A complete history of anything should begin in the fog of myth, folklore, and speculation. And so this does. In fact, these keep popping up even to the present day in the history of our family.

We can't just stick to the absolutely proven facts. There is too much that just can't be proven, but it, or something very like it must be true. We do need to always know when we are dealing with something other than proven facts.

One historian has speculated that the original Celts were from Persia. There was a race of "blue men" who lived in caves in Persia. They were fierce warriors who painted themselves blue, and went naked into battle.

He says that they may be the original Celts because they share these three attributes; blue painted bodies, fierce warriors, and fighting battles naked. There is also, of course, the language which is more like one from that region than like other European languages.

Getting to what is provable, though, the Celtic culture probably arose somewhere in Austria in about 1000 years BCE. Actually, at that time, it was a stone age culture, and would probably be better described as proto-Celtic.

Between 800 and 400 BCE, those Celts converted from stone age to iron age. Athough there was no central government, they controlled northern Europe, to the British Isles, and east into Turkey.

The Celts didn't leave a written record. The only thing we have on them is from the writings of others. Since they were all writing from their own perspective, and to suit their own ends, their descriptions are often confusing and contradictory.

There are some things that are fairly consistent, though. The Celts were tall, large, and fair haired, either blonde or red. They bleached their hair with lime water to be even blonder. They wore bright clothing, and a lot of jewelry. They were fierce warriors.

There was no distinction among the genders. The women were as big and fierce as the men. They were warriors, and owned property just like the men.

About the year 500 of the modern era, the Highlanders of Ireland began moving into Scotland. They formed the nation of Dalraida in what is now Argyllshire.

Other Highlanders moved onto the mainland. They dominated, but intermarried with the Picts who were already there. In about 843, the Scots and Picts were united in one nation by Kenneth MacAlpin.

Some time after 973, the Norse drove Gilledomman, the king of Dalraida, out of Scotland and into Ireland. His grandson, Somerled I defeated the Norse, and became king of Argyll.

These events surround the founding of the McGill Clan. The following paragraphs are from published accounts of early events in the history of the clan. The "Gilles" below is "Gilledomman" in the previous paragraph.

In a monograph some years ago, Lord Oxfuird's uncle, the 12th Viscount, traced our clan to the Celtic governor Gille, Lord of the Southern Isles. (The Viscount Oxfuirds are also the chiefs of Clan Makgill.)

"Gilles' first son was Gilbert, Lord of the Isles, the father of Somerled I, ancestor of the Lords of the Isles and the MacDonalds. Another son, Malbueth, became Lord of Galloway, and was killed by Macbeth for disregarding the regal authority. From him descend the Lords of Galloway and our clan. The name Makgill begins to appear as a family and clan name in the middle of the 12th Century, at the same time 'of that Ilk' is given, indicating the head of the family was also the clan Chief. From this family, a clear line of descent to the present Chief of the Makgills is easily traced. The martlet bird was present in the Arms of the earliest ancestors, as it is for all McGills today, indicating descent form a fourth son, namely Malbueth."

Malbueth, or Makgill, appears in "Holinshed's Chronicles, Volume V: Scotland, page 270". (Shakespeare's primary source for Macbeth was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, first published in 1577. The outlines of Shakespeare's story are derived from Holinshed's account of Kings Duncan and Macbeth.) According to this history, Macbeth only performed a few good deeds in his life. One of them was to kill Makgill.

"He caused to be slaine sundrie thanes, as of Cathnes, Sutherland, Stranauerne, and Ros, because through them and their seditious attempts, much trouble dailie rose in the realme. He appeased the troublesome state of Galloway, and slue one Makgill a tyrant, who had manie yeares before passed nothing of the regall authoritie or power. To be briefe, such were the woorthie dooings and princelie acts of this Mackbeth in the administration of the realme, that if he had atteined therevnto by rightfull means, and continued in vprightnesse of iustice as he began, till the end of his reigne, he might well haue béene numbred amongest the most noble princes that anie where had reigned. He made manie holesome laws and statutes for the publike weale of his subiects."

Some time after the 13th Century, most of the Makgill Clan was forced out of Scotland. They went to northern Ireland. There they joined their MacDonald cousins who had been chased from Argyll by the Campbells.

