Taylor (name)

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The name 'Taylor' appears numerous times in records from the 13th century and comes from the skilled craft of tailoring.

The Taylors, who are a sept of Clan Cameron, are said to be descended from Donald "Taillear dubh na tuaighe" (Black Taylor of the Axe), who lived in the time of Mary Queen of Scots. This name, not surprisingly, is derived from the occupation of a cutter of cloth and is very common throughout Britain and abroad. The word 'tailor' passed into Gaelic as 'taillear' and gave rise to the Highland surname, Mac-an-taillear, or 'son of the tailor'. Traditionally the Taylors in Scotland are considered a sept of Clan Cameron.

Legend has it that the original 'Taylor' in Clan Cameron is believed to have been the natural son of Ewan Cameron, the 14th Chief of the clan. The original Taylor was born to Ewan Cameron and the daughter of a rival clan leader, who was married to Ewan in secret and, once discovered, was put to death following the birth of her son. Ewan kept his son and had him nursed and brought up by a tailor's wife--thus Donald took the surname Taylor. Because his mother belonged to a rival clan, Donald was denied membership in the Cameron clan and thus raised to be a mercenary. Because of his skill with a battle axe, he earned the name Donald "Taillear dubh na tuaighe" or "Black Taylor of the Axe" and fought well in battle against the Clan MacKintosh. In time, at the beginning of the Cameron-Mackintosh internal Clan War, Taylor fled with his family to a place called Cowal, where they found safety.