The McCabe Clan. What’s Behind the Kilt? And Where’s Clan McCabe?

Yes I know, I know. It is what is BENEATH the kilt you are interested in–not so much what is BEHIND it. But I learned both.

In Nova Scotia, you can enroll in the only college in the world that teaches Gaelic culture– Gaelic College in St. Ann’s. I went looking for the Anderson Clan and the McCabe Clan. Scottish culture is strong in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. An incidentally, at the Gaelic College, you can learn once and for all what a Scotsman wears underneath his kilt.

Gaelic College

The Hall of the Clans, Gaelic College

Even as a tourist, you can do family history research and learn about clans of your ancestors, by visiting The Hall of the Clans. There you can see what is BEHIND the kilt colors that your ancestors wore.

I picked up a booklet about the Anderson Clans. My maternal grandfather was an Anderson, and although they always said they were Scots-Irish, I have been unable to trace them back before my great-great grandfather in Pennsylvania, so I don’t know yet when they came to the United States. I learned that Anderson probably derived from St. Andrews–which would not be immediately obvious.

I also asked about the McCabe clan–my great-grandmother’s family. Isabella McCabe Anderson also came from Pennsylvania, and she married John Anderson and they moved to Ohio around 1840.

You can see more about Isabella in “What Was She Thinking”.  In that story about Isabella, I explain that the McCabes were Scots-Irish, believed to be warriors who left Scotland to fight as mercenaries for an Irish lord. They lived in Ireland for many generations before Isabella’s grandfather, William McCabe,  came to America in 1775.

I made the mistake in that earlier story of calling them “Scotch-Irish” but I have learned better.  Scotch is whiskey. Scots are people.  In English we have mangled the pronunciation and it is a common mistake to say Scotch when you mean Scots.

At the Gaelic College, I met with disappointment.  The extensive file of booklets on clans did not include a McCabe clan, and the woman who had given us our short lesson in Gaelic, said she had never heard of a McCabe clan. I did learn that Mc and Mac do not, as I had always been told, indicate a difference between Irish and Scottish names. In fact, the Gaelic expert told us, they are interchangeable.

But all was not lost.  This has set me a new task–learning more about Scottish clans, and of course ferreting out the real origin of the name McCabe. Furthermore, I learned more about clan plaids and how those Scottish ancestors got dressed in the morning.

Tourists can  get a short taste of the subjects taught at the Gaelic College, and learn more about the culture of their Scottish ancestors. For the admission price, you get to spend half an hour with a Gaelic teacher, another half hour learning about Celtic, or Gaelic [interchangeable terms], music, a half hour learning about weaving, and a half hour learning how the Scotsman got dressed each morning, before he had a tailored kilt.

It starts with a length of fabric that his wife had spent a couple of years weaving in his clan colors. This length of fabric is his most precious possession. He sleeps on it at night, and dresses in it during the day.

  • Laid out flat, the fabric is carefully pleated for about 1/3 of its length.
  • Then the Scotsman lies down on the fabric and wraps it around him, fastening it with a strip of leather or cloth.
  • That leaves a nice swishy, sexy fall of pleats in the back, but it is far too long.
  • Next a broad leather belt goes around the waist, and the material can be tucked up into the belt to make a warm cape.
  • Or for a more formal look, gathered and slung across the shoulder, secured by a sharpened pin of wood.
  • In his finished kilt, with a tam o’shanter and carrying a staff, the kilt indeed makes a man into a man and a half,as our instructors promised.

 
Doesn’t our class volunteer look like the proper fearsome Scotsman? Except that he cheated an left on his shorts.  We learn that it is true–the rumors about what goes under the kilt.  NOTHING.  Furthermore, when the Scotsman goes to battle, he does not wear his kilt–it is too valuable to risk getting muddy and bloody. So he is either wearing a long shirt or he is naked. No wonder they had a reputation for being ferocious.

By the way, if you are curious about learning Gaelic and Gaelic music, but can’t go all the way to Nova Scotia, the college offers on line courses. But I do hope you will have the opportunity to visit the Gaelic College. We thoroughly enjoyed this unique day of immersion in the Scottish culture.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
This entry was posted in family on by .
Avatar photo

About Vera Marie Badertscher

I am a grandma and was named for my grandma. I've been an actress, a political strategist and a writer.I grew up in various places, went to high school in Killbuck, Ohio and graduated from Ohio State University. My husband and I moved to Arizona after graduation and have three adult children. I love to travel and read. I ponder family as I cook. Look for my DNA profile on Ancestry.

