Ailean Maclean

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Ailean Maclean was a 16th-century Scottish clan figure, the second son of Lachlan Cattanach Maclean. He is best known by the nickname Ailean nan Sop or Allan o’ the Wisp, said to come from a story in which he set fire to buildings with straw. He is a famous character in Scottish tales and appears in Tales of a Grandfather by Sir Walter Scott.

Many legends surround him, but some are not true, even if they may have a kernel of truth. The best-known story comes from Scott’s book, but it is wrong in several important details and mixes in other Maclean figures, making it hard to untangle. Despite Scott’s warning that the tale should not be taken literally, the story has been copied by others.

Most MacLean manuscripts agree on the essential facts: Ailean was born in wedlock, the younger brother of Hector Mor Maclean, and the second son of Lachlan Cattanach Maclean and his wife Marian.

Ailean first appears in records during the time his father lived at Cairnburg. A daughter of MacNeil of Barra, visiting the Macleans, was courted by Allan but declined him. In anger, he attempted to abduct her. She escaped and, fleeing toward a cliff, was chased by Allan. A guard on duty nearby, seeing the danger, grabbed the lady with one hand and, with the other, hurled Allan off the edge. Allan caught on a projection that formed a shelf and was saved from falling. He later begged the lady’s forgiveness and thanked the brave guard who had saved him. This incident is said to give rise to the saying “putting a lover on the shelf,” and the place is remembered as Urraigh Ailean nan Sop’s Shelf.

This article includes material from John Patterson MacLean’s 1889 history of the MacLean clan, which is now in the public domain in the United States.