Talk:Clan MacLeod

message: Who is the next-in-line Chief of MacLeods?--Cheif 22:01, 29 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Chieftans 

message: FYI - the motto on the Harris crest is not, in fact, Norwegian or old norse. It's English, either middle or current vernacular. The idiom is still used in both construction and sailing, and the expression doesn't follow Norwegian linguistic norms. I'd suggest that this portion of the article be fact-checked, and maybe removed. I'd say the same about some of the other stuff that could use little more referencing, since it seems that there are a few statements here that aren't easily confirmed.
Caspiankilkelly 17:44, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, info found on Wikipedia is only a good as its references/sources.. If you can find a reference proving it's Middle English, or whatever, put it in the article.--Celtus 05:18, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: "Hold Fast"

message: Gaelic Chiefship follos the principle of agnatic seniority: the last legitimate chief was the 27th, Sir Reginald, KCB (1847-1935). His daughter couldn't succeed him, and nor could his great-grandson John MacLeod of MacLeod aka John Wolrige-Gordon (birth name). His son, Hugh Magnus MacLeod is not descended agnatically from the MacLeod Chiefs. This is a phenomenon well observed in recent times: 
:a chief dies and leave no male heirs
:the daughter assumes the "chieftaincy" by virtue of possession of the family seat
:the daughter marries another aristocrat or titled person (perhaps a military officer)
:their son changes his surname -or is born bearing the mother's surname
:the son becomes the Chief!
This is obviously bogus...the legitimate chief would be the nearest male relative to the 27th Chief or one descended agnatically from him.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.97.2.120 (talk) 20:56, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: From what i've read, in the Gaelic system the children belong to their father's fine not the mother's, right. But this isn't about Gaelic chiefship, it is about Scottish Heraldry where women can inherit their father's coats of arms and choose their own heraldic successors. --Celtus (talk) 04:50, 21 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bogus Chiefs 

message: I've had a good hunt round and although it seems to have rippled out through the Internet, I can find no basis in paper sources for the following, so I've removed it :
:"In 1380 the Clan MacLeod along with Clan MacLean and Clan MacKinnon were defeated in battle by MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, who vindicated his right as Lord of the Isles. The MacLeods then submitted and became firm supporters of the Lord of the Isles and Clan Donald, only to become enemies again in the late 15th century. "
Le Deluge (talk) 15:33, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unverifiable material 

message: I'm curious about the translation of Ljótr as "ugly". Most Norwegian sources on the etymology of the name claim that it could indeed mean "ugly" in Old Norse, but when used as an element in names, such as Arnljot or Bergljot, it's usually translated as "bright" or "shining" (basically equivalent to Irish Finn/Fionn). If Leod/Ljótr was originally a nickname it seems reasonable that the meaning of ugly may have been intended, but if it was his given name, I would imagine bright/shining to be the more likely meaning. Can anyone elaborate on why "ugly" has been chosen as the most likely/only translation here? Maitreya (talk) 13:07, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Translation of Ljótr 

message: I see that this page uses MacLeod the vast majority of times. However, it also uses Macleod in several instances. What is the proper spelling for the name of the clan?
ICE77 (talk) 01:59, 26 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: There being no right or wrong answer to this question, I suspect that any significant attempt to achieve uniformity will result only in heated controversy. Even the Dunvegan Castle web-site uses the two different forms in the same sentence in its page on the history of the clan! 45ossington (talk) 10:16, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: As 45ossington points out the concept of a single 'proper' spelling is not really valid.  That being said, it is pretty standard practice on Wikipedia to delineate common alternative spellings in the first sentence of the lede, and then throughout the remainder of the article to consistently use the same spelling (however arbitrarily selected) as has been used for the page name.  The exception with surnames is that recent/living individuals who themselves used a different spelling should be represented in that way. Agricolae (talk) 16:02, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: FWIW, I agree: best to use the style adopted in the article title.45ossington (talk) 08:37, 1 March 2018 (UTC)

text: For anyone who might come across these comments in the future, it's probably worth pointing out that nowadays hardly any Lewis people use capital letters in their "Mac" surnames in English. It's one of the minor differences between Lewis folk and those from the other Gaelic-speaking islands. Macdonald is another example. People from Skye, Harris, etc. would use MacLeod, MacDonald, and so on. The capital letter is always used in Gaelic though, so technically it's more correct - and I write that as a Lewis Macleod (and native Gaelic-speaker). As is pointed out in other places in the article, "Mac" is the Gaelic for "son". The feminine form is "Nic", a variation of the word for daughter, and this is always used in Gaelic, e.g. NicLeòid. The form "MhicLeoid" (sic) referred to above is the genitive and means literally "of the son of Leod". (There might be some confusion because the clan's name in Gaelic is "Clann MhicLeòid", which means "(The) Children of the son of Leòd".) The correct ordinary nominative form in Gaelic is "MacLeòid", with the accent. Unlike in the Irish language, the space between the Mac and the Leòid seems to have become optional in Scottish Gaelic when it's used as a surname. Of course if you were translating "Leod's son" into Gaelic, you would say "Mac Leòid" Cailean99 (talk) 09:36, 21 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spelling: MacLeod or Macleod 

message: I regularly exchange messages with Peter Eslea MacDonald who is the expert on tartans in Scotland (if not around the world). From a previous exchange I recalled that, as much as I would like tartans to be defined by specific color codes and names, setts just call out the sett with a letter like K for black or B for blue but there is no specific way to indicate that colors, in this case black or blue, are light or dark. Therefore, Peter Eslea MacDonald told me that the color codes and names listed in this article under the "Clan tartan" section are not officially adopted by the Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) which he leads. Unless somebody has a source for the colors, the number and the names should be removed, including the reference to the STA since it's inappropriate.
ICE77 (talk) 05:28, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unofficial tartan colors 

message: This article should also list, show and discuss the MacLeod of Skye tartan since it's related and very similar to the MacLeod of Harris tartan for historical reasons. The tartan can be found here: http://www.tartansauthority.com/tartan-ferret/display/263/macleod-of-skye-clan.
ICE77 (talk) 05:32, 21 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  MacLeod of Skye tartan 

message: I am puzzled as to why Norman MacLeod of MacLeod (1812–1895) is ignored in the history section - he is only mentioned for having a son. The notable thing about the 25th clan chief is his actions in providing famine relief at the time of the Highland Potato Famine. He was felt by government relief officers to be the most benevolent of the landlords in the famine-struck regions. Unfortunately this ended in bankruptcy, but to put the needs of his tenants above his own financial security makes him outstanding - especially compared with some of his contemporaries whose actions were totally reprehensible.
He ended up having to find work in London after the sale of all the unentailed parts of the estate. He later described (to the Napier Commission) that his efforts to feed his tenants left him "utterly ruined" - at this the time, bankruptcy was, though common, a matter of deep disgrace.ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 23:10, 10 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  25th chief