The MacDonalds, with the help of the McGill and MacDougall clans, eventually defeated the Campbells. They retook that part of Argyllshire. The MacDonalds were actually several clans. The primary one was MacDonald of the Isles. Another MacDonald clan was MacDonald of Largie.

The struggle between the Campbells and the MacDonalds went on for centuries. The difference between them was basically philosophical. The Campbells were feudal rulers while the MacDonalds were Celtic. In feudalism, the eldest son owns the land. The Celts believed that they belonged to the land, not the other way around.

In any case, somehow the MacDonalds of Largie got the lands on the western side of the Kintyre peninsula. It is on their farms that our McGill ancestors lived and worked.

The first McGill ancestor we know of was Archibald. He was born in Largieside in about 1733. His first wife was Jane Smylie. She was born in about 1729. They had three children: Margaret, Neil, and Rodger. Jane died in 1786, and Archibald married Ann Stewart in about 1790. They had a child named Jean.

We, obviously, had other ancestors in that generation as well. Archibald McGeachy was born in about 1745. His wife was Catherine MacKinnon. They had a daughter, Catherine in 1770. Catherine was born in Rhunahaorine, and eventually married Rodger McGill.

Rodger and Catherine were married in Arnicle, Glen Barr, Kintyre, Argyllshire, Scotland on March14, 1794. The building where they were most likely married is now a Bed and Breakfast. They had at least five children: David born on March18, 1796, Archibald, born in Rhunahaorine, Killean and Kilchenzie Parish on June 3, 1798, Jean, born on August 5, 1800, Elizabeth, born on November 12, 1803, and Janet, born on March20, 1806. It is also possible that there was a sixth child, Duncan.

Rodger was a cottar on a large farm called Culfuar. Culfuar is near Tayinloan. A cottar was what we would now call a farm laborer. He worked for wages for a tacksman, or tenant farmer. At that time, cottars had no legal rights, and could be evicted at any time.

Rodger, apparently, died before 1851. In 1851, Catherine was living on Lergnahunsion Farm with one of her daughters. (Lergnahunsion means "plain of the ash trees" in Gaelic.)

(It must be noted here that two Archibald McGill's were born 3 weeks and 7 miles apart. Two antiquarians in the area have found very strong evidence that the family detailed here is our family.)

Another family in Rodger and Catherine's generation is important. That is the family of Marion McCook. She was born in Brantian, Kilcalmonell and Kilberry Parish on April 29, 1812. Her parents were Andrew McCook and Kathrine McEouan. Andrew was born in 1785, and died in 1875.

Andrew and Kathrine had 9 other children: Donald born January 23, 1804, Gilbert born March 13, 1806, John born December 6, 1807, Peggy born June 5, 1810, Niel born May 6, 1814, Grizzel (Grace) born September 25, 1816, Mary born June 4, 1819, Andrew born May 4, 1822, and Kathrine born April 26, 1824. All of the children were born in Kilcalmonell and Kilberry Parish.

(There is also some question on Marion's genealogy. On her death certificate, her father's name is listed as Archie, not Andrew. Every other piece of evidence, however, shows the given genealogy to be the correct one. In addition, no record of another suitable family has been found either in Scotland or Canada.)

Archibald and Marion were married on Lergnahunsion Farm on February 20, 1830. Lergnahunsion Farm is about a mile north of Rhunahaorine, where Archibald was born. It is about 4 miles south of Brantian where Marion was born.

We don't know if the McCooks moved there, or Marion went there to marry Archibald. What is known is that Archibald and Marion left for Canada shortly after they were married. Most, if not all, of Marion's sibling went at the same time. At least Donald, Gilbert, John, Grace, and Mary emigrated as well.

We will never know, of course, exactly why Archibald and Marion decided to emigrate when they did. The time period when they left, however, was at the height of emigration from that area. For a variety of reasons, the rents on the farms were way too high for the amount of money that could be earned by farming them.

To understand the conditions of their lives, and the pressures on them, we must understand some of what was going on at the time. Things were bad in Scotland, then they got progressively worse.

At one time, farmers in Scotland could earn a good living off the land. Their biggest cash crop was Highland cattle. During wartime, there was a big demand for meat. They could also earn extra money by distilling Scotch whiskey.

