HISTORY OF THE "MCCLURE" FAMILY
Our McClure family originated in Scotland and was of Scottish or Scots-Irish descent.

The ancient people of Scotland were of Celtic descent. They were given the name
Pict by the Romans because of their custom of painting their skin. The fierce
Pictish tribes fought the Romans for many years. Because Scotland and England
shared an island, the Romans built a long wall on the English-Scottish border
to control the Picts and keep them out of England. In the 500's a tribe of Celts,
called the Scots from northern Ireland, settled in Scotland and eventually converted
the fierce Picts to Christianity.

The Scottish Clans began around the year 1000. They grew out of a similar system
formed in Celtic Ireland, from whence the Scots originated. The Clan system
was an effective way of government in the Scottish Highlands. These clans were
organized under the rule of a chief. The chief was head of the whole family
or clan in Scotland. Chieftains were heads of branches of the family name.
Each Clan had its own tartan, and members of each Clan were recognized by the tartan they wore.

In the late 1200's Scotland was again invaded by the English. The Scots
suffered terrible oppression and brutality at the hands of the English.
This gave rise to such famous leaders as William Wallace and Robert Bruce.
Wars continued with England into the 1500's. When James V of Scotland died
in 1542, his one week old daughter, Mary, was proclaimed Queen of Scotland.
She was sent to France to be educated and did not return to Scotland until 1561.

Before 1560, the Roman Catholic Church was the official church of Scotland.
Many Scottish leaders resented the power of the church and in the late 1550's
drove out many Catholic officials and soldiers. When Mary Queen of Scots
returned to Scotland in 1561, Scotland was in the process of establishing
a Protestant Church. In 1567, Mary was forced to give up the throne, in
part because she was Catholic. She escaped to England in 1568, but was
captured and imprisoned. She was executed in 1587.

Mary Queen of Scots' infant son, James VI, was made King of Scotland in 1567.
He was reared as a Protestant, and the Presbyterian Church became firmly
established in Scotland. James inherited the English throne and ruled both
England and Scotland as James I of England.

In the 1600's, Scotland and the border lands between England and Scotland
were lawless lands filled with poor farmers constantly waging war with each
other and engaging in clan fighting. The soil was poor and the working
conditions were primitive. The people knew little about ways to improve their
land and make their crops more productive. Scotland contained two distinct
groups, the Highlanders, or Celtic stock, more racially akin to the Irish,
and the Lowlanders and Borderers who were more racially akin to the British.
To promote British influence in Ireland, King James, of Scotland, sent many
Lowlander Scots to northern Ireland in the early 1600's, to form colonies.
They became known as the Scots-Irish.

Surnames were not common until about the 1200's. Nobles first adopted the use
of surnames to set them apart from the common people. Soon the common people
also began using surnames. Surnames were selected in several ways in Scotland.
Sometimes, as in our case, the surname was taken from the name of the landlord or clan.
It did not necessarily denote kinship. The word mac (mc) meant son of.

Leod was the younger son of Olaf the Black. Olaf died around 1237, and Leod
inherited the Islands of Lewis and Harris, with part of the Isle of Skye.
The Clan MacLeod consisted of two main branches, the MacLeods of Lewis
and the MacLeods of Harris.

Sources show the Clan MacClure (McClure) was a Sept of the Clan MacLeod of Harris,
and entitled to clan rights including the use of the clan tartan. A sept
was a family directly affiliated with another family. Another source
indicates that part of the MacLeod's fled to Ireland in the 1500 and 1600's
and changed the pronunciation of their surname from MacLeod to MacClure.
According to Scots Kith and Kin, Clan MacClure was in Galway, Ireland,
in the 16th Century. Many members of the MacClure clan returned to Scotland.

Records indicate that some members of the MacClure (McClure) family immigrated
to America around 1700. These immigrants settled primarily in the Shenandoah
Valley of Virginia, the Piedmont Country of North Carolina, and along the eastern seaboard.

the above information was provided by a reading I had done at the Scottish Highland
Games in Estes Park, Colorado.
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December 20th, 2004