A Cupboard Full Of Skeletons

The Adventures of My DNA

Charlie Gregory

‘... the name of McGregoure sulde be altogedder abolisched, and that

haill personnes of thatt Clan suld renunce thair name and tak thame sum
uther name, and that they nor nane of thair posteritie suld call
thameselffis Gregor or McGregoure thairefter under the payne of deid …
they sal be prosequte, huntit, followit, and persewit with fyre and
sword ... until they be ruttit out and exterminat…

Command, chairge all and sindrie, by oppin proclamatioun that nane of

thame presume or tak upoun hand to supplie, schaw favour or conforte to
ony of the said Clangregour, thair wyffis, or bairnis, ... under the payne
of deid …

(The above are extracts from the Edict issued on 3rd of April 1603 by King James VI
of Scotland – James I of England – on the very Sunday that he took leave of his
Scottish subjects in an affectionate farewell speech before leaving for London to
accede to the English throne.)

***

The name’s Gregory – Charlie Gregory. Names don’t come any more English than
that. The Anglo Saxon Gregory family trace their line back to Leicestershire where
they were seated centuries before William the Conqueror arrived in Kent. The family
crest sports a Lion Passant, on guard, and the motto is Vigilanter – Watchfully.
I’m a third or fourth generation Mancunian and spent my early life in Openshaw
and Abbey Hey. Dad was a fitter by trade, in engineering. Granddad was a foundry-
man and great-granddad was a bricklayer. I never probed any further back than that
because the birth of my great-grandfather wasn’t registered and I never found the time
to go digging. But I always knew that, on the Gregory side, both sets of great-
grandparents had their roots in Shropshire and moved into Manchester during the
Industrial Revolution. It all pointed to rural England, Leicestershire, deepest Mercia
and Anglo Saxons. It was good solid stuff and I liked it.
Then I discovered that Professor Bryan Sykes of Oxford Ancestors was doing a
Tribes of Britain Analysis based on the Y-chromosomes of men. The project was
aimed at pinpointing those who were of Viking origin. I thought that I would join in.
After all, great-grandpapa-X20 might have moved into Germany from Scandinavia.
You never can tell.
Oxford Ancestors produced a bigger surprise than expected. ‘Our analysis shows
that you have inherited your Y-chromosome from one of the original Celtic
inhabitants of the British Isles, even from one of the first settlers who arrived 9,000
years ago.’ Eh – Celt? Me? Arrived 9,000 years ago? Those guys must have been
hunter-gatherers, following the receding ice. What about the Anglo Saxon and Viking
bit?
This was weird. According to Oxford Ancestors I was not who I thought I was.
The Gregorys are Anglo Saxons. But I’m a Celt so I can’t be a Gregory. So why have
I got this name? There was no easy answer to that, only more questions. Had Oxford
Ancestors got it wrong? Was I adopted and never told? Was one of my forebears
adopted – or a cuckold? Oh dear – granny?! Here was a mystery demanding to be
solved.
At this stage I went on the Internet and put various questions about Gregory into
the Google Search Engine. That led me to the Clan Gregor website which in turn led
me to the page where they give a list of names of families that might have their roots
in the clan – Gregory was one of them. That struck me as strange, knowing what I did
about the name and its origins. Then, on the Home Page of the website they ask, ‘Are
you a MacGregor?’ followed by the question, ‘How do you know for sure?’ This in
turn leads to the MacGregor DNA Project, which exists to answer two questions: Who
are the MacGregors and where do they come from?
Professor Richard MacGregor runs the project. So I sent him a copy of my
Oxford Ancestors 13 marker DNA read-out. He checked it against his data and found
that it was a match. That intrigued me enough to join the project, which uses the
Family Tree DNA laboratory in America. I now had a 37 Loci Y-chromosome
signature, which again I forwarded to Richard MacGregor. He confirmed that it put
me firmly in the clan with ‘no need for any further proof or production of a paper
