Many legends have been told concerning him, some of which can not be true, although they may contain a grain of truth. The best known legend is that related by Sir Walter Scott, in his Tales of a Grandfather

Tales of a Grandfather

Tales of a Grandfather is a series of books on the history of Scotland, written by Sir Walter Scott beginning around 1827, and published by A & C Black. Scott also wrote books about French history in the same series....

 but it is wholly wrong in several essential particulars. It is so mixed with Patrick MacLean and Sir Lachlan Mor MacLean

Sir Lachlan Mor Maclean

Sir Lachlan Mór Maclean or Lachlan the Great, was the 14th Clan Chief of Clan MacLean from late 1573 or early 1574 until 1598.Mór or Mor translates as great in English, or magnus in Latin, when added to a name in Scottish Gaelic....

, that it would be difficult to reconstruct it. It is, however, so well told that others have seen fit to copy it bodily, if notwithstanding Scott's assertion to the contrary, all the MacLean manuscripts are agreed that Ailean was born in wedlock, was the younger brother of Hector Mor Maclean

Hector Mor Maclean

Hector Mor Maclean of Dowart , or Eachann Mór Maclean in Scottish Gaelic, or Hector the Great, was the 16th Clan Chief of Clan MacLean from 1623 to his death in 1626. Mór or Mor translates as great when added to a name in Scottish Gaelic. He resided at Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull...

, and second son of Lachlan Cattanach Maclean

Lachlan Cattanach Maclean

Lachlan Catanach Maclean was the 11th Clan Chief of Clan MacLean from 1515 until his murder in 1523.-Biography:...

, by his wife Marian. Ailean, or Allan, first comes into notice during the time when his father resided at Cairnburg

Cairn na Burgh Mòr

Cairn na Burgh Mòr is one of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.Cairn na Burgh Mòr is the larger of the two "Carnburgs" at the northeastern end of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides - the other being "Cairn na Burgh Beag". The larger of a pair guards the entrance to Loch...

. During that time, a daughter of MacNeil of Barra, who was a young lady of great beauty, was visiting the chieftain's family, and Allan, being captivated with her, made honorable love, which met with discouragement at her hands. This marked a turning-point in his career. Allan, thus repulsed in his advances, meditated the most brutal insult to the family's guest, and taking advantage of the absence of his father and mother, who were on a brief visit to the mainland, he violently seized his intended victim. She, however, succeeded in escaping from him, and in her alarm rushed toward the brink of a precipice, as if intending to throw herself off. She was closely pursued by Allan; and the scene being in the immediate neighborhood of the guard-house, a domestic on duty there, suspecting the wrong intention, with great quickness rushed forward, and seizing hold of the lady with one hand, with the other dexterously hurled Allan headlong over the precipice. Fortunately for Allan, he was caught on a projection which at that point formed a shelf. Here he remained, and was not extricated until he begged the lady's forgiveness and vowed pardon to the intrepid domestic who had so unceremoniously hurled him into his awkward position. This is the origin of the familiar modern phrase, "putting a lover on the shelf." The spot is still called Urraigh Ailean nan Sop (Allan na Sop's Shelf).