Who Belongs to the Clan?

[ThistleDown]

Actually, Johnny, there may in the Highland clan period have been many who rejected potential followers. Remember that the 'follower' was a tenant, sub-tenant or cotter and that meant that there had to be land on which he could live and earn his living without harming the prosperity of the whole. There were some fairly fertile regions of the Highlands -- Highland Perthshire, Easter Ross, Cromarty and Petty, for example -- where folk might have liked to live, but where the native chiefs certainly controlled their numbers rather than over-populate.

You are correct, though, and there likely were some chiefs who gathered dozens of warrior clansmen in order to acquire territory. Whether or not those warriors were 'loyal followers' and the chief a 'loyal' leader is worth considering because warriors can't continue into second generations without mating and the mates for them could only be found in the newly-acquired territories.