RootsChat.Com

In common with my surname, your ancestors name included the first two components Mac and Gille. Together, these are usually rendered in English as MacGille or MacIlle, and mean "Son of the Lad" - the next part of the name will be in the genitive form in Gaelic which is where the "of" comes from. Hence, "Mac" in MacDonald technically only means son, but in the context of the anglicised version of the name, it effectively means "Son of" when it refers to anglicised surname. Similar, "MacGille" or "MacIlle" means "Son of the Lad of (the)".

In your particular case, Huaish might be a little tricky because it is dependent on how aware the census officer was of the Gaelic language, they've either written in phonetically from an English perspective or with some elements of Gaelic spelling included. Also, unlike "Mac" surnnames, "MacGille/MacIlle" names are as likely to be followed by either (i) an adjective (ii) a noun relating to an occupation (iii) an noun or adjective relating to a characteristic of the person (religious, occupational, their appearance) as a proper noun (i.e a first name) like in MacDonald.

With all the under consideration I'd suggest the Huaish element is either:

(i) a contraction of Uisdean (pron: OOsh-jin), often translated to Hugh in English. Mac-Ille-Uis
(ii) a connection to the isle of Uist (be it south or north); Colla Uais (pron Cow-lah OO-ish in modern Gaelic) was deposed in Ireland by Muedach Tireach and was banished with 300 of his principal chiefs to the Hebrides in 327 A.D. It is possible that your ancestor moved from the lands of Clan MacDonald in the 1600s to Highland Perthshire and was historically a follower of Colla Uais. Mac-Ille-Uais
(iii) the presence of an H raises the possibility that the latter part of the name started with an S,T or G which become an H sound in the genetive form, i.e. the "of the" form. In this instance, a proper noun actually jumps out rather than an occupation, adjective or "characteristic" noun/adjective: Tàmhais. Known in English as Tavish, this name is a popular surname and derives from the Thomas, most commonly, as a follower of a chapel dedicated to St.Thomas. Donald MacTavish, heir to the Clan MacTavish, settled in Clachan at Ardtalnaig on Loch Tay. Consequently, I think this is by far your most likely answer, though would require a degree of further research.

"Gille" suggests a follower, servant, devotee or footman and in the era prior to the industrial revolution, was actually a relatively high status within society: to be a servant sometimes involved a degree of not only service, but sometimes a level of council or advice - a means of the landed gentry to "run their ideas by" a common-man. Such people lived in relative splendour - having four stone walls and a tiled roof above their head, relatively clean conditions, proximity to powerful clan leaders, access to relatively fine clothing, a consistent wage etc. I'd encourage you to look into the MacTavish presence in the Loch Tay area and to trace your McIllhuaish ancestor as far back as possible: particularly in the Parish records of Loch Tay (births, deaths and marriages in particular). Very few people died with a will, though it's possible and worth a quick peek. Rentals of estates often listed the property contained within the estate, the names of servants and the names of the tenants who occupied the properties. If you are looking to dig deeper, I'd research whether rentals relating to an estate held by MacTavish in the Loch Tay area are available in the National Records of Scotland.

In summary, I think the name is possibly (with further research) derived from the Gaelic surname MacIlleThàmhais or MacIlleThomhais - Son of the Servant of Tavish/Thomas.

Both these locations are outside of Inverness but only a bit outside the modern "metro" area - North Kessock is generally included in Inverness for these purposes as it's just over the Kessock Bridge and is effectively now part of the city - so Kinkell is only about a 10 minute drive from "Inverness" or 15 minutes from Inverness proper.
 
Similarly, the north side of Loch Duntelchaig or Dun Seilcheig (which supplies the water to Inverness, alongside Loch Ashie now to the rapid growth in population) is similarly 'nearby' in that Leys at the south of Inverness is only about 10 minutes drive. But these areas are historically very far apart. 30 minute drive or so today, half a day travelling by horse and cart in the past.

As such, we can safely say Creag nan Clag (which does indeed mean Crag of the Bells) is not the place to referred in the family bible.

If my post from 25th of May gets approved soon, you'll see I've suggested a likely name like Creenish from Criadh-Innis (Clay-field). This would definitely be the direction the poster should be heading.

Feasgar math a h-uile duine!

Before I begin, I'd like to underline that the purpose of this request is to eventually make it easier for individuals to track down their ancestors and understand the landscape, society and culture in which they lived.

I'm a researcher from Inverness who is seeking to gather as many local place names from the city itself and the areas immediately surrounding the city that are either forgotten, have fallen out of use or have gone unrecorded. I'm particularly interested in old house names, field names of farms/crofts/small-holdings (and the name of said places themselves), the names of old townships, features such as small mounds, streams and rocks - basically anything you can think of that enables us to reconstruct the part of the world in which your ancestors lived.

I've undertaken extensive research through sources ranging from the 1200s to present day and have thus far collected about 300 names which have been mapped as accurately as possible, most of which are of course Gaelic in origin or translated from their original Gaelic.

The reason for this post is that individual's stories of their own families and home-life can precipitate a wider understanding of historic names. For example, having read "Mind Thon Time", a collection of personal reflections of Highlanders both from and living in Inverness, I was able to substantiate and use a process of elimination to pinpoint four historic names to their respective locations in just one area of the city (or historic Highland town and burgh/parish). Not bad for a book of short reflections about what many would disregard as unremarkable story-telling.

Following this logic, it occurred to me that this forum (which I've consulted a number of times for while really testing Google's limits in very specific search queries) is full of individuals who likely know specific corners of Inverness and its surrounding farms, villages etc better than the residents of the city itself.

With this in mind and with the hope that the outcome of my work might help in providing resources for an area which has few detailed map surveys of its lands due to its status as a burgh and not an estate, please share any information you have - be it about Culduthel, Bogbain, Lochardil, Culloden, Dores, Dochgarroch or closer to the centre of the old burgh itself.



In exchange, I am happy to offer free advice, guidance and help relevant to anyone researching family in Inverness and its surrounding environs (being a native of the city myself).

Le gach dùrachd
MacIlleDhuibh