trail.’ All well and good but if I’m a Gregor why am I called Gregory? This was
bizarre. I suddenly had to get used to a new ethnicity and then wonder why one of my
forebears changed his name. Maybe a clue lay within Clan Gregor itself. After all,
they are family.
It was my turn now to wonder, who are the MacGregors and where do they come
from? So I researched their history. And a terrible one it is. Their origins lie in the Dal
Riata – Race of Riata – who once lived in Dal Riada, which is now Antrim in Ireland.
They probably arrived in Argyll when the first wave of Scots came into the Mull of
Kintyre in 501 AD. The tribe finally settled in the glens to north of Loch Lomond and
the Trossachs in the ninth century AD. Glen Gyle, Glen Lyon, Glen Strae, Glen
Lochy and Glen Orchy roll off the tongue like poetry and finally became their
homeland.
For my part, research revealed that my ancestors had probably travelled up the
Atlantic seaboard from the Basque country, then across southern Britain to Ireland.
That made sense because a read-out of my mitochondrial (female line) DNA is in the
same group as that taken from the skeleton of a young man who lived and died in
Somerset 12,000 years ago. Further investigation suggested that people from both my
lines of DNA arrived in Ireland around 7,000 BC – long before the time of Finn
Macool and the Fianna. Collectively they were known as the Erainn, the Irish
Aborigines. It was a group of these indigenous people who formed the Dal Riata and
settled in Ulster before ending up in the Scottish Highlands. Some of them were to
become MacGregors.
In those early days, before the use of surnames, things looked good for the clan.
Tradition has it that their chiefs are descended from Gregor, son of Kenneth
MacAlpin (858) who himself was descended from a long line of Celtic kings. Either
that or they spring from Griogair, son of Dungal, who ruled Alba between 879 and
889 AD. DNA evidence points the finger at Kenneth MacAlpin. In keeping with this
the clan motto is S Rioghal Mo Dhream – Royal is My Race. Most modern historians
agree that the first recorded chief was Gregor of the Golden Bridles (b1300) whose
son, Iain of the One Eye (b1325, d1390) succeeded him when he died in 1360.
Highlanders always acknowledged Clan Gregor as being the principal and one of the
most ancient of the Scottish tribes.
 From the beginning the Gregors lived by the sword. In the 14th century a
combined force of Gregors and Grants stormed the stronghold of Clan Comyn, killing
the chief and keeping his head as a trophy. But the Gregors had a big and aggressive
neighbour in the Campbells, the most influential and powerful of all the clans. Both
were expansionist, the Gregors by the broadsword and axe and the Campbells by their
size and guile. The two clans formed an alliance and expanded into north and western
Perthshire. The Campbells made use of the Gregor military might and prowess to
further their ambitions. But over time the Gregors occupied and exploited lands that
the Campbell chiefs, who were higher in the pecking order, wanted for themselves.
At the same time the kings of Scotland were striving to establish supremacy over
the clans and needed loyal chiefs to help them gain control. One way of getting the
chiefs on side was to grant them a Royal Charter for their land. The Gregors didn’t go
along with this. They didn’t agree that the king had the power to give or withhold a
charter for land that was already theirs. But the Campbells and many more saw the
advantage of Royal Patronage.
In 1314 the Gregors fought for Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. But the Bruce,
demonstrating his authority, granted the Barony of Loch Awe, which included much
of the Gregor lands, to the Chief of the Campbells who had helped him to get the
throne. The Bruce left it to the Campbells to make their own arrangements for taking
possession. So the Campbells harried the Gregors and drove them deeper into the
glens. Then around 1400, Robert III, in a further show of power, gave the Campbells
Glen Orchy, the ancient seat of the Gregors. The Gregors, reduced to tenants on their
own land, would not comply, so the Campbells continually attacked them. The clan’s
troubles were just beginning.

