Are You Ready to Enlist?

[creagdhubh]

It is a lovely uniform but given Atholl's gleeful participation in the Highland Clearances as some of the largest landowners in Scotland, I wouldn't be so quick to covet that uniform. He's rich enough to hold a private army because of the profit of Cheviot sheep.

We all know the cultural price Gaelic civilzation has paid to enrich the holders of land and peerage.

I love castles and kilts but try to keep a historical perspective on how that money was raised and the cost paid by the common Gael.

Right you are, Nathan. The Duke of Atholl was the first to clear a portion of his land (Atholl Estate, which during the 19th-century was estimated at around 190,000 acres, now it's approximately 120,000 acres) in order to make way for Cheviot sheep. The clearances at Glen Tilt, in Blair Atholl, were the first recorded evidence of the clearances in Scotland. So, I'm well aware of the historical perspective in regards to the Duke of Atholl and the Highland Clearances, but I can still like the sartorial aspects of the uniform of the Atholl Highlanders, as well as the purely ceremonial duties the regiment performs today, without disregarding or dismissing its historical perspective. I understand the Highland Clearances was calamitous and utterly tragic time for the countless people affected, to include some of my own Highland ancestors (maternal line), who emigrated from Perthshire to America as a direct result from being forcibly removed.

Kind regards,

[Nile]

Wonderful pictures Kyle; thank you for sharing them.

I'm well aware of the historical perspective in regards to the Duke of Atholl and the Highland Clearances, but I can still like the sartorial aspects of the uniform of the Atholl Highlanders,

There are leaders and there are followers (and then, of course, there is the rabble), and most soldiers faithfully, do what they're told (US Air Force for me). Aside from history and the whims and directives of their leaders, the Atholl Highlanders serve their cause as much as any 'soldier' and they look pretty good doing it.

Nile

[creagdhubh]

Wonderful pictures Kyle; thank you for sharing them.


There are leaders and there are followers (and then, of course, there is the rabble), and most soldiers faithfully, do what they're told (US Air Force for me). Aside from history and the whims and directives of their leaders, the Atholl Highlanders serve their cause as much as any 'soldier' and they look pretty good doing it.

Nile

Cheers, Nile. My Grandfather (Lewis Harvey Macpherson) was in the US Air Force during the Korean War, and I served in the US Marine Corps during Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Thank you for your service!

[Jack Daw]

I spoke with a few of them at the castle. They were willing to sell me some of their surplus kit, but it was all too small, unfortunately.

[Nathan]

The broader issue here is a conundrum to me and it is not one that I have totally resolved. In the clan system there was a contract between the Chieftain and his clansmen and clanswomen. The Chief was to provide land and look out for the welfare of the clan in exchange for their fealty and blood in protection of his interests. During the Clearances the lairds, especially Atholl, relinquished this duty of care and cast their families aside in favour of material wealth. I'm not saying that every descendant of a chief needs to hang his head in shame but I am saying this:

Many of these families are still huge land holders and benefiting from these ill-gotten gains.

But leaving that aside, I just find it difficult sometimes that we proudly wear the crests of people who didn't and don't care about us and our bonnets and yet this cheap tartanry is all that remains as a connection to our culture and our past for many of us.

I can't lament this issues in Gaelic and have my fellow clansmen understand. And yet, while all this remains true, I do enjoy having a way to be visually and obviously Highland since due to assimilation many sons and daughters of the Highlands are indistinguishable in many respects from the descendants of our oppressors.

I still wear the kilt and the tartan and the crest of my chief, but the Atholls can only afford to own a private army due to these ill gotten gains and so while I certainly forgive, I'm hesitant to clap and want to suit up in those clothes. They are a bitter reminder that the common man didn't count for much.

But alas, "those days are past now, and in the past, they must remain"

[creagdhubh]

But leaving that aside, I just find it difficult sometimes that we proudly wear the crests of people who didn't and don't care about us and our bonnets and yet this cheap tartanry is all that remains as a connection to our culture and our past for many of us.

This is certainly not the case with my paternal Macpherson lineage, of which I hold very dear and have done so from quite a young age. Your statement may indeed apply to other Highland clans and families that were more severely affected by the Highland Clearances, but I don't necessarily think it applies towards the Clan Macpherson. Clan Macpherson chiefs have consistently stood by and with their clansmen and clanswomen throughout the centuries and even in the modern era - well after the collapse of the Highland Clan system.

