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| burial stone of Donnchadh Mac Eáin |
James McKane of Wiarton, Ontario, has commissioned this magnificent art work, which is a facsimile of the burial stone of Donnchadh Rua Mac Ailein, who was one of the first men in our family that used the McCain surname. In the primary sources in Argyll he is always called by the surname McCain. He lived circa 1540 to 1510. He was a Thane in Kilmichael Glassary and made his home at Dun na Muc, which is very close to Dunadd, in mid Argyll.
The inscription is in Latin and reads Thane Hic Iacit Duncanus Roy M'Allen with the clan affiliation written on the top of Lachlan. This inscription is the literal genealogy of Donnchadh Rua and references his father Ailean.
The family as a group began being known by the surname McCain as early as the late 1300s. In the existing written records the name shows up by the early 1400s just prior to Donnchadh Rua's father becoming the Thane of Glassary. The reason they were known as the McCains goes back to a complex series of events related to the family in the 1300s. Eoghan Mac Eáin held the lands in the early 1300s, his descendants officially forfeited the lands in 1346.... but we know from the primary sources they remained on them. Later, continuing in the complex Gaelic political affairs of the day, several descendants of Eoghan Mac Eáin, received grants to the lands in 1436 from the Taoiseach of Clann Lachlainn. On of these was the Ailean Mac Eáin, father of our Donnchadh Rua. It was during this time that this family began to be knows as the McCains in the Argyll records.
More information on these early McCains is found in the book Finding the McCains.
This art work is 8.5" x 16" and suitable for hanging on your wall or placed on a mantel or bookcase. It is a clay casting hand carved and made by Jon Sanborn of Laveen, AZ.
This is a must have for all McCains of course, but also to all Highland Scots interesting in the history of Argyll.
To purchase contact James McKane
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