***

With no deeds to prove their rights, and completely surrounded by enemies, the
Gregors swore to hold on to their land ‘by the right of the claymore.’ This played into
the hands of the Campbells who were politically astute, ruthless, and adept at using
the law against those whose estates they coveted. They knew that, because of their
temperament, the Gregors would overreact whenever they were pushed. So the
Campbells provoked them into acts of violence then invoked the law to put them
down and take their ground.
By this method, in 1502, the Campbells stripped Clan Gregor of their Glen Lyon
heartland. Now the Gregors were confined to Glen Strae. Though in 1506 they still
had enough territorial power for their chief to entertain James IV of Scotland for six
days at Inchcalloun. But in 1519, Eoin dubh of Glen Strae died without leaving an
heir. The Campbells meddled with the succession, set up a rival line to the
chieftaincy, and laid claim to the remaining Gregor lands. The Campbells’ power was
greatly enhanced and Clan Gregor lay defeated. Even so, at that time there were 700
Gregors in the Scottish army. Half of them were killed in the Battle of Pinkie in 1547
when the English defeated the Scots and took Edinburgh.
In 1560, Cailean liath, the Campbell Laird of Glen Orchy, pulled strings to
prevent Griogair ruadh, The Arrow of Glen Lyon, inheriting the estates to which he
was entitled. Clan Gregor fought back using their formidable military strength, which
Cailean liath and his allies could not defeat. The only way there could ever be peace
was for the Gregors to negotiate with the Campbells and Crown. But the king’s Privy
Council always backed landlords in any dispute, heedless of the grievances of tenants.
So the Gregors would never negotiate. The Lairds of Glen Orchy, by pursuing a
policy of victimisation, left the clan only one option – armed resistance and
aggression. This led Mary, Queen of Scots, to grant an Act of the Privy Council in
1563, allowing noblemen to ‘pursue the MacGregors with fire and Sword.’
In 1571 the Campbells caught and killed Griogair ruadh. Clan Gregor were
scattered in disarray and hunted down like animals. Their prayer, handed down from
generation to generation, sums up their fate: ‘Frae the greed o’ the Campbells, Good
Lord deliver us.’ Landless and driven by revenge they continually raided the property
of those who had dispossessed them. They became expert poachers and rustlers,
killing if need be, then hiding in the high glens. Their way of springing from nowhere,
yelling their Battle Cry of ‘Ard Choille!’ (From the high ground!), then disappearing
back into the clouds that shrouded the mountains, earned them the name of ‘Children
of the Mist.’ Unable to stop them, many clans paid them not steal their cattle. The
Gregors, forced to go feral, became the most violent and lawless of the Highland
Clans and ran a protection racket.
In 1583, Cailean liath died and his son, Donnchadh Dubh a’ Churraic {Black
Duncan of the Cowl}, succeeded him and ruled until 1631. Black Duncan had a
beheading pit constructed in Finlarig Castle. Here, from where they danced in the
Great Hall, guests could watch captured Gregors being dragged up Judgement Hill to
a kangaroo court where they were ‘tried’ and found guilty. Then the guests were
treated to the spectacle of the higher-ranking clansmen being shackled and beheaded
in the pit below while the lower ranks were hanged on the nearby hill.
At this time the King and his Privy Council saw the Highlands, with their clan
and Gaelic culture, as remote and barbarous. This was confirmed by continual conflict
involving the Campbells who were bullying more than just the Gregors. Then in 1589
John Drummond, the Kings forester, hanged some Gregors for poaching. The clan
retaliated by murdering him – an offence against the crown. The Privy Council
immediately issued more letters of ‘Fire and Sword’ against the clan, making it illegal
to shelter or have dealings with any clan member. Between 1589 and 1603 there were
countless battles to remove Gregor tenants who defended their land despite their
landlord obtaining legal deeds to remove them. Many other Gregors were outlawed
for unspecified acts of theft. This demonstrated to the government that the clan posed
a problem in the Highlands and were a threat to law and order. As the Highlands were
a potential source of revenue they needed civilising.
In the winter of 1602, two Gregor clansmen, travelling from Glasgow to their
home near Loch Rannoch, were overtaken by night while passing through Colquhoun
land near Loch Lomond. Cold and hungry they asked for food and shelter in the town
of Luss. Against the Highland tradition of hospitality, food and shelter was refused.
Forced to spend the night in the open in the mountain-winter the Gregors found an
abandoned outhouse, slaughtered a sheep and had a meal. Discovering this, the