Besides the notable 18th chief, Ewen Macpherson of Cluny, or "Cluny of the '45," this especially rings true with the present chief, Sir William Alan Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, TD. Cluny (as he is affectionately referred to by his clan) has always considered himself as "a first among equals," a very humble approach to modern clan (association) chiefship if you ask me, and furthermore, according to documented evidence (of which I can provide) there is a good track record of this being the case throughout Clan Macpherson history. Perhaps this sort of mentality is what prevented Macpherson families in Badenoch from being cleared in order to make way for sheep. In all actuality, many Macphersons to include my great-grandfather, left Badenoch due to other hardships (mostly to do with economic and labor issues) in the immediate area and not as a direct result of a particular Macpherson chief or landowner kicking them off the estate.

By no means am I trying to say the Clan Macpherson is exclusive of all negative happenings in the past, because they are certainly not and their history can definitely support that. Nor am I trying to glorify anything or attempting to say that the Macphersons are "better" than other Highland clans - I would never do so. What I am saying is that there has been a long-standing, consistently strong bond between the chiefs and chieftains of the Clan Macpherson, its cadet branches and its clansmen and clanswomen. Even after the whole idea of the Highland clan system and clanship was ultimately destroyed in post-Culloden Scotland, then brought somewhat anew again as more of a collective pageantry of Scottish romanticism during the early 19th-century and into the Victorian era, the Macphersons have continually stuck to their own unique traditions and culture in the face of adversity and a massive diaspora. A very important (if not the most important) aspect of these traditions is the relationship between the chief and his kith, kin and clan. I feel honoured and extremely lucky that this relationship is still evident within the Clan Macpherson Association and its branches worldwide.

Cluny and I.


Cheers,

[Nathan]

This is certainly not the case with my paternal Macpherson lineage, of which I hold very dear and have done so from quite a young age. Your statement may indeed apply to other Highland clans and families that were more severely affected by the Highland Clearances, but I don't necessarily think it applies towards the Clan Macpherson. Clan Macpherson chiefs have consistently stood by and with their clansmen and clanswomen throughout the centuries and even in the modern era - well after the collapse of the Highland Clan system.

Besides the notable 18th chief, Ewen Macpherson of Cluny, or "Cluny of the '45," this especially rings true with the present chief, Sir William Alan Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, TD. Cluny (as he is affectionately referred to by his clan) has always considered himself as "a first among equals," a very humble approach to modern clan (association) chiefship if you ask me, and furthermore, according to documented evidence (of which I can provide) there is a good track record of this being the case throughout Clan Macpherson history. Perhaps this sort of mentality is what prevented Macpherson families in Badenoch from being cleared in order to make way for sheep. In all actuality, many Macphersons to include my great-grandfather, left Badenoch due to other hardships (mostly to do with labor issues) in the immediate area and not as a direct result of a particular Macpherson chief or landowner kicking them off the estate.

By no means am I trying to say the Clan Macpherson is exclusive of all negative happenings in the past, because they are certainly not and their history can definitely support that. Nor am I trying to say that the Macphersons are "better" than other Highland clans - I would never do so. What I am saying is that there has been a long-standing, consistently strong bond between the chiefs and chieftains of the Clan Macpherson, its cadet branches and its clansmen and clanswomen. Even after the whole idea of the Highland clan system and clanship was ultimately destroyed in post-Culloden Scotland, then brought somewhat anew again as more of a collective pageantry of Scottish romanticism during the Victorian era, the Macphersons have continually stuck to their own unique traditions and culture in the face of adversity, and a very important (if not the most important) aspect of these traditions is the relationship between the chief and his kith, kin and clan.

Cluny and I.


Cheers,

I'm glad to hear that the MacPhersons didn't sell out their clansmen after proscription and like I said, it's a bit of a dilema. I met Clanranald and he is a fine enough gentleman indeed. I carried his colours for him when he visited Ottawa and performed Cape Breton music for him and his entourage at the dinner.

I am also getting very involved in Clan Donald Canada because it really needs some revitalized energy in the part of Ontario in which I now reside.

I did notice, however, that the man spoke English with a posh southern accent and did not or could not respond to the basic Gàidhlig greeting I paid him in our clan's historic language. I don't blame him for how he was educated or how history progressed, but I found it tragic that the heads of the great Gàidhlig clan have lost touch with their ancestral culture.

What has replaced it is something entirely different. Your points are all well-taken but as one of the remnants of what our culture truly is/was, I think it's my duty to be mindful that Highland and Island culture and Gaidhlig civilization is and was about far more than wardrobe and pipe bands.

