What a lot of people are not grasping is the fact that people would choose a clan then in many cases adopt the surname of that clan, not the other way round, haveing forenames and surnames is a relatively recent development, not all people with the same surname are related, in Scotland its still the case that you can legally call yourself what you like (as long its not for fraudllant purposes). just becasuse you have for example, a McDonald ancestor, it doesnt mean they were part of the clan McDonald or your related to other McDonalds, all it really tells you is that at some stage you had an ancestor with a father called Donald !

All lot of clan mythology is perpetuated by people selling "tartanarama" -heres YOUR Tartan. we all liike to look back on the time when the clan system was in place but many clan chiefs were basically "gangsters", who were interested in obtaining livestock or land by any means.

I agree with mike T shirts that portray negative stereotypes of any country are a disgrace and I hope people wont fall into the trap of wearing these because they think "its just a laugh"
Scots are supposed to be tight with money yet Scots donated (worked out pro rata) more to the Tsunami relief than any other part of the UK. (oops off topic)

I know that people are very proud of Scottish family connections, and one gentleman was bemoning the lack of any Scots ancester, Scotland has always welcomed immigrants-the Irish are the back bone of Glasgow! find a clan association thatyou like the sound of and join it, get involved, become a regional rep. thats what the clan system was for to bring people together.