Colquhouns seized the men and took them to their chief, the Laird of Luss. He
sentenced the Gregors to death and they were executed there and then – even though
they offered to pay for the sheep.
Under the Celtic clan system, where all members were classed as family, an
injury to one was a hurt to all. The close knit Clan Gregor lived by this rule and never
let an attack go unrevenged. Their chief, Alasdair MacGregor, was honour bound to
hit back. The Laird of Luss, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, was well aware of this when
he passed sentence, which was part of a carefully orchestrated plan to bring down
Clan Gregor.
In retaliation, on 7th December 1602, a Gregor raiding party of 80 men came
down Glen Finlas in the hills above the Colquhoun’s castle at Rossdhu near Loch
Lomond. They killed two men and rustled 300 cows and more than double that
number of sheep, goats and horses, which they drove to a spot between Loch Fyne
and Loch Goil.
Sir Humphrey, Chief of the Colquhouns, had his revenge planned. He knew that
James VI of Scotland was squeamish at the sight of blood. So Luss had a pile of shirts
dipped in sheep’s blood. Then he recruited a group of women from his clan and took
them to Stirling where they paraded before the king. Each ‘widow’ carried her
‘murdered man’s’ bloody shirt held aloft on a spear. Sir Humphrey told the king that,
‘The Gregors murdered the men.’ Horrified by the sight, James responded by granting
Colquhoun yet more ‘Letters of Fire and Sword’ against the clan.
The Gregors were enraged by the deceit with its lies and exaggerations, plus the
fact that the king had condemned them without a hearing. At this time, the Earl of
Argyll, Chief of the Campbells, had a feud going with Sir Humphrey Colquhoun. So
the Earl offered Alasdair MacGregor the assurance of advice and support if he took
vengeance on Colquhoun. Blinded by the desire for revenge, MacGregor failed to see
that he was being set up to do the Campbell’s dirty-work – which the Gregors had
done many times in the past.
On the 7th February 1603 Alasdair Macgregor led 400 men towards the
Colquhoun lands. But the Laird of Luss was waiting with twice as many men from the
Buchanans, Lennox, Grahams and Colquhouns. Luss planned to stage a confrontation
at the head of Glen Fruin which runs from Garelochhead to the southern end of Loch
Lomond. But MacGregor forestalled him by leading his men from Loch Long into the
head of the glen and taking a stance in a narrow pass near Strone. MacGregor sent his
brother John to lie in ambush and cut off any Colquhoun retreat. As the enemy
approached the Gregors felt intimidated by the size of the force, many of whom were
on horseback, but fear was overcome by the drive for revenge. The main contingent of
Gregors met the Colquhouns head-on. Then John MacGregor charged from behind,
surrounding the Colquhouns on boggy ground. The horses became a liability. Luss’s
men broke ranks and fled. The Gregors went after them and it became a rout. Reports
vary, but between 120 and 200 of Luss’s force were hacked to death by Gregor
clansmen, skilled in the use of the axe and claymore. At the end of the day the
Gregors made off with another 80 horses, 600 cows and 800 sheep. The Register of
the Privy Council reported that 80 Colquhouns were among the dead. Very few
Gregors were lost, though John dhu MacGregor, brother of their chief, was killed.
Sir Humphrey galloped to James VI bearing the bloody shirts ripped from the
bodies of his men. The king was incensed. A massacre by Highlanders within 12
miles of Dumbarton made him look weak – just when the English throne was about to
fall vacant. It was even more intolerable because the perpetrators were Gregors, the
Royal Race who claimed descent from Kenneth MacAlpin, King of the Picts and
Scots. Racked by insecurity, James ordered the Earl of Argyll, the prime mover, to
‘root out and extirpate all of that wicked race.’
To pay the Earl for his trouble the King granted him, for life, the rent from all the
Gregor land he confiscated. But then the King, ‘being a man of kindness and
clemency,’ as he pointed out himself, offered to pardon any Gregor who would bring
in the head of a fellow clansman of his own rank. The traitor would be rewarded with
the dead man’s possessions on condition he renounced the name of the clan and
produced surety for his own obedience of the crown.
On the 24th February 1603 the King issued an Edict that, ‘God cannot be appeased
nor the country relieved of the slander unless that unhappy and detestable race
(Gregors and MacGregors) be rooted out, and never suffered to have rest or remain in
the country hereafter. They shall be prosecuted, hunted and pursued with fire and
sword until they are exterminated.’ This entailed the total extermination of the whole
Clan Gregor, man woman and child. Rewards of £1000 a head were offered for the
capture of Alasdair MacGregor and all his followers, dead or alive.

