Which Clan?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

My Scots were all here by 1776, so if I choose tartan with them in mind,I struggle a bit with the idea that I am bound by rules that did not exist when they lived.

You have raised a very good point, and if I may, allow me to point out why you may wish to consider-- as you have put it-- "following rules that did not exist when they lived."

When your ancestors came to North America they were not part of a giant migration that saw all of Scotland leave for the New World. On the contrary, they were but a small portion of their own family who moved; cousins, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles-- were quite probably left behind. While your ancestor was busy settling a new land, back in "The Old Country" your extended family-- your "clan''-- was keeping broader Scottish culture alive. What little of Scottish heritage was handed down in North America, generation upon generation, became an ossified relic of what once had been, as opposed to what was happening then and there, back in Scotland.

If your ancestor had stayed in Scotland, today you would be following the "rules" of a living, breathing culture. That being the case, I can see no reason why someone who proclaims their Scottish heritage should, at the same time, forsake the cultural standards that have evolved in their absence.

Perhaps it is the traditionalists who really are the ones that have moved with the times?