The Stange Ceremony of Clan MacLachlan

Shore of Loch Fyne

A MacLachlan legend tells of a MacLachlan Chief who would pay his feu duty (a sign of submission to an overlord in true feudal fashion) in a very strange way. The duty itself was a pair of gloves handed over through an annual ceremony which took place over a large rock called Capull Cruaidh. This rock is located along the shores of Loch Fyne near Strachur and bordered on the property of Campbell of Strachur. The Laird would take a servant along as a witness of payment. After placing the gloves on the rock and turning away, the servant would pick up the gloves and take them back to the castle. There they remained until the following year when the ceremony would be repeated.

• MacLachlan