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Chief Fergus Day Hort Macdowall of Garthland

Patron of the Kyle Family Society

 

 

 

 

Chief Macdowall has confirmed that he will accept Kyle families in the the Macdowall Clan, if they so wish, as variants of the Coull Sept.

 

The Macdowall Clan does not have an independent Society but Macdowalls generally join the MacDougal Clan and participate at games together with them. Chief Macdowall is an honorary President of the MacDougal Society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chief Macdowall of Garthland & Lady Macdowall of Garthland (above)

 

 

 

The Family of Macdowall

by Chief Macdowall

  
 
According to the Garthland "Greenbook" the Macdowalls (M'Doualls, McDowells, Makdougalls, etc.),  descended in ancient Galloway from their eponymic Duegald de Gallouyia (k.1185) the second son of Uchtred Lord of Galloway the elder son of  "Prince Fergus" (1096-1169), the first native feudal Lord of Galloway under DAVID I, and his wife Elizabeth, a daughter of HENRY I of England.  Duegald's lineal successor, Sir Dougal MacDougall, or MacDowyll in the Ragman Roll (1296) of EDWARD I of England, received a confirmatory charter to the lands of Garochloyne, Lougan and Eldrig from JOHN I (Balliol) of Scotland in 1295.  This Sir Dougal and his heirs of two more generations led the defending forces of Galloway in the name of the Balliol Crown of Scotland from 1306 until 1357 upon the return from captivity of DAVID II with whom they had defended Scotland in 1347 at the battle of Neville's Cross where they were also captured.  A grandson of Sir Dougal, Sir Fergus Macdougall, later of Makerston, also fought, was wounded, captured and ransomed in 1402 at the battle of Homildon Hill.  His nephew, the Head of the Family- Thomas Macdowall, received a charter to the old family lands on the Rhinns of Galloway with the caput baroniae of Garochloyne or Garthland in 1414, shortly after which the Feudal Baronies of Logan, Makerston and Freuch (Freugh) were recorded.  The original family archives were lost to EDWARD I of England to ROBERT and Edward Bruce and to Sir Archibald Douglas as new Lords of Galloway, and there was a further loss in the burning of Castle Balzieland of Patrick M'Douall of Logan in 1500.
 
Uchtred Macdowall of Garthland and his heir Thomas, together with Charles McDouall of Logan, Gilbert Macdowall of Freugh, the Laird of Makerston and most male relations, were killed with JAMES IV at the battle of Flodden in 1513.  John Macdowall of Garthland and Corswall and Fergus McDouall of Freugh were killed at the battle of Pinkie in 1547.  The widely reputed Chief Uchtred Macdowall of Garthland and Uchtred the younger, defended cadet stirps in a feud with cousins, the Gordons of Lochinvar and they were drawn into the Gowrie conspiracy of 1582 against JAMES VI who later made warrant to delete their summons.  The younger Uchtred then married Janet Gordon of Lochinvar and in 1598 he beseiged the Kennedy Earl of Cassilis to obtain legal terms on feud properties the Earl had claimed by force of arms.
 
In 1613 Sir John Macdowall of Garthland, in the court of JAMES VI, petitioned for the restoration of the Lordship of Galloway that had been dormant in the Crown since the Douglas attainder in 1455, which was then achieved by his first cousin, Sir Alexander Stewart Lord Garlies as Earl of Galloway.  Sir John's son Sir James, a Commissioner of the Estates and an M.P. in 1644, raised men to suppress the Irish rebellion as did Alexander McDouall of Logan and Uchtred McDouall of Freugh and he took a force of the Scots army to relieve CHARLES I outside Newark where he was knighted in 1647.  John McDouall of Freugh was a high Royalist in support of CHARLES I and escaped from capture but his house "Balgreggan" and his fortalice "Castle MacDougall" were  burnt with their records.  His grandson Patrick McDouall of Logan lost the Barony to John Graham of Claverhouse ("Bonnie Dundee") in protest to his martial law but it was recovered by his son Patrick with a charter to the "Barony of McDougall alias Freugh" in 1707.
 
