Looking for my family's tartan

[Father Bill]

Thank you Bren. An equally thoughtful and provocative summary of much of what we hear, read, and know.

[creagdhubh]

Thank you Bren. An equally thoughtful and provocative summary of much of what we hear, read, and know.

***

[Seawolf]

Great analogy, Be respectful, be yourself...

Seawolf

[creagdhubh]

Canuk,

After consulting Black's, "The Surnames of Scotland" last night, I did in fact locate the surname of Howatt successfully. According to Black, the majority of the Howatts and the major branches, or more notable members of the Howatt family within Scotland, were primarily located in Aberdeenshire, which geographically speaking, is due east, clear across Scotland from traditional Clan Donald territory to the west. Black did not mention anything about Clan Donald in regards to the Howatts of Scotland. Of course, this information is only as important as what details you discover about your own family genealogy as it applies to your Scottish ancestry. Your own research may provide completely different information and your ancestors may have had nothing to do with Aberdeenshire.

I encourage you to speak with any living relatives you have now that could provide any type of genealogical information and perhaps even documentation. This was my first step when beginning my own genealogical research back when I was 14 years old. Then, you can further your research by attempting to recover various family documents such as birth records, death records, church/parish records, census reports, etc. These are all invaluable documentary evidence of your family's past and could help considerably with discovering who you are and where you came from. It is an exciting journey, should you decide to embark on it. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you good luck!

Kind regards,

[TheOfficialBren]

Canuk,

After consulting Black's, "The Surnames of Scotland" last night, I did in fact locate the surname of Howatt successfully. According to Black, the majority of the Howatts and the major branches, or more notable members of the Howatt family within Scotland, were primarily located in Aberdeenshire, which geographically speaking, is due east, clear across Scotland from traditional Clan Donald territory to the west. Black did not mention anything about Clan Donald in regards to the Howatts of Scotland. Of course, this information is only as important as what details you discover about your own family genealogy as it applies to your Scottish ancestry. Your own research may provide completely different information and your ancestors may have had nothing to do with Aberdeenshire.

I encourage you to speak with any living relatives you have now that could provide any type of genealogical information and perhaps even documentation. This was my first step when beginning my own genealogical research back when I was 14 years old. Then, you can further your research by attempting to recover various family documents such as birth records, death records, church/parish records, census reports, etc. These are all invaluable documentary evidence of your family's past and could help considerably with discovering who you are and where you came from. It is an exciting journey, should you decide to embark on it. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you good luck!

Kind regards,

+***

Very exciting! I am just embarking on the journey myself. It's quite exciting.

Thank you for the compliments.

[canuk]

First of all I'd like to thank all of you for your warm and kind welcome, it is reassuring people still have manners on the internet! Secondly thank you all for the help in my research, Bren's post in particular was a great help in understanding the history of tartans and kilt wearing which is something I neglected to think of when I began my research.
creagdhubh also highlights the need for more family research. I don't know enough about the Howatts to do some real digging, only vague details told to me by my father. My dad also mentioned one time about a relative who did an extensive research on the Howatts and that they indeed were from the highlands. I was hopping to have something special to wear to a Burns supper later this month but I think I need to arm myself with a little more knowledge before I put highland dress together.

[TheOfficialBren]

You're very welcome. Creagdhubh is really knowledgeable. Also, try ThistleDown. He is a whiz with clan history.

[creagdhubh]

You're very welcome. Creagdhubh is really knowledgeable. Also, try ThistleDown. He is a whiz with clan history.

Thanks, mate. Rex (ThistleDown) and I are both men of Clanchattan and take pride in our Highland ancestry and traditions.

Cheers,

[O'Callaghan]

In Scottish clans the term sept means a family of a different name that also belong to the clan. It's pronounced the same as sett, which means a pattern of a tartan, just to keep you confused. You will find many 'sept lists' alleging that everyone called a particular surname belongs to a particular clan, but the problem is that people of any given surname may have belonged to one clan in one part of Scotland and to a different clan somewhere else.

Some sept lists acknowledge this by listing two or three different clans for some names, but that isn't the end of the problem. What you also need to know is that there were usually people of the same name who belonged to no clan atall, and in many cases some of them weren't even from Scotland atall! Many lowland names are identical with names common in the North of England, or even further South. Moreover, many Scottish surnames, highland or lowland, are the same as or similar to Irish surnames, although they are usually not the same family because these surnames were mostly formed from the first names of individuals long after the Irish, or Erse as they were known, settled in the Scottish Highlands.

It all depends how fussy you are about finding the right clan. If you can trace your family back to generally the same part of Scotland as one of the clans you are listed under, it is probably safe to say that is your clan. Not so easy if your family tree becomes a cold trail before you get that far. But not everyone is fastidious to that degree ...

The clan system came from Ireland, although some people insist that Irish clans should be called septs, based I think on one comment in one historic document by someone who was not Irish. At any rate, there is no distinction between a clan and a sept in Ireland, as those who joined the clan took the name. My family tree goes back to the right Irish county for the surname belonging to the clan, although it is the name of my mother's family, not my surname, which is English. It's an easy one, though. For example, there are two separate Kennedy clans in Ireland plus the Scots one. No such problem with O'Callaghan Some Kelleghans from the North of Ireland got turned into Callaghans, but I know my family are not from up there.

[figheadair]

In Scottish clans the term sept means a family of a different name that also belong to the clan. It's pronounced the same as sett, which means a pattern of a tartan, just to keep you confused.

Not here it's not: sett as in set sept is pronounced sep-t with a definite hard 'p' run into the 't'.

You will find many 'sept lists' alleging that everyone called a particular surname belongs to a particular clan, but the problem is that people of any given surname may have belonged to one clan in one part of Scotland and to a different clan somewhere else.

Absolutely and this is a key point that can only be resolved if one can trace one's family back to the mid-C18th at the latest. Otherwise it's a best guess or simply chose which clan to follow. There is also confusion between sept and dependent. A sept was a minor branch of the clan whose head claimed descent from the chief's line and were typically started by a second or further removed son who was given land but whose family acknowledged kinship with the chief for example MacDonald of Aird and Valley was a sept. A dependent name is one of those more generic ones that often relate to a trade, place of residence or physical feature: Smith (Gow), Kinloch (Ceann Loch) or Bowie (Buidhe) etc. These appear throughout the Highlands and would have been associated with almost every clan although many are now 'claimed' exclusively on one clan or other.