Page:The McClure Family.djvu/14

2 6. That the name means "great bruiser." An ancient king of Scotland was attacked by highwaymen. One of his attendants so distinguished himself by his prowess that he was called MacClure, "Mac" signifying "great" as well as "son of." A blow from the fist is still known in Scotland as a clure.

7. That it originated in the ancient sport of Falconry, in which the lure was used to recall the falcon. The crest of this family of McLures is a hand in armour holding a falconer's lure.

8. A soldier from the ancient town of Lure in Normandy crossed over with William the Conquerer. He was rewarded for his service by a grant of land in the Island of Skye and was known as DeLure, Mac being later substituted for De, to harmonize with the Gaelic custom.

9. The theory advocated by Rev. J. Campbell McClure, Minister of Marykirk, Kincardinshire, Scotland, is that the McClures are a sept of the Clan McLeod. In addition to extant records in Galloway of the McClure family, showing it to be of McLeod origin, Mr. McClure states that the family tradition handed down to him through a long line of long-lived ancestors is, "In early times a sept of the MacLeods left the Island of Skye for Ulster, where the northern Irish slurred the 'd' of MacLuide (as it was then pronounced) into 'r,' hence, MacLure. Later many of the name passed over from the northeast of Ireland to Galloway, thus to Wigtonshire and so on to Ayrshire. These districts to day contain many McClures."

It is certain that McClures are in some way connected with the Clan McLeod, evidenced by the fact that the oldest traditions of the family in Scotland take them back to the Isle of Skye; the traditions of Skye link together the McClures and the McLeods; McClures have always had the same motto, crest and tartan as the McLeods, and their right to them has never been called in question.

McClure history, then, properly begins with the McLeods.