Hello from Athens, GA!

[ronin81]

Hi All,

Very new here, and just beginning to research parts of my Scottish heritage (apart from a love of whiskey, rugby, 'real' football). Am an avid reader, so any articles, books, websites, or how to make my way around this forum is greatly appreciated.

As to my heritage, I don't know a ton, but am excited to learn. My uncle lived in Scotland for a long time and taught at Fettes College. He was also sort of an amateur genealogist, and through him I'm told I have multiple clan eligibilities, but the two he specifically mentioned were:

Clan Farquharson
Clan Moncrieffe (Chiefly line)

Beyond that, I don't know much. I guess considering that, an initial question I have is:

• What constitutes "choosing" a clan membership and, (I guess more non-PC),
  
  Is it possible to be (formally) a "member" of more than one clan?

Since I'm not a native (born and raised in SC, now live in GA), and (ignorance?) lack any predilection towards any of the clans I may or may not be a member of, any opinions on the above are greatly appreciated.

And of course, learning more about kilts.

Best,
Adam

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble!"

Although you may have several clans in your genealogy, you can only be part of one. You don't "choose" it; you're born into it. It's generally traced patrilineally except where that line fails and then it can be traced matrilineally.

I'm sure that others will chime in with other explanations, but no, you don't belong to more than one clan.

[ronin81]

Many thanks -

So then, is it simple (as simple as genealogy can be) of addition, i.e. whichever is the closest direct relation? I would be happy to provide some details on at least what I know of in PM/DM to help with the choice.

Best,
Adam

[Steve Ashton]

We hear this same question quite often.

The most honest answer is that you can be 100% Scottish, born and raised in Scotland, and not be a member of a Clan at all.

This goes back to what is usually thought of as the historical period before Culloden. At that time the population of Scotland was about 1.2 million. The vast majority of Scots lived in the cities. All the cities with the exception of Inverness are considered to be in the Lowlands.

The Clan system was primarily confined to the Highlands. About 60,000 souls.

Those in the Lowlands were, at the time, the most literate people in the world. The invented the public Library system.
The Highlands were remote, sparsely populated and usually regarded by the majority as backward, 'hillbillies'.

Since the romance period when the new industrial revolution had people concerned that all this industrialization was going to destroy all the old, original cultures, this thinking has changed.
Hundreds of those who left Scotland began to look back to their roots. Sifting the truth from all the myths and misconceptions about Scotland became harder and harder.

Today everyone would like to think and link their ancestry back to "What Clan do I belong to." When in fact if your people came from Glasgow or Ayrshire, or anywhere else in the lowlands, your people may have felt that they were definitely Scots but not necessarily a member of a Highland Clan.

I love this quote from Neil Oliver from his book and TV show "The History of Scotland".

"The Beauty of Scotland is overwhelming and I've often thought that Scotland's popular history is just like her landscape - impossibly romantic, obscured by mist and myth and always changing..."

So - What Clan do you belong to? Well that all depends on where in Scotland your people come from. Do your genealogy. Not just google your last name but actually follow the paper trail. Your birth certificate will lead to the names and places of your parents. Their marriage license or birth certificate leads to the next piece of paper in the trail.
When you have an unbroken paper trail you can say with confidence - "My people belonged to ? Clan."

[Tarheel]

Well met Adam.

Don't be discouraged by the seemingly over whelming task of following your ancestral line. Diligence in correct birth dates and parental names is the key. I checked other folks with the same first names (born near the date of my relatives) by using addresses, middle names, church affiliations, siblings, etc. to confirm my line. I used census records, tax lists, voting records, shipping manifests (business records of sales), neighbors with surnames of the women my relatives married also.

I had a huge leg up, in that family has lived in NC for eight generations, before the migration from the North and Scotland before 1657. Good luck to you and welcome to the Rabble.

[ASinclair]

Hello Adam!

