This
west coast clan takes it name from Somerled's son, Dougall, who
held most of Argyll, Mull, Lismore, Jura, Tiree, Coll and many
other islands.
The
name comes from the Gaelic 'dubh-gall', meaning 'black stranger'.
Dougall
became the self-styled King of the South Isles and Lord of Lorne
and his son, Duncan and grandson, Ewan built castles incuding
Dunstaffnage, Dunollie (see photo) and Duntrune. Dunollie was
to become the chief seat and Duncan also built Ardchattan Priory
on the banks or Loch Etive (see photo), burial site of the clan
chiefs until 1737.
Ewan
remained loyal to both the King of Norway and the King of the
Scots until he attacked a viking fleet near Mull to save him from
ultimate disaster in Scotland.
The
MacDougalls, like many other clans, had conflicts with the Campbells.
Red Comyn, who was brother-in-law to the fourth MacDougall chief
was stabbed by Robert the Bruce in Dumfries in 1306, starting
a bloody feud between the Bruce family and the MacDougalls. After
the Bruce's coronation, the King retreated from an English invasion,
en route to a Campbell safe haven, straight into a MacDougall
ambush. The king escaped but left behind a great treasure which
was to become known as the 'Brooch of Lorne'. After another brutal
ambush on the King's army, the Bruce forfeited the MacDougall
lands which mostly passed to the loyal Campbells. The MacDougalls
had lost their islands forever but regained most of their mainland
estates when Euan MacDougall married Bruce's granddaughter.
The
twenty-second chief of the MacDougalls, Ian Clar, was forced into
exile after fighting in the 1715 rising, returning to Scotland
to live as a fugitive until 1727 when he was pardoned. His son,
Alexander, built a more modern house behind the chief seat of
Dunollie Castle, just outside Oban. This was extended in the mid
1800's by the twenty-fifth chief, Vice Admiral Sir John MacDougall
of MacDougall, a distinguished Naval man who was instrumental
in the development of the town of Oban (see photo) as a sea port.
