MacLaren
Variation – MacLaurin
Racial Origin – Scottish
Source – A given name
Here is another Scottish family name derived from a given name which the progenitors of its bearers brought to Scotland from Ireland in the ancient days when the Dalriach Gaels crossed over and by conquest and by settlement won the dominance of the Highlands.
The MacLarens are traditionally descended from “Loarn” or “Laurin,” who was the son of Ere, one of the Dalriadic chieftains who settled in Argyle in the sixth century. This “Loarn” is the same chief who is said to have given the district of Lorn its name.
The clan, for the MacLarens once constituted one of the leading clans in the Highlands, was for a long time a big factor in Scottish history. As early as the reign of King Kenneth MacAlpin it appears to have acquired considerable territories in Strathearn and Balquhidder. In 1138 they played a prominent part in the Battle of the Standard, under the leadership of “Malise” the Earl of Strathearn.
But the clan was reduced from the status of proprietorship over its land in 1138, when the earldom of Strathearn became the property of the Scottish crown, though they retained a status as perpetual tenants.
But its fortunes received a setback from which they have never recovered in 1745, when it took part in the uprising which attempted to put the Stuart line, in the person of “Bonnie Prince Charlie.” Back on the throne of England and Scotland.