23 thoughts on “The McCabe Clan. What’s Behind the Kilt? And Where’s Clan McCabe?

  1. Claire Rogers

    There’s one McCabe right under your nose. My maiden name is McCabe. Without any of my material in front of me, all I can tell you is that my great grandfather was Joseph McCabe, I believe from somewhere in Iowa, he met and married my great grandmother in Storm Lake. I will look up what I have when I get home. I don’t know of any connection to Pennsylvania though.

    Reply
  2. Rob Boudreau

    According to “Clans and Families of Ireland” by John Grenham (project manager with the Irish Genealogical Project) the surname McCabe/MacCabe derives from Gaelic “Mac Cába”, cába being Gaelic for ‘cape’ or ‘cloak’. The family progenitor may have made them, or been nicknamed that for a habit of wearing them. The McCabes are thought to originally been a branch of the MacLeods of Harris in the Hebrides. They came to Ireland in the mid-fourteenth century as ‘gallowglasses’ or mercenaries to the O’Reillys and O’Rourkes, settling in the areas of Counties Longford and Cavan. Within a hundred years they had also spread out into Fermanagh and Monaghan, where they were a constant odds with the Maguires.

    Leod, progenitor of the MacLeods was a son of Olaf the Black, Norse King of the Isles in the early 13th century. As the Norse were known to wear cloaks against the chill of the sea, that may have lead the Irish to call the leader of that band of gallowglasses ‘Cába’, “of the cloak”. That’s speculation on my part, but would fit the known history and pattern of nicknames employed by the Irish at the time. With it being more of a habit back on the Isles, it wouldn’t have been notable, hence there’s no McCabe clan in Scotland.

    Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      Thanks so much for saving me days of searching for the meaning of McCabe. I suspected they picked the name up in Ireland, and had another name in Scotland. This confirms they were originally Scottish, even without a Scottish clan name. And thanks, too, to Gaelic College for making me wonder.

      Reply
  3. Kerry Dexter

    Vera,
    I am sure you will have a grand time learning more about the clans of Scotland. As you’ve no doubt learned, names are variable and changeable — so you may find other variations of all the names you’re seeking. As well, now you’ve more places to explore in Scotland and Ireland.

    Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      Thanks for that great map, Connie. It surprised me since I have learned that there is no “K” in the Gaelic alphabet. So the name would actually be MacCab, wouldn’t it? Could you please share who constructed this map?
      Are you also a descendant of the McCabes of America? I would love to know more about their history between Scotland and Ireland. Do you have any of that?
      Did you see Rob Boudreau’s comment below yours? I gather you disagree with him, or do those two theories fit together?

      Reply
  4. Connie Mack

    I don’t know but possibly. The dna for descendants for John Mack of Lyme Connecticut has a connection to the Lennox, which contains clans MacFarlane and others. That is what I was originally researching when I saw the name on the map. The area is very near and perhaps within the Lennox Clan district. it was very large at one time.I found your site while researching that name. What I learned so far is found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCabe_(surname) and https://www.irishorigenes.com/sites/default/files/field/image/Figure%204%20(Gallowglass%20surnames).jpg You have an interesting website. Happy Hunting.

    Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      Unfortunately the wikipedia article contradicts the assumption of a MacKab connection, and the second link is unreachable. Perhaps you purchased something from them that gave you access?

      Glad you find Ancestors in Aprons interesting, and best wishes in your quest for family history.

      Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      That’s interesting to know. And I’m excited to have an Aussie visitor, by the way. Do you know if generations before your great grandfather came from Scotland? In other words were Scots Irish? The Scots Irish seemed to settle in Northern Ireland, so Kilkenny is farther south. Do you know if his family was farther north?

      Reply
      1. Cheryl Docking ( McCabe)

        I cant find any ancestors other than those born in Kilkenny or Carlow.My 2 x great grandfather came from Carlow not far from Kilkenny border.Lots of McCabe found there. But I do have a Scottish & Norwegian dna.

        Reply
        1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

          I have that Norwegian, also, and at this point (it changes frequently on Ancestry) I show about 1/3 Scottish, which surprises me. At least you have gotten back to Ireland. I have not been able to pinpoint my McCabe arrival in America.

