With A Name Like McCauslin, Would Buchanan's Approve?

[Clockwork]

Hello all,

I'm a bit new to this all and have been doing a little digging around about my family history. To begin, my closest tie to Scotland (and really, only tie that I know of at this point) comes from my mother's father's side of the family, through the name McCauslin. I know that this is a variation of McCausland, which is I've seen claimed to be of both Scottish and Irish origin. The name McCauslin also seems to be listed as being of Scottish origin on some sites provided by google, but from what my mother has told me, our McCauslin ancestors came from Ireland. According to one site, the McCauslsnd name itself may have derived from Absalon, son of Macbed (eventually becoming Mac Absalone), or from Buey Anselan who became Dominie de Buchanan.

http://www.kelcran.com/Genealogy/mccausland.htm

According to that site, there exists a possibility that the McCauslands were the originators of the Buchanan clan name. I for one don't know if this is true (perhaps someone in here has more information regarding this). However, if this is true, that means there is a direct link between the McCauslands and the clan Buchanan. I do know that several variations of the McCausland name are listed as septs to the clan Buchanan.

This brings me to my questions:
1) If this information is true, would it be acceptable for me to wear the tartan of clan Buchanan?
2) Would it only be acceptable if my ancestors came from Scotland, and not from Ireland, or would it be okay/not okay regardless?

I know that it's generally okay to wear whatever tartan a person likes, but I'd like to be properly educated before assuming any connection with a particular clan.

Cheers,
-Jake

[Chas]

Hi Jake,

I have a database of some 30,000 Scottish surnames.

From it, I can see that MacCausland, McCaslin, MacAuselan, MacAuslan, MacAusland, MacAuslane, MacAuslane, MacAuslin, Aslan, Auslan, are septs of, or associated with, the name Buchanan.

One thing does appear reasonably certain. Most all of today's McCauslands are descended from the McCauslands of Ulster, Ireland. Evidence to date indicates that all are descended from Andrew McCausland who came to Ireland from Scotland with his brother, John, in about 1620. Their father is said to have been Baron MacAuslane of Dumbartonshire.

If this is to be believed, then it matters not that they came from Ireland as that was only a stopping off spot from the original home in Dumbartonshire.

I too come from the Buchanan line.

Regards

Chas

[Clockwork]

Thank you for your reply, Chas. I had been given the impression that the Buchanan tartan would be safe to associate with, but I wasn't too sure if my most recent ancestors having come from Ireland would prevent me from associating with the clan. I may only end up acquiring a limited number if high quality wool kilts as I build up my wardrobe, so I want to chose carefully when it comes to those. I believe the Buchanan may be on the top of that list now.

It's kind of funny; when I was picking out my first tartan kilt on the SWK website (was looking for an inexpensive introduction), the Buchanan tartan really caught my eye, which I found curiously odd considering I'm not the biggest fan of reds and yellows. It was a toss up between it and the Scottish National, and I ended up going with the latter due only to the fact that green is my favorite colour and it was more of a universal tartan.

Cheers,
-Jake