The source of our name
The family names mentioned above, along with many others such as Houston, Hutchinson, McCutcheon and more, for the most part all stem from one single individual named Uisdean McDonald. In English he was called Hugh, and his historic name is Hugh of Sleat, since he ruled his territory from a peninsula called Sleat, on the magical Isle of Skye, off the western shore of Scotland.
Sleat is usually pronounced as "slate". Hugh ruled the McDonald family, or Clan Donald of the Isles, and his descendants are still the Chiefs of Sleat and of Clan Donald. There is an old saying in the family, "In the House of McDonald, the Sleats are on top". This is a humorous analogy of a slate roof to the leadership by Hugh's line, and so it proves the pronounciation of Sleat as in "slate".
There is more significance to this saying than might first meet the eye. Of all the many branches of Clan Donald (Glencoe, Clanranald, Keppoch, Antrim) the line of Sleat has survived as the strongest. The current Chief of Clan Donald is Lord Godfrey Macdonald, of the Sleat branch. The current Chief of Clan Uisdean of Sleat is Sir Ian Macdonald. Sir Ian is also the premier baron of Nova Scotia.
Hugh of Sleat was likely born about 1436 (which I will explain elsewhere) and we know that he died in 1498. He was likely born in Dingwall Castle, in Dingwall, Scotland, and he most likely died at Paisley Abbey, in Paisley, Scotland. His Gaelic name of Uisdean (sometimes spelled Uisdein or Uisdeann) was pronounced as somewhere between Ooshdn and Ooshn. Ooshdn seems to be the closest when compared to early English spellings of the name and to some modern pronunciations of the name. Other pronouciations given are Oosh - tchen, and Ocean.
In a small pub on the Isle of Skye, I was told by Angus McLean, that Uisdean was a name created from the sound of ocean waves hitting the shoreline. In fact, it makes sense that the Ocean was also named for this very sound. Black, in his great book, "Surnames of Scotland", says Uisdean is pronounced as Ocean.
There are a group of McDonalds who refer to themselves as the "Ocean" McDonalds and this no doubt comes from there relationship to Uisdean McDonald.
I have heard Uisdean pronounced by a handful of Scots and it is difficult to capture, in English, which one of these pronunciations best captures the Gaelic sound of the name. To complicate matters, another version of the name is Eystien, which comes from the Norsemen, who make up a large part of our family.
It is obvious that this name is so unique that it has been spelled and said many ways over the centuries, from its very beginnings until today. It is perhaps this mystery of spelling and pronunciation that has sparked so many family members to look into the history of the name.
Ooshdn became McOoshdn, or "son of Uisdean", when Hugh's first son was born. His name was recorded in 1494 as John Roy Makhuchone, by English speaking historians. I have also recently found it written in an old book as "John MacHuistean, or Hughson".
The "Black Book of Clanranald" describes the descendants of Hugh of Sleat as Siol Huistiuin, or "Race of Hugh". It also records Hugh's first four sons as -
Domhnall gallach mc huisdiuin,
Domhnall hearach mc huisdiuin,
Eoin mac huistiuin,
and, Giolla asbuig mc huisdiuin.
Donald Gallach is the son we descend from and his son, Alexander MacConnell Gallich, or Alexander Galta, or Alexander McHugh, took our name to Ireland where he served under his first cousin, Sorley Boy McDonnell. Donald Hearach, or Harris, lived on the Isle of Harris where his mother was from. The MacUisdean name was recorded there in some ancient tales. Also, about one third of all Harris' in the DNA project match our DNA.
MacHuistean, Makhuchone, or McOoshdn, would become any one of the spellings of McUisdean listed above, and also became McCutcheon in all its various spellings. "Ooshdn", alone, became Houston and Huston, and "Ooshdn's son" became Hutchinson in its various spellings. There are a few Houstons and Hutchinsons who may have come from other stock but a vast number do come directly from Hugh of Sleat. The Austin name also seems to come from Hugh of Sleat. He was referred to as Austin in a few old records. I have met an Austin family member, whose family came directly from the islands near Skye.
