Mackintosh History

It should be noted that this Clan has many variations in spelling. The translation of the original Gaelic and the many ways of pronouncing this name has created many variations. The beginning of name has been written as Mac, Mc  and the obscure M'. Some families adopt other distinguishing marks for their version of "Mac". Some place  two dots above Mac or raise and underline the "Mac" portion of the name to be able to identify their particular branch of the Clan. All this adds to the confusion of what the "correct spelling truly is!
The second element of the name also has some confusing elements. Is it Kintosh or Intosh. This is dependant on the way in which the name is pronounced. If it is pronounced with a silent K we have Intosh. If the K is pronounced as a hard Gaelic K we have Kintosh.
Then there is the issue of whether there should be a space between the Mac and Kintosh . George Black, the leading scholar on Scottish surname in his masterful work , "The Surnames of Scotland" states that all Scottish Mac names should no longer have a space between the Mac and the last part of the name. He correctly explains that in the past the "Mac" meaning son of was the correct use but now that surnames have become established the name should no longer be two separate words but one word and that there should be no capital on the second part of the name. This would then give us the name Mackintosh. This is the manner in which the Chief of the Clan , John Mackintosh of Mackintosh prefers that it is spelled.
Since surnames and there spelling has been established for a long period of time it is unlikely that many people will change the spelling to the preferred spelling but iit is good to know the history of the name.

Toiseich is Gaelic for a Chief or Headman. A Mac an Toiseich might therefore be the son of any such functionary, and in fact there are Mackintoshes who claim diverse origins. But the Mac Intosh who became Chief of the Cat Confederation, Clan Chattan, claimed descent from the royal house of Duff. Shaw, second son of the 3rd Earl of Fife, was appointed Constable of Inverness Castle in 1163, with a grant of land in the valley of the Findhorn river. He became know as Mac an Toiseich, and his son Shaw Mac Intosh was appointed crown chamberlain in the north with a charter of confirmation for his lands from William the Lion.

The skill with which the Mac Intosh chiefs steered themselves through the hazards of history was displayed early, in the wars of independence. Although Edward I of England himself came in strength as far north as Moray, and the Bruce's most powerful opponents, the Comyns, dominated the territories of Clan Chattan, the 6th Mac Intosh supported the Bruce cause against them. The 7th was able to acquire the barony of Moy where his successor lives to this day. The 10th Mac Intosh made as astute a choice as the 6th had done when the Lord of the Isles brought his army to Harlaw in 1411: he brought his clan to fight with the forces of the crown. In 1428 he was appointed Constable of Inverness by James I. But despite their record, the Mackintoshes fell victim to Stewart policies towards the Highlands. In 1496 the 11th Mac Intosh was ordered by James IV to hand Inverness Castle to a Gordon. The 12th was seized in one of the royal kidnapping operations and imprisoned in the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling and Dunbar from 1497 until 1513. As in the Lordship of the Isles, the removal of the apex of local authority merely led to anarchy and violence, such as the Campbells and Gordons made such an art of fomenting and exploiting. The 14th Mac Intosh succeeded in obtaining a charter to his lands from James V in 1523 but his successor was murdered in the kitchens of Gordon of Huntley in 1544, and his property forfeited on a trumped-up charge, when the King was dead and a Hamilton held the Regency. Such were the vicissitudes of central government politics at this time, however, that the 16th Mac Intosh was able to secure an Act of Parliament reversing the forfeiture in 1550, and ten years later he was invested with the stewardship of Lochaber. In 1562 he had the satisfaction of fighting in the army of Queen Mary against Gordon of Huntley at Corrichie, where the Earl died on the field while his most evil relative was taken to Aberdeen to be executed.

Sir Lachlan Mac Intosh succeeded his grandfather as 17th Chief in 1606. James VI ordered that he should be sent to Oxford or Cambridge - in pursuance of his policy of anglicising Highland chiefs and destroying the Gaelic culture rather than fostering it. Thereafter the clan supported Charles I in the Civil War and rose for the house of Steward in the 1715 rebellion. But by the time of the Forty-Five the 22nd Chief was a Captain in the Black Watch, and remained loyal to his commission. It was left to his young wife, described in admiration as Colonel Anne, to raise four hundred of his clansmen for Prince Charles Edward.