Jacobite Uprisings. Hugh Magnus MacLeod, 30th Chief of the Clan MacLeod, succeeded his father who died in February 2007.

Choose from one of the MacLeod tartans listed below: