MacMhuirich.....

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Mrs MacMhuirich, and welcome to XMTS from the bottom end of Africa.
I believe the name Murray comes from the Forth of Moray. An ancestor of the Murrays was granted land there.
But since your husband has taken on the name MacMhuirich, you now also have it.
Actually, in Scots law a woman never does quite take on her husband’s surname. She remains a member of her father’s family and retains that name (for example Jean Lindsay will marry John Dalrymple and be known as Jean Lindsay).
Even as a widow, she will be referred to as Jean Lindsay, relict of John Dalrymple.
But another oddity of Gaelic is that mac means “son of”, and when it is applied to a woman it changes form to mhic.
So a daughter of yours could be referred to as vic vur-ich, as in Jane mhic Mhuirich.
Well, that is one way of looking at it. She might just as easily have the mhic added to your husband’s first name (whatever that might be in Gaelic).
But perhaps I am getting you a bit too involved here . . .
Regards,
Mike

[figheadair]

Hi, Mrs MacMhuirich, and welcome to XMTS from the bottom end of Africa.
I believe the name Murray comes from the Forth of Moray. An ancestor of the Murrays was granted land there.
But since your husband has taken on the name MacMhuirich, you now also have it.
Actually, in Scots law a woman never does quite take on her husband’s surname. She remains a member of her father’s family and retains that name (for example Jean Lindsay will marry John Dalrymple and be known as Jean Lindsay).
Even as a widow, she will be referred to as Jean Lindsay, relict of John Dalrymple.
But another oddity of Gaelic is that mac means “son of”, and when it is applied to a woman it changes form to mhic.
So a daughter of yours could be referred to as vic vur-ich, as in Jane mhic Mhuirich.
Well, that is one way of looking at it. She might just as easily have the mhic added to your husband’s first name (whatever that might be in Gaelic).
But perhaps I am getting you a bit too involved here . . .
Regards,
Mike

The feminine is not Mhic but Nic (from nighean - daughter).

[Mike_Oettle]

Well, my source for that detail was Irish, so there could easily be a difference.
I stand corrected.
Regards,
Mike

[creagdhubh]

Hello,

Your husband's adopted surname is a Macpherson name - quite literally - as my surname is the same in Gaelic as in your husband's. I am a staunch member of the Clan Macpherson Association and have been for many years.

Please read the genealogy below, given by Sir Aeneas Macpherson during the nineteenth-century - also, from another genealogy of the Macphersons, and from Clan Mackintosh history, the son of Kenneth, the alleged grandson of Mhuirich, married a daughter of Farquhar Mackintosh, ninth of Mackintosh, around 1410, so it is quite probable that Sir Aeneas Macpherson has placed Mhuirich and his family more than a century too early.

"The Macphersons, the other principle branch of the Clan Chattan, are in Gaelic called the Clan Vhuirich, or Mhuirich, from an ancestor of that name, who is said to have been the "son of Swen, son of Heth, son of Nachtan, son of Gillie-Chattan, from whom came the Clan Chattan". The word Gillie-Chattan is supposed by some to mean a votary or servant of Saint Cattan, a Scottish saint, as Gilliechrist (Gilchrist) means "a servant of Christ".

The Macphersons claim unbroken descent from the ancient chiefs of the Clan Chattan, and tradition is in favour of their being the lineal representatives of the chiefs of the clan. However, this point has been sufficiently discussed in the history of the Mackintoshes, where we have given much of the history of the Macphersons.

In was from Mhuirich, who is said to have been chief in 1153, that the Macphersons derive the name of the Clan Mhuirich, or Vhuirich. This Mhuirich was parson of Kingussie, in the lower part of Badenoch, and the surname was given to his descendants from his office. He was the great-grandson of Gillie-Chattan Mor, the founder of the clan, who lived in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, and having married a daughter of the thane of Calder, had five sons. The eldest, Gillie-Chattan, the third of the name, and chief of the clan in the reign of Alexander II, was father of Dougal Dall, the chief whose daughter Eva married Angus Mackintosh of Mackintosh. On Dougal Dall's death, as he had no sons, the representation of the family devolved on his cousin and heir-male, Kenneth, eldest son of Eoghen or Ewan Ban, second son of Mhuirich. Neil Chrom, so called from his stooping shoulders, Mhuirich's third son, was a great artificer in iron, and took the name of Smith, or Gobha in Gaelic (Gow), from his trade. Farquhar Gilliriach, or the Swift, the fourth son, is said to have been the progenitor of the MacGillivrays, who followed the Mackintosh branch of the Clan Chattan; and from David Dubh, or the Swarthy, the youngest of Mhuirich's sons, were descended the Clan Dhai, or Davidsons of Invernahavon".

I invite you and your husband to join the Clan Macpherson Association (link beneath my name). We truly are an international organization with members living worldwide, but the blood is strong and the heart is Highland, thus making us a tight-knit group of kith and kin. Our hearts forever reside in Badenoch.

Yours aye,

[creagdhubh]

Well, my source for that detail was Irish, so there could easily be a difference.
I stand corrected.
Regards,
Mike

There is a tribe of MacMhuirichs that are of Irish origin, however, those Celtic peoples were completely separate from the sons of Mhuirich, the parson of Kingussie. Good on ya mate!

[figheadair]

There is a tribe of MacMhuirichs that are of Irish origin, however, those Celtic peoples were completely separate from the sons of Mhuirich, the parson of Kingussie. Good on ya mate!

But even in Ireland the feminine is still Ni/Nic rather than Mhic.

[creagdhubh]

But even in Ireland the feminine is still Ni rather than Mhic.

Hmmm, I'm not completely certain of that. I am going to shoot an e-mail to my friend, Ewen SL Macpherson of Talla-Shee, an expert in the Gaelic langauge and history (both of Ireland and of Scotland) - as well as a native Gaelic speaker himself, to see what he says in reference to your explanation. Cheers mate!

[ThistleDown]

There are Macphersons in Kintail, too, with absolutely no connection to the Central Highlands.