Gillies (McBain) MacBean (bef. 1700 - 1746)

Born before 1700 in Inverness-shire, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 16 Apr 1746 after age 46 in Battle of Culloden

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Biography

Gillies (McBain) MacBean is a member of Clan MacBean.

Gillies 'Mor' MacBean was the 2nd son of William MacBean of Kinchyle 13th Chief of the Clan MacBean and his wife Jean Mackintosh daughter of Donald Mackintosh of Kyllachy and his wife Jean Dunbar. ^[1]

Gillies was married to a daughter of Macpherson, tacksman of Lonie in Petty, and by her he left with other issue a son, Donald.^[1]

Gillies famously died a heroic death at the Battle of Culloden, 16th April 1746, after he is alleged in different accounts to have killed 12-14 men alone.

He was the senior Major in Lady Anne Mackintosh's Regiment - the main Clan Chattan regiment in the Jacobite army. A famous portrait of him at Culloden, published in James Logan's 1845 book 'The Clans of the Scottish Highlands', was illustrated from an original sketch by artist R. R. McIan, who provided all of the other portraits in Logan's book. A copy is attached to this Wikitree profile.

The year after Walter Scott's book 'Waverley' appeared, Lord Byron re-worked an English translation, by an (as yet) unknown translator, of an original elegy written in Gaelic, and produced this poem set to music by Dr Clark Whitfield late of Cambridge, about GILLIES MACBAlN . Byron did not publish this poem.^[2][3]

"The clouds may pour down on Culloden's red plain,

But their waters shall flow o'er its crimson in vain,

For their drops shall seem few to the tears for the slain,

But mine are for thee, my brave Gillies MacBain!

"Though thy cause was the cause of the injured and brave;

Though thy death was the hero's and glorious thy grave,

My sad heart bleeds o're thee, my Gillies MacBain!

"How the horse and the horseman thy single hand slew!

But what could the mightiest single arm do?

A hundred like thee might the battle regain;

But cold are thy hand and heart, Gillies MacBain!

"With thy back to the wall and thy breast to the targe,

Full flashed thy claymore in the face of their charge:

The blood of their boldest that barren turf stain,

But, Alas! Thine is reddest thee, Gillies MacBain!

"Hewn down, but still battling, thou sunk'st on the ground -

Thy plaid was one gore, and thy breast was one wound;

Thirteen of thy foes by thy right hand lay slain

Oh! Would they were thousands for Gillies MacBain!

"Oh! Loud and long heard shall thy coronach be,

And high o'er the heather thy cairn we shall see;

And deep in all bosoms thy name shall remain

But deepest in mine, dearest Gillies MacBain!

"And daily the eyes of thy brave boy before

Shall thy plaid be unfolded, unsheathed the claymore;

And the white rose shall bloom on his bonnet again

Should he prove the true son of my Gillies MacBain!"

Research Notes

I have e-mail contacts that have outlined the the references in the Peerage may be incorrect around the lineage of Gillies MacBean.

Gillies may be the son of William MacBean of Kinchyle 13th Chief and his wife Jean Mackintosh daughter of Donald Mackintosh of Kyllachy.

Wikipedia has the following reference:

"The 12th chief of Clan MacBean was Paul MacBean who due to heavy debts was forced to give up his lands in about 1685.[4] However, the lands were re-granted in the same year by Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor (Calder) to Paul's son William MacBean in Kinchyle.[23] William's elder son Aeneas MacBean succeeded him, followed by Aeneas's nephew Captain Donald MacBean, son of his younger brother Gillies MacBean, who became famous as a result of his exploits at Culloden (see below).[23][24][25]"

• [23] Fraser-Mackintosh, Charles. (1898). Minor Septs of Clan Chattan.
• [24] Mackintosh, Alexander M. (1903) The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan.
• [25] McBain of McBain, Hughston. A Brief History of Clan McBain.

From Minor Septs of Clan Chattan:

Eneas, the eldest son, married, 1711, Isobel Mackenzie, daughter of Roderick Mackenzie of Redcastle. A post-nuptial contract was entered into in 1718, having the name of Gillies Macbean, brother of Eneas, as one of the witnesses. Dying without issue, he was. succeeded by <Gillies>. ^[4]

Gillies, who does not seem to have served heir to his brother. This Gillies, described as "in Bunachton," and latterly " in Dalmagarry," was a Major in the regiment of Clan Chattan in the '45, and a man of great note and strength. Many authentic anecdotes of his prowess at Culloden are preserved. For instance, when the Campbells pulled down a piece of stone wall forming a protection to the Highlanders, he threw himself into the breach made, and, barricading the passage, killed fourteen men before he fell. Another historian says that Major Gillies Macbean was killed at the first dyke west of the field. By his wife, Miss Macpherson of Dounie, in Petty, he left at least one son, a minor.^[4]

Donald, who on attaining manhood, entered Simon Fraser of Lovat's first regiment, raised in 1757, and was appointed Lieutenant. He was served heir to his uncle Eneas in 1759^[4]

From The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan:

William m. Jean, dau. of Donald Mackintosh of Kyllachy (cont. 23 Dec. 1688) with issue Aeneas, Gillies, William, Donald and John and at least three daughters. Aeneas, elder son, was a captain in Mackintosh's regiment in 1715. He m. in 1718 Isobel, dau. of Rod. Mackenzie of Redcastle, with issue on dau. Margaret, who on 22 July 1765 is served heir "of provision" to her father under his marriage-contract.I have been unable to find the date of Aeneas' death, but h probably survived the '45^[1]

Gillies "Mor," his brother, who died bravely at Culloden, and whose fame has been sung by Byron, is sometimes said to have succeeded at Kinchyle, but no real ground appears for the statement, and in confirmation of his will on 4 Nov 1746 he is described as son to Kinchyle and late tacks man of Bunachaton "at the time of his decease, which was upon the 16th April 1746, when he had his family domicile at Dalmagerry within the parochial of Moy"...... The wife of Gillies was a dau. of Macpherson, tacks man of Lonie in Petty, and by her he left with other issue a son, Donald.^[1]

Donald - successor to his uncle in Kinchyle - who in 1757 obtained a commission in the first regiment raised by Hon Simon Fraser, with which he served in North America.^[1]

Sullivan-19095 2:00, 13 Dec 2022 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Mackintosh, A. M.. The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, Edinburgh, 1903 pp 486-487
2. ↑ Mackintosh of Farr Papers - NLS MS.9853-9855. The wording of the poem in this collection has slight differences from the often published version
3. ↑ 'Byron's Poems about Scotland' - edited by Peter Cochran [1]
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Fraser-Mackintosh, Charles. Minor Septs of Clan Chattan, An Account of The Confederation of Clan Chattan; It's Kith and Kin, 1898. pp 33-34

• Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. page 2454 of Volume 2.

• The Peerage - A Genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe. Person - 640301 (Page 64031) [2]