Origins

The name McCulloch is of Celtic origin and is found mainly in Galloway and Wigtownshire.^[6] The name is in the format of a Gaelic patronym with "mac" meaning son followed by a name. However, the origin of that name is a subject of debate.

The first record of the name McCulloch was a 1285 transaction with respect to a delivery of 320 cattle by Thomas McCulloch (rendered "MacUlauth") as payment to the estate of Sir John de Balliol according to the testament of Sir Alan Fitz Comte. (The latter appears to be Alan, son of Thomas of Galloway, the mormaer of Atholl).^[7][8] The second record of the name McCulloch (written as "MacUlagh")^[9] was an oath of fealty to Edward I of England in 1296 by Thomas, Michael and William McCulloch,^[10] on the Ragman Rolls. The seal of Thomas McCulloch was in the name of "S' Thome Maccvli" and bore an image of a squirrel.^[11] The latter Sir Thomas McCulloch, an English loyalist, was appointed Sheriff of Wigtownshire by 1305.^[12]

Andrew McCulloch's history of Galloway: A Land Apart suggests that their prominence in Wigtownshire pinpoints the family as one of the kindreds who amassed power and land under Roland (or Lochlann), Lord of Galloway, having supported him in the brief civil conflict against his uncle Gille Brichte in the later 12th century.^[13] However, very little is known about the McCullochs or their status within Galloway prior to the rise of the Lords of Galloway.

The McCulloch lineage held the lands of Torhouse, Myreton and Ardwell in Galloway until 1682.^[10] A study of this surname and its variants can be found at the Guild of One Name Studies.^[14]

McCulloch Support for Balliol Cause

In the History of the Land of Galloway and their Owners, P.H. McKerlie describes the McCullochs as "traitors" for not supporting King Robert the Bruce in his claims for the throne of the King of Scots and his eventual war for independence from England.^[15] To better understand why the McCullochs supported Kings John Balliol and Edward Balliol and their ally, King Edward I of England, some historical context is necessary.

In earlier medieval times, regions like Galloway and the Isles, were semi-independent lordships that generally supported the King of Scots. After the death of Alexander III, the McCullochs, like other Galloway families, supported the bid of John Balliol, son of Lady Dervorguila of Galloway, rather than De Brus.^[16] The McCullochs remained loyal to the Balliols even after King John was dethroned. Sir Patrick McCulloch even entered exile in England with Edward Balliol.^[17]

When Edward Balliol pursued his claim to the Scottish throne, he did so with the support of several McCullochs, including Sir Patrick, and his sons (John and Patrick), William, Gilbert (and his son), among others.^[18] Sir Patrick also served Edward III in his campaigns in Brittany.

Because of their support for Balliol and King Edward I, King Robert the Bruce stripped McCulloch's of their extensive land holdings in Galloway. Around 1364, Sir Patrick returned to Scotland and entered the king's peace at which time King David II restored a portion of the prior McCulloch lands.^[17] An undated indenture purports to be a proposal for discussions between King Edward III of England and King David of Scotland with respect to the restoration of lands and castles seized by the late King Robert the Bruce. This indenture, which mentions Patrick McCulloch and other dispossessed landholders, may indicate that the restoration of the McCulloch lands was part of a broader settlement between the kings of England and Scotland.^[19]

McCulloch of Myreton (Galloway)

The McCullochs of Myreton were a Scottish Lowland family who lived in Myreton, Ardwell, Rhins of Galloway, Wigtownshire overlooking Luce Bay near the Water of Luce. (see location on map on this page). Unlike other McCulloch families the McCullochs of Myreton were not septs of another clan but owned their own territory. They were later seated at Cardoness Castle. Myreton is in southwest Scotland along the coast in the Machars. Another McCulloch region related to Ardwell lies across the bay from Myreton.

