Hello,
I am new to this site and have many questions so I will apologize in advance for the length of this post. I reside in the U.S. and I am just starting to learn and understand my Scottish heritage. I'm trying to specifically learn a little more on Clans. From what I understand not every person in Scotland belongs to a clan. Our family stories however say that my ancestors did, but I could use a little more understanding and I am hoping someone here can help me.

My GGrandmother was born in Scotland with the surname MITCHELL. Her father was of course a MITCHELL (her mother was English.) Her grandfather was MITCHELL and her grandmother was McDONALD. I know they were all from the highlands, mostly in the area of MORAY. Ms. MCDONALD's mother was CALDER.

So I knew my GGrandmother as a child and I remember her saying her ancestors were from the Innes Clan and my brother remembers her telling stories of her family from a place called Braemar. So my questions are:
Would my grandmother have taken the clan of her father (assuming he had one?) and if so, where would the Innes fit in? Do clans take names of locations as well as family surnames? Is there such a thing as a MITCHELL clan? and would the location of Braemar play any role in that? Additionally my aunt remembers my grandmother's tartan being mostly blue with very little red in it. I don't know if that helps at all in my search.

I apologize for my ignorance and hope I am not insulting anyone with my lack of knowledge. I have been researching this family line for some time now and plan to visit Scotland next year. I hope to learn as much as I can before I go so I have knowledge of where best to visit where my ancestors lived.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Tracy