Mac Ewen History

There are numerous spelling of this name, which is rendered in Gaelic as "Maceoghainn". The sons of Ewen hold that they descend from Ewen of Otter on the shores of Loch Fyne in Argyll. Malcolm Mac Ewen witnessed a charter by the Earl of Atholl to the church of St. Andrews around 1174. The chiefs of the clan seem to have stayed around Loch Fyne and shared a common heritage with the Mac Lachlans and the Mac Neils until around 1432, when by a charter of James I, the barony of Otter was confirmed to Sween Mac Ewen with a destination to the heirs of Duncan Campbell of Loch Awe. Sween is the last Mac Ewen chief on record, and thereafter they appear only as dependents of the Campbells or as broken (clanless) men.
In 1598 two hundred Mac Ewens were described as broken Highland men heavily armed and living by robbery. They are listed in an Act of Parliament in 1602, along with other broken clans as subjects of the Earl of Argyll who was made answerable for their good behavior. Some of this name seem to have become poets or bards, and found patrons among the Campbells and the Mac Dougalls. Neil Mac Ewen composed a poem on the death of Campbell of Glenorchy in 1630. The Mac Ewens seem to have supported the Jacobite cause, but only as individuals as they were lacking a chief to call them out as a clan. The Mac Ewens were true to their motto and grew strong again in the south west of Scotland. They made their home at Bardrochat in Ayrshire, sometime in the early 17th century. However, the name is listed by Black in his Surnames of Scotland in this region as early as the 14th century; Patrick Mc Ewyn was Provost of Wigtown in 1331. There may be no connection between the Argyll and Ayrshire Mac Ewens other than their names.
The lairds of Bardrochat rose to prominence in their own right and were created baronets. The sister of the 3rd Baronet is Christian, Lady Hesketh, the author of a significant study of tartan. Sir William Mac Ewen, who was born in Rothesay in 1848, was a distinguished surgeon who performed the first operation to remove a brain tumour in 1879.
Sir Alexander Mac Ewen, a provost of Inverness, was a noted advocate of Gaelic education. He was elected president of the Scottish National Party, and shortly before his death in 1941, stood unsuccessfully for Parliament.
The Mac Ewens are presently without a chief, but, in the spirit of their motto, there is an active clan association, particularly in the USA.