***

The King and the Privy counsel meditated on the situation. Then, on the 3rd of April
1603, the day before he left Scotland to accede the English throne, James VI issued an
amended version of his Edict. This explained that the decreed extermination of Clan
Gregor need not be in the form of an automatic killing of every man, woman and
child in the clan. But it might be achieved more mercifully by the compulsion of
every man, woman and child – who desired to be left alive – abjuring the names of
Gregor and MacGregor and assuming other names. Those who would not renounce
their clan name must suffer death. To leave no escape-route the Edict rambled on for
page after page, spelling out in detail that anyone who gave food, shelter, transport or
absolutely anything at all to someone bearing a Gregor name – would also be put to
death.
The Privy Council believed that if you had a Gregor name you would act like a
Gregor. So, in ensuing acts over the following years, the names of Clan Gregor were
erased from existence. ‘Babies not yet born will not take a Gregor name – under
penalty of death.’ Any member of the clan could be beaten, robbed or killed without
punishment. ‘To kill a MacGregor is not a crime but is to be encouraged.’ The clans-
folk were assigned to other clans and made to take the new tribes’ name and swear
allegiance to its chief. No more than four ex-Gregors could congregate at any one
time and they were each only allowed to possess one un-pointed knife to cut their
meat. Of those who refused, and were caught, the men were beheaded. There are
many reports of Gregor women being branded on the face, stripped naked and
whipped through the streets. Also reports of women and children either being sold as
slaves in the North American Colonies or forcibly resettled in the Scottish Lowlands.
Further additions to the Acts denied the Gregors the basic necessities of food,
water, shelter, and care for infants and the elderly. They forbade the church to offer
the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, marriage, and last rites. The gentry of
Scotland were encouraged to hunt the Gregors with dogs as if they were common
game. Criminals were urged to sell Gregor heads to the government in exchange for a
pardon for robbery and murder. These Proscriptions and Amendments were issued
continuously over a period of 171 years. To avoid the savage brutality of the Edicts
without swearing allegiance to another clan, many Gregors took on aliases and
hovered in the misty periphery, awaiting their day. One ploy was to add the
diminutive y to Gregor, become Gregor-y, then call yourself Gregri.
Chief Alasdair MacGregor evaded capture for a year after the battle of Glen
Fruin. Then he was caught but managed to escape from a boat carrying him to
Inveraray. But believing it would be only a matter of time before all of his people
were slaughtered he had to make a move. He agreed to hand himself in to the Earl of
Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell, on condition that he was allowed safe conduct to
London to put his side of the story to King James in person. He was sure he could
convince the king that his clan was the innocent party and obtain a royal pardon for
them. As a sign of his good faith he offered 30 of his best warriors to be held as
hostages. Argyll accepted and promised ‘safe conduct out of Scotland.’ But when they
got to Berwick, technically on English soil, Argyll arrested MacGregor and took him
to Edinburgh to stand trial for High Treason. Alasdair made a statement in which he
pointed out that many of the Gregor’s deeds were carried out in the employment of
the Earl of Argyll. But the Earl was the Justice-General of Scotland so the accusation
was dismissed. In January 1604, Alasdair MacGregor, Chief and Laird of MacGregor,
was hanged at Mercat Cross in Edinburgh along with eleven of his warriors. In May
1604 another 25 warriors were hanged. The Earl collected £1,000 a head. Today, the
Heart of Midlothian marks the spot where the Gregor Chief was executed. This
treachery united the entire Highlands in their loathing of the Campbells.
Landless, nameless and hunted, many Gregors remained at large. From their den
near Loch Katrine they continued the business of rustling and protecting. Then, in
1611, James VI ordered a new assault against them and enlisted every able bodied
man between the ages of 16 and 60. He sent them across Loch Lomond in boats then
on towards the Gregor hideaway with orders to, ‘Capture these wolves and thieves in
their own hole.' But a large number of Gregors escaped in a blizzard and laid waste to
Campbell country as far east as Comrie and Fortingall.
The annihilation was not succeeding. Though scattered to the four winds the
Gregors knew who they were and answered the call whenever it came. In 1633 there
were more Gregor uprisings. New ‘Letters of Fire and Sword’ were issued,
authorising reprisals against the clan. Then, in 1642, Civil War erupted with the
English Parliament, backed by the Scottish Covenanters, opposing Charles I. In 1644
the Gregor Chief, Patrick Roy MacGregor, threw in the clan’s hand with Montrose in
support of Charles I. Montrose pledged, in the name of the King, that the Gregor
name and lands would be restored once Cromwell and his allies were defeated. But
Charles I was beheaded in 1649 and Montrose was captured and executed in 1650.
Nevertheless, the Gregors fought Oliver then Richard Cromwell’s men throughout the
Civil War. Then in 1660, with Richard Cromwell gone, Charles II, already King of
Scotland, was welcomed onto the English throne. In 1661, as a reward for the clan’s
loyalty, Charles lifted the Act of Proscription but he wouldn’t give them back the land
in Glen Orchy because John Campbell, Laird of Glen Orchy, was the incumbent, and
Charles was grooming him to counterbalance the power of the Earl of Argyll.
When Charles II died in 1685 his brother was crowned James II of England – VII
of Scotland. James immediately started throwing his weight about so, in 1688-89, was
driven out and replaced by the joint sovereigns William of Orange and his wife, Mary.
That same year James was back in Ireland, raising a Catholic army to help him regain
the throne. The Gregors supported him by joining the Highland revolt in Scotland.
When that petered out they went to swell the ranks in Ireland. William went over the
water too, tackling James head on and defeating him at the Battle of the Boyne. James
fled to France but the Gregors fought-on to the bitter end.
When William called on the Highland chiefs to take the oath of Allegiance, the
Gregors and MacDonalds refused. As a punishment the proscription was re-imposed
and the Gregors became nameless and landless outlaws again. To avoid the same fate
the MacDonald chief took the oath, but Sir John Dalrymple, wanting to make an
example, suppressed the information and ordered the Campbells to kill every
MacDonald under the age of 70. The Campbells obliged at Glencoe, but the Gregors
still wouldn’t sign. Instead, they rallied again for the Rising of 1715 when the
Jacobites attempted to put James II’s son, James Edward – the Old Pretender, on the
throne. That ended in tears at Sheriffmuir and Preston. Still, in 1745 the Gregors were
back in action for Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender. That came to a head at
Culloden when the Jacobites were finally annihilated. But, with the war lost, the
surviving Gregors marched off the field with their banner held high. The persecution
of the clan finally ended in 1774, during the reign of George III, when the
proscription against them was repealed.
The most famous son of the clan is Rob Roy MacGregor who was born near Loch
Katrine in 1671. Because of the Proscription he couldn’t use his real name so he went
under is mother’s maiden name, which, ironically, was Campbell. He was a great
swordsman and soldier and fought against William of Orange in the Battle of the
Boyne when he was 18. He was also an astute businessman and master of the
Highland protection racket – insuring livestock against rustlers. As an outlaw he hid
on the Earl, now Duke, of Argyll’s land, much of which was originally stolen from
the Gregors. He died in 1734 – peacefully at home. Rob Roy was immortalised in a
novel by Sir Walter Scott who, well acquainted with all the facts and with the law,
loved and vindicated Clan Gregor, which inspired him to write:

