A free e-Article by Thor Ewing
© Thor Ewing 2008, 2009 All rights reserved

Clan Ewen of Otter

Clan Ewen of Otter, or Clann Eóghain na h-Oitrich, is the name of the MacEwen clan which once controlled the area around Kilfinan on the Cowal peninsular.

According to the earliest known genealogy (MS 1467), the clan chief Baltuir was the ‘son of Eoin, son of Eogain, son of Gillaesp . . . son of Sabarain, son of Duinsleibe, son of Aeda Alain known as ‘Buirrce’, son of Anradan lord of Badenoch’. The manuscript links Anradan (or Anradhan) with the descendants of the legendary Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages. To find out more, visit my page on The Anradhan Kindred.

It is often claimed that the MacEwens of Otter were a branch of the powerful Clan Sween who were dispossessed in the Wars of Independence, but it is perhaps more likely that they were always an independent clan. The traditional homeland of the MacEwens lies in the parish of Kilfinan on Cowal; their neighbours to the north were MacLachlans, and to the south were the Lamonts. Both were kindred clans, claiming common descent from Anradhan, and so the MacEwens must have been fairly secure from attack.

On 20th March 1432, the new clan chief Swene MacEwen resigned the lairdship of Otter to King James I. The king regranted the barony to Swene for his lifetime, with the provision that if he died without heir the lands of Otter would pass to the Campbells who had stood by the king during his captivity in England. Eleven weeks later, Gillespie Campbell was at Otter wringing a surety out of the young Swene that if he should have a son he would pay a sizeable forfeit to the Campbells. Swene lived on for sixty years, by which time King James I and Gillespie Campbell were long dead. But presumably he died without a lawful heir, since on Swene’s death in 1493 the lands of Otter passed to a branch of the Campbells of Argyll.

Thus, the MacEwens lost their homeland and after this date they are spoken of as a ‘scattered clan’. However, there is no reason to suppose that the line of chiefs ended with Swene. Whilst he seems to have died without a legitimate son, his chieftaincy probably passed to a nephew or cousin who led much of the clan to new lands held in feu from the Earls of Lennox. Indeed, in the sixteenth century, the MacEwens appear to have operated as a coherent clan and are said to have taken part in the Battle of Langside (1568) under a new clan banner.


Other Clans Ewen

Not all MacEwens today are decsended from Clan Ewen of Otter. There were other MacEwen clans, and the modern surname, which simply means ‘son of Ewen’,  can come from a variety of other roots. Indeed, the earliest mention of a MacEwen is in 1174, when Malcolm MacEwen witnessed a charter of the Earl of Atholl, considerably before the MacEwens of Otter seem to have come into being. Gilpatrick MacEwen, who in 1219 was noted in the Register of Arbroath Abbey is also unlikely to be connected with the Otter clan.  

In the sixteenth century, the adherents of Donald MacEwen Cameron were also styled Clan Ewen and probably took the surname MacEwen. Donald MacEwen was the son of Ewen, 14th chief of Clan Cameron, born out of wedlock to a daughter of the MacDougall chief. He gained fame through his prowess as a warrior and his loyalty to the clan Cameron, earning himself the nickname Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe (The Black Tailor of the Axe) when he slew the Mackintosh of Mackintosh at the Battle of Bun Garbhain (Bun Garvan, c.1570). He also led raids against the MacGregors on behalf of Grey Colin Campbell of Glenorchy.

Another MacEwen family were hereditary bards and sennachies to the MacDougalls of Lorne and later to the Campbell Chiefs. These MacEwens held lands for their services at Kilchoan and Dunollie, and might have originated in Ireland. The last of this line was Neill MacEwen, who died around 1650.

There have been MacEwens in Galloway since at least the fourteenth century. One Patrick McEwyn was the provost of Wigtown in 1331, and MacEwens are said to have come to the aid of Sir Andrew Agnew at Lochnaw Castle in a seige which seems to have taken place as early as 1395, well before the dispersal of Clan Ewen of Otter. A connection with the Irish McKeowns is suggested by the Reviresco badge which has long been used by the Galloway MacEwens; this badge is originally the badge of the Bissett family, and the McKeowns are a branch of the Bissetts. The badge shows a leafy oak stump with the motto Reviresco, and it is now widely used in lieu of a clan badge by members of Clan Ewen.

MacEwens Today

Despite these various origins, the use of the MacEwan tartan is appropriate to everyone who bears the name, no matter what their remote ancestry may be. Likewise, Clan Lachlan acknowledeges MacEwens, McEwans and Ewings of whatever origin within its ‘Protectorate’, unless it can be shown that their ancestors did not owe alleigance to the clan. Today, The Clan Ewen Society continues to welcome everyone who bears the clan name in any form, as it has done since its foundation in 1977.  

Anyone who wants to know which clan of the MacEwens he rightly belongs to, should take a genealogical Y-DNA test. For more information, visit the Clan DNA page.


If you would like to learn more about the history of Clan Ewen and the MacEwens, I have published a short book on the clan, which you can buy here: New Notes on Clan Ewen