Synopsis "The McLanes - The Origin of the Clan"
"The McLanes - A New Hampshire Clan" was published in December of 2015. That book presented the history of the McLane Clan from their arrival in the US in 1854 through to the present day. This book traces the ancestry of immigrant Alexander McLean (c1816-1854) and how the McLane family ties back into the ancient MacLean Clan in Scotland. The genealogy of the early Clan MacLean is presented here, and in particular, the genealogy of the Chiefs of MacLean that lead to the MacLean/McLean Chieftains of Treshnish, from whom the McLanes of this study are descended. A thorough study is given of the House of Treshnish and the generations preceding Alexander (c1816-1854) that are descended from that house. The five generations before Alexander would span roughly the period 1655 to 1800. In that period the Clan lost all their lands in Scotland. The Clan fought at Inverkeithing and was decimated to the point that they could not protect their homeland of Mull. The Clan fought on the losing side for Bonny Prince Charlie. The result of these two events was the MacLean/McLean Diaspora that sent Clan members throughout the world. Those three historical events have had major impacts on the New Hampshire McLane family. This book places the McLane ancestors into those and other historic events, and to look at how the family was shaped because of them. A complicating factor in a MacLean genealogy is that inter-clan marriages were the norm, rather than the exception. There were many MacLean/McLean chieftains, that were sub-chiefs under the Chief MacLean of Duart or Lochbuie, that owned or controlled property stretching from Inverness, down throughout the Great Glen, Lorn, Knapdale, Mull, Tiree, Coll, Muck, and many smaller islands off the western shore of Scotland. These chieftains can all be trace back to various Chiefs of MacLean. The families of those chieftains intermarried on a regular basis. So, the McLanes genealogy will trace back to multiple Chiefs of the MacLeans, both Duart and Lochbuie, through several chieftains of the derivative families. The intermarrying was so common and so complicated that it is nearly impossible to untangle. The research for this book has made it obvious that the MacLeans, MacDonalds, Campbells, McLeods and Stewart clans are very intermingled. You cannot be descended from one without being descended from them all. The MacLeans and the McLanes are descended from King Robert the Bruce of Scotland, and through him from much of British and French Royalty.
