MACCODRUM: Gaelic MacCodrum, not MacCoaruim as sometimes spelled (Celt. Rev., IX p. 262). A Hebridean surname having its origin in the Old Norse personal name Guttorm-r or Codorm-r, meaning 'good' or 'god serpent.' The Norse name was at one time common in the Western Isles. Among the Hebrideans the Maccodrums are known as the Clann 'ic Codrum nan ron, 'Maccodrums of the seals.' A number of curious stories are told of this sept, some account of which will be found in Gregorson Campbell's Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands, p. 284."All the MacCodrums of North Uist," says Fiona Macleod (William Sharp), "had been brownskinned, and brown-haired, and brown-eyed; and herein may have lain the reason why, in bygone days, this small clan in Uist was known throughout the Western Isles as Sliochd nan Ron, i.e., 'Race of the Seals'" (Sin eater and other tales, p. 156-157). The sept name was Clann Mhic Codrum. A celebrated individual of this name was John M'Codrum (1710-1796), a North Uist bard. He was an excellent poet of the modern school and bard to Sir James Macdonald of Sleat. He "had a croft rent-free for life, together with five bolls of meal, five stones of cheese, and £2. 5s. of money" (TGSI., XXIX, p. 197). The form Macodrum is also in use. Many of the name have made themselves Macdonalds. In Gaelic folklore seals are said to be human beings fo gheasan, "under a spell."