Any Clan Donald experts out there?

[Nathan]

I'm a proud MacDonald of Clanranald. At present, I own two lovely kilts. One military kilt in generic Clan Donald tartan
and one in Clanranald modern. (Same as Donald, but with the thin white lines added).
Clan Donald

Clanranald


My Chief, the Captain of Clanranald doesn't wear the same clanranald tartan as I do but seems to wear an orange one that was registered in 1914 but the STA site says,

"From D C Dalgliesh. also appears in Peter MacDonald swatch files. From MacKay's 1914 'The Romantic Story of Highland Garb'. Also named MacDonnell of Clan Ranald Ancient and said to be from Cockburn Collection 1815. Note on modern sample also adds "John MacDonald, High Commissioner Clan Donald" suggesting that either the sample or the information was from him."



I know any MacDonald can rightly wear the Clan Donald tartan since all of the branches have joined the High Council of Clan Donald Chiefs, thus making my Captain, subordinate to Lord MacDonald.

My question is, what about the other MacDonald tartans? Which, if any other ones would be "correct". I'm sure nobody would ever "call me out" on wearing any of them, but given the fact that I would only like to wear tartan associated with my particular family, where do tartans such as "Of the Isles" and "Lord of the Isles" much less "Sleat" or "of Skye" fall for a MacDonald of Clanranald? I know Glengarry is a sub-branch of my clan that I'm not affiliated to so I wouldn't wear that but what about MacDonald of Boisdale, for example? The Captain of Clanranald is actually descended from the Boisdale line as our direct chiefly line "daughtered out" in the mid 20th Century. Would the Boisdale tartan be appropriate for any Clanranald clansman at this point?

There are 29 MacDonald tartans on the Tartan Authority website. The two I have are very similar and will do me fine for years. I was just curious about some of the others that are in a very different colour scheme. Some of them come from the Sobeiski Stuarts book, others are from paintings and others are from artifacts.

For the tartan expert out there, aside from the two I have and the one my Chief wears, are there any others that would be equally correct?

Please understand my perspective on tartan is pretty conservative in the sense that I only want to wear "my clan" tartan(s). I'm not from the "Wear any tartan you like" school of thought so please don't clog up this thread with replies of that nature.

[MizzouScotsman]

This is from The Clan Donald heritage site - If you are fortunate enough to have family tradition that tells you with which branch your ancestors associated, you may choose to wear that tartan. It is not necessary that you trace your genealogy directly back to a Clan Donald branch chief to justify wearing the branch tartan (if you can do that you could be in line to be chief). There were considerable movements and marriages that weren't confined to Clan Donald branches or lands. It was a strong Celtic traditional value to seek a bride outside the immediate clan which not only prevented consanguinity (inbreeding problems experienced by feudal nobility, such as hemophilia), but strengthened the clan by expanding it's influence. This Celtic trait of your ancestors may make the decision of which MacDonald tartan to claim as your own more complicated and explain why the common Scottish answer to the question, "Which tartan should I wear?" is "Which one do you like?"

http://www.clandonald-heritage.com/i...d=38&Itemid=57

I shall do more research on this and will post again soon.

[Nathan]

Tapadh leat, A Theàrlaich.

I had read that on the Clan Donald heritage site before. Luckily, we have a strong oral and written family tradition. My family is certainly clanranald, there is no doubt about that. I know it and all of our distant cousins know it as we have passed it down through the generations. We typically wear the most common MacDonald of Clanranald tartan but this is probably largely a function of what you see in tartan books etc... I've never run across the clanranald tartan that my Chief wears in any tartan guide. Everything mass marketed to clanranald uses the more common tartan of which my tank was constructed.

The chiefs got me thinking. Lord MacDonald doesn't wear Clan Donald, but rather wears Lord of the Isles, Clanranald doesn't wear clanranald modern but both of them wear appropriate, though far less common MacDonald tartans so it certainly opens up the question.

I look forward to your additional research...

[Riverkilt]

Years ago I got called out for wearing my Macdonald Lord of the Isles tartan kilt. Kilt Cop was a nut case. We argued...he said only the Lord of the Isles was allowed to wear it. I protested that I'd had a necktie in that tartan for 30 years and the kilt for a few years and that if it was a restricted tartan the mills wouldn't sell it to anyone who wanted it. I verified my 'right to wear the tartan with Clan Donald. The next year's games I asked after the Kilt Cop to confront him again but the lady in the Clan Donald tent said he was such a jerk they asked him not to come back. I know my ancestors - back to my four great grandfather Ludovic Macdonald were from Uig on the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. I also wear the generic Macdonald Tartan and the Macdonald of the Isles weathered hunting. I had the Macdonald of Kingsburgh (next door to Uig) but "outgrew" it and passed it on to my brother.

Just for me - I've thought about other Macdonald tartans but don't feel right wearing the ones from other regions - as beautiful as many are. If I did another it would probably be the generic dress Macdonald.

[Nathan]

Years ago I got called out for wearing my Macdonald Lord of the Isles tartan kilt. Kilt Cop was a nut case. We argued...he said only the Lord of the Isles was allowed to wear it. I protested that I'd had a necktie in that tartan for 30 years and the kilt for a few years and that if it was a restricted tartan the mills wouldn't sell it to anyone who wanted it. I verified my 'right to wear the tartan with Clan Donald. The next year's games I asked after the Kilt Cop to confront him again but the lady in the Clan Donald tent said he was such a jerk they asked him not to come back. I know my ancestors - back to my four great grandfather Ludovic Macdonald were from Uig on the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. I also wear the generic Macdonald Tartan and the Macdonald of the Isles weathered hunting. I had the Macdonald of Kingsburgh (next door to Uig) but "outgrew" it and passed it on to my brother.

