Who Belongs to the Clan?

[ThistleDown]

Well, really the answer to Caithness' rhetorical question is: "If you wish them to be, my Lord, they will be." The decision of who is a member of clan Sinclair and who is not is his alone. The confusion is always around "clan" and "clan association". If your name is Sinoradski and you successfully apply for membership in Clan Sinclair Association USA, Inc., then you are a member of the Clan Sinclair Association USA, Inc. You are not automatically a member of the clan Sinclair.

Unless his lordship, as the Sinclair chief, chooses to accept all those who are members of Clan Sinclair Association USA, Inc. as members of Clan Sinclair. If he does not and requires some sort of proof of your ancestral Sinoradski connection with the ancient lands of the Sinclairs in Caithness, then you must provide that proof in order to be accepted in the clan Sinclair.

Caithness is one of those chiefs who accepts all comers. There are others chiefs who are much more cautious and old-school, and that is their right.