Clan Macnaghten
Scottish clan
Clan Macnaghten (sometimes spelt as MacNachten, MacNaughton, McNaughton or McNorton), Scottish Gaelic: MacNeachdain, is a Scottish clan.
History
Origins of the clan
Traditional origins
The Clan Macnaghten are amongst the Scottish clans who claim descent from the early Pictish rulers of the Mormaer of Moray. The name Nectan means pure or clear and was popular in at least one Pictish royal branch.
Recorded origins
Three brothers are recorded in the thirteenth century: Gilchrist, Athe and Gilbert, all sons of Malcolm Macnachten. Before 1287 Gilchrist received a charter from Alexander III of Scotland who died in 1287 which granted to him the keepership of a castle on the island of Fraoch Eilean (Heather Isle) in Loch Awe warding the eastern approach to the narrow Pass of Brander, which was the gateway to the west.
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Macnaghtens came to Loch Awe and as a result became neighbours of the powerful and acquisitive Clan Campbell. The Campbells were quick to support Robert the Bruce when he set out to claim his throne; however, the Macnaghtens, who were under the influence of the Clan MacDougall, opposed him. The Macnaghtens formed part of the MacDougall host that fought against Robert the Bruce's army at the Battle of Dalrigh in 1306 but had changed sides and joined Bruce at the August 1308 Battle of the Pass of Brander. The Macnaghtens continued their new allegiance and a Baron Macnachten (possibly Alexander Macnachten) is recorded as fighting at the Battle of Bannockburn for the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The Macnaghtens did not gain much from their late change of allegiance and from that point onwards the Campbells dominated Loch Awe.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5125573. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1287, 1306 and 1308.
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This entry incorporates text from “Clan Macnaghten” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.