William Macdowall of Garthland, M.P. under WILLIAM and MARY, lost his family archives when lent to Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh whose house Preston Hall and all in it were destroyed by fire in 1686.  In 1725 Patrick McDouall of Logan married the Crichton heiress, Countess of Dumfries, which led to the listing of Freugh Macdowalls as collaterals of the Stuart Marquess of Bute.  Similarly, the Macdowells or Makdougalls of Makerston became latent in 1722 when the heiress married Sir George Hay (Hay-Makdougall) whose heiress-granddaughter married Lieut. Gen. Sir Thomas Brisbane of that Ilk (Brisbane-Makdougall), 6th Governor of New South Wales, followed by their Aunt Ann Makdougall who married John Scott of Gala, and the Barony of Makerston was lost.  After Peter Macdowall of Machermore disponed Cruggleton castle of ancient Galloway in 1606, that Barony also faded out. 
 
Col. William Macdowall of Castlesemple, brother of Patrick in the Garthland family who died at the battle of Ramilies after taking supplies to relieve the Darien Expedition, brought the West Indian sugar trade to Scotland in 1725.  His seven grandsons included William Macdowall of Garthland and Castlesemple, M.P. in five Reform Parliaments and King's Lieut. of Renfrewshire (1793-1810); James, Provost of Glasgow; Gen. Hay Macdowall, conqueror of Ceylon and Commander-in-Chief of the army in India and Day Hort Macdowall whose son, Lieut. Gen. Day Hort Macdowall of Garthland and Castlesemple, Col. of 'The Buffs', was followed by his nephew Capt. Day Hort Macdowall, M.P. for Prince Albert, Sask., Canada, who helped to subdue the Riel Rebellion; he died not long before the McDoualls of Logan, Andrew and Nigel, who developed the Logan Botanical Garden but left that Feudal Barony dormant.  His Grandson, Professor Fergus Day Hort Macdowall, former Research Scientist in Government of Canada, Ottawa, matriculated at the Lyon Court in 1987 as the Laird and Baron of the Feudal Baronies of Garthland and Castlesemple, Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdowall.  He was born in and retired to Victoria, B.C., Canada but retains the site of Garthland Castle (1211) at Garthland Mains nr. Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland and the substitute estate of Garthland with seat at Barr Castle nr. Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
 
Tartan:  MacDowall, Hunting Stewart or Galloway        

Motto: Vincere Vel Mori  (To Conquer or Die)

 

23rd June 2005

I thank you and the Board of Directors of the Kyle family Society who on behalf of your officers and Members have paid me the high compliment of recognizing me as the Patron of your Society.

This conclusion is founded on our mutual antiquity in the South-West of Scotland and on the patronym shared by our Septs. The honour you have given to my House of ancient Galloway is magnified by the neighborly precedence of your ancestral Strathclyde Britons throughout ancient Cumbria.

Your "Commemorative Certificate" to me is a grand heraldic matriculation that I should like to value as an historic achievement for us all.

I am most grateful for your kind thoughts and I look forward to our collaborating at Scottish Games and related events.

Yours Very Sincerely

Macdowall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The December 2013 Issue of The Tartan newsletter of the Clan MacDougall Society of North America carried our article on the Kyle names and their connection to Clan MacDowall.
 
 
Scott MacDougald
VP for Canada
Clan MacDougall Society of North America

 

 

 

1

The Names Coull, McCoul, Cole, Coyle, and Kyle in Clan MacDowall

The names Coull, McCoul, Cole, Coyle, and Kyle, with or without the Mac, Mc, or M’ prefix, are found within Clan MacDowall. Some of these names are more ancient than the name Macdowall itself, and some appear in other clans and families also, especially in Clan MacDougall.