Just for me - I've thought about other Macdonald tartans but don't feel right wearing the ones from other regions - as beautiful as many are. If I did another it would probably be the generic dress Macdonald.

My feelings on the matter are much like yours. The question I have would be for example, my family is Clanranald but emigrated from the Isle of Lewis, hence my question about "of the Isles" and "Lord of the Isles".

Which branch of the Clan do you folks belong to?

[MizzouScotsman]

My feelings on the matter are much like yours. The question I have would be for example, my family is Clanranald but emigrated from the Isle of Lewis, hence my question about "of the Isles" and "Lord of the Isles".

Which branch of the Clan do you folks belong to?

I am a descendent of Celestine MacDonald of Lochalsh. He was Chief of the MacDonalds of Lochalsh. His line "daughtered out" after his son Alexander was killed. The Lochalsh line was absorbed by the MacDonalds of Sleat. I have never found a tartan for Lochalsh but since my line was absorbed by the MacDonalds of Sleat, I am privy to wear their tartan.



I also wear the MacDonald Modern and am hoping to get a MacDonald ancient as well as a hunting.

[figheadair]

I know that both the High Chief and Clanranald have previously stated that the Lord of the Isles and Red Clanranald tartans respectively are for their own
immediate family use but that flies in the face of the face that certainly the former has been widely sold by the Trade for many years. The Chief has also said that the G/G version of the Lord of the Isles is for clansmen and the B/G version for his use. I believe that the B/G version is historically correct and I'd happily wear both, separately or together, and in fact have a naturally dyed plaid in the former.

The Red Clanranald is not amongst the Cockburn specimens. I wonder if whoever said that confused it with the Sleat which is, albeit under the name ‘Lord MacDonald'. That sett appears to be a Wilsons’ variant of the so called red Lord of the Isles that is taken from the portrait of the MacDonald Boys. A later painting of the elder boy, Alexander, was the source of the B/G sett.

I don’t any reason why you should not wear any of the MacDonald setts and especially those associated with your immediate branch or its cadet houses such as Boisdale, Borrodale and Staffa.

[Riverkilt]

I'm no expert on clan branches, even after reading up on them. I kinda doubt my 4 great grandfather Ludovic Macdonald thought much about that stuff. I know he was a soldier, but not where he served. Just know that family lore is he named my 3 great grandfather Gray Macdonald after an officer he served under and admired. A great mystery beyond that. They were crofters in Uig, Skye. Gray, or his son John moved to Stafin on the other side of the Trotternish. They were shipped out from Portree in the clearances.
What I've done is go backwards. By default, "I" selected Macdonald of Kingsburg since Uig is just five miles north of Kingsburgh on Skye. After that went with the generic "Islands" tartans and the generic Macdonald tartans. Kinda sad all that was lost in the clearances.

Living in Navajo country I've learned much about their sad Long Walk and internment at Bosque Redondo. But they got to come home, back to their ancestral homelands. My great grandfathers were shipped out and that was it. It feels good to do some research and find some things to identify with my genetic history to pass on to my grandkids. Though, being of Island Scot ancestry I should probably be probing Scandinavia too - but doubt there's a way to figure where my Viking ancestors sailed from. Sons of Somerled.

[Nathan]

The viking ancestors in Clan Donald mostly came from Norway but where I know not. One thing we do know is that Somerled developed the Highland Galley and chased the Norweigians off thus establishing the Kingdom (later Lordship) of the Isles.

I'd love to see a flow chart of the various branches of Clan Donald. I always see it in written paragraph form and it gets confusing due to the repetition of names throughout the generations. I know about John of Islay's split from Amy MacRuari and how Clanranald came to be but with so many splits, a graphic representation with the current status of Chiefship would be most useful.

Incidentally, given the amount of MacDonalds on Cape Breton specifically or even Nova Scotia more broadly, I wonder what the process of being recognized as a new branch would be, if one, in fact exists. A new "MacDonald of Cape Breton" branch would certainly boast as many numbers as many of the other branches.

Just as an FYI in case anyone has a connection:
My Ancestor Malcolm MacDonald left the Isle of Lewis in 1804 three children. His two sons Angus and John and a daughter that died enroute. He arrived at Pictou. His son Angus married the daughter of Roderick MacDougall and inherited his land in Maryvale, Antigonish County. He donated part of that land for the construction of St. Mary's Church. The church was destroyed by a fire in 2011:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...le-church.html
and restored and reconsecrated in 2012. http://maryvalechurchbuildingfund.com/

Malcolm's descendants quickly spread to Arisaig, Malignant Cove, Malignant Brook, Maryvale, New Glasgow and Bras d'or. My great grandfather Angus J. eventually made his way to Port Morien, Cape Breton.

My avatar is of a grave site on the Maryvale Church grounds with the MacDonald of Clanranald badge carved into the headstone.

N

[Riverkilt]

Your flow chart of Clan Donald is in the book Clan Donald by Donald Macdonald. Pricey but worth it. Think there are some solid genealogy books on Pictou.