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MACINNES CLANN AONQHAIS.
Badge. Culleann (Holly).
ISTORICALLY very little seems to be known of this clan, but the name is derived
from Angus, one of the oldest names in the Gaelic language.
The Gaelic orthography ia Aongas, but as in the genitive the g is aspirated by the
following h, the word is pronounced Aon'es, from which Innes is derived. There
can be no doubt that many of the latter name, as well as those called Maclnnes, are
properly of the MacAon'ais clan ; at the same time, as Innes signifies an islet, many
families may have taken the name as a local appellation which was common in
Scotland, such as Blair, Ross, Moray, and many others. Morvern, the district of
Argyleshire celebrated in the poems of Ossian as the territory of the great Fingal,
was the chief seat of the clan, and in a romantic situation, at the confluence of a
rapid stream, with a salt-water loch, stands the ruined and romantic castle of Ceannloch-aluin,
long the residence of the MacAon'ais, a massy square tower or keep, reared
by a lady named Du'ghall, which would imply the dark-complexioned stranger. It underwent at
one time a very sharp siege, during which it was bravely defended by the Clan Aon'ais ; this was
probably when it was taken and garrisoned by Montrose's Irish auxiliaries in 1645. The hereditary
bowmen to the chiefs of MacKinnon were of the Clan Aon'ais, and thev also had the duty of instructing
the clan in the use of the bow.