Morris Clan

[peterpimlico]

Greetings all
This is my first post and my simple question is: Is there a MORRIS Clan/Tartan?
Regards ... Peter

[Big Mikey]

Check this link.

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/qRe...hString=morris

[freddie]

Hi Peter

As far as I know there isn't a Morris clan as such. The name is given as a sept of the clans Buchanan and Gordon. My Mother's surname is Morris, which is also my forename, so I wear the Buchanan tartan for this side of my family. Many chiefs of the clan Buchanan were called Maurice (after Saint Maurice, the name was spelt this way in Norman French charters of the time) and the Scots gaelic spelling is Moiris. Acording to records at least two sons went off and started their own families, taking the name MacMorris. They were still regarded as Buchanans and never became a clan in their own right. When the name became anglicised one lot called themselves Morrison (although having no connection with the clan Morrison - confused?) and another branch just dropped the Mac (what is known as a 'lost Mac name') to become Morris. One branch eventually settled in Aberdeenshire where they came under the protection of the powerful Gordon clan, hence them being regarded as a sept of this clan. Because Morris was a celtic saint (the place name St. Moritz also has the same origin) the name became very popular in Wales, and there is a Welsh Morris tartan. One interesting thing is that the Buchanan lands were found in the territory of the old Strathclyde Brittons, and this race of people were of the same stock as the Welsh (the great Scottish name Wallace has the same origin) so maybe there's a connection there somewhere.
There are two private family tartans of the name Morris, one of which, Morris of Balgonie, is a mixture of both the Gordon and Morrison tartans, but these can only be worn by members of this specific family.
Hope this all helps.

Regards
Morris

[peterpimlico]

Hello Morris
Many thanks for your most interesting and informative posting regarding my request re Morris.

My maternal grandmother was a Morris and she is my only ancestor to bear a name that even remotely resembles a Scottish name, so I was hoping there was a tartan that I could justify to myself that I was possibly entitled to wear. Your suggestion of Buchanan sounds very encouraging. I simply just don't know if my Morris ancestry is English, Scottish or Welsh. But if I have read your information correctly the Buchanan tartan origins could embrace all three anciently?

My best wishes and kind regards .................. Peter

[freddie]

As a Scottish name Morris can wear the Buchanan or Gordon tartans. However the name is very popular in Wales and here is the Welsh 'Morris' tartan.