While I do not have the time today write a decent article on this subject, I did want to post the illustration to the left as I thought it communicated so well the Gaelic World that the McCains did live in, the real Gaelic world.
The illustration is done by Angus McBride, noted illustrator of history books, especially those dealing in military history. I like the illustration as in it you see several times of Gaels that you would have normally seen together including the Gallóglaigh class of the McCains.
My son sent me the illustration and I am not sure which Angus McBride book it is from, but it looks to be a gathering of Gaels landing at Dunluce Castle in north Antrim. You can spot the Gallóglaigh in the foreground with the long saffron coloured leine that comes down to his lower calf. You can see the Irish lord, probably a Mac Dónaill, with his red cape looking down on the off-loading of perhaps Spainish wine. Irish and Argyll Gaels are also in the illustration, an obvious Highlander with his belted plaid, then some Irish Gaelis in saffron shirts (i.e. the leine) that are shorted and not a 'fashionable' as is the Gallóglaigh one. The dress of the Gallóglaigh is very much like that of the Irish lord, as his status in Gaelic society was high. If you click on the illustration it will bring up a larger version.
If you would like to know what a McCain would have looked like, he would be dressed in the long saffron coloured leine down at the water's edge, with the brown plaid around his shoulders. That very easily could have been 'an Mac Eáin' or the head of the McCain family in Antrim circa mid 1500s.
Barry R McCain (c) 2008
John McCain won the Texas Republican primary on Tuesday, 4 March, and clinched the number of delegates needed to win his party's presidential nomination. Good to see the old Teoc McCain family doing so well and frankly, I think we shall need Senator McCain’s experience and wisdom in the coming years.