!SOURCE: Rev. Dr. Donald MacKinnon and Alick Morrison, THE MACLEODS --
THE GENEALOGY OF A CLAN, Section III, "MacLeod Cadet Families",
Edinburgh, The Clan MacLeod Society, 1979, pp. 199-200..
The romantic island of St. Kilda is really a cluster of islands and rocks
jutting precipitously out of the Atlantic Ocean, some 60 miles west of
Harris. They include Hiort (St. Kilda), Boreray, Soay, Stac Lee and Stac
an Armuin, which have fascinated historians, travellers and
ornithologists down to the present day. They provide a favourite haunt
for innumberable sea birds -- solangeese, fulmars, puffins and
razorbills. Along their steep slopes roamed the diminutive agile St.
Kilda sheep, whose horns have been of considerable interest to Scottish
historians for centuries. Above all, St. Kilda was the home of a most
remarkable people, who derived a considerable amount of their livelihood
from the slaughter of birds,w hich frequented the ledges of the
precipitous cliffs in the area. This was an operation, which demanded
considerable skill, courage and strength -- involving a sheer drop down
the face of the cliffs for a considerable distance by means of ropes, to
the clefts and ledges, and underneath yawned the blue depth of the
Atlantic Ocean. Old Angus MacQueen spent most of his life in this
hazardous enterprise. During a visit to the island of Berneray at the
beginning of this century he was heard to say, "If five birds came at me
on the ledge, I could safely guarantee that only one of them would escape
my clutches".
The island of St. Kilda was closely associated with Pabbay from the
17th century. This association was due to a remarkable Macleod family,
the Clann Alasdair Ruaidh. The leading members of this family posessed
the tack of Kirktown (Baile na Cille) in Pabbay, where they resided: they
were also the Stewards of St. Kilda.
This family descended from William Cleireach (the Clerk), 5th Chief of
the Clan MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan. The name suggests that he was
connected with the church and the MS. Genealogical History of the
MacLeods (dated c. 1768) states that "being the second son, he was bred
to the church". He eventually became Chief and proved himself one of the
great warrior chiefs of the clan. He married a daughter of MacLean of
Duart in Mull, with issue:
John (Iain Borb), his successor as chief, already dealt with in Section 1
of these genealogies. This chief was very fond of the island of Pabbay,
where he extensively repaired the Old Castle and later, accidentally, met
his death.
Norman, like his father and brother, was a renowned warrior. He was
born about 1402 and became the progenitor of the MacLeods of Grule,
Borline, St. Kilda, Bay and Balmore.
George, from whom descended several MacLeod families in Lorraine in
France….
Norman, the second son of William Cleireach, 5th Chief, was married,
with issue.