Suddenly, several conditions changed at once. The demand for Highland cattle dropped off at the end of a long war. The demand for wool increased dramatically. The big distilleries were finally able to enforce a ban on private distilleries. People began to live longer.

The effect of these changes was compounded by a couple of characteristics of the Highlanders. When a person died, their land was distributed among all of the children, and did not pass to the eldest son. The Highlanders were stubborn, and refused to adopt more modern farming methods. As a result, the land would not support the number of people who depended on it for thier food.

The Highlanders had always looked to their clan chiefs as their protectors. They supported the chief, and, in turn, the chief gave them land and protection. Over the years, however, the clan chiefs had been given titles, etc. by the British. Most of them didn't live anywhere near the lands they owned. Some not even in Scotland. (The current Makgill clan chief lives in the south of England, for instance.)

When growing crops and cattle was no longer profitable, the landowners looked for a better use for their land. They found it in the raising of sheep. Sheep, though, don't require farmers. In fact, they only require very few shepherds. Most of the shepherds were lowlanders from other parts of Scotland, or even England.

And so began a time called the "Highland Clearances". The farmers were cleared off the land, usually by force. Where did they go? Some were sent to Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, often sold into slavery. Some were sent to the coast, and told to become fishermen. Others were just forced off the land with nowhere to go.

Somewhere during these Clearances, the farming problems were compounded by the potato famine. That famine is often given as a reason for so much emigration from Ireland and Scotland. In reality, it was just the "straw that broke the camel's back" for many. The time that is normally cited started in 1845. Archibald and Marion had been gone for 15 years by that time, as had a high percentage of other Highlanders.

So, Archibald, Marion, and most of her siblings left Scotland for Canada in about 1831. We don't know exactly when or how. From Largieside, the normal way was to travel to Greenock, near Glasgow. They would then go by ship to Pictou, Nova Scotia. From there, they would take a boat up the Saint Lawrence to their final destination.

There were a couple of ships that made that trip in the time frame that would fit their journey. There are no passenger lists available yet for any of those trips. There are no immigration records either, of course. Since both were part of the United Kingdom, there was no actual emigration or immigration involved.

They settled in Ormstown, Chateauguay County, Quebec. Archibald was a farm laborer for several years. He then homesteaded some land in the area. The farms next to Archibald's were homesteaded by Marion's brothers.

There is one kind of curious reference in their early years there. The 1842 census says that one member of the household was a housekeeper. All of the members of the immediate family are accounted for, so she wasn't one of them. The most likely thing is that Archibald paid for her transport so she worked that off by keeping house for them.

One of Marion's uncles, John Cook, and his family also lived in the area. It isn't known when they moved there. In Scotland, the family name was McCook. Both families changed that to Cook in Canada.

Archibald and Marion had 12 children: Catherine born January 13, 1833 (Baptism, birth may have been in 1830/1), Andrew born November 23, 1834, Margaret born August 25, 1836, Mary born October 13, 1838, Archibald M. born September 15, 1840, Marion born February 14, 1843, Rodger born September 22, 1844, Elizabeth born December 21, 1846, David born February 10, 1849, Grace born May 4, 1851, Neil Alexander born October 10, 1853, and John C. born June, 1856. The birth/baptism of all of the children was recorded in St. Malachie Parish, Ormstown, Canada East. The area is currently Chateauguay County in the province of Quebec.

Archibald continued to farm there, apparently, until his death. He died there about February 22, 1859. The rest of the family gradually left Ormstown. Some moved just a short distance. Most, including Marion, moved a considerable distance.

It is easiest to start with those who stayed closest to home. In general, we know the least about them. What we do know can be told fairly quickly.

Catherine was baptized on January 13, 1833. Based on ages given at other events, she may have been born quite a while before that, even as early as 1829. There is no evidence that she was born before Archibald and Marion arrived in Canada, so she was probably born in 1831.

Catherine had an illegitimate child, Alexander, on May 5, 1853. The father was listed as George F. Twitching, a mate on the steamboat "Highlander".

Some time between 1861 and 1871 she moved out of the household. By 1892, she was living in Montreal. Catherine died on Christmas Day in 1913 at her sister Mary's house in Huntingdon.