John made a submission to James IV in 1495 was followed by Donald Gallach, issue of his father by Mary Gunn. Clan Donald has always said it was Elizabeth Gunn, and the Gunn's say it was Mary. One site that talked about Mary and Elizabeth, said that Elizabeth moved off by herself and wasn't heard from since. I have wondered if either it was actually one person - Mary Elizabeth Gunn, a common combination of first and middle names, even today - or if one of the sisters gave birth to Donald Gallach, but the other raised him.
Donald was listed, in one record as Nein Donle VicHuiston, the Nein referring to Donald's daughter. This phrase means "the daughter of Donald, son of Huisdean" and Donald, himself, would have been recorded as Mac or McHuiston. The record was found at Thurso, Caithness, where Hugh of Sleat landed on a journey from the Orkneys, and also very close to where he met Mary and/or Elizabeth Gunn. So we have two very early versions of the name as MacHuistean and McHuiston for the first two sons of Hugh.
All the McUisdean type of spellings, listed above, do come from Hugh of Sleat and this has been scientifically proven through DNA research carried out over the last few years, under the auspices of Clan Donald.
It has been family tradition that the McUisdean names came from Hugh, and my 35+ years of research have added a great amount of evidence to this legend. Finally, through an invititation from Clan Donald, several members of this branch of the family submitted their DNA, at their own expense, and several spellings were scientifically proven to be matches. I will itemize the test results at a later date, but for now, many different spellings were found to be an exact match, while others were found to be close enough to be legal. We also were connected sufficiently to be considered as coming from Clan Donald. DNA is complicated and I will try to present the findings in laymen's terms at a different date. Suffice it to say that the majority of the McUisdean spellings were connected to each other, and that we were connected to Northern Ireland (the departure area for most of the McUisdean immigrants to America) and also to Hugh's family line back in Scotland.
There is additional DNA evidence to support our family tradition. Hugh had two sons who took versions of the name McUisdean, and one who took the Harris name, for the island he was born and raised on. A substantial percentage of those Harris entrants to this DNA project also match us, which would only be possible if they had the same progenitor - in this case Hugh of Sleat. Of about 129 Harris entrants, 15 matched within legal limits and another 19 matched close enough to be considered. Also, we matched several McDonald men, and a few Hutchinson and Houston men.
Between the historical evidence that has been amassed, as of late, the family traditions, which have survived the years, and the DNA project, which links us to Clan Donald, there can be little doubt that we are the descendants of Hugh of Sleat.
This history of Hugh's ancestors and descendants is nothing short of remarkable. It can also become a bit complicated at times, as dozens of generations are being covered and many other family names enter into the mix. This history spans hundreds of years. It has been 560 years since the most likeliest year of Hugh's birth. That we have as much information as we do is absolutely remarkable. It has come from many sources including hundreds of books and papers found in libraries and museums, and on the Internet.
Hugh's ancestors are known, pretty solidly, back to 1100, and in theory, all the way back to Adam and Eve. The reason for this is that Hugh was of royal stock from Norway, Ireland and Scotland and very specific records were kept to determine ascent to the throne. The Queen of England has a supposed genealogy which extends back to Biblical times and since Hugh came from the same royal line, his ancestors are at least as identified as the Queen's. There is considerable evidence to show that, in fact, the roots of the Scots of the Highlands and Islands do extend back to the tribes of Israel. This is another complicated area better discussed at a later date.
From Hugh forward, several generations are recorded in the official clan books of the McDonald family of Skye and the McDonnell family of Antrim, Northern Ireland. These two branches were known as Clan Donald North and Clan Donald South. The McUisdean name was identified with both branches, many times. There are also records in the histories of other families who had associations with Clan Uisdean and Clan Donald. By comparing notes between all these sources a clearer picture of Hugh and our family comes into focus.
Modern spellings of the name, like McQuiston, McQueston and McCuistion begin to show up as early as 1620 in both Ireland and Scotland. Their presence in these two countries is connected in a few different ways indicating that they are the same family despite the various spellings. Even in Hugh's own time, his name was spelled Uisdean, Uisdein, Uisdeann, Hucheon, Huchin, Auchin and a few less notable ways. So confusion, or variety (however you choose to name it) has existed from the very beginning.
There is solid evidence, through DNA, through family tradition, and through many years of research by myself and many other family historians, that these various spellings of our name represent one big happy family.