Came across this via StumbleUpon and wanted to archive it. Here is the original link. The author is Margaret Mason.
Glenorchy, Scotland - Home of the Fletcher Clan
Ancient Fletchers
One of the most magnificent of the many lovely Highland glens is undoubtedly Glenorchy, whence the Fletcher Clan is said to have originated. The Fletchers claim descent from Kenneth MacAlpin, the first king of the united Picts and Scots, and ancestor of our present Royal family. The Fletchers were the first to ‘raise smoke and boil water’ on the Braes of Glenorchy (Is e Clannan-Leisdeir a thog a cheud smuid thug goil air uisge an Urcha). The patronymic of the Clan was Mac-an-leistear, and prior to 1700 was written in documents as ‘MacInleister’. When surnames came to be used, in about 1745, the name was anglicised as Fletcher – the equivalent of the Gaelic ‘Leisdear’, man of the arrow. The first person to use the English ‘Fletcher’ seems to have been Archibald the VIIIth Chief. Their badge is the pine-tree, and their tartan is an arrangement of blue, black and green, with diagonal lines of red. Their crest is two arms drawing a bow, as depicted on the cover.
It is recorded that the Fletchers, prior to their migration to the upper part of Glenorchy, were in possession of Drimfearn in Glen Aray, just north of Inverary. This was in the eleventh century. But it was the lands of Achallader and nearby Barravurich which the Fletchers held as undisputed owners for many years. It would appear that they were in Glenorchy before the Clan MacGregor, although Buchanan of Auchmar designated them a sept of the MacGregors. Glenorchy was actually bestowed on the MacGregors in 1222 by Alexander II as a reward for their assistance in the conquest of Argyll. The MacGregors were in possession in Glenorchy for about 150 years. Their line of chiefs ended in the birth of a daughter, Mariota, who married John, son of Sir Colin Campbell of Lochawe, and the Glen was granted to her and her husband by Royal Charter in 1359.
