McCorquodale

This name is derived from the old Norse ‘thorketill’ which, rendered in English, means ‘son of Torquil’. The Norse name is clearly descriptive, relating to the god of thunder and storms. According to Anderson, the founder of the clan was one Thorkil who was part of the Scots army of Kenneth, called Macalpin, who fought against the Picts around 834. The story goes that Alpin, King of the Scots, had been killed in battle prior to Kenneth’s arrival from Ireland. The late king’s head was fixed upon a spike in the midst of the Pictish camp, and Kenneth offered a grant of land to anyone in his army who would recover the head. Thorkil is said to have accomplished this feat and the king, good as his word, rewarded him with a charter of land. There is no record of this grant, but in 1434, Ewan, son of Ewan Makcorquydill, received a grant of lands, and in the charter he is described as ‘Lord of Maintelan’. Black states that this was properly Phanteland and the Mccorquodales of Phantelands were to become the most prominent branch of the Mccorquodale family. Despite the stirring deeds of their possibly mythical ancestor, the Mccorquodales were not all held in high regard and in 1612 they were rebuked by the Privy Council as ‘notorious thieves and the supporters of Clan Gregour’. There were still Mccorquodales dwelling on Loch Aweside towards the end of the eighteenth century, claiming direct descent from Torquil (Thorkil), from whom the chiefly line descended. Sir Malcolm Maccorquodale, who died in 1971, was raised to the peerage as Lord Maccorquodale of Newton, but this title is now extinct.