Re: M'Intosh
Geoff is correct that M'Intosh is the correct spelling, although in
the British Marine Annelid monograph McIntosh was written "McIntosh".
M' and Mc are prefixes derived from Mac (meaning "son of"). The M'
prefix seems quite old and was probably variously employed at
first (3-4 centuries ago). However, as people began standardising
surnames, the names stabilised. Different branches of the clan
MacIntosh would therefore become MacIntosh, M'Intosh, McIntosh etc.,
in addition to other spelling variants (MacIntoch and the like).
Prof. M'Intosh usually used the M' spelling and this is clear from
the account of his life by Gunther, A.E.(1977): William Carmichael
M'Intosh, M.D., F.R.S.-St. Andrews University Publications No. LXI,
Scottish Academic Press Ltd. 214 pp. This may still be available (stlg5 I
think) from the Keeper of Manuscripts, University of St. Andrews Library,
North Street, St. Andrews, Fife KY169TR.
Albert Everard Gunther is the son of M'Intosh's nephew and from the
family tree presented in the publication it appears that the name
M'Intosh did not continue in St. Andrews. Prof M'Intosh was an only
son (with 5 sisters) and he left no children to continue the family
name. Today M'Intosh does not feature in the St. Andrews area
telephone directory.
So, how should we cite "M'Intosh"? Well, there are different
approaches to the citation of Mac- and Mc- prefixes. I have seen them
listed in a straight alphabetical way and with the Mc's before the other
M's. Our librarians here treat Mc and Mac as equivalent, listing them
alphabetically according to the main part of the name. Gunther himself
employs this method, and as Mac, Mc and M' are variations of the same this
is perhaps logical. In Gunther we have the following order listed in the
index: Macadam, McAndrew, Macdonald, Macduff, M'Intosh, Mackenzie,
Maclagan, Macvicar. Thus the names are treated as commencing with "Mac",
but have their particular spellings retained.
Hope this helps! Regards, Andy Mackie (not McKie)
Dr. Andrew S.Y. Mackie
Marine Biodiversity Section
Department of Biodiversity
and Systematic Biology (BioSyB)
National Museum of Wales
Cathays Park
Cardiff CF1 3NP
UK
Tel: int +44 (0)1222 573 311
Fax: int +44 (0)1222 239 009
E-mail: Andrew.Mackie at nmgw.ac.uk
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