Armigerous Clans

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I'm sorry, but your postings must not have been clear-- it appeared that you were writing about the original institution of clans, not the modern practice of the recognition of a clan chief which today is based almost solely on the ability to prove an absolute right to the undifferenced arms of the last known chief.

[Twa_Corbies]

I'm sorry, but your postings must not have been clear-- it appeared that you were writing about the original institution of clans, not the modern practice of the recognition of a clan chief which today is based almost solely on the ability to prove an absolute right to the undifferenced arms of the last known chief.

There is a vast difference between the two. No doubt, in the distant past a clan chief would have balked at the notion that his position of leadership depended upon the decision of a paid official of the Crown; but times and customs have changed a great deal and the concept of the clan today bears little resemblence to what constituted a clan in former days.