Alexander was raised by Archibald and Marion as their son. He will be covered with that part of the family.

Not much is known about Margaret. She married a man named James McKay. She moved to Montreal at some point, probably when she got married. Margaret died in Montreal Quebec on May 27, 1889. It seems very likely that she did not have any children.

Mary was a school teacher in Ormstown as a young woman. When she was 42, she married a widower named William Clyde. He already had several children by his first wife. Mary never had any children.

Elizabeth was a clerk in Ormstown when she was young. She married a man named James Parker. They first lived in Montreal where James was a photographer. By 1894, they had moved to Toronto, and he was an innkeeper. They had at least four children, and may have had others.

David was a clerk in 1871. He is being listed with the children who stayed behind, but he may, in fact have moved west for a time.

Neil was very close to a David Alexander McGill in Manitoba. It is possible that this was Archibald and Marion's son David. Family lore that has come down through Neil's line says that he moved to Montreal, and ran a gentleman's clothing store there.

It is possible that David first homesteaded land in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, then moved back to Montreal. Whether or not David Alexander was Archibald and Marion's son, he was most likely related. Neither David nor Neil were given a middle name at christening. Neil adopted the middle name "Alexander", then named one of his children David Alexander.

David is one of the few children not mentioned in Marion's will. He had either died by 1894, or had become estranged from the family by then.

Archibald M. was the first of the family to really strike out on his own. In addition, his movements seem to have affected those of the rest of the family. He kind of started the McGill diaspora.

He left home when he was 12. He went to Whitewater, Wisconsin, probably with a family named Scott. By the early 1860's, he was in Richfield, Minnesota, near St. Paul. He worked as a clerk on river boats.

Archibald joined the army and fought Indians in North and South Dakota for several years. When he got out, he went back to St. Paul. It appears that he became friends with a man named John C. Jenkins while he was there. He also met, and married, Delphinia Curtis there.

They moved around quite a bit after that. They lived in Champlain, Minnesota for a short time, then moved to Independence Iowa, then moved to Knox County, Nebraska. Archibald farmed and ran a country store in Nebraska.

Their children were born during their time in Iowa and Nebraska. They did have a stillborn child in Champlain, Minnesota, however. The children were: Anna Merrion, Henry Archibald, Fred Levi, Della Mary, Willie Andrew, Lizzie Matilda, Grace Pearl, Charlotte Florence, George Loreston, Lilla Belle, and Leo Curtis. Their last child was also stillborn.

After that, they lived in a couple of places in western South Dakota. Archibald seems to have been a travelling salesman there.

His health deteriorated from complications from lung problems associated with his time in the army. He and Delphinia moved in with one of their daughters, Anna Jenkins, who had married and remained behind in Nebraska. She had married John C. Jenkins, Jr., probably the son of John C. Jenkins from Minnesota.

He moved in with Anna in August of 1919. He died there in February of the next year.

Rodger may have fought as a replacement in the US Civil War. So far, no record of that has been found. In any case, he was back in Ormstown after the war was over.

The veterans of the Irish Brigade from the Civil War formed an organization called the Fenians after the war. They planned to hold Canada hostage so that Britain would be forced to give up Ireland. They made several unsuccessful attempts. Rodger joined the local militia. He was called to duty and his unit was stationed to repel one of the Fenian lines of advance. That attack never materialized, so the unit was sent home.

Rodger and Anne Taylor were married in Montreal, Quebec. Shortly after they were married, they joined Rodger's brother Archibald in Independence, Iowa. Rodger worked as a laborer building a state mental hospital there. After it was completed, he stayed on there as a foreman. They later followed Archibald and Delphinia to Knox County, Nebraska.

The first of their children were born in Iowa, and the rest in Nebraska. The children were: Maria (Mila), Charles Brackett, Rodger, John Francis (Frank), Archibald, Mary (Mae) Elizabeth, William Roger, and Roy Andrew (Andrew Roy).

Rodger farmed near Winnetoon, Nebraska the rest of his working life. Anna died there. When Rodger was quite elderly, he spent part of the year in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and part of the year in Winnetoon. He died while in Iowa.

Andrew was sort of a special case. The censuses in Ormstown list him as a "traveler". We aren't sure what that means. Those in Minnesota list him as a farmer or farm worker.

