Clan MacRae

Clan Macrae
Crest: A cubit arm grasping a sword all Proper
Motto	Fortitudine
Slogan	Sgurr Uaran
Profile
Region	Scottish Highlands
District	Wester Ross Sutherland
Plant badge	club moss
Clan Macrae has no chief, and is an armigerous clan
Historic seat	Eilean Donan
Last Chief	Macrae of Inverinate
Allied clans Clan Mackenzie Clan Fraser Clan Matheson
Rival clans Clan Ross Clan Logan Clan MacDonald of Sleat

The Clan Macrae is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan has no chief; it is therefore considered an Armigerous clan.

The surname Macrae (and its variations) is an anglicisation of the patronymic from the Gaelic personal name Macraith. This personal name means "son of grace". The name is recorded numerous times in the Middle Ages, and was used by various unrelated families.

According to the late 19th-century historian Alexander Mackenzie, and Rev. Alexander Macrae in the early 20th century, the main authority for the early history of Clan Macrae is the late 17th-century manuscript account of the clan written by Rev. John Macrae. Alexander Macrae largely based his history of the clan upon John Macrae's earlier account.

According to tradition, the Macraes were originally from Ireland, and shared a common ancestry with the Mackenzies and Macleans. The Macraes were said to have originated from Clunes, which is located near the southern shore of the Beauly Firth, and was within the lordship of Lovat. Alexander Macrae stated that these traditions likely refer to a period sometime in the middle of the 13th century. According to John Macrae, after a violent dispute arose between the Macraes and more powerful Frasers of Lovat, three sons of the Macrae chief set off for new lands. One of the sons settled in Brahan, near Dingwall (later the site of Brahan Castle); another settled in Argyll; and the other settled in Kintail.

At that time Kintail was held by the Mackenzies, and according to John Macrae's account, there were very few Mackenzies of the chiefly line and thus the chief of that clan welcomed the Macraes because they shared a common descent and could be relied upon. Although John Macrae did not know the name of the Macrae brother who settled in Kintail, he stated that this Macrae brother married the daughter, or granddaughter, of Macbeolan who possessed a large part of Kintail before the Mackenzie's rise to power. Alexander Mackenzie considered this marriage to be the real reason for the loyalty given by the Macraes to their Mackenzie lords; he did not believe the Macraes and Mackenzies to share a common ancestry in the male line as John Macrae had claimed.