Old Photograph Ferry Colonsay Scotland

Old photograph of people on the ferry to the Island of Colonsay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Colonsay is an island in the Inner Hebrides, located north of Islay and south of Mull. The ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeil. Little is known of the early history of the Clan Macfie, however, it is certain that the clan served under the Lords of the Isles, descendants of Somerled, who ruled the Hebrides from the 14th century to the late 16th century. Following the forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles in the late 15th century, the clan still attached itself to powerful Macdonalds. In the early 17th century the last chief of the clan was executed as Colonsay was lost to the control of a Macdonald. Without a chief of their own to control their home lands the clan was considered a leaderless " broken clan ". From this point on the Macfies followed the Macdonalds of Islay, though a branch of the clan was dispersed to lands controlled by Clan Cameron In the early 19th century Ewen Macphee became a notorious outlaw, " revered and feared by locals and despised by the authorities ". Today the modern Clan Macfie is alive with nine associated clan societies located around the world.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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