the scottish gaelic surname for macpherson is "mac a' phearsain" which means "son of the parson". the celtic church allowed priests to marry and the progenitor of the chiefs of clan macpherson is believed to have been a man named muireach or murdo cattenach who was the priest of kingussie in badenoch. the clan macpherson is part of the chattan confederation (clan chattan). in 843 the chief of clan chattan was gille chattan mor and one of his sons, the first chief of clan macpherson was forced to resettle in lochaber by kenneth macalpin, first king of scots. the chief could have been the lay prior of ardchattan and he seems to have been named in honour of saint cathan. touch not the cat bot a glove. 'bot' means without. the 'glove' of a wildcat is the pad. if the cat is 'ungloved', its claws are unsheathed. the motto serves as a warning that one should beware when the wildcat's claws are 'without a glove'. it is a reference to the historically violent nature of the clan and serves as a metaphorical warning to other clans that they should think twice before interfering with macpherson business.