Between the later 14th and mid-15th centuries, they were strong allies of the earls of Douglas, who had now acquired the Galloway lordship, witnessing their charters, supplying soldiers and ships of war for their forces, and maintaining places on their council. According to Michael Brown's history of The Black Douglases, McCullochs were part of the Douglas muster-roll that fought against the English armies at the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402. John McCulloch was chancellor to the Countess of Douglas in the 1420s.^[20]

Though the power of the Black Douglases fell away in the later fifteenth century, the McCullochs outlasted their erstwhile patrons, and with castles built at Myretoun, Cardoness and Barholm on the Galloway shoreline, the strength of the family became a central part of Scotland's maritime defence. Their influence rose to its height in the career of Sir Alexander McCulloch (d. 1523), a favourite of King James IV of Scotland whom he served as chief falconer, sheriff of Wigtown and captain of the Royal Palace of Linlithgow. Under his authority, the McCulloch family and their following supplied the bodyguard for the newly-born Prince James in 1512, and were exempted from local legal and military duties in Wigtownshire while they resided at Linlithgow.^[21] In 1507, Sir Alexander ravaged the Isle of Man in revenge for an English raid on the town of Kirkcudbright.^[6] The Isle of Man was then in the possession of the Earl of Derby.^[6] Sir Alexander's daughter Margaret was married to a kinsman, another Alexander ('Sandy') McCulloch, who was a favoured member of the king's guard, and is recorded as archery partner to James IV, and as a regular participant in the royal jousts. At the Battle of Flodden, the younger MacCulloch was one of ten men clad in armour identical to the king, in an attempt to confuse the English adversaries. The ruse failed to work - James IV was killed, and so was Sandy McCulloch.^[22]

The power of the McCullochs on the national stage entered into decline after the reign of James IV. However, the family remained significant within Galloway, and a number of influential landholding branches had sprung off the main Myreton line. The McCulloch lairds of Ardwell and Killasser were among the leading Galloway supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, summoned with the threat of a charge of treason to submit to the regency ruling after her deposition in 1569 and 1571.^[23] David, son of Thomas McCulloch of Nether Ardwall was in military service in the Thirty Years' War, and settled permanently on the continent; his sons Thomas and Anthony were officers in a British regiment in Spanish service during the War of Devolution (1667-8) against Louis XIV. A second David McCulloch of Nether Ardwall served in the armies of William of Orange before the 1688 Revolution, and then in the British forces in the Nine Years' War (1688–97). In 1715, he was offered but declined a commission in the Jacobite rebel army, commanded by his cousin William Gordon, 6th Viscount of Kenmure.^[22] In the earlier part of the seventeenth-century, the brothers John and James McCulloch, younger sons of the McCullochs of Killasser, attained distinction as scholars and physicians, both holding professorial chairs at the University of Pisa, and both serving as physicians-in-ordinary to King James VI/I. John McCulloch had worked previously as physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, who shared his enthusiasm for alchemy and astrology.^[22]

The chief of the Clan McCulloch of Myreton was raised to the rank of Baronet in 1634.^[6] However this title ended when Sir Godfrey McCulloch was executed in Edinburgh in 1697 for the murder of William Gordon seven years earlier.^[6] This may have been as a result of a fight over some cattle.^[10] Sir Godfrey's crime was the beginning of a time of severe misfortune for the Myreton line. [In Sir Walter Scott's version of the tale, Sir Godfrey is rescued from execution by a faerie whom Sir Godfey had previously befriended].^[24] The chief's son Captain John McCulloch left a flourishing career in the Grenadier Guards in 1691: probably returning from the continent to support a family cast into penury after flight from justice of the laird.^[25] The next chief, Sir Gilbert McCulloch was killed on military service in Flanders in 1704. The representation of the family then passed to the McCullochs of Ardwall, which name was eventually assumed by the descendants of Andrew Jameson, Lord Ardwall.^[6][26]

MacCulloch of Plaids (Ross-shire)

MacCullochs of Kindeace and Glastullich (Ross-shire)

The MacCullochs of Kindeace and Glastullich held the lands of Kindeace in the parish of Nigg and Glastullich in Logie-Easter from the 17th century onward. They obtained Wester Kindeis in 1621 from Andrew Munro of Culnald. A manuscript genealogy shows that they were descended from the MacCullochs of Plaids. A later James MacCulloch of Kindeace married Christian Munro of Obsdale, sister of Sir Robert Munro, 3rd Baronet. A later Roderick MacCulloch of Glastullich was a captain in the Jacobite George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie's regiment during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and his estate was forfeited as a result. However, he was given a free pardon in 1748 and married in 1752 to Margaret Munro of Culrain. Roderick's sister, Mary, had a son, Hugh Rose who married Catherine Ross Munro of Culcairn and succeeded to the Cromarty estates including Glastullich.^[31] Andrew MacCulloch of Tain, a merchant and sea captain who traded between Scotland and Sweden, was also involved in the Jacobite rebellion, as the leader of a French-backed expedition that attempted the rescue of Prince Charles Edward in July 1746, after the Battle of Culloden. MacCulloch's vessel sailed between Mull and Skye, liaising with local Jacobites, but failed to locate the Prince, and returned to Gothenberg in April 1747.^[32]

