Bell Is Not a Sept of MacMillan

The MacMillan claim of a Bell sept is not supported by evidence. All the arguments given for MacMillan Bells existing before Culloden fail badly.

After Culloden the Bell surname change shows rebellion against the MacMillan chiefs due to a bitter clan dispute. One MacMillan family (McIlvoyle) changed their surname to Bell in 1743, shortly before Culloden. All evidence of the McIlvoyle names disappeared from parish rolls by 1760 and the Bell name suddenly appeared on the parish rolls in significant numbers.

With no valid evidence that MacMillans used the surname of Bell before 1743, and with adoption of the Bell name indicating a group that actively rejected the MacMillan chiefs after Culloden, there was never a time when it was valid for Clan MacMillan to claim Bell as a sept.

Even without a clan dispute, the MacMillan name change to Bell creates the presumption that these former MacMillans are loyal to Bell unless they showed allegiance to another clan as individuals.
A name change comes with strings attached.

Paper on the MacMillan Sept Claim (available below in 3 different lengths):
2-page handout Clan Bell and the MacMillan Sept Claims, by Joseph L. Bell

9-page paper Clan Bell and the MacMillan Sept Claims

38-page paper with attachments Clan Bell and the MacMillan Sept Claims

The term "sept" has two definitions:
First are the men of the clan who were related by blood and formed separate divisions,
Second were individuals and groups who looked for and received protection of the clan.

The mid-18th century name change of MacMillans to Bell fails to create a Bell sept of Clan MacMillan under both definitions of a sept:

A related group of McIlvoyles changing their names to Bell created a Bell-named sept division of Clan Bell, even if some of them later showed loyalty to MacMillan as individuals while keeping the Bell name.

The "MacMillans" who changed their name to Bell were the McIlvoyle or McIlvoile, and their name was long recognized as distinct from MacMillan and that distinction was kept in parish records. The name change to Bell was the result of a clan dispute between McIlvoyle and MacMillan that was so bitter the McIlvoyles sought protection from MacMillan and changed their surname.
The arbitrary name change to Bell around the time of Culloden was likely to give these ex-MacMillans protection by using the Bell surname. These ex-MacMillans were therefore a protected Bell-named sept of Clan Bell .

Both definitions of a sept of Clan Bell are met by Bells (even with MacMillan ancestry) -- as a Bell-named sept of Clan Bell.
Bell was never correctly considered a sept of Clan MacMillan by any definition of sept, either before or after the name change.

The Lord Lyon Court policy is that "where a particular sept has traditionally been associated with a particular clan it would not be appropriate for that name to be treated by another clan chief as one of its septs."
Taking the Bell name as a sept of MacMillan is "not appropriate" under this policy to prevent a group taking over another name. It would also be inappropriate for Clan Bell to claim McIlvoyle and MacMillan as septs, but all people named Bell are presumed to be members of Clan Bell.

Specific MacMillan arguments for Bell as a sept of MacMillan that are refuted include:
  • Cormac, Bishop of Dunkeld, is not related to Bell clergy present at Dunkeld over 130 years later. Cormac had no last name (typical in Scotland at his time), but Bells did (common in France but not in Scotland at their time). These Bell clergy were likely brought into Scotland to reduce Celtic Church influence, undermining the legacy of Cormac, Bishop of Dunkeld.
  • The name of Gilbert le fitz Bel in 1304 was not equivalent to "McBell" (recorded in 1666 and 1795). A Donald le fitz Can appears in English records for Donald McCan/Cahan in the 1300s, but there is also plenty of evidence for McCan/McCann and a conspicuous lack of McBell and Mhaoil evidence for centuries. Therefore, Gilbert le fitz Bel as "Gilbert McBell" or "Gilbert Mhaoil" is just unlikely speculation.
  • Descendants of Gilbert le fitz Bel living around Annandale do not match MacMillan DNA results, so there is physical evidence against him being related to MacMillans.
  • Robert Bell of Berwickshire in 1427 and an unnamed MacMillan in England with similar coats of arms is a coincidence since a chevron with 3 stars is a very popular design used by at least 37 unique surnames. It is very unlikely that Robert Bell and the unnamed MacMillan were related.
  • The power of MacMillan chiefs was greatly reduced after Culloden (around the time of the name change to Bell) so that the chiefs could not command allegiance to Clan MacMillan in some areas.
  • It is ironic that the historic setting with the most diminished power for MacMillan chiefs is used as the basis for claiming Bell as a sept of MacMillan. The name change to Bell after a bitter clan dispute only compounds that irony, since the name change itself showed their rejection of the MacMillan chiefs.
  • Phonetic changes to arbitrarily get from a MacMillan name to "Bell" do not create a valid sept claim. The old MacMillan names were closer to "Gullible" and could have been changed to other English names, instead of Bell.
  • The total change of names in the parish register to Bell is not explained by arbitrary phonetics, instead showing a great need to change to Bell for protection. Even protection "by the Bell surname" would make the ex-MacMillans a sept of Clan Bell, by definition and by Lord Lyon Court policy.
  • A small number of people named "McBell" and a Bell gravestone with an ancient MacMillan name on it respects their family heritage but does not create an argument for a Bell sept of MacMillan.
Additional refutation of the MacMillan claim of a Bell sept includes:
  • Tartan books are not reliable on sept matters, often reflecting one person's opinion of name groups in a clan's area. Tartan books have a commercial bias to lump many names into clans with a tartan to avoid stocking additional tartans and to not have any name that does not have a tartan.
  • A rough estimate of relative populations has people named Bell (but not related to MacMillans) outnumbering the former MacMillan-Bells by about ten to one (91% versus 9%) within the UK. Including the Bells from the USA, France and Europe would make this an even greater ratio for Bells.
Prior to the bitter clan dispute and the name change to Bell the McIllvoyle surnames were already considered distinct from the MacMillan surnames (as noted on the Clan MacMIllan website): "Both families are recorded in the Old Parish Registers (from their start in the 1680s) as McIlvoils, along with many others so named; and many MacMillans too; a distinction being traditionally kept in the area between the MacGhillemhaoils from Lochaber, and the MacMhaolains from Knapdale and Kintyre."

The Clan MacMillan website claims that "Clan Bell of the Borders maintain a separate identity which is fully respected by Clan MacMillan". Unfortunately, their website creates the misleading impression that the Highland Bells are a similar sized group to the Border Bells, thereby inflating the sept claim, and makes invalid claims to the accomplishments of various Bells who are not from the Highlands.

All of the arguments for the MacMillan claim of a Bell sept were bad arguments and the sept claim should be abandoned.

Some References and Links for the paper: