MacLellan Places & People

Clan MacLellan People

Patrick Maclellan of Bombie (d. c. 1450)
Sheriff of Galloway and a staunch royalist he declined an invitation to join William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, along with the Earls of Ross and Crawford and Ormond in alliance against the young King James II of Scotland.

The Earl of Douglas, outraged with this opposition to his plot, laid siege to Raeberry Castle (Maclellan’s castle) and captured Sir Patrick Maclellan forcibly removing him to the fortress of Threave Castle, where Maclellan was held a prisoner.

Sir Patrick Grey, Maclellan’s uncle, was able to obtain a letter from the King requiring the earl of Douglas to release his prisoner. Sir Patrick Grey carried the dispatch himself, however Douglas had already had MacLellan put to death and Grey was lucky to escape with his own life.

Sir Patrick Grey revenged his nephews death, after dining with Douglas, on this occasion in the palace at Stirling, by direct invitation of the king. When Douglas refused to abandon the alliance, James stabbed him in the neck, and the king’s attendants finished off the deed, throwing the earl from a window.

Robert Maclellan, 1st Lord Kirkcudbright (d. 1641)
Provost of Kirkcudbright in 1607, and was best known for his riotous (and violent) behavior. Robert was a direct descendant of the Laird of Bombie, Patrick Maclellan whom the 8th Earl of Douglas had murdered.

The young Robert was imprisoned in Blackness Castle, after an affray in Kirkcudbright High Street. He was also imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle for shooting a relative of the Minister of the Church of Kirkcudbright.

Nevertheless Robert was appointed as a gentleman of the bedchamber to James VI of Scotland and Charles I of England, who raised him to the rank of baronet, and subsequently, in 1633, elevated him to the peerage with the title Lord Kirkcudbright.

A zealous Presbyterian, he took a prominent part in the affairs of the Covenanters. Lord Kirkcudbright died in 1641, leaving no male heir, the title therefore was devolved upon his nephew, also named Thomas.

Thomas Maclellan, 2nd Lord Kirkcudbright
Scottish nobleman, nephew of Robert Maclellan, 1st Lord Kirkcudbright.

Maclellan’s support for the Covenanters led to his ruin. Thomas Maclellan was charged with the raising of a feudal army in the parishes of Dunrod, Galtway and Kirkcudbright. In 1640 he was appointed Colonel of the South Regiment, and accompanied the Scottish army into England.

He was present at the Battle of Philiphaugh with his regiment, where, by their gallantry they greatly contributed towards the victory of the Scottish forces. From his habit of always marching at the head of his regiment with a barrel of brandy, which upon long marches and other needful occasions he would freely distribute to his followers, he became very popular among the troops.

John Maclellan, 3rd Lord Kirkcudbright (died 1664)
Scottish nobleman and royalist. Maclellan, like his father Lord Kirkcudbright (whose titles he inherited in 1647), was an ardent Covenanter; he raised levies for the king which he used in the raid on Whigamore in 1648.

Maclellan insisted his vassals take up arms in the cause of the King, during the course of which from 1640 the villages of Dunrod and Galtway were much depleted. Lord Kirkcudbright, along with Major General James Holburn, was appointed as a deputation from the Committee of Estates to meet with Oliver Cromwell at Seaton and accompany him to Edinburgh.

Lord Kirkcudbright’s regiment, which had been sent to Ireland, was on 6th December attacked by the English Parliamentary forces, nearly being cut to pieces.

The lands to which this Lord Kirkcudbright succeeded were extensive, but his loyalty in raising and furnishing forces during the English civil war, for which he, like so many other royalists, received no remuneration, impoverished his estate.