Armigerous Clans

[cessna152towser]

MacMillan of Rathdown wrote:-
Quote:
Originally Posted by cessna152towser
Article on armigerous clans on wiki here:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armigerous_clan

Well, the above quote from wikipedia is just garbage

Well if you think you know better why don't you try re-writing it?
The reality of the matter is that much of the truth of Scottish heritage has been lost in myth. Yes some of the Mac..... clans still have an active structure here in Scotland but most clans either had no formal organisations or had clan structures which lapsed and were later revived by well intentioned people of Scottish descent, with differing views as to the true history and this is why there is so much conflicting information out there, not only in wikipedia but in various so-called authoritative textbooks. The one I have in front of me is a beautiful book, entitled Scotland and her Tartans by Alexander Fulton. It is subtitled The Romantic Heritage of the Scottish Clans and Families. Romantic, exactly sums it up, many of the statements in it which are presented as facts can be no more than speculation.
We could argue for weeks over this, we native Scots, and our ex-patriate cousins hold differing interpretations of our clan history, all based on what we have read and have been told, but much of the truth is lost in history and been replaced by supposition.
Having been born and brought up in Scotland it never fails to amaze me that the people who claim to know most about the Scottish clan structure were invariably born overseas and are only partially of Scottish descent, and I hasten to add this is not a personal or specific criticism of anyone here, I have also experienced it within my own clan society. I only know what I was taught at school and what I have read since then and I know much of it is romance and myth. I did not go looking for a wikipedia article about armigerous clans just for the fun of adding something to this thread, rather I recalled this article had previously been cited to me by an American as his authority for insisting that my clan was an armigerous one.
What is fact, as has been said already, is that only the Lord Lyon can now recognise a Scottish clan chief. There are plenty of clans out there who are really clan societies set up with the approval of the Lord Lyon, some of whom might call their leader chief, but that does not make him a recognised clan chief here in Scotland. Approval means just that, and has no legal weight, nor does it grant exclusive right to use the family name, there is nothing to stop another group coming along and setting up another similar society, with or without first asking for the Lord Lyon's approval.
Can't we just enjoy the romance and myth of our shared clan heritage without trying to tell others that we think our version of history is the most authentic?