| Notes |
- The late Watson Buchanan (author of "History of Clan Buchanan and Its Septs: A Millenial Update" and a fluent Gaelic speaker), following William Buchanan of Auchmar (1723), cites Anselan as the progenitor of the Scottish family of Buchanan. They suggest that Anselan's surname was Buidh O'Kyan (O'Cathan), meaning "the yellow-haired O'Kyan". The Buchanan surname would be somewhat of an elision of Buidhe O'Cathainan, meaning "one of the yellow O'Cathans", from "buidhe" = "yellow", plus the family name O'Cathan, with the suffix "an" meaning "one of". The name would have been pronounced something like "bwee-oh-cay-an-an", and in that form it is easy to see how it would morph into Buchanan.
Watson Buchanan goes on to note that Anselan is definitely not a Gaelic name. It is derived from the name Anselm (a Norman name meaning "divinely protected" or, literally, "helmet of God"). The name became popular after St. Anselm became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, making it anachronistically difficult to explain in the late 10th century in Ulster, Ireland prior to William The Conqueror's invasion of England in 1066. Buchanan goes on to argue, somewhat convincingly, that the name was probably a later corruption of "Absalon", a popular Scandinavian (i.e. Danish Viking) name meaning "father of peace". This name, along with the nickname Buidhe, indicating yellow hair, would be a strong indicator of a Danish Viking ancestry. However, Irish O'Cathan genealogies provide a full Irish Gaelic ancestry (shown here) going back to a sept of the O'Neils. Thus it would seem likely that an earlier O'Cathan may have married a Viking princess introducing both the Viking name and yellow hair into the family.
Buchanan of Auchmar suggests that Anselan was obliged to flee Ireland in 1016 after a failed uprising against a Danish Viking overlord.
Earlier O'Neill histories indicate that the family had strong aliances with the Argyll area of Scotland as founders of the Gaelic Kingdom of Dal Riada which eventually gained supremecy over the Picts as rulers of Scotland. Later O'Cathan histories indicate this allegiance was maintained with aliances between the O'Cathans and the Scottish Lords of the Isles. The most noteworthy of these being a female descendant of Anselan's brother, Conn, who married Alasdair MacDonald, Lord of the Isles. Thus, if Anselan did have to flee Ireland for any reason, it would be natural that he would find welcome refuge in southwest Scotland.
Watson Buchanan goes on to show that Absalon would have been Galicized as a surname in the form of "mac Abhsaloin" which would give rise to the Anglicized surname MacAuslin (and its numerous variant spellings), a known sept of Buchanan.
|
Abt 975 - UNKNOWN
