Mor Coriachlich Shaw (abt. 1341 - abt. 1405)

Born about 1341 in Scotland

Descendants

Died about 1405 at about age 64 in Doune, Scotland

Biography

Mor Coriachlich Shaw is a member of Clan Shaw.

As a reward for his success at Perth Shaw received from his grateful kinsman the duchus or right of occupancy of the lands of Rothimurcus in Badenoch, which had been held by the Mackintoshes under the Bishops of Moray from 1236. " Lauchlan gave to Shaw the possession of the lands of Rothimurcus for the valour he showed that day against his enemies." Shaw's posterity continued in possession of the lands for some generations, acquiring in the time of his grandson a stronger right to them than that of mere occupancy, as we shall see. In fact the family were so closely identified with the district that they are generally known even at the present clay as the Shaws of Rothimurcus, and their doings in bygone days have furnished a great part of the subject matter of the local tradition.

According to the Rev. Lachlan Shaw, the wife of Shaw Mor was a daughter of Macpherson of Cluny, but the Mackintosh MSS. say that her father was Robert MacAlister vie Aonas — who, however, may have been an ancestor of the Macphersons of Cluny. The reverend historian's account of the early history of the Shaws is not altogether to be relied upon, and some of his most important statements are made without the slightest fragment of authority except that of tradition. His account will be specially examined hereafter.

Shaw Mor died in 1405, and his grave is still pointed out in the churchyard of the Parish of Rothimurcus, near the last resting places of many of his descendants. It is covered by a large slab, which in the course of years has sunk almost below the level of the surrounding ground ; and it has long been marked by four large round stones, indicating the extent of the " narrow house," in accordance with the ancient fashion from which, probably, the cairn took its rise. These stones are said by tradition to be under the special protection of the Boclach an Duine, the friendly family spirit of the Shaws ; and the Rev. William George Shaw of Forfar, in his Memorials of Clan Shaw, relates several interesting stories told by people of the district concerning attempts to move the stones from their place. Some of these stories show evidence of a kindly feeling on the part of the present possessors of Rothimurcus for the memory of their predecessors. Mr. Shaw writes as follows concerning the part of the churchyard in which Shaw Mor lies among his descendants : —

" The burying ground of the Shaws has ever remained separate and distinct in the Churchyard of Rothimurcus. They have still a heritage in Speyside, but it is the heritage of a tomb. The rough slab which covers the grave of Coriacalich (sic) lies in the centre of a group of the graves of his kindred. None but Shaws have ever been buried there, and there are few now remaining in the district to be buried, when they die, beside the dust of Coriacalich. The name has now well nigh died out. The soil, however, was disturbed a few weeks ago to receive the mortal remains of a Shaw from Glenfeshie. No written title exists, on which the race could found, to prove their claim to the proprietorship of this burial place ; but there it remains, at the eastern end of the church of St. Tuchaldus, an impressive witness to the reality of their bygone history. It is said that in days gone by, when an old patriarch of the Grant family, who had enclosed a sepulchre for himself at the corner in the Churchyard farthest removed from the Shaws' burying-ground, was asked his reason for building it at such a distance, his reply was that 'he was an old man, and that at the resurrection he would require to get the start of the Shaws. They had never agreed in life, and he was sure they would not agree then.' " »

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