Clan Affiliation.

[cuddlepop]

Can you trace your surname to a Scottish clan?

In another thread I mentioned a "homecoming" feeling attached to Reiss beach so have been trying to trace a link.

My surname is affiliated to the Macdonald clan,no mention whether or not they belong/friends with the clan Keith who protected the tower though.:confused

Have you got a "clan" you belong too?:)

[Fluff]

Yes, our name originates from the Cameron clan, but it does have its own tartan

[bekisman]

Robertson (Perth) from back in the 1800's

[changilass]

Cameron, and a typical one at that lol.

[golach]

Cameron, and a typical one at that lol.
Me too Changi [lol] And very very proud of it!!!!!!!!

[canuck]

Move over all you proud Camerons.

I am a Douglas.

[DeHaviLand]

MacLaine of Lochbuie, on Mull. Though it may have been different if William Wallace hadn't interfered!

[Stavro]

Proud to say that I could wear an official clan tartan and would be entitled to wear six 'septs' if I should chose to do so. :)

[redeyedtreefrog]

I was surprised to find that my surname (Gunn) belongs to the Gunn clan

[DopeyDan]

The majority of 'clans' and 'tartans' are an invention of Walter Scott and also the Victorians. The phenomenon of Walter Scottishness, if you will.

[Angela]

I'm a MacLeod of Dunvegan. :)

[Stavro]

The majority of 'clans' and 'tartans' are an invention of Walter Scott and also the Victorians. The phenomenon of Walter Scottishness, if you will.

Although, tartan did exist before 1740, but until they began getting registered there was no recognized "official" tartan.

[unicorn]

This is a nice link http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/clans_index.htm
I am Mackinnon of Mull and Skye.
Motto.. Fortune assists the daring.

[DopeyDan]

This is a nice link http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/clans_index.htm
I am Mackinnon of Mull and Skye.
Motto.. Fortune assists the daring.

Interestingly, the link would have you believe these are all clans, but in actual fact most of these are just families that have absolutely no connection at all with the clan system.

I'm always amazed at how few people born and living in Scotland have so little understanding of the history of this part of the world. Scotland, as it is currently delineated, is a mongrel country with bizarre misappropriations of various cultures in the name of heritage. Take 'Burns Night' for example - what a mash of contradictory icons that is.

[changilass]

Cameron motto:-

Cameron (http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/blclancameron.htm)
Often described as "fiercer than fierceness itself".

[annthracks]

Interestingly, the link would have you believe these are all clans, but in actual fact most of these are just families that have absolutely no connection at all with the clan system.

I'm always amazed at how few people born and living in Scotland have so little understanding of the history of this part of the world. Scotland, as it is currently delineated, is a mongrel country with bizarre misappropriations of various cultures in the name of heritage. Take 'Burns Night' for example - what a mash of contradictory icons that is.

Could one say typical American website? ... Braveheart ahoy!!

Mackintosh on my mothers side

[Errogie]

O.K. you Camerons (bent noses) which way does it point for you?

[changilass]

Downwards, so as we can lick the end of our noses :lol:, saves a fortune in tissues. :roll:

[cuddlepop]

I'm a MacLeod of Dunvegan. :)



Shhhh dont tell as you'll likely get billed for their new roof.:lol:

[cuddlepop]

This is a nice link http://www.rampantscotland.com/clans/clans_index.htm
I am Mackinnon of Mull and Skye.
Motto.. Fortune assists the daring.

Thanks for posting that link ,the one I found was rubbish so didnt post it.:D

[Stavro]

Scotland ... is a mongrel country with bizarre misappropriations of various cultures in the name of heritage. Take 'Burns Night' for example - what a mash of contradictory icons that is.


Burns Night is celebrated all over the world, DopeyDan. Not bad for a "mongrel country" of small population with "bizarre" anything.

You must try harder. :lol:

[David Banks]

So far as I know, I'm mainly from norse stock - my father's first name was "Magnus."
In a pinch, one of my grannies was a Macleod so I could use that, but I never had the urge to wear a kilt in Caithness - didn't know where the wind was coming from, but could guess where it would have gone!

[brandy]

ohhh dont get me started! *laughs* just discovered the scottish links in my geneology quest.. have found that my ancestor was the youngest brother of The Bruce.
my Godfather was having a great laugh.. he said so.. let me get this straight.. your a direct decendant of longshanks.. the man who killed william wallace and the man who betrayed him *laughs* you havent been run out of scotland yet?

[achingale]

I am a Sinclair through my mother and was brought up to respect the Clan and its history.

[Hoida]

I am a Mackay by marriage

[DEEKER]

Well Folks I'm One Of The MacGregor Clan :-)

[northener]

I'm a quarter Morton, which is a sept of Clan Douglas.

