Blue (Bleu/Blew) and MacGhilleghuirmac

The name Blue appears to have come into being in Argyll as an English-language equivalent for a Gaelic name which was thought to stand for Mac'illeghuirm, "Son of the blue-eyed lad"; the lad in question being assumed to have been a MacMillan because of the name of Blue's long association with the clan. The fact however that there's no traditional tale about such a blue-eyed MacMillan - as there is about the Brown-haired clansman from whom the sept of Brown are said to derive - suggests that a more recent interpretation of the name may well be correct.

The alternative explanation of the original Gaelic name is that it stands for Mac Ghille-Ghuirman, "Son of the Servant or Devotee of St. Gorman". In the light of the MacMillans' medieval connections with other saintly cults this does look more likely. As such it's a name that appears in many parts of Scotland as well as in Argyll, where the "translation" to Blue became popular in the mid-18th century - a process paralleled with many other difficult Gaelic names (see in particular the MacMillan septs of Bell and MacGill).

Early members of the sept so far found include... McIlighuirm in Netherrudill who was plundered in 1699 [Justiciary Records of Argyll & the Isles]; Donald McGuriman in Kilmahamaig in 1748 [ISCRB - i.e. Inverary Sheriff Court Register of Bonds]; Angus McGourman/McGuirman, shoemaker in Tayvallich in 1757 [ISCRB]; Neil McGurman in Ardno in 1757 [ISCRB]; Archibald Bleu in ?Kilnochavick? in 1763 [ISCRB].

Many Blues emigrated from their homes in Knapdale and Kintyre in the 18th and 19th centuries, with their MacMillan cousins, to settle in the Carolinas. An account of one such family was written in the late 19th century by Mathew P. Blue, and published privately as Genealogy of the Blue Family (Montgomery, AL, 1886). Much of their history has been written in recent years by the American historian Douglas Kelly; particularly in his Scottish Blue Family from Carolina to Texas (Dillon, SC, 1982), and Carolina Scots (Dillon, SC, 1998).

The Scottish local historian Ian MacDonald, who lives in Clachan, Kintyre, has been very helpful to Blues seeking their Scottish roots, and there's an article by him, published online by the Kintyre Magazine, called "The Blues of North Kintyre".

All Blues are welcome to join their local or national Clan MacMillan branches or societies, but in the United States they have their own organisation, which maintains a loose connection with Clan MacMillan International:

The Sept of Blue
2852 Farmlife School Road
Carthage, NC 28327
USA

The Sept of Blue have commissioned their own Blue tartan or plaid, which can be obtained through the above address. An example of it can be seen at the Clan MacMillan International Centre at Finlaystone in Scotland.

An article relating to the sept of Blue in Clan MacMillan International Magazine.

The Sept of Blue | Issue 12, May/June 2009