Shaw
Racial Origin – Scottish
Source – A given name.
Shaw does not look like a Highland or Gaelic family name. Not many people realize that it is, for, strangely enough, it is not met with at any comparatively moder date with the prefix of either “Mac” or “O’.”
It is the name born originally by a certain sept of Clan MacKintosh, which later divided into two septs, the first or senior line eventually losing ownership of the lands originally occupied by the organization.
The Highland records show that the sixth chief of Clan MacKintosh was name Angus. He had a son named John, whose son was Gilchrist, who in turn had a son named Shaw, who was surnamed “Corr Flachiach,” and this chieftain was the founder of he sept line of Shaws, Having acquired the lands about “Loch-an-ellian” just prior to 1400 A.D.
For several centuries the castle of Loch-an-eillan was the stronghold of his descendants and the branch of the Clan MacKintosh which they led.
