German
FrenchClan MacPherson
In Scottish Gaelic the name Macpherson is Mac a' Phersein which means son of the parson.
The Celtic church allowed priests to marry and the progenitor of the chiefs of Clan Macpherson is believed to have been a man named Muireach or Murdo Cattenach who was the
priest of Kingussie in Badenoch. The Clan Macpherson is part of the Chattan Confederation (Clan Chattan). In 843 the chief of Clan Chattan was Gille Chattan Mor and one of his
sons, the first chief of Clan Macpherson was forced to resettle in Lochaber by Kenneth MacAlpin, first king of Scots. The chief could have been the lay prior of Ardchattan and
he seems to have been named in honor of Saint Cathan. Macpherson clan traditions is that in 1309 Robert the Bruce offered the lands of Badenoch to the chief of Clan Macpherson
on the condition that they destroyed the Bruce's enemies, the Clan Comyn, and the Macphersons carried out the king's wishes. The Clan Macpherson is sometimes known as the Clan
of the Three Brothers owing to the fact that chief Ewan Ban Macpherson had three sons: Kenneth Macpherson of Clunie, Iain Macpherson of Pitman and Gillies Macpherson of
Invereshie.
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