"Modern Clans" Sorry I don't get it?

[Singlemalt]

Please understand, I have no desire to hurt feelings or deprive anyone of fun and comradeship. After all "community" is where you find it, whether a public service organization, a good pub or a newly reinvented Clan.

I am relatively new to the forum but not wearing kilts. As a boy I wore one to kirk every Sunday and I was married in one thirty years ago. I was raised to be proud of my Scottish background but there was never any mention of our Clan. My paternal Grandparents emigrated from Scotland to Canada with five small children in 1919. I am fortunate that my Grandfather started a memoir that he was unable to finish but through it I know that his family was from a small village outside Inverness and had been for many, many generations. Theirs was a life of poverty in the extreme. In order to escape this and give his children a chance, his father moved the family to Glasgow and he got a backbreaking job in the shipyards there building the great steel ships which were the backbone of the Royal Navy. I am sure he did not want to go and leave his ancestral village, he had no choice, no kindly Chief to turn to, no great family to support him. In time my Grandfather followed his father into the shipyards until they closed after the demand for battleships for the Great War was over. He found himself completely without work with five small children. Where was "The Clan", where was the Chief? He made the hardest decision of his life and bought passage to Canada.

Fortunately, the second chapter of his life was much kinder to him and he was successful and happy in Canada. In fact upon his retirement all us Grandchildren bought him a ticket to go back to Scotland, something he had never done since leaving. He declined to go, saying he was proud to be a Scot but that Canada was his home now and he had no desire to go back.

I know many of us on this side of the pond are not so fortunate as I to actually remember and have talked with their Scottish immigrant ancestor. However, I am willing to bet most of your family stories are similar to my own. Your families did not leave Scotland because they wanted to. They left because of cruel unrelenting poverty. There was no "Chief" to turn to for help, in fact he may have been a big part of the problem in his efforts to clear his land from the hundreds, even thousands, of unproductive crofters who stood in the way of sheep, shooting and progress.

I am proud of my Scottish roots, I am proud to wear the kilt but I have no desire sign back into a Clan system which so clearly failed and abandoned my family only a couple of generations ago.

I am interested in your opinions. Am I unnecessarily cynical? Should I be more open to the modern Clan organizations? What are your family stories? Do any of you have examples of where the Clan helped your ancestors?

[davidlpope]

I think your grandfather's experience is probably similar to that of many of the Highland Scots to emigrated to North America, whether it was during the 18th century or more recently. Most emigrants leave their native country because things are pretty bleak.

I suspect that the modern interest in a reconstituted "clan system" is the result of romantic notions on the part of those of us who are far, far removed from the harshness of life that lead to emigration.

For what it's worth, I've discussed this very issue with my chief, who is mindful of such matters. He's been able to direct the energy of those who "rediscover their roots" in meaningful ways which serve a greater good.

Cordially,

David

[Cygnus]

Most of my Scottish ancestors left Scotland willingly, usually for religious reasons, though there is at least one exception.

I think it's important to remember that a number of current clan chiefs are living outside the UK, in New Zealand, Australia, Zimbabwe, etc. Times weren't easy on the chiefs either, and when the chief has no recourse but to seek greener pastures, his clansmen will undoubtedly "be in the same boat".

I don't think the clan system was perfect, but I also don't see a reason for discounting and discouraging modern clan organizations based upon this. As you said, it is a place to find common roots and camaraderie.

[Dale Seago]

I don't think the clan system was perfect, but I also don't see a reason for discounting and discouraging modern clan organizations based upon this. As you said, it is a place to find common roots and camaraderie.

Yes, exactly.

[beloitpiper]

I am active in my clan, in that I'm friends with fellow clan members in my area. Would I get all excited if I met the Chief? Maybe. But I wouldn't go out of my way to meet him. Sure, he's the "head" of the clan, but to me, the clan is more the membership than the leadership. Actually, that's how I see most things in life....

[Bugbear]

Memoirs can be very interesting. I hope you have them preserved and copies made, etc.
I'm not a historian, but I hope you try to read them in their historical context, rather than our world view of today.
Good luck.

[bdkilted]

You might want to study some history of Scotland. The clan system was basically destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries. I am active in my clan society, and I enjoy the fellowship. Also, as a trained historian it has given me another project to keep my mind busy. I would echo the above sentiments. The clan is great fellowship of those loosely connected by blood or association. I too know of my cheif, but he is busy trying to support his own family. He doesn't lead us, and we don't depend on him for much. We elect our own leadership, and work to better the society and support each other. The great part of the "new" clan system is we can be a part of several clans if we enjoy the fellowship, like the clan of Xmarks....

[WillieMacG]

Am I unnecessarily cynical?

It would seem that you have already answered your own question.

[tripleblessed]

You might want to study some history of Scotland. The clan system was basically destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries. ... The great part of the "new" clan system is we can be a part of several clans if we enjoy the fellowship, like the clan of Xmarks....

While I am not a trained historian, I am an interested observer of history. I would submit for your consideration that the clan system was destroyed by the very kings the system supported. Carefully, deliberately. A long, gradual process. It managed to totter along until the period noted, but it's legs were gone. When David arrived in Scotland to claim the throne, he brought with him a complete disdain for the people of his "birthright", learned in the Norman court he in which he was fostered. He brought with him the Norman idea that the king owned everything, and all the people. This was at odds with the Celtic/Gaelic idea of free men uniting under an agreed-upon or at least accepted leader, and one or the other had to go. Instituting the Norman structure of government began the process. Marriages to the Norman knights he brought with him spread his position into the gentry, some judicious seizing of lands and titles (and money) by later kings, and voila, the image of a Gaelic society without the messy problem of having to pay attention to the rabble, except in the broadest of terms.

I can't say one is better than the other; for one, I don't have sufficient knowledge and perspective, and also, I'm saved by forum rules on comparisons of systems of government. It isn't productive to judge history, one observes carefully in hope of finding a system more beneficial to more people more of the time with less waste. I haven't seen it yet, but am hopeful of it's existence.

In the meantime, as bdkilted points out, there is the opportunity to have fellowship, fun, and games participating in the modern version.

[Andy Proffitt]

You are comparing two different animals. One was, essentially, a family based unit for economic and military purposes, the other is a romanticized social club, for people who love their Scottish ancestry, history, etc.

The modern Clans are more like Rotary or the Elks than they are like their old namesakes. People join to make connection with other like minded/interested people who are their kin (whether they are or not). They can get together, dress up in a kilt, have a meal, talk about history and the like and think they are a clan. But few if anyone that belongs to one today feels any fealty to the Chief. No member of a clan is going to have taxes levied on him, or march off against the Campbells. That was the old Clan.

The Old Clan system you speak of is in the same state as Carthage, and was in the days of your Grandfather. It was done in on Drumossie Moor and buried by sheep. It lives only in books and the imaginations of members of the Modern Clans. So, if you want to, you can take it less serious and join an association.....or not. Membership in a Clan is no barometer of your love of your heritage.