He seemed to always tag along with his younger brothers. He went to Iowa with Rodger and Anne, and lived with them there. At some point, he returned to Ormstown. When Marion and most of the younger half of the family moved to the Midwest, Andrew went along. For most of his stay in Minnesota, he lived with his brother John.

He was living with John and Jane in 1905. In 1910, none of them appear in the census. It isn't known if he died or moved in the interim.

Marion either led or just accompanied Andrew and the younger half of the family to the Midwest. They left Ormstown after 1871. They immigrated to the US in 1880.

Assuming that they went directly from Quebec to Minnesota, Marion would have been about 70 when they made the trip. At the time, that area was a complete frontier. A railroad from Quebec to that area opened up just before the family moved. It is likely that that was their mode of transportation.

The reason they left Ormstown, and why they went to Minnesota isn't known. There is one clue to the reason for Kittson County Minnesota, though. A man named John C. Jenkins, Sr. witnessed some of the applications for citizenship. A man named John C. Jenkins, Jr. married Archebald's eldest daughter in Nebraska. John C. Jenkins, Jr. was born in the same county in Minnesota where Archibald lived at the time.

Marion died in Richardsville Township, Kittson County, Minnesota in 1892. She left most of her estate to her grandson Alexander. All of the children, except David, were mentioned in her will.

Grace was a part of the family that moved to Minnesota. She was in her 20's, and unmarried. She married John McCurdy in Minnesota.

John was from Ormstown. He had been orphaned there. When he and Grace were married, he was living in North Dakota (Dakota Territory) at the time. They continued to live in North Dakota after the marriage.

All of their children were born there. They were: Archie George, Thomas John, Andrew (Ben), Roy Joseph, and Alfred.

Grace died in Milton, North Dakota, in 1913. John and the children moved back to Canada some time after her death. They originally lived in Winnepeg.

The other child who accompanied Marion to Minnesota was John. He would have been in his late teens or early 20's during the move. He was unmarried as well.

He seems to have left the family home in Minnesota, and moved to a different part of that state. While he was gone, he met and married Jane. Her surname isn't known, but she was from Ontario somewhere. John and Jane had no children.

John eventually returned with her to Kittson County. They were also listed on the 1905 census in Minnesota, but not the one in 1910. John would have been only about 46 in 1905, and Jane about the same. Presumably, they just left the area.

Neil also seems to have traveled with the family. He stayed in Manitoba, however, and didn't move to Minnesota with the others. He had married Philamon Bonner in Quebec. He seems to have been the only one in the group who was married before the migration.

Neil and Philamon had a farm in the Turtle Mountain Region of Manitoba. It was just north of the border with North Dakota. Neil farmed, and did carpentry work.

All but the first of Neil and Philamon's children were born in Manitoba. They were: Minnie, Herman, Ethel, Dorcas, Lancy, David Alexander, Manuel, and Annie.

Neil and Philamon moved to White Rock. British Colombia. Both of them died there.

Marion married Hector McNeil in Ormstown. Hector was a carpenter, then, later, a carriage maker.

They had at least five children. Four of them, Mary, Daniel, Grace and Annie, were born in Jamestown, Chateauguay County, Quebec. Grace, died in 1885 at the age of 9.

They moved to Winnepeg, Manitoba, shortly after Grace died. The only other known child they had, Hector James, was born in Winnepeg. The family seems to have settled in Winnepeg.

Catherine's illegitimate son, Alexander, was raised as a son by Archibald and Marion. When Catherine left the family home, Alexander remained. He also moved to Minnesota with the rest of the family. In all documentation, he considers himself, and is considered by the rest of the family, as Archibald and Marion's son.

He lived in Richardsville, with the rest of the family, at least through 1885. By 1895, he had left the area. He returned to Richardsville in 1900. He lived near Andrew and John after that. By 1910, he was alone in Richardsville. He was boarding with another family, and was a farm laborer.

He lived in Richardsville until his death in 1914. He died of pneumonia.

More recent generations mirror US and Canadian history. The family generally moved west and south. After hitting the west coast, some members have begun moving eastward again. The biographies of those of Archibald and Marion's grandchildren that are known are linked to their individual pages.