Leod - Traditional Ancestry

Traditional Ancestry

According to MacLeod tradition, Leod is the eponymous ancestor of the clan. However, little to nothing is known about this man; he does not appear in any contemporary records. The earliest historical record of a MacLeod chief occurs almost a century after he is thought to have flourished—when the names of "Malcolme, son to Tormode M'Cloyde", and that of "Torkyll M'Cloyd", appear in a royal charter during the reign of David II, King of Scots (r. 1329–1371). Until quite recently, Leod has generally been considered to have been the son of Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles (r. 1225–1237).

This traditional ancestry may be traced to the late 17th century when a chief adopted the designation of "McOlaus" and another was the first MacLeod to incorporate the royal Manx arms into MacLeod heraldry. In a document dating to 1630, Iain Mòr MacLeod of Dunvegan (chief 1626–1649) appears as "John McOlaus of Dunvegane"—McOlaus representing MacOlaf. This chief's son, Iain Breac (chief 1664–1693), is the first MacLeod to have incorporated the Manx triskelion into his coat of arms. The triskelion was borne in the arms of the kings of Mann and the Isles as far back as the 13th century. The earliest known arms borne by the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan (pictured top-right) are, however, quite different the royal Manx arms. These earliest MacLeod arms date to the mid 15th century; recorded in a leading European armorial known as the Armorial de Berry. Accordingly, it has been suggested that these points show that 17th century belief of a descent from Olaf was not one of long-standing.

There are various other points which cast serious doubt on Leod's traditional ancestry. In 1265, Magnus, King of Mann, the last king of this Manx dynasty died. Later in 1275, Magnus's illegitimate son, Godfrey died while leading a revolt. At least two women later came forward with claims for the kingdom—yet Leod and his sons did not. According to W.D.H. Sellar, it is hard to believe that a descendant of the royal line would not have put forward a claim. Another point put forward is that the MacLeods did not adopt the royal names of the 13th century Manx dynasty—names such as Godfrey (Old Norse: Guðrøðr; Gaelic: Gofraid), Ranald (Old Norse Rögnvaldr; Gaelic: Raghnall), Olaf (Old Norse Óláfr; Gaelic Amlaíb), and Harald (Old Norse Haraldr; Gaelic Aralt). Sellar illustrated his point by noting the royal names adopted by the descendants of Somerled (d.1164) and his wife Ragnhild, daughter of Olaf the Red (grandfather of Olaf the Black).

In the 17th century, George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie wrote a history of the Mackenzies, which included a genealogy of the MacLeods of Lewis (from whom he was also descended). Cromartie's genealogy listed Leod as a son of Harald, son of Godred Donn. Later genealogies, however, made Leod a son of Olaf the Black—genealogies found in Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie's Baronage of Scotland, of 1798; and the Bannatyne manuscript, which dates to about 1830. In the Baronage of Scotland, Glenbervie stated that he had obtained information from the MacLeods of Dunvegan which was allegedly based upon information found within the mediaeval Chronicles of Mann and William Camden's 17th century Britannia—however, neither of these two works make any mention of Leod at all. In 1977, historian William Matheson rejected the traditional descent from Olaf the Black on the basis that it is unsupported by any facts whatsoever, and that it is also contradicted by earlier Gaelic-language genealogies which may be more authentic.