The cat is a wildcat.

Famous MacBeans

The MacBean clan has many heroes and heroines to be proud of. Here are just a few:

King Donald Bane III of Scotland (Donald the Fair) (1033-1097) our 30th. Great Grandfather

Domnall mac Donnchada or Domnall Bán (Donald III) was the second known son of Donnchad mac Crínáin.        .

Domnall's activities during the reign of his elder brother Máel Coluim are not recorded. It appears that he was not his brother's chosen heir, contrary to earlier custom, but that Máel Coluim had designated Edward, his eldest son by Margaret, as the king to come. If this was Máel Coluim's intent, his death and that of Edward on campaign in Northumbria in November 1093 confounded his plans. These deaths were followed very soon afterwards by that of Queen Margaret.

John of Fordun reports that Domnall invaded the kingdom after Margaret's death "at the head of a numerous band", and laid siege to Edinburgh with Máel Coluim and Margaret's sons inside. Fordun has Edgar Ætheling, concerned for his nephews' well-being, take the sons of Máel Coluim and Margaret to England.

In May 1094, Domnall's nephew Donnchad, son of Máel Coluim and his first wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, invaded at the head of an army of Anglo-Normans and Northumbrians, aided by his half-brother Edmund and his father-in-law Gospatric. This invasion succeeded in placing Donnchad on the throne, but an uprising defeated his allies and he was compelled to send away his foreign troops. Donnchad was killed on 12 November 1094 by Máel Petair, Mormaer of Mearns. The Annals of Ulster say that Donnchad was killed on the orders of Domnall (incorrectly called his brother) and Edmund.

Domnall resumed power, probably with Edmund as his designated heir. Domnall was an elderly man by the standards of the day, approaching sixty years old, and without any known sons, so that an heir was clearly required. William of Malmesbury says that Edmund bargained "for half the kingdom", suggesting that Domnall granted his nephew an appanage to rule.

Edgar, eldest of Máel Coluim and Margaret's exiled sons, obtained the support of William Rufus, although other matters delayed Edgar's return on the coat-tails of an English army led by his uncle Edgar Ætheling. Domnall's fate is not entirely clear. William of Malmesbury tells us that he was "slain by the craftiness of David ... and by the strength of William [Rufus]". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says of Domnall that he was expelled, while the Annals of Tigernach have him blinded by his brother. John of Fordun, following the king-lists, writes that Domnall was "blinded, and doomed to eternal imprisonment" by Edgar. The place of his imprisonment was said to be Rescobie, by Forfar, in Angus. The sources differ as to whether Domnall was first buried at Dunfermline Abbey or Dunkeld Cathedral, but agree that his remains were later moved to Iona.

While no sons of Domnall are known, Hextilda, daughter of Domnall's daughter Bethóc, married Richard Comyn, Justiciar of Lothian. The claims of John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch to the crown in the Great Cause came from Domnall through Bethóc and Hextilda. Ladhmann son of Domnall, "grandson of the King of Scots", who died in 1116 might have been a son of Domnall.

Gillies MacBain

Brewer or innkeeper, Major Gillies MacBean stands out as one of the most valiant figures on the Culloden battlefield. Six feet seven inches in height, and armed with claymore and target, he was a formidable figure. When the Argyll militia broke down a wall on the right, which enabled the dragoons to attack the flank of the Highland army, MacBean set himself at the gap, and cut down man after man as they came through. Thirteen in all, including Lord Robert Ker, had fallen under his strokes, and when the enraged enemy closed round him in numbers, he set his back to the wall and proceeded to sell his life as dearly as possible. An English officer, struck by his heroism, called to the soldiers to "save that brave man," but at that moment the heroic Major fell, his thigh bone broken, a dreadful sword cut on his head, and his body pierced with many bayonet wounds. His widow is said to have composed a pathetic lament to his memory—Mo run geal oig, "My fair young beloved." His fate was also enshrined in a set of verses which appeared in a northern periodical and have been attributed to Lord Byron.

Lord Byron, a British Poet wrote:

"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!"

Major-General William MacBean

A marble bust is on display in Inverness Town House, on the staircase, on the right hand side of the landing. The inscription reads:

"Major General William Macbean V.C. 93rd Sutherland Highlanders. Born at Inverness January 1819. Died at Woolwich 22nd June 1878. Who served with great distinction at the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. Presented to the Town in 1897 by the family of his brother the late Dean of Guild James Macbean."

William Macbean enlisted as a young man in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, the regiment he remained with until he retired. He spent fifteen or sixteen years in the ranks as a non-commissioned officer. In 1854, while serving in the Crimea, he was raised to the rank of ensign. At Varnia he was in charge of the wounded men when he successfully intervened in a dispute between French and Turkish troops. He was awarded the 'Order of Medjidie' by the Sultan.

Macbean served at the siege of Sebastapol. In India he was honoured with the Victoria Cross for his actions at the main breach of the Begum Bagh at Lucknow in 1858, where he single-handedly killed eleven of the enemy. In 1973 he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and on his retirement in 1877 he was accorded the rank of Major General.

Major Forbes MacBean

Major-General and Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII. Earned the Distinguished Service Order for his bravery in 1897 when fighting for the Gordon Highlanders when taking the heights of Dargai in Afghanistan.


Commander Alan Bean

An American astronaut, commanded Appollo XII to the Moon, in 1969. He took a Clan MacBean tartan on his journey to the moon and back eventually gave the tartan to the Clan. A small portion was also attached to one of Alan's paintings (Clan MacBean Arrives on the Moon, pictured below) and he presented it to the Clan at its 1996 Gathering. There is also a small portion that hangs in Scotland commemorating the event.

Marnie MacBean

Made Olympic history along with her rowing partner, Kathleen Heddle, in 1996 for Canada when they became the first Canadians in any Olympic sport to win three gold medals.


Doug MacLaren

Climbed Mt. Everest in 2001 and placed a piece of the Clan tartan at the top of the world. Doug is cousin to Marnie McBean. As he stood on the top of the mountain he said:

Tartans

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