Clan Donleavis and the relic callit Arwachyll

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Rob Livingston2
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Clan Donleavis and the relic callit Arwachyll

Post by Rob Livingston2 »

I have long struggled to accept the notion that a "1518 Bond of Manrent" between "Sir John Campbell of Cawdor" and "Clan Donleavis" was definitive proof of the derivation of "MacOnlea" and "MacLea" from the personal name, "Donnsleibhe".
Grant South1
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Clan Donleavis and the relic callit Arwachyll

Post by Grant South1 »

Ah Rob, Very nice indeed. Hmm....the ritual and object of Good Luck. This may be well known to some of you so please humour me. The Hogmanay was/is important as it is the 'Festival of the Numberer/Apportioner'. This festival was for the Good-luck of the New Year as the sun made it's way back to us, bringing the blessings of the new seasons. Luck foods were shared. This being a relic of ancient sun-worship. Turning sun-wise in blessing was a common theme in these rituals. The Deas-iul blessing and dance to the Sun or Fire/Light was also held. Further blessing ones flock or herd was practiced where animals were run through a gap in two fires. Often a bannock of oats was/is baked with a black object, a burnt offering, or a silver coin. The one who received this was pushed into the fire, and quickly pulled out or jumped over it in blessing and purification. Grant South
Andrew Lancaster5
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Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2004 3:43 pm

Clan Donleavis and the relic callit Arwachyll

Post by Andrew Lancaster5 »

Hi Rob Great to get some big posts from you again! You give a new strength to the idea that Donleavis was an old name associated with the later McOnleas and McLeas (although I think the argument that these were three versions of the same name could still do with some strengthening). Coming back to my batch of Livingstones on Strathmore, I think I once mentioned to you that, not only did they seem to pronounce their name Livitch or Lividge, but it also seems that when they used the name of Livingston the normal pronounciation seems to have had no nasal, being often spelt Leviston. If they had originally come from the west with a name Leavis or Don-Leavis, then it is easy to see why they might appear in registers as Leavitch (Gaelic speakers traditionally make a "sh" of any "s"), and why they might feel connected to a family name pronounced locally as Leviston - which is not to say that they were not REALLY connected in some way? Regards Andrew
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Bachuil
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Pagan Rituals

Post by Bachuil »

On page 65 of Lismore in Alba, Carmichael wrote "Apparently it was a custom latterly for the custodian of Moluag
The Baron of Bachuil,
Coarb of St Moluag
Chief of MacLea
Donald Livingstone Clink
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Clan Donleavis and the relic callit Arwachyll

Post by Donald Livingstone Clink »

Not seeing Dunsleeve or the variations with an f threw me a bit with the 1344 and 1544 documents, but I have little doubt that in both cases when John son of Maolmoire is mentioned we are probably refering to a Baron of Bachuil. How the Duncan McDunsleve mentioned in the 1518 connects to John son of Maolmoire of the 1544 document, I cannot say. Safe to say that there were probably a few Maolmoires in the family after the first Maolmuire circa 1200's. If the records in the 1300 and 1400's were complete, I suspect we might find a Maolmuire son of Dunleeve or a Dunslave son of Maolmuire on the Island of Lismore. In next hundred years those presumingly decendants of the original Maolmoire and his son Dunsleeve are throughout Argyll and elsewhere. And of course the names that show up in the early records available to us in the 1500's appear as spelling variations of Dunsleeve ie McDunslef. Indeed my own ancestor,Miles Livingston, if he had born a few hundred years earlier at Morvern or across the water on the ISle of Lismore, might well have been a Moilmoire Dunslaif, seeing as Mile was to their minds the english equivalent of Moilmoire preferred by the locals on Movern and those on the neighbouring ISle of Lismore by the 1700's. Despite the challenges of ancient spelling and meaning with some of the old clan documents, as Rob has so aptly proven, perseverance has it's own rewards. The Staff of St. Moluag continues to hold a power of fascination over all of us who claim the Island of Lismore/Morvern Livingstone ancestry.
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