User talk:BalfourStokes

Mackie of Carrickbraith
Hi, I note your addition of Mackie of Carrickbraith to the cadet branches on the Clan Mackay page. However, do you have a source to show that this family is actually a branch of the Clan Mackay and not the Clan Mackie of Galloway ? I understand that people of the Clan Mackay in Strathnaver and the north of Sutherland often used the Mackie spelling variation, including chief Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay, but I think we need to clarify that the Carrickbraith branch is of Clan Mackay and not Clan Mackie. Regards. QuintusPetillius (talk) 17:21, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm a new user here, so hopefully amd responding correctly :-S The source I'd refer to would be here. You'll note there the references to the Lord Reay; to "the chiefly Mackies of Strathnaver"; and to the Gaelic spelling of Mackie as, "Mac Aoidh". The connection of this armiger to the territorial designation, "of Carrickbraith", appears at. Hope this helps! BalfourStokes (talk) 18:01, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Well my problem with that is that: says "The lion in chief originates with the arms of the Mackies of Larg" which is the Clan Mackie not the Clan Mackay.QuintusPetillius (talk) 16:01, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Certainly seems that the arms combine references to both clans. I defer to your judgement, however. Should the reference be moved to the Clan Mackie page then? If so, where would be the place to insert it? Maybe a new section dealing with cadets? I note, for example, there are the Mackies of Bargaly, Mackies of Dowloch, Mackies of Auchencairn, etc, that could be listed as well. BalfourStokes (talk) 19:27, 25 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi, I am all for adding the various Mackie branches to the Clan Mackay article as long as it is verified that they are of Clan Mackay and not Clan Mackie. As it happens I do have a special interest in this as I may have Mackie ancestors from Thurso in the 18th century. James Mackie, an excise officer and his wife Janet Sinclair who had children in the Thurso form the 1760's to 1770's were possibly my 5th great grandparents. I have established Janet Sinclair's lineage to noble Sinclair family and Earls of Caithness but the Mackie side is a bit of a mystery. If any of the Mackie families can be linked to the Mackay chiefs then that would be a great help not just to me but to Wikipedia. Cheers. QuintusPetillius (talk) 09:13, 26 May 2021 (UTC)

I will say, generally, that one needs to be very cautious about making family connections based on the Anglicizations of Gaelic names. As you may be aware, the name Mac Aoidh has been Anglicized many different ways over the centuries, such that Mackay and Mackie are both renderings of the same name, i.e. Mac Aoidh. Certainly, in the south, Mackie, McKee, Magee, etc, became a more common rendering, while in the north, Mackay, McKay, McCoy, etc, was more common. You will note, for example, that where one source refers to the first Lord Reay as, 'Sir Donald Mackay', another uses the spelling, 'Sir Donald Mackie' - different Anglicizations of Mac Aoidh, both for the same man. All that really matters, ultimately, is who a given family acknowledged as their chief. The fact that your own Mackie ancestors lived in Thurso - in the heart of Mackay Country - is a clear indication to me that any clan affiliation they had was with the Lord Reay.BalfourStokes (talk) 18:27, 26 May 2021 (UTC)