Clan Mackay (
Gaelic:
Mac Aoidh) is an ancient and once-powerful
Scottish clan from the far North of the
Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old
kingdom of Moray. They supported
Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. In the centuries that followed they were anti-
Jacobite. The territory of the Clan Mackay consisted of the parishes of
Farr,
Tongue,
Durness and Eddrachillis, and was known as
Strathnaver, in the north-west of the county of
Sutherland. However it was not until 1829 that Strathnaver was considered part of Sutherland when the chief sold his lands to the
Earls of Sutherland and the
Highland Clearances then had dire consequences for the clan. In the 17th century the Mackay chief's territory had extended to the east to include the parish of
Reay in the west of the neighboring county of
Caithness. The chief of the clan is
Lord Reay and the lands of Strathnaver later became known as the Reay Country.