I'm not sure if I agree with all this 'sept' mularkey and that Lowlander and Border families should be wearing tartan.

I don't think I'd never wear a kilt with Clan Douglas tartan, I'd feel a bit of a fraud.

Trews would be good, though. Does anyone still weart tartan trews? Ain't seen any in ages.

I think I may have to settle for a Clan Douglas tie.:D

[changilass]

I dinnae like tartan trews, too much lile Rupert Bear if you ask me.

[Gronnuck]

Interestingly, the link would have you believe these are all clans, but in actual fact most of these are just families that have absolutely no connection at all with the clan system.

I'm always amazed at how few people born and living in Scotland have so little understanding of the history of this part of the world. Scotland, as it is currently delineated, is a mongrel country with bizarre misappropriations of various cultures in the name of heritage. Take 'Burns Night' for example - what a mash of contradictory icons that is.

Mongrel is very apt. My ‘Clan’ is claimed to be "one of the oldest Scottish Clans, and its Chronicles are closely interwoven with Scottish history", according to our American based Clan Society!!!
However it is a fact that the ancestors who bore the name were Norman and came from the Castle of Sainte Foy de Montgomery near Lissieux in Normandy. The heid honcho called Roger was Aide de Camp to William the Conqueror and arrived with him in 1066. In 1069 Roger was granted lands on the Welsh border in the County which later took his name. In 1083 he built Shrewsbury Abbey where he is buried. According to the Doomsday Book, in 1086 he owned 150 castles and lordships within ten counties of England. Roger's grandson Robert went to Scotland with Walter FitzAlan, also from the Welsh border country, who became High Steward of Scotland and an ancestor of the Stewart Clan. Robert was granted lands by King David I of Scotland in Renfrewshire, and the manor of Eaglesham became the Clan seat to this day.
I suspect that the truth is that over the years anyone who threw their lot in with a particular clan 'brand' would adopt the name to be a member of the gang regardless of their original name.

[Shabbychic]

Well I'm a mongrel, and a mix of Sinclair, Bannerman, Anderson and Baxter. So take your pick. :)

[changilass]

At the end of the day we are all mongrels - if not we would probably have more bits than strictly neccesary.

Interbreeding is not good for the human race.

[Errogie]

Around Kiltarlity they still refer to some folk with the name Fraser as the "Boll of meal" Frasers. At one time Lord Lovat wanted to boost clan numbers and as there were some hungry mouths to feed anyone who changed their name was rewarded with the old measure of a boll of meal. And there they were, new clansmen!

[Shabbychic]

At the end of the day we are all mongrels - if not we would probably have more bits than strictly neccesary.

Interbreeding is not good for the human race.

Tell that to Royalty. :D

[changilass]

Shabbychic, I think they prove my point lol

[northener]

Tell that to Royalty. :D


Ooooh, you don't have to look as far away as that........;)

[rich]

The Godfather of this million dollar tartan industry is Sir Walter Scott, as Dopey Dan correctly pointed out. The tacky rubbish doesn't bother me except when someone steals the name of my great, great grandfather. to sign on the Org. I'm looking at you, Sage. (The name by the way is a corruption of Seggie. I'm not sure what seggie is but I believe it can be found at the bottom of ditches. As in Sedge. There was a battle of Sedgemoor wasn't there.....I suppose I could find out by consulting the ancient dotards who hang out over at the Org geneaology section . But I am too young for that....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperaceae

[Cattach]

The majority of 'clans' and 'tartans' are an invention of Walter Scott and also the Victorians. The phenomenon of Walter Scottishness, if you will.

Tartans, not entirely correct on this and for clans you ae completely wrong. The clan system pre-dates Sir Walter Scott by a considerable period.

Though not necessarily called tartans there were plaid type wrap around garments for long before Sir Walter and they reflected the area they were worn in as they were made with dyes of the plants there locally. This accounts for the diffect colours used by clans in different areas and, of course, the colours were pretty muted and not the gaudy colours and new tartans which one could attribute to the excesses of later generations.

[DopeyDan]

Tartans, not entirely correct on this and for clans you ae completely wrong. The clan system pre-dates Sir Walter Scott by a considerable period.

Though not necessarily called tartans there were plaid type wrap around garments for long before Sir Walter and they reflected the area they were worn in as they were made with dyes of the plants there locally. This accounts for the diffect colours used by clans in different areas and, of course, the colours were pretty muted and not the gaudy colours and new tartans which one could attribute to the excesses of later generations.


I didn't say the clan system was an invention of Scott, I said that the concept of Highland clans and their associated cultural artefacts was misappropriated by Scott and his peers - the very people who ironically a generation or so prior had outlawed the entire shabang.