MacGregor’s Gathering
The moon's on the lake, and the mist's on the brae,
And the Clan has a name that is nameless by day;
Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach.
.
If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles,
Give our roofs to the flame, and our flesh to the eagles!
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Grigalach.
.
While there's leaves in the forest, and foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them, shall flourish for ever ...

Sir Walter Scott.

***

For nearly 300 years the Campbells, with the help of sycophants and backing of
monarchs, hounded the Gregors and stole their estates. Then along with the
Colquhouns they set them up and pushed them until their reaction gave the King and
Privy Council an excuse to outlaw them. That went on for a further 171 years.
Draconian Edicts deprived them of their land and name. The most severe and cruel
laws imaginable were executed against them with unheard-of rigour. During this time
their persecution by monarchs, the Privy Council and some of their fellow
countrymen, though on a smaller scale, equals the nightmare of African Slavery.
Their ethnic cleansing, carried out with fervour and rigour, ranks with any since the
end of the Second World War. But they had resilience and a determination to survive
that won them admirers and helpers among their fellow Highlanders. So still they
flourish.
Maybe that clash with the Colquhouns in 1603 decided the fate of the Gregors,
but no regrets. For the Pipe Tune of the clan is still The Rout of Glen Fruin. No cries
here for compensation or pointless apologies. For with the dignity of a Royal Race
who became the Children of the Mist they adopted a line from their admirer, Sir
Walter Scott, and wear it like a badge of honour on T-shirts and the like – ‘Despite
Them ...’ Yes, despite them, in 1953 the clan was given a place of honour in the escort
that carried the Honours of Scotland before the monarch at the Coronation of Queen
Elizabeth. And the name’s Gregory – Charlie Gregory, a third or fourth generation
Mancunian.
 http:// www.poet-on-a-hill.blogspot.com

To hear the music of Clan Gregor follow the link below

http://www.cupboard-full-of-skeletons.blogspot.com
then follow The Music of Clan Gregor and click on the musical notes.

Bibliography
www.houseofnames.com
www.fleurdelis.com
Oxford Ancestors. Tribes of Britain Analysis
www.familytreedna.com
MacGregor DNA Project at www.clangregor.org
www.heartofscotland.com
Google Book Search
MacCorkills Scottish at www.geocities.com
Highlanders of Scotland at www.electricscotland.com
Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopaedia by George Way and Romilly Squire.
www.heartofscotland.com
P J Lawrie FSA-Scot at www.broughtysands.co.uk
Forays and Rebellions by John L Roberts
Encyclopaedia of Scotland, edited by John and Julia Keay
The Conflict in Glenfruin at www.ScotWars.com