To Tobus' point, I don't want to risk violating any rules but I also have a little vinagar in my wine when it comes to the worship of the oppulence of the Lairds.

I am a proud MacDonald of Clanranald but to me the clan is about all of us and not just the rich guy who's crest we wear. I like the idea of "first among equals" or the "head of the family" but there are some things I wouldn't do and joining the Atholls or the Argyll and Sutherlands for historic reasons are among those things.

Anyway, my Gàidhlig laments aside, I now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion of the pretty tartans and uniforms. All apologies for the tangent.

[creagdhubh]

What has replaced it is something entirely different. Your points are all well-taken but as one of the remnants of what our culture truly is/was, I think it's my duty to be mindful that Highland and Island culture and Gaidhlig civilization is and was about far more than wardrobe and pipe bands.

Precisely! I couldn't agree more, Nathan. It's the unique culture of the Highlands and Islands that has always struck a chord with me and has pulled at my heartstrings - not necessarily the wearing of Highland dress and pipe bands. Though I do think that pipe music, whether its canntaireachd or piobaireachd, serves as a vital importance in Highland, Island and ultimately Gàidhlig culture.

I'd like to compare it to the following metaphor:

As a former competative distance runner, training hard and long was vital to setting personal records and to winning races. In order to do so, I had to train, train, and train! This meant achieving a deep-down, enduring physical fitness and not a superficial, surface oriented, hey I look good on the outside kind of "fitness." No, I had to train smart and was ultimately forced to really listen to my body in order to be fully aware of its limits and capabilities as they apply to competative distance running.

This mentality applies to how I feel about my Scottish Highland heritage. There are deep-down feelings of Highland and Gàidhlig culture that I have within me, because of how meaningful, genuine and enduring they are, regardless of clan affiliation or lineage. They're a part of me. A part of my father, my mother, my sisters, etc. A part of my family and its history and genealogy. The wearing of traditional Scottish Highland dress is indeed a rather recognisble aspect of Highland culture, but not a defining one. I certainly respect and have an immense appreciation for the kilt and all of its accessories; however, I can quite easily leave the tartan and tweed at home and still possess the same deep-down, powerful, evocative and passionate feelings I have for the Highland traditions and culture of the place (Badenoch and Strathspey) my ancestors came and where many descendents still remain.

Cheers,

[MacGumerait]

I'm glad to hear that the MacPhersons didn't sell out their clansmen after proscription and like I said, it's a bit of a dilema. I met Clanranald and he is a fine enough gentleman indeed. I carried his colours for him when he visited Ottawa and performed Cape Breton music for him and his entourage at the dinner.

I am also getting very involved in Clan Donald Canada because it really needs some revitalized energy in the part of Ontario in which I now reside.

I did notice, however, that the man spoke English with a posh southern accent and did not or could not respond to the basic Gàidhlig greeting I paid him in our clan's historic language. I don't blame him for how he was educated or how history progressed, but I found it tragic that the heads of the great Gàidhlig clan have lost touch with their ancestral culture.

What has replaced it is something entirely different. Your points are all well-taken but as one of the remnants of what our culture truly is/was, I think it's my duty to be mindful that Highland and Island culture and Gaidhlig civilization is and was about far more than wardrobe and pipe bands.

To Tobus' point, I don't want to risk violating any rules but I also have a little vinagar in my wine when it comes to the worship of the oppulence of the Lairds.

I am a proud MacDonald of Clanranald but to me the clan is about all of us and not just the rich guy who's crest we wear. I like the idea of "first among equals" or the "head of the family" but there are some things I wouldn't do and joining the Atholls or the Argyll and Sutherlands for historic reasons are among those things.

Anyway, my Gàidhlig laments aside, I now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion of the pretty tartans and uniforms. All apologies for the tangent.

Nathan , I can appreciate your passion and zeal but I don't think anyone here or in today's world is worshipping the " opulence of the Lairds ". Also , most Lairds today are not living in opulence , there may be a handful but not many . Those days are gone for most .

The sins of the past are just that ( in the past ) and every nationality has them , it is the history of mankind . You are correct , it is important to know the history , remember it and not repeat the wrongs . However , as human history has taught us , this does not ever go away .

I very much understand your " vinegar in the wine " comment , although , one has to be careful about that thought process , or else one will find vinegar in all their wines .

Cheers , Mike

[Wil]

I just have one question and hopefully it can get answered. Why are the plaids different from the kilt tartans?