Indeed, even in present times, it never ceases to amuse me that a Glasgow Rangers football supporter (lowland, protestant) would go to a Scotland national team football match dressed in a tartan kilt (highland, jacobite). To give just one example of the contradictions.

[Cattach]

Burns Night is celebrated all over the world, DopeyDan. Not bad for a "mongrel country" of small population with "bizarre" anything.

You must try harder. :lol:

I would not worry too much about DopeyDan's post. He got it wrong when he posted about clans and tartans and Sir Walter Scott and this was just another piece of invention by him.

[jings00]

Macpherson via ma mum

[Invisible]

I am a MacGregor as you can probably tell by my avatar, I think that we are descendants from Irish MacGregor's, but I will need to clarify with my gran (at risk of a big history lecture).

[DopeyDan]

I would not worry too much about DopeyDan's post. He got it wrong when he posted about clans and tartans and Sir Walter Scott and this was just another piece of invention by him.

Heavens above. What a childish way to conduct a debate.

[cuddlepop]

Heavens above. What a childish way to conduct a debate.


Wecome to the Org.....;)

[rich]

The man who shot Wild Bill Hickok in the back in Deadood was another Bill - Bill Sutherland.
I ask you - is this a clan you would want to be part of?
Of course not!
Wickopedia has most of the story but gets the names wrong - perhaps deliberately.
It is alleged the assassin was Jack McCall (an Ulsterman to judge by his name) and as we all know Ulstermen are capable of anything, worse even than people from Inverness (and that's saying something!)
According to this version Wild Bill was shot because he offered to buy Jack McCall, alias Bill Sutherland, breakfast.

According to Wickopedia:
"McCall was raised in Kentucky with three sisters but drifted west and became a buffalo hunter. By 1876, he was living in a gold mining camp called Deadwood, under the alias of Bill Sutherland.

"On August 2, 1876, in the Nuttal & Mann's #10 Saloon in Deadwood, McCall shot Hickok in the back of the head with a single-action .45-caliber revolver, shouting "Take that!" Hickok, in contrast to his normal habit of sitting in a corner to protect his back, on that day sat with his back to the door while engaged in a game of poker. The killing was rumored to have been over McCall's drunken resentment of an act of generosity by Hickok, Hickok having offered McCall money to buy breakfast after McCall had lost it all playing poker the previous day. McCall claimed, however, that the killing was retribution for Hickok having previously killed McCall's brother in Abilene, Kansas. McCall was found innocent after two hours deliberation by an impromptu court in McDaniel's Theatre made up of local miners and businessmen, causing the Black Hills Pioneer to editorialize:

"Should it ever be our misfortune to kill a man ... we would simply ask that our trial may take place in some of the mining camps of these hills."

The only question now is why did Bill Sutherland pass himself off as Jack McCall?
There's a question for the genealogists to answer......

[northener]

Heavens above. What a childish way to conduct a debate.

Don't worry, DD. I know where you are coming from with your comments. Many tartans were only allocated to Clans relatively recently. The Sobietski brothers had a lot to answer for with their 'made up' manuscripts at the time Victoria and Co were getting 'into' the tartan fashion fad.

Most tartans before the 1700's cannot be definitely associated with a particular Clan or Family. Clansmen sem to have worn whatever tartan took their fancy. It would appear that at Culloden, tartan was not used on a regimental or Clan level. They were all wearing different ones, it would seem.

I've got an excellont book on tartan and it's histoty, but I can't find it just now.:roll:

[Bruce_H]

History says that we Hendersons down Dunbeath way were once part of the Gunns. I will state that the Americans of Scots descent do tend to romanticize Scotland, the clans and all the rest. There are some fussy-butts that get upset that crazed Yanks would do such a thing, but it really is a sweet homage to Scotland. They think of Scotland as one of the greatest places on planet earth, and coming from a very self-absorbed culture, that is quite a high compliment!

Though the clearances were a massive tragedy, they did do a great job of sending, in bulk, a mass of ingenious, hard working people to a America.

Bruce H

[rich]

The trouble with tartan as military garb is that most everybody would look the same. Because most tartans differ only in tiny details. If you were a MacKay trying to get your clan garbed suitably for an affray with the Sutherlands all of the participants would look greenish/brown - a bit of mud during the battle and things would really be a mess - literally.Can you imagine a short sighted MacKay aplogising for inadvertently assaulting a member of the Gunn clan - "Oh, frightlully sorry old chap, I thought you were one of those thieving Sutherlands - sorry about removing your leg with my claymore"
Maybe this is why the clan designated plants were important. But can you imagine sticking a little sprig of sedge on your bonnet or a bunch of stinging nettles as a means of recognition. The clansmen would be squinting desperately trying to remember their botany classes. "Let's see now ...ummmm....that guy has a sprig of spinich in his bonnet, is he..a Sinclair perhaps? Sorry friend, I thought you were a Sinclair, sorry about cleaving you in twain."
I mean, get real. The only tartans that mean anything are the bilious yellows associated with Glasgow music hall comedians. Beuchanan for example!

