Clan Chiefs and how they pleat their kilts

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

At 41, the present duke is a young man. I recognize that the even younger Marquis is technically the young one. Having crossed the bar of 50, I was referring to his age relative to my own- that and his beautiful red velvet doublet, which seems to have at least 20 salmon showing. But doesn't he take precedence over a Baronet?

Yes dukes are at the top of the pile; for those interested, in the British system precedence is as follows: Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Barons, Baronets & Knights. Within each of those categories precedence is by date of creation (a duke created in 1610 having precedence over one created in 1735, for example). Knights take their precedence from the precedence of their order; Garter, Thistle, and St. Patrick (currently in abeyance), then the Order of the Bath, Saint Michael and Saint George, The Royal Victorian Order, and the Order of the British Empire. Because these orders have ranks, the higher rank of the lower order would always have precedence-- in other words a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire would have precedence over a Knight Commander of the Bath, even though the Bath is the senior order. The final rank of British knighthoods is that of a Knight Bachelor. These gentlemen are knights, but are not a appointed to of one of the above mentioned orders.

All of the above are allowed the use of "sir" in front of their name (or "dame" in the case of ladies appointed to one of the orders). The Venerable Order of Saint John is not one of Her Majesty's official orders of chivalry, and those who hold the rank of knight do not prefix their name with the honorific of "sir" (or "dame", in the case of lady members).

Being sine nobilitate, I can't claim any fish blazons, (the MacLowlife arms feature a dubious future surmounted on a checky past) but I'd go halves with you on a few dozen buttons...

HaHa, very good!