Clan MacQuarrie

Clan MacQuarrie
Crest: Out of an antique crown, An arm in armour embowed, grasping a dagger, all proper.
Motto	Turris fortis mihi Deus, (translation from Latin: God is to me a tower of strength).
Slogan	An t'arm breac dearg, (translation from Scottish Gaelic: The red tartaned army).
Profile
Region	Inner Hebrides Scottish Highlands
District	Ulva, Staffa and the Isle of Mull
Plant badge	pine.
Clan MacQuarrie has no chief, and is an armigerous clan
Last Chief	Lachlan Macquarrie of Ulva
Died	1818

Clan MacQuarrie (also MacQuarie, McQuary, MacQuaire, MacGuarie, Macquarie) is an ancient Highland Scottish clan which owned the islands of Ulva, Staffa and Gometra as well as large tracts of land on the Isle of Mull, which are all located in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. Clan MacQuarrie (Scottish Gaelic for: son of Guaire) is one of the seven Siol Alpin clans descended from the Kings of the Picts and Dál Riata. Clan MacQuarrie is one of the four oldest Highland clans and can trace its ancestry to 9th century Kenneth MacAlpine, the first King of Scots. According to the nineteenth-century historian William F. Skene, the manuscript of 1450 documents the royal descent of Clan MacQuarrie through their progenitor Guaire (Scottish Gaelic for: noble), brother of Fingon (ancestor of Clan MacKinnon) and Anrias (ancestor of Clan Gregor). They were fierce fighters in the Wars of Scottish Independence and fought in support of King Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Clan MacQuarrie is first found in possession of the island of Ulva in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, and followed the Lords of the Isles. The first record of Clan MacQuarrie is of the chief John Macquarrie of Ulva, who died in 1473. John's son, Dunslaff, was the chief of the clan during the forfeiture of the Lord of the Isles, after which the MacQuarries gained independence as a small, respected clan surrounded by a powerful ally in Clan MacLean. Following the fall of the Lordship of the Isles the clan followed Maclean of Dowart, and with the Macleans, the MacQuarries supported Domhnall Dubh's quest for the Lordship of the Isles at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1504 MacGorry of Ullowaa, along with other chiefs, was summoned to answer for aiding in Domhnall Dubh's failed rebellion.