 I'm born and bred to do this. My family name was bred on the battlefield, swinging pickaxes on the back of a horse. That's where the McGregor name comes from. We come from the Scottish Highlands. We're warriors. That's all I know. Connor McGregor, 8th July 2021. UFC fighter, Connor McGregor, has consistently referenced his clan McGregor during his career, a clan that has a long and turbulent history. From being outlawed for over 150 years to fighting alongside William Wallace during the First Scottish War of Independence, Connor McGregor is from a truly fascinating clan. Clan McGregor is thought to be descended from Celtic royalty, reflected in the motto of the clan. Royal is a race. Some McGregors trace the line back to Gregor, 3rd son of King Alpin, who was crowned King of the Lands around Loch Lomond in 787 AD. Other origin stories suggest that the McGregors go back to King Kenneth McAlpin, the first King of Scots from the 9th century AD. The first chief of the McGregor clan that we can be sure of was Gregor of the Golden Bridels, who died in Glen Orchie around 1390 AD. The McGregors fought alongside William Wallace during the First Scottish War of Independence, including at the Battle of Falkirk. A few decades later, the McGregor clan fought alongside Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn of 1314. Despite this, however, Robert the Bruce granted the rival clan, Campbell McGregor-Lands, throughout his reign. The McGregors were also one of the first Scottish clans to start playing the bagpipes in the 17th century. For large parts of the 17th and 18th centuries, the McGregor name was banned by James VI, the King of Scotland from 1567, who went on to become the King of England and Ireland as well from 1603. The move to ban the name McGregor from King James came after the McGregors, attacked the rival clan of the Calhouns, a Glenfroon near Loch Lomond on the 7th of February 1603, who they had had disputes with for years. In late February 1603, following a complaint from a woman from the clan Calhoun, King James signed a royal warrant denouncing the McGregor's actions as barbarous and horrible and called for the McGregor name to be altogether abolished. Women bearing the name McGregor were stripped and whipped in the streets, and members of the clan were banned from carrying a sharp knife. McGregors could be killed with no legal recourse, and the murderers were often rewarded. Ministers were banned from baptising a child that bore the name McGregor. Anyone bearing the name McGregor was to renounce their name, or be punished by death. Some took the name Grant, Shirt, or Ramsay instead. In 1661, Charles II legalised the McGregor name once again. In 1693, William of Orange banned the name again after the McGregors supported the House of Shirts claimed to the Royal Throne. During this time, Rob Roy McGregor, one of Scotland's most famous figures, emerged. Rob Roy McGregor was born in 1671, and had to take his mother's maiden name, Campbell, for many years of his life. Rob Roy was a well-educated Scottish outlaw, who went on to become a folk hero. In 1784, the McGregor name was finally legalised once again.