MacCullochs of Cadboll (Ross-shire)

The MacCullochs of Cadboll in Ross-shire were closely associated with the MacCullochs of Plaids but no genealogical connection has been found between them. Catherine MacCulloch, wife of Farquhar Munro of Aldie, near Tain, and from whom she separated in 1605 due to his cruelty was the daughter of Walter or William MacCulloch of Cadboll.^[31]

MacCullochs of Pilton/Pitneilies/Mulderg (Ross-shire)

The MacCullochs of Pilton/Pitneilies/Mulderg are descended from the MacCullochs of Cadboll. Sir Hugh MacCulloch of Pilton was a knight who died August 6, 1688, in his 70th year and his tombstone at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh states that he was descended from the MacCulloch of Cadboll family.^[31] He allegedly also claimed cousinage with the lairds of Myreton in Galloway and matriculated arms that advertised the affinity.^[33] An 1845 salt paper photographic print of Sir Hugh MacCulloch's monument at Greyfriars Churchyard entitled the Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh, "The McCulloch Monument and the Martyr's Monument" is included in the University of Edinburgh Library prints collection.^[34] He left descendants.^[31]

MacCullochs of Tarrell (Ross-shire)

The MacCullochs of Tarrell held their estate in the parish of Tarbat and was once the property of the Tarrell family. John of Tarrell was chamberlain to William III, Earl of Ross in the 14th century and he witnessed the charter granted in 1370/1 from the Earl to Hugh Munro, 9th Baron of Foulis. Angus MacCulloch had sasine of Meikle Tarrell in 1505 and he may have been a cadet of the MacCullochs of Plaids. In this charter he was served heir to his grandmother Eufemia of Tarrell. However, an earlier Angus MacCulloch of Tarrell was recorded in 1484 as a citizen of Tain and was among the landed gentlemen killed in 1486 at the Battle of Auldicharish fighting for the Clan Ross against the Clan Mackay. Another Angus MacCulloch of Tarrell appears on record in 1534 and 1539 along with his son and heir, Alexander MacCulloch, in 1537. However, when Angus MacCulloch resigned his lands to the King in 154+1⁄2, they were granted to John MacCulloch who was probably his grandson. John MacCulloch of Tarrell who was a baillie of Tain, married in 1553 to Christina, sister of Thomas Moneypenny of Kinkell. He died in 1567 and left a widow, Elizabeth Ross. His son, another Angus MacCulloch, whose ward of lands and marriage were given by Queen Mary to David Chalmer on his forfeiture to Andrew Munro of Newmore in 1568. The deceased Alexander MacCulloch of Tarrell was described as the last possessor of Meikle Tarrell in 1576. John MacCulloch's only surviving heir, Marion MacCulloch, then entered into a contract of marriage with Andrew Munro of Newmore to marry his son, George Munro, in 1577 with the consent of her curators, including Robert Mor Munro, 15th Baron of Foulis. A Crown charter dated July 26, 1578, confirmed the lands of Meikle Tarrell to the couple. George Munro was head of the Munro of Milntown family and sat in the Scots Parliament. He died in 1623 and his son sold the lands to Roderick Mackenzie of Coigach who had them erected into a barony by James VI of Scotland.^[31]

MacCulloch of Oban (Argyll)

A distinct 'clan' of MacCullochs, the MacCullochs of Oban, lived in the vicinity of Oban, Argyll, and the island of Kerrara, on the West coast of Argyll. Here MacCulloch of Colgin was long recognised as the representative of his line. They were said to be descended from a race of MacLulichs who had lived in Benderloch under the Clan MacDougall.^[10] Although the Collins Scottish Clan Encyclopedia states that the MacCullochs of Oban were descendants of the MacDougalls themselves.^[6]

Son of a Boar

In Scottish Gaelic the name may be rendered as MacCullaich which is translated as son of a boar.^[6] However, the name is rarely if ever spelled as "MacCullaich" based on a survey of available baptism, marriage, death, and other records available at Scotlands People^[41] and extant medieval or early modern records such as R.C. Reid's Wigtownshire Charters.^[42] This origin story is hard to square with the fact that the seal of Thomas McCulloch, Sheriff of Wigtown included an image of a squirrel and the earliest known family coats of arms featured wolves.

