Clan Cameron Crest, Tartans and History
The motto of Clan Cameron is "Aonaibh ri cheile" ; Gaelic roughly translating to "Unite" or "Let us unite" This motto, unlike the case with other clans, is heavily associated with the clan's crest.
The crest of Clan Cameron consists of a sheaf of five arrows with the points upwards drawn "proper" (this is realistically) and tied with a "band Gules" (a red colored ribbon or belt). The crest symbolizes the unification of the five branches of the clan. According to tradition, the clan also has a very powerful war cry; "Chlanna nan con thigibh a' so 's gheibh sibh feòil!" which means "Sons of the hounds, Come here and get flesh!" Again we see a theme of a unified group.
What is the story behind the Cameron crest and motto?
According to clan historians, there are actually two different crests a clan member may wear to show affiliation. The original, and presumably older design is the "dexter arm" crest (dexter is the Hraldic term for right-side as opposed to sinister which means left side) and the crest oif five bound arrows mentioned above. This crest dates back to sometime before 1745 and seems to have become the more popular choice. In the mid-18th century, the Camerons of Lochiel successfully allied five different groups:
1) MacMartins or Camerons of Letterfinlay
2) Camerons of Glen Nevis
3) Camerons of Callart and Lundavra
4) Camerons of Erracht
5) Camerons of Clunes
Many theories surround the name of Cameron. One likely explanation is that the first Chief, Donald Dubh, was descended from the medieval family of Cameron of Ballegarno in Fife.
Donald, thought to have been born around 1400, was the first to unify a number of tribes after marrying an heiress to the Macmartins of Letterfinley. Though de facto clan chiefs, he and his descendants simply called themselves “captains” of the confederated clan.
The Camerons had a long-running feud with the Mackintoshes which began under the twelfth chief, Alan Macdonald Dugh. In the early 16th century, Allan’s son Ewan Macallan was granted a charter to form a barony from the various clan lands around Lochiel thus solidifying the Clan.
The church at Cilachoireil, Roy Bridge, is one of the last sites of six chapels erected by Ewan Macallan in remembrance of his eldest son who died young. Ewan is also known for his revolt supporting the heir to the Lordship of the Isles. It failed and Ewan was executed. As a result, the great war hero Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe (Black Tailor of the Axe) took charge of the clan while the sixteenth chief was still in his minority. Clan Cameron today includes many of his descendants, bearing the name of Taylor.
The Clan was always involved with Scottish freedom. Sir Edwin, born in 1629, was chief during the Civil War and fought against the Parliamentarian forces. He was knighted by the Duke of York in 1682. In 1689 he fought alongside Dundee at the Battle of Killiecrankie in support of King James VII. He is one of the most beloved of the Cameron chiefs.
Edwin’s grandson ‘Gentle Lochiel’ worked hard to improve the lives of the common clansmen and was a pivotal figure during the Forty-Five Uprising. A staunch Jacobite, Lochiel was one of the first and most influential chiefs to swear loyalty to Bonnie Prince Charlie. Cameron forces were a powerful part of the Jacobite army. Yet when the Uprising was crushed after Culloden, Lochiel felt betrayed by the prince and blamed himself forever after for trusting him. Understandable, since Cameron lands were forfeited, their houses burned and their cattle all shot or driven off. The stone gable of the old Chief’s house, destroyed by the English, still stands on the grounds of the present House of Achnacarry on the banks of the Arkaig.
Clan Cameron is naturally known also for the Cameron Highlanders, the famous regiment first raised by Alan Cameron of Erracht in 1793. Various forms of the Regiment have served in most British conflicts since including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimea, World War I and World War II.
The ancestral seat of the Camerons is Achnacarry Castle, a 19th-century 'Scottish Baronial' style mansion on the historic Achnacarry Estate in Scotland.
