Armigerous Clans

[Scotus]

Todd:

Thanks for the link. Good article, easy to understand, etc. I'm certainly no expert on this topic. My interest in heraldry is mainly ecclesiastical.

Just from memory, I recall there is a clan that "elected" a chief. They didn't go through any of the proper channels, but basically thumbed their nose at the Lord Lyon. The man who claims to be their chief is simply that; that is, a man with claims to be their chief only on the basis of being elected.*

Clan MacAlpine is going throught the long process of finding a chief. On their Web site, it states, "Given our Clan’s ancient and unrecorded history, it is not expected that any individual can prove to Lord Lyon's stringent requirements direct descent from our former Chiefs. Thus, we must follow Lyon Court's guidelines and procedures to form an Ad Hoc Derbhfine for the purpose of finding a new Clan Leader, a Commander, who might ultimately become our new Clan Chief."

I also recall that the late chief of our clan (Sir Willliam Cumming) had to drop the hyphen in the name Gordon-Cumming in order to be recognized as the official chief of the clan. Our present chief, Sir Alistair, had to do the same.

Anyway, it's good to have order and accountability.

*Diarmid MacAulay.