‘Lost’ History hiding beneath our feet
Under the turf of an Inverness kirkyard: the heraldic gravestone of Gillies McBean of Wester Drakies, the oldest known MacBean heraldry.
March 1, 2025
Richard McBain of McBain is the 23rd Hereditary Chief of the Clan MacBean. He succeeded his father, James McBain of McBain, on 7 March 2022, and was inaugurated as Chief by the Lord Lyon King of Arms on 6 August 2022 at the McBain Memorial Park, on the clan’s ancestral lands above Loch Ness. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
This is the Chief’s own site: the story of the chiefs and their park, the Chief’s arms, the tartans of the clan, and the writing of the Chief’s Seanachaidh, Philip Beddows.
Richard McBain of McBain, 23rd Chief, and the line of the chiefs before him.
A small piece of Kinchyle above Loch Ness, from 1961 to the Alan Bean Memorial.
The five official tartans of the clan, and the new MacBean Hunting.
The arms of the Chief, matriculated by the Lord Lyon, and what they mean.
From Bean Mòr in the 13th century to the present day.
Research and stories from Philip Beddows, Seanachaidh to the Chief.
Under the turf of an Inverness kirkyard: the heraldic gravestone of Gillies McBean of Wester Drakies, the oldest known MacBean heraldry.
The line of the MacBean chiefs, from Bean ‘Mòr’ mac Maolmoire in the thirteenth century to Richard McBain of McBain.
The V&A Dundee’s great tartan exhibition, featuring Alan Bean’s MacBean ‘Moon Tartan’ and Scotland’s oldest tartan.