Which Clan?

[SlackerDrummer]

For those people without a patrilineal affiliation with a clan, how have you chosen which clan with which to affiliate? I am particularly interested to hear from those of you who are actively involved with clan associations. When choosing "the closest" have you gone with closest to the patrilineal line (e.g. your g-g-g-g-grandmother, but married to the man with your surname) or closest to you genealogically (your mother's mother's father)? If you have several Scottish ancestors who all are equally close, how did you choose? Was it because of a close relationship to you personally or to one of your parents?

I am also interested to hear from those of you who live in Scotland to hear how clan affiliations work with the folks you know.

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Destin_scot]

Drummer,

I have ties to several Scottish clans on both sides of my parents families as well as some Irish. As to which clans I feel the strongest association with? None in particular and all in general. I feel a much stronger association with my Scottish/Irish/Gaelic/Celtic heritage than with any particular clan, this heritage is known for strong independence, self reliance and innovative thinking, so that is where I feel pride. If you are asking this to see how people would choose a tartan for a kilt, then, I feel that a person's tartan choice should be really based on whether he/she likes a particular tartan/pattern in the cloth.

Just my penny's worth...

[Big Mikey]

Joined this forum, liked it, bought the tartan, had a kilt made, bought the clan badge, share good times with great people.

CLAN XMARKS!!

[marvelredneck]

As I have MANY Scottish Clans on both sides, and do not have a Scottish surname, I went with my father's side and with his mother's great-grandfather, Edward Duncan, and as Duncan is highly contested as a clan, I go with either Duncan or Robertson, (which some people say is the same thing) depending on who I'm talking to.

[Donnachaidh Drumair]

As I have MANY Scottish Clans on both sides, and do not have a Scottish surname, I went with my father's side and with his mother's great-grandfather, Edward Duncan, and as Duncan is highly contested as a clan, I go with either Duncan or Robertson, (which some people say is the same thing) depending on who I'm talking to.

I read through most of the thread, which has been dormant a couple months, so I hope it's okay to revive it briefly, but I most related to marvelredneck's comment from page one.

Since I have a Saxon surname and at the very least six readily available Scottish names combined on both sides without going back very far, I went with my paternal grandmother's maiden name for a couple reasons:

1) It's the closest.
2) The Reid tartan is both dubious and god-awful ugly.
3) I quite frankly just fell in love with the Robertson tartan.

But I'm also aware that the surname Reed can be Irish and English. We have records of a marriage to a groom with a good Scottish name in Ulster. It's scant evidence, so I'm not gonna look too hard to disprove it. I can rule out the Irish, though.

In any case, I wouldn't bore anyone with any of this if they simply asked what tartan I was wearing. The minor uncertainty bugs me a little in the back of my mind, but I like the tartan I like and have gotten into the clan's history. And as others have said, I don't take it all too seriously. I'm more proud of being part Scottish/Celtic than being part of any clan.

[EagleJCS]

Kenneth,
As I've stated here before, and I think I may have told you at some point when we met face-to-face, I don't know for certain that I have any Scottish ancestry. I just happen to have the family name 'Scott', so I joined the Clan Scott Society. (I didn't even know they existed before I went to my first Highland Games - KSW - back in 2001). I'm actually not that "actively involved" with the Society - I just pay my dues and get access to the member's pages on the website and the right to vote on Society business (plus a small discount at some Scottish vendors for some clan-related items).

My main family line gets muddled a little bit back in 1790's VA, and the women my ancestors married have equally ambiguous origins (so far anyway - I haven't done much research on the collateral lineages yet). I do know my mother's side is mostly German, with a little English and Luxembourger thrown in. I haven't done a lot of research that way yet either.

So that's me. Your average American mutt!

[Jack Daw]

I have several Scottish surnames in my background: McIntyre; Maitland; Kerr; Davidson; Gibb; Robeson; and possibly Person (MacPherson), to name the one's I'm researching now. I'm a member of the clan associations for MacIntyre, Buchanan (Gibb), and Davidson. McIntyre is my surname. I've been primarily interested in tracing my paternal line back to the old country, but my shortest route is through the Maitland line.

[Jock Scot]

Generally speaking in Scotland, as you were asking, if your surname is for example, "MacOnion" then you wear that tartan. Other than that you wear ONE tartan that you or your ancestors have chosen and that is it. It would most certainly raise an eyebrow if you as a "MacOnion" were wearing a "MacCarrot" tartan without a very good reason, and there are a few of those. If you are a member of a Pipe Band is one, your regimental tartan is another.

As we are a relatively small and close knit community, particularly in the Highlands, any variation from the tartan you normally wear is noticed. I might add that moving from "ancient" colours to say "weathered" is also noticed,noted,but never commented on by anyone other than the closest of closest family. It would just be assumed that you had more money than sense.Just so you know, ostