Clansman

[James]

It's all a bit like running a dance in a minefield: never a dull moment!

A part of the problem is that chiefs and the secretaries of clans/societies change: so there is a continual drift from hard to soft line, and vice versa.

Just as this or that group will have an approach which might be connected to their need for members.

Too over the years kilt makers with an urge to sell their wares have made all sorts of 'interesting' connections twixt name and clan/sept. Nor can the growth of non-highland clans be ignored.

In addition over the years all sorts of lists have been produced of varying reliability.

Whilst this or that authority might be saying one thing, yet what is being said on the ground is another.

Too the attitudes of people like myself are strongly influenced by the people we came into contact in our younger years: attitudes which might not be replicated today.

All this has lead to a situation where it is just about possible to find any answer you want. A great approach-decide on an answer and then seek validation for it: where have I heard that one before?

Possibly the letters in the Scots Magazine of a couple of months ago will well indicate the various approaches, and some of the present views.

James

[highlander_Daz]

Surnames are a very unreliable way of establishing a clan connection, unless you are prepared to take on some serious research - names would change on a regular basis.

howver if your lucky enough to have military in your family it makes things much easier.

i dont remember ever seeing anyone in pointed hoods in Scotland. Although the burning of a cross was once a sign of peril or a rallying symbol but normally called a fire cross.