Morvern Mclea/Maconlea Livingstone Tenants 1716 and 1779

[Canadian Livingstone]

Duncan Livingstone 1850-1910 of Scioto County, Ohio was the son of Angus Livingston of Barr Morvern and his wife Margaret Livingston. In the 1840's Donald's father left Morvern for New York State and subsequently settled in 1845 in Vernon Township, Scioto County, Ohio. Duncan was interested in his highland Argyllshire origins and had heard stories from kin in particular two elderly relatives who were daughters of Hugh (Ewen) Livingstone a brother of the famous Donald Livingstone 1728-1816 of Morvern. In the 1890's Duncan Livingstone published his account of some of the information he had learned from from Donald Livingstone`s neices and others regarding Donald Livingstone of Savary, Morvern and his family in article that published in the Celtic Monthly. Among the info he provides is that the ancestors of Donald Livingston of Savary, Morvern,Argyllshire first arrived in Morvern area around 1600 originating from Achnacree, Benderloch,Argyllshire. While Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) gaelic folklore researcher/author also writing about Donald Livingstone around 1900 also mentions the Achnacree, Benderloch,Argyllshire origins of this family, there has been some uncertainty among Livingston scholars as to when precisely Donald Livingston's ancestors and the Morvern Maclea/ Livingstons in general first arrived at Morvern. THe 1716 list of Morvern residents suspected of being involved in the Rebellion of 1715 however supports the notion that Maclea/Livingstones and Donald's family could have established themselves at Savary and the surrounding area well before 1700 as Duncan Livingston of Ohio had been told by his Morvern born kin of Donald Livingston in AMerica. Here is a list of those Macleas/Maconlea/McInlea Livingstones recorded in 1716. These are by no means all of them just those who were considered to be supporters or involved in the Rebellion of 1715. Note the variety of interesting spellings of our earlier clan name:

1716 List of People of Morvern (Parish) who were concerned with the Late Rebellion (1715)
Savary
Dugald McEan V Inlay

FFinarie
Donald McOlonie

Sallachan
Donald Mclea Sick

Kilintine
Dugal McEan VcInlay has a sword

Achalinan
Duncan Mclea His son gave in a gun being all the arms he had.

Ferninish
Donald Mclea Has no arms.

Our Morvern Parish, Argyllshire Maclea Livingstones were ardent Jacobites during the 1715 Rebellion undertaken by James Stuart the Old Pretender and continued to be during the 1745 Rebellion led by his son Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie). The Duke of Cumberland considered Morvern in particular to be a hotbed of disaffected subjects to his father King George the Second as it was the home of prominent Jacobite Clan Cameron. In 1745, apart from Clan Campbell, Cumberland would have been hardpressed to find many Morvern residents who werent Jacobite sympathisers and he knew this. WHile the DUke of Argyll, a Campbell and his family in local Argyllshire Militia loyal to the Crown, were active participants in rounding up suspected Jacobite rebels in Morvern and throughout Argyllshire during and after the 1745 Rebellion, the Duke was less than pleased when most of the Morvern farms of his tenants along the coast were put to the torch by the British Navy in 1746. In many cases those involved in these punitive raids against Camerons and other Morvern families actively participating in the rebellion did not in reality put much effort into distinguishing the farms of the rebels and those farms occupied by non participants. However in the eyes of the Duke of Argyll the rampant destruction of these farms his tenants meant loss of rent and income to him. While the Duke was expected by the British to evict Jacobite tenant families from Morvern, historian Phillip Gaskell points out that infact many of the families that were active supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie during the 1745 Rebellion remained in Morvern in the years following the Rebellion. Among these were Morvern Macleas/Maconleas who in the next decade of the 1750's had like other members of Clan Maclea in neighbouring parishes in Western Argyll had apparently by this time all adopted the name Livingstone/Livingston as their family name. Whatever the reason may have been, Maclea, Maconlea or Mcinlea virtually disappeared in usage among our clan in Western Argyllshire as indicated in the parish records from the period of the 1750's.

Later in 1779 the Duke of Argyll's Livingstone tenants were recorded in Morvern. (By the 1750's we see Western Argyllshire McLeas/Maconleas referring to themselves as Livingstones or Livingstons in the parish records)

Maclea/Livingstones of Morvern Parish circa 1779 from Argyll Tenant List of 1779

Savary
Donald Livingston tenant ( Donald Livingston 1728-1816 who rescued the banner of the Appin Regiment at the Battle of Culloden 1746) ( Donald's children seem to have remained in Morvern interestingly enough and died in the 1850's or 1860's and did not migrate to lowland Scotland or emigrate to the colonies or former colonies)
Hugh Livingston grass keeper (Donald's brother also referred to by his family by his gaelic name "Ewen" some of his grandchildren and kin left Morvern and settled in New York State and Ohio in the 1840's and early 1850's}
Malcolm Livingston tenant

Barr
Donald Livingston cottar
John Livingston workman

Funary
Angus Livingston workman

Rahoy
Donald Livingston workman
Catharine Livingston cottar

Terenish (Ferenish)
John Livingston tenant
Neil LIvingston workmna
Ann Livingston cottar

Auslisline
Hugh Livingston tenant

Killunden
Donald Livingston cottar

Portavata
Hugh Livingston grass keeper

[Margaret Stewart]

Hi Donald

I will actually be staying at Benderloch for the next couple of weeks. I believe there are still Livingston(e)s living there. I'll try to find out details of that branch of the family.

Margaret

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Margaret,

As I dont reside in Scotland or the British Isles, any assistance regarding Livingston info located in Argyllshire would be greatly appreciated. My ancestor Miles Livingston (b.1775) a native of Morvern Parish left the Island of Islay where he had been residing for some time with other relatives in June of 1812 for Lord Selkirks Red River Colony in British North America (present day WInnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). I just realized I have a 200th aniversary coming up in a few months.


regards,

Donald