[AlisterMacAlister]

Although I am only a few years into all of this (and a few solid scotch ales in as I write this..), I'll share my own experience as far as, "What clan?", with you:

My father's last name is Mellon. Yes, THOSE Mellons and their neighboring Carnegies (however due to the misgivings of a fatherless son, my grandfather, we were excluded from all that; however beside the point). Tracing Mellon back, it has roots in both County Tyrone in Northern Ireland (Oglaigh, anyone?) AND in Scotland as it relates to Melville. Melville is considered a clan in its own right despite the origin of Melville being a Norman (French Normandy) family inter-marrying and settling in Scotland. It is not a common clan by any means, and you're hard pressed to find anywhere that would produce a kilt in its tartan. It's only connection to a well-known clan is the sharing of land with Clan Oliphant. So, all in all, not exactly a viable choice.

So let's try my mother's side. We have Irish MacAnns, Fitzgeralds (yes, tied in loosely with the Kennedies, although due to another instance of misgivings.. my family is full of black sheep, it seems..). However, those are names by marriage. My grandmother's maiden name from her father was Alexander, the origin of which I have traced back to MacAlister of Glenbarr, Kintyre. Through that, I found myself in the company of the Clan MacAlister Society, the president of which resides in Greensboro, NC. Their tent banner is literally the Modern Tartan as a background with a bordered white box listing several main Septs of the clan, one of which is Alexander. With that in mind, Clan MacAlister has become my home in regards to my Scottish ancestry. As a result of the necessity of tracing both lines, I am bound to the matrilineal line. And to be perfectly honest, I could not have found a better clan to identify with. I love Stewart and Cindy's passion, and their generosity towards their friends and family knows no bounds.

It just depends on what you can trace back. Don't be afraid to explore both your father's and mother's sides of the family. If it falls in line to follow your mother's family tree, just let her know that's one more thing she can add to the list of what she gave you by bringing you into this world. I never let my mother forget that she bore me into this world as the offspring of the Sons of Alexander (literally the English translation of MacAlasdair.. "MacAlister").

Incidentally, Farquharson is a rather notable clan and I see their tents at the Loch Norman AND Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in NC. You might want to venture out to Stone Mountain this weekend for the games. I am confident you'll see them there.

Good luck, and welcome to X Marks the Scot!
-Mark Alexander

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[Richrail]

from Reno, NV.

[ronin81]

Thanks for the input.

So, for clarification -

There is little doubt of a clan affiliation (supposedly several), I guess my question was more centered around that I'm not sure how to correctly weigh the relationships via heredity.

Ex, both the Moncreiff and Farquharson relations come from my mother's side of the family and both lines converge (at least as I can tell) via my great-great-great grandfather. One of these, the Farquhar, seems to be of closer (i.e., less hops away from me) relation, but via marriage. The Moncreiff line takes longer to "get here", but seems to be more paternally aligned:

Farquhar Line
George Farquhar (from, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland) married Elizabeth Sherwood --> (their daughter) Margaret Manson Farquhar married James Cary Greene --> (their son) Captain James Farquhar Greene married Margaret Reid --> (their daughter) married Joseph Milddleton Wilkinson, my great-great-great grandfather.

Moncrieffe Line
Alexander Swinton of Strathore married Margaret Moncrieff (1691) --> (their son) Hugh Swinton married Judith Simmons--> (their son) William Simons Swinton married Mrs. Sarah Baron --> (their daughter) Ann Simons Swinton married Joseph Wilkinson --> (their son) William is the grandfather of Joseph Milddlteon Wilkinson (same from above)

So, basically from the above, since both converge via the same person (Farquhar via marriage to Wilkinson, and Moncrieffe via lineage though a longer line), and my mother's family comes from descendants of this convergence, I'm not sure which one is the "truer" lineage.

(FWIW, my Uncle, the one who did this, got his tartan a Farquhar, though he was aware of the Moncrieffe connection and, supposedly, favored it, though he had personal reasons for this as well)

Best,
A