Earliest Attested Macaulays
It has been said that the first Macaulay of Lewis on record is Dòmhnall Cam, in 1610. However, there appear to be two Macaulays recorded as witnessing a 1572 record of sasine, following a grant of land to Torcail Conanach Macleod. The document, unknown to Matheson, records the names of "Johanno roy mcLachlayne McOler", and "Murdo mcRorie mcLachlayne". According to Aonghas MacCoinnich, the name McOler would appear to be Macaulay, likely meaning that these were Uig Macaulays. The Lewis traditions, gathered by Thomas in the 19th century, had an Iain Ruadh, as grandfather to the Macaulay hero Dòmhnall Cam (see sections below). However, Dòmhnall Cam is on record in 1610 ("Donald Cam McCoull and Mulcallum McCoull"), and Thomas's traditional genealogy implausibly puts his grandfather in the 1450s. MacCoinnich noted that the traditions noted by Thomas seemed to link the Macaulays of Lewis to Wester Ross and Loch Broom; and although any real connection may have been forgotten by tradition, the Macleod trans-Minch lordship would have made such connection quite possible. See Wester Ross Macaulays below, for more info on the Wester Ross Macaulays.
Read more about this topic: Macaulay Family Of Lewis, Origins
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