Hound of Ulster

An alternative derivation has been suggested that the name comes from the Irish Gaelic MacCú'Uladh derived from "mac" and the Gaelic forename Cú'Uladh which means son of the Hound of Ulster. This name is anglicized as McCullough or MacCullagh.^[6] The combination of "mac" and Cú'Uladh was used by Kings of Ulster as early as the 13th century. However, there is no documented link between the Irish name and the Scottish name that has become McCulloch. Current Y DNA data indicates that there are multiple haplogroups associated with surnames McCullough and MacCullagh, which may suggest independent origins.^[43]

Gwallawc

According to Sir Andrew Agnew, author of the Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway, the McCullochs were an ancient Pictish people named for a 6th-century chieftain named Gwallawc,^[44] also spelled "Uallauc." Gwallawc, featured in Welsh ballads, may have been a king of Elmet and may have conquered part of the Kingdom of Rheged in Galloway. "

Cullo O'Neill

A tradition relayed by US Supreme Court Justice James Iredell (a descendant of the McCullochs of Killasser who migrated to County Antrim) linked the origins of the family to Cullo O'Neill, believed to have been born in Ireland, a son of the family of O'Neills of Clandeboye.^[45] Cullo O'Neill served in the army of Edward Bruce, King of Ireland, brother of king Robert the Bruce of Scotland. In around 1316 he was chosen by Edward Bruce as Captain of horse in his army. He later became Sir Cullo O'Neill. In about 1317 king Robert the Bruce of Scotland knighted Captain Cullo og Neil (o’Neil) and chose him to be his standard-bearer and Secretary of State. King Robert the Bruce granted Sir Cullo og Neil the lands of Achawan or Auchwane in Wigtownshire. In 1331 Sir Cullo Og Neil died and left his estate to his eldest son Sir Godfrey, who assumed the surname of MacCullog. (MacCullough / MacCullo’c).^[46] However, this origin story is dubious considering the McCulloch name was already in use prior to 1285.^[47]

Ulgric

Another origin myth speculates that the family descended from Ulgric, one of the leaders of the Gallovidian spearmen who fought and fell in the van of King David I's army at the Battle of the Standard in 1138.^[48]

Galloway

McCulloch of Myretoun. Ermine frette gules.

McCulloch of Cardoness: Ermine frette gules of eight pieces, and on an escutcheon azure, three wolves heads erased argent.

McCulloch of Ardwell: Ermine frette gules. Crest: A hand throwing a dart proper. (Granted to Sir Godfrey McCulloch of Myrtoun about 1672).

McCulloch of Drummorrell. Bears ermine frettee gules a bordur ingrailed of the second, Above the Shield ane helmet befitting his degree mantle gules doubled argent. The motto in ane Escroll Verus et Sedulus. (Granted to Alexander McCulloch of Drummorrell in 1672).

McCulloch of Barholm: Fret being engrailed, and the escutcheon azure, three wolves' heads erased argent; supporters, as heir-male of the families of Muile, Myretown, and Cardoness —two men in armour, each holding a spear in his hand proper. (Granted to John McCulloch of Barholm, 1814)

McCulloch of Mule and Inshanks: Ermine frette gules, a bordure, indented of the second.

McCulloch of Ardwall – Ermine fretty gules within Fretty a bordure of the last (1st and 4th quarters). (Granted to Andrew Jameson McCulloch of Ardwall, the younger, in 1899).

McCullock of Kirkclaugh – Ermine fretty gules within a bordure engrailed of the last (1st and 4th quarters). (Granted to William Edward Cliff McCulloch, the younger, of Kircklaugh in 1899).

Ross-shire

McCulloch of Pilton: Ermine a fret engrailed gules. (Granted to Sir Hilton McCulloch of Pilton, about 1672)

McCulloch of Cadboll – Ermine fretty^[52]