[Elenna]

I am a Carruthers...which is a sept of clan Bruce, but has its own recognised coat of arms.

[Boozeburglar]

I'm always amazed at how few people . . . have so little understanding of the history of this part of the world.

Yeah, it is amazing how well informed most are.


:)

[Oddquine]

Maternal side, MacDonald (Caithness), paternal Fraser(Inverness).

Spent all my young life, for Sunday Best, in Aran Cardigans and Red Fraser "kilts" (female for the use of)!

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

I'm from the McClelland family,from around Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway.As far as I know we havnae got a tartan.Ma gran told me that her father was a sherriff.Visions of a guy walking doon the street with the cigar hanging oot the mooth saying,"Get off yer horse and drink yer Fresh 'n' Low".[lol][lol]

[cuddlepop]

I'm from the McClelland family,from around Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway.As far as I know we havnae got a tartan.Ma gran told me that her father was a sherriff.Visions of a guy walking doon the street with the cigar hanging oot the mooth saying,"Get off yer horse and drink yer Fresh 'n' Low".[lol][lol]

I find that hard to believe that the Mc Clelland doesnt come under some other clan My name isnt even Scottish and its affiliated with the Mac Donalds.:confused

[brandy]

well we are miller's so no clue.. but as everyone bar me was born and bred in scotland.. cant get much more scottish now can you? trying to do dons family tree.. but not getting very far. something weirds about scottish records you lot dont want to share! gonna have to go down to the registrars!

[Tubthumper]

I was intrigued to discover that we're a mix of Morton (lowland, borders), Buchanan (highland, Peterheid) and Sutherland (Wick!) with a soupcon of Norse. The Tubthumper part is actually genuine, (Trob d'Thompeur) Norman.
In the same manner that the Sinclairs are Norman, I can trace my bits back to the time of William the Conquerer (who was actually a Viking that travelled South).
Duc Archibald Trob d'Thompeur was a Norman commoner who made good by saving one of Will's Barons, and got rewarded with a Duc-dom and a big dunt of land in Picardy.
The family get a mention in Magna Carta and seem seems to have wandered their way up the UK, ending up with an estate around Loanhead & Rosewell in Lothian. The name got anglicised to Trumper (probably during the 100 years war) and my great-great grandad in Wokingham (of all places) is the last one I can trace that carried the name.
Goodness knows how I ended up here.

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

I find that hard to believe that the Mc Clelland doesnt come under some other clan My name isnt even Scottish and its affiliated with the Mac Donalds.:confused

The only thing Cuddlepop,is I've not got the information through the McClellands just now to say if I'm Galloway/Irish or Galloway/Scottish.:)

[northener]

The only thing Cuddlepop,is I've not got the information through the McClellands just now to say if I'm Galloway/Irish or Galloway/Scottish.:)

Cedric, as long as you're not Galloway/George - you'll be fine.:Razz

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

Cedric, as long as you're not Galloway/George - you'll be fine.:Razz

[lol][lol].I think I'm more to the Galloway/Irish cos I like my Guinness.Mind ye I like the auld Export(to copy it is forgery)as well.mmmmmm.Decisions,decisions.I could start a poll?LOL

[robynaus]

Grandad was a Bain from Keiss and he said.. we were Mackays. and my Mum was a Bruce origionally from Shetland. So I qualify myself as mainly Scottish with a bit thrown in Mainly
a mongrel like most from Aus. Most of Mum's ancestors came here abt 1842 and Dad's not much later and I can't find a convict amongst them A disappointment as it's quite fashionable to have a convict nowdays.
regards robyn

[Bazeye]

Im a Williamson, think theyre associated with the Gunn clan, not sure though. Btw If a blokes got a Quarter pounder under his kilt is he a MacDonald?

[Dusty]

I'm a Miller which means I am told, I am associated with Clan MacFarlane.

My kilt is Sinclair tartan, which I chose to reflect the part of my heritage that is of Caithness origin.

[Aaldtimer]

Im a Williamson, think theyre associated with the Gunn clan, not sure though. Btw If a blokes got a Quarter pounder under his kilt is he a MacDonald?

4 ounces?!!! I think he would probably called under-endowed!:roll:

[Ricco]

I have traced my ancestry back to the Grants through my father's side of the family - several generations back.