Clan Cameron of Erracht

Ewen Cameron of Lochiel took as his second wife Marjory MacKintosh. Their son Ewen was the first of what would become the Camerons of Erracht. This was in the early 16th century and by 1745, Donald Cameron, 7th of Erracht, was second in command of the Camerons at Glenfinnan when Prince Charles raised his standard.

After the disastrous Culloden, Donald spent the following three years as a fugitive, wandering among the mountains, homeless. He died in 1780.

The relationship of the Erracht family and their relatives from Lochiel swung regularly between marriages and murders. Donald's eldest son Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht was crippled trying to escape American rebels when fighting as a Loyalist from 1775 till 1778. He went on to raise the 79th Regiment in 1793, which by 1804 were known as the Cameron Highlanders.

As their Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant he led the 79th through bloody Flanders from 1794 to 1795 before a term in the West Indies. When the battalion was dismantled in 1797, 210 of the men joined the Black Watch.

A year later Colonel Cameron was asked to raise his battalion again and did so with 780 men. In 1804 he raised a second battalion with a further 800 men.

The tartan worn by the 79th Regiment was known as ‘Erracht Cameron Tartan’. It was designed by Marsali MacLean, Sir Allan’s mother, upon his request. She was the daughter of Ranald McDonnell of Keppoch. She based the design on a mixing of the McDonnell of Keppoch and Cameron tartans, using local Lochaber dyes.