Clan Gregor

[Scotty Mc]

I was told by my Dad years ago that his father had traced our family tree back to Rob Roy. That's as much as I knew, it could be distant or closer than we thought.

Anyway, I've been trying on and off to trace the family tree without much success. Today however in one fell swoop I managed to trace back to 1550. Rob Roy is in there and a lot closer a relation than we thought as it turns out he is my seven time great-grandfather. Granted, there will be a lot of us but it is nice to know that I am a direct descendant of the fella.

Now I have the dilemma of whether to go for the red and black or the red and green MacGregor tartans!

Happy days!

[MacSpadger]

That's quite a fell swoop. I have been tracing my family tree for over 25 years and the furthest back I have obtained records for is Grigor M'Grigor who was working as a stonemason in Banff in 1710, also known as Gregor and, after he married, Ghill or Gill.
He was my 8 times Great-Grandfather and married an Elizabeith Morison of Gamrie.
As you will probably already know, the change of name is not unusual for a MacGregor following the punitive measures after the rout of Glenfruin in 1603, even Raibeart Ruadh/Rob Roy himself used the surname of his mother, Margaret Campbell.

Can you please tell me what source you used for your info as I am sure it may be helpful to me and my family in our research. I have no real interest in being a descendent of Raibeart Ruadh but would like to further explore where Grigor M'Grigor may have come from. The name change might suggest Glenstrae following King James edict of 1603, but surely auld Grigor left it a century too late? I have been using the GRO records in Edinburgh so far, with additional help from Scottish family groups and genealogical societies who have been able to share parish and kirkyard papers with me. Thanks.