          Reply
  5. Richard Easterlow

    I am from England but have McCabe ancestry via my great great grandmother. Her father was from Dublin ( my 3x great grandfather). McCabe is a common surname in County Cavan in Ireland, where they were based as gallowglass, so the southern most tip of Ulster is probably their heartland. I know it sounds contradictory, but strictly speaking the McCabes are not Scots Irish, but they were originally from Scotland. The Scots Irish are descended from lowland Scots and first went to Ireland as part of the protestant plantation of Ireland in the 17th century. The gallowglass went to Ireland much earlier. They first appeared there at the end of the 13th century, although the McCabes are thought to have arrived a little later (1350 ish). The McCabes are descended from the Norse Gaels of the Western Isles of Scotland and were Catholic and Gaelic speakers.

    Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      I am so glad that you shared your information on the McCabes. What you say about the two different waves of immigrants to Ireland makes total sense, and I am so glad to expand my knowledge of my Scottish ancestors as opposed to my other Scots Irish ancestors. It surely shakes up my assumptions to think of them as Catholic. I think I have some re-thinking and re-writing to do.
      Do you know if your McCabes emigrated to America? I am having a lot of trouble sorting out various lines with similar given names. And do you think you and I are related?

      Reply
      1. Richard Easterlow

        I know a brother of my 2x great grandmother migrated to Canada, but I don’t know of any direct migration in this line to America. I don’t know anything of his subsequent movements, or that of his descendants either though.

        Also, I meant to say in my last post that the McCabes are thought to be a branch of clan Macleod and they are acknowledged as a sebt of one branch of that clan. It is thought that McCabe, or Mac Càba, is a cognomen (a name based on a nickname) and that the original McCabes were actually MacLeods.

        Reply
  6. Richard Easterlow

    And as for being definitely related… If we don’t have a more recent connection then we are almost certainly related if you go back through all of the countless generations that the McCabes have existed. Although not all members of a Scottish clan were related the vast majority would have been at least distantly related. Clans did historically absorb a few non related people into them though.

    Reply
  7. Mercedes Stepp

    My husband’s mother, Jackie, told me this story about a trip she made to Scotland with her husband, Bob. They were on a tour bus and people were introducing themselves, telling why they had come to Scotland. Bob said, “My family is MacFarlane, but her family’s McCabe,” he said, pointing to Jackie. A Scottish man in the front of the bus stood up and yelled, “McCabe? McCabe?! They brought them three thousand over the wall!” Jackie said everyone was staring at her and she didn’t know what to do. Later, she learned that the McCabe family did bring 3000 British soldiers over Hadrian’s wall, under duress, of course. If the people of Scotland are still angry about it today, I can’t imagine how they felt back then. Perhaps this is why the McCabe’s moved to Ireland.

    Reply
  8. Geanine teramani

    Hi there!! I’m having a very hard time locating what should be “Catherine McCabe” died 1857 somewhere between 20-27 years old in Knockbridge.
    She was married to James McCann and her Children were named James, John, Rose Ann, and Charles (died either as an infant or about 3years old”.

    The reason I’m writing is I’ve never seen the Anderson as another common McCabe name. I’m trying to understand how they intertwine.

    On her children’s death certificates it reads “Mary Anderson” on James, Catherine McCabe on Rose Ann, Mary McCabe on Johns. I know these are siblings all with the same mother and father. They were very young when she died so I suppose they knew very little of her. I’m suspecting some very hard times for her children as I’m almost positive their father died in 1868.
    All of them emigrated to the states in Oil City Pennsylvania. John and Rose Ann married siblings and moved to Chicago and James to California.
    My grandma always called her Catherine McCabe but I suspect Mary would be her actual first name. They maybe called her Catherine to separate the sea of Mary’s.
    She had to have had a brother as my mother and siblings have McCabe cousins here. Terry McCabe the Olympian is
    One.

    If there’s anyone who can help I’d appreciate it greatly and I’m always willing to help also.

    Reply
    1. Avatar photoVera Marie Badertscher Post author

      Ii hope someone sees this who might help you
      I have no connections on my tree that would help, I’m afraid. The Anderson-McCabe marriage on my tree doesn’t seem to be related to your Mary/Catherine, as my ancestors appear to have immigrated earlier than yours.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.