joining the clan

[gilmore]

Is there a thought here, by Gilmore, that the nature of Scottish clans can not have evolved from their old ways as the world has changed? In other words, the clans must be exactly the same as they were two or three hundred years ago or they do not exist.
I think both the word and the subject "clan" have changed over time as has the world.

The voice of Gilmore in my head may now smash my argument.

Sure, Scottish clans have evolved. They have gone from being very important, from being the way that people in the Scottish Highlands lived their lives from cradle to grave centuries ago, to being little more than an interesting historical artifact. This is not to say that fulfilling friendships can't be built around joining a clan association. They can.

[macwilkin]

Sure, Scottish clans have evolved. They have gone from being very important, from being the way that people in the Scottish Highlands lived their lives from cradle to grave centuries ago, to being little more than an interesting historical artifact. This is not to say that fulfilling friendships can't be built around joining a clan association. They can.

To add to Gil's well-stated comments: This Sunday I was participating in a memorial service honouring members of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veteran's organization for Union soldiers during the Civil War. The speaker noted that only a select few were given membership in the GAR and its Southern counterpart, the United Confederate Veterans. Both organizations eventually ceased to exist when the last member "went west" to Fiddler's Green, yet both left legacies -- The Sons of Union & Sons of Confederate Veterans, so their names and missions would live on.

The first modern-day clan society -- the Buchanan Society -- was a mutal-aid society to assist clan members who came to Glasgow to work in the factories and found themselves in trouble. In a similar vein, the many St. Andrew's and Caledonian societies that dot the globe also served as a mutual-aid society for Scots scattered the world over, as a result of famine, war and clearance.

In one way, the modern-day clan society is the successor to the clan system of old, a system which will never be again, as Gil noted -- the clan society, not only being a social organization, also can serve as a store-house of historical and genealogical information for the clans -- preserving the memory of a time gone by that will never be repeated.

Regards,

Todd

[Bugbear]

Sure, Scottish clans have evolved. They have gone from being very important, from being the way that people in the Scottish Highlands lived their lives from cradle to grave centuries ago, to being little more than an interesting historical artifact. This is not to say that fulfilling friendships can't be built around joining a clan association. They can.

Sometimes a concept or idea of something can be stronger and longer lasting than it's physical existance. Thank you for clarifying, Gilmore.