Alwyn MacArchill

Alwyn MacArchill was a mid-12th-century man who appears in numerous charters of the Kings of Scots. He, and his son, held the office of rannair—a distributor of the food and provisions—to the King of Scots. Over the years, some historians have suggested that he was an ancestor of the Earls of Lennox; some made him the first earl, others made him a male-line ancestor of the first earl, another suggestion is that he is an ancestor of the first earl in the female-line.

Biography An old David I, and young Malcolm IV, illustrated in a mid-12th-century charter.

Various names

Alwyn MacArchill appears in numerous contemporary sources during the reigns of David I and Malcolm IV. Historian G. W. S. Barrow noted that nineteen acts of David I were witnessed by Alwyn MacArchill.

Ancestor of the Earls of Lennox?

In the male-line It has been thought that the Earls of Lennox were descendants in the male line, of Alwyn MacArchill, and his father Archill. The 19th-century historian William Forbes Skene stated that this theory was first produced in 1716, by George Crawfurd.

Paul also noted another theory, which made the earls "Celtic" in the male line. This made Alwyn I, the son of Muireadhach, who was possibly a Mormaer of Lennox himself. For example, the 13th-century bard Muireadhach Albanach, employed for some time by the Lennox family, wrote a poem which outlined their ancestry which included Muireadhach. Paul followed this theory in his The Scots Peerage.

In the female-line It has also been suggested that Alwyn MacArchill is an ancestor of the Earls of Lennox in the female line. The first Earl of Lennox on record had Gaelic name Alúin, Ailín. Muireadhach Albanach's poem states that his mother (who is unnamed) was the daughter of an Ailín. The chronology could allow that this man could be Alwyn MacArchill. This could mean that the first earl's name could have been the Old English/Old Danish name assimilated into Gaelic.