MacWhirters

The earliest example of the name we have is on record in 1261 when as a result of a series of actions starting in the presence of Alexander III and his queen Margaret, William Comyn resigned to the Bishop of Glasgow the lands of 'Steindaf' in the forest of Dalquhairn. This was followed by the bishop through his attorney granting the lands in ferm to Patrick McWhirter for 20 merks yearly. Then in addition the bishop granted Patrick further lands near Moniave in Dumfriesshire for 5 years at 12 merks yearly. The recent editors of the charters were unable to identify 'Steindaf' or provide any background on Patrick McWhirter. ^[1]

The next link in the chain comes in 1346 with a charter by David II granting to Patrick, son of the late Michael 'Harper' of Carryk (Patricio filio quondam Michaelis Cithariste de Carryk), the lands of Dalelachane in the holding of Ballemontyrcowyltane, in the earldom of Carryk which belonged to Andrew son and heir of the late Michael and brother of Patrick. The lands were to be held in fee and heritage as his late father Michael held from the king or his father when earl of Carryk. In this case the whole document is in Latin and so 'harper' is simply a translation of Cithariste.

However, continuity can be shown by the next charter granted c. 1385 when Duncan M'Churter, son and heir of the late Patrick M'Churter grants the lands of Dalelachane, lying on the water of Gerwane (Girvan) in the parish of Straiton in the earldom of Carrick to Sir Thomas Kennedy, lord of Dalmorton for twelve cows and their calves. The placename 'Dalelachane' no longer exists, but a later Kennedy charter links it with Blairquhan on the water of Girvan and as the current Blairquhan House incorporates parts of the original castle which traditionally had a 'McWhirter' tower; then that would appear to be the place. ^[2]

As chronologically 'Michael Harper of Carrick' is an appropriate generation after the first Patrick McWhirter and names one of his sons Patrick it suggests one connected family line running from 1261 through to 1385. Why their landholding changed between the first two generations is a matter of conjecture, but the origins of their 'family' name fits into the background of the form Macchruiter. In origin the Gaelic word Cruit had several meanings including being used as a generic word for stringed musical instruments. By the 13^th C. that meaning had narrowed to describe the early form of the triangular instrument we now call a harp. In Ireland the other stringed instruments became known by the name of a Tiompan, a loanword adopted into Gaelic from Latin where it's basic meaning was 'to strike'. ^[3]

This has led to much confusion with suggestions that the Tiompan was a form of hammer Psaltery but Buckley has clearly shown it was what we now know as a Lyre. ^[4] Although the literature used in the study reflects much earlier times none of the manuscripts in which they were recorded predates the Scandinavian influences on Ireland and it is possible that the description Tiompan was adopted to describe an instrument formed from the merging of the Scandinavian 'lyres' (which they would have called by the Germanic name harps) and the remaining Irish 'lyres' into an instrument played by striking the strings with a quill plectrum as apposed to plucking the strings of the triangular 'cruit' with fingernails.

Around the start of the 14^th century another new name for the triangular instrument of Clairseach starts to appear in the contemporary manuscripts. Although clearly related to the Gaelic word Clar meaning some sort of flat surface the exact etymology is uncertain ^[5] but although it occurs in Ireland as well as Scotland in the former it continued to coexist with Cruit and even today the latter is preferred for the two principle Irish harp organisations, Cairde na Cruite and Cruit Eireann. It is possible that the new name of clarseach which from the start described the triangular harp familiar to us today, was first coined in Scottish Gaelic and as with many Gaelic words adopted into Scots. Although the early written Scots forms of 'clairshoch' or variants thereof remained close in sound to the original Gaelic spelling, the Scots spelling evolved into the current 'Clarsach'. This seems to have led to later literate Gaelic speakers who mostly would have been taught to write through the medium of Scots then using that spelling when writing in Gaelic.

Therefore, returning to the Patrick McWhirter of the 1261 document, the origin of his name falls into the period when the instrument being played would have been described in Gaelic as a 'Cruit' and before the use of new term of Clairseach had spread in Scotland. Curiously one of the first examples of Clarsach forming a surname also comes from that area when in 1515/16 an Alan McClarirsche appears as a Baillie of Wigton. ^[6] In his case he was most likely to have been a member of a family of musicians named MacBhreatnaich who served James IV from 1471 to 1513 and were given the lands of Knockann and Clutag near Kirkinner.