Coull, McCoul may have arisen as phonetic spelling variations of Macdowall and these families have always been part of the clan. In some cases families came from elsewhere to live within the Macdowall territories in Galloway. A Clan Chief has the traditional power to accept such local families to be his followers and full members of his clan. In this later group are the Names Coyle, Cole and Kyle as variously spelled.

Depending on ancient or local dialects and accents, a single surname may have more than one pronunciation today. Some of these pronunciations include:

1. Those rhyming with the word coil, typical of the names Coile, Coyl, Coyle or MacCoyle etc. and sometimes a local pronunciation of the name Kyle in the UK and Ireland.

2. Those rhyming with the word cool, typical of the names Coull or McCoul.

3. Those rhyming with the word soul typical of the names Cole or Coles and sometimes Coull.

4. Those rhyming with the word style typical of the names Cyll or Kyle in North America and Australia

There is an independent Kyle Family Society based in the US with a web site at: www.kylesociety.org. Chief Fergus Macdowall is the Patron of the Kyle Family Society. In its Society name, the Kyle Family Society uses the surname "Kyle" for simplicity to encompass all variations of its surname spellings and pronunciations. The Society has members with several origins and spellings of the surname. Surname spellings and their variations include:

Cael, Caeles, Caelus, Caelius, Cill, Cil, Coales, Coales, Coel, Coelius, Cole, Cola, Coil, Coile, Coils, Coilius, Colees, Coles, Coleye, Colles, Collye, Colye, Cooals, Cooils, Cooles, Cooyles, Cooyell, Cooylles, Coull, Coyl, Coyles, Coyll, Coylle, Coylles, Coyls, Cyll, Kaal, Kaale, Kail, Kaile, Kaul, Kayle, Kayll, Keil, Kile, Koil, Koile, Koiles, Koill, Koyel, Koyl, Kuyle, Kyolle, Kyle, Kyll, Kylle and others.

In 2005 Clan Chief Fergus Macdowall confirmed that Kyle families and their surname variations, if they so wish, will be accepted as clan members as variants of the Coull, McCoul, etc. name of the Clan MacDowall. As members of Clan MacDowall these families are eligible to join the Clan MacDougall Society of North America and to participate in its games, parades, and other activities.

The Kyle Family Society is focused on members of Scots or Scots/Irish descent, most of whom probably trace their lineage back to the District of Kyle in Ayrshire which is located just to the north of Galloway in southwest Scotland. It seems that at least some of these Kyle families took their surname from that local District of Kyle. There are two leading explanations for how the District of Kyle obtained its name. According to a local tradition, the name derives from the ancient King Coel Hen, popularly known as Old King Cole who appears to have ruled in the early 5th century. However another explanation is that the District of Kyle seems to have anciently been covered with forest, so the District of Kyle may very probably have got its name from the Celtic coille, "a wood". The local population was confluent with the 2

north of Wales and their language was the northern Celtic Brythonic language similar to Welsh Gaelic, so either explanation is possible.

Centuries of invasions by Northumbrians, Vikings, and Scots caused the population to disperse widely. Kyles endured much hard fortune in the centuries of border disputes, religious wars, and other troubles that afflicted Scotland and particularly the Lowlands.

Many Kyles hoped to find opportunity by emigrating to nearby Ireland but often found more hardship there. Many migrated further, primarily to the US, Canada and Australia --- often after a stay of generations in Ireland. During these turbulent centuries some most likely found their way into or out of the Macdowall feudal territories in adjacent Galloway. They are welcome members of Clan MacDowall as advocated by the famed Scottish heraldic genealogist Hugh Peskett. Pictured below in his Kyle tartan is Jaeame Koyil, the founding President of the Kyle Family Society which represents the ancient Kingdom of the Strathclyde Britons, and Chief Fergus Macdowall in two of the tartans his clansmen may wear.

By Scott MacDougald and Jaeame Koyil and

Clan Chief Fergus Macdowall of Garthland

 

 

Fergus Macdowall of Garthland and Jaeame Koyil (above)