100cm x 100cm Acrylic spray paint and acrylic paint on canvas

Ribbon Detail.

Clan MacIntyre are a Highland clan who I am personally affiliated with as they are some of my ancestors. The Glen Noe line is the chief branch of Clan MacIntyre.

According to tradition, they settled in Glen Noe in the 13th century after being led by a sacred white cow to fertile land.

The MacIntyres originally lived in the inner Hebrides, on Skye and Islay. Seeking fresh pastures on the Scottish mainland, a mountain spirit or spectre prophesied that the clan would discover their ancestral lands when the treasured white cow in their herd lay down to rest. This location later became known as ‘The Site of the White Cow’, and served as the clan’s home for centuries until 1806.

The name MacIntyre translates from Gaelic to mean ‘son of the carpenter’, and they were foresters to the Lords of Lorna and later to the Campbell’s of Breadalbane.

There are rumours of a ‘Black Book of Glen Noe’ which was said to have contained the history of the clan, no documented MacIntyre records have been discovered.

This tartan was originally identified as Hunting MacIntyre in the ‘Vestiarium Scoticum’ by the Sobieski Stewart brothers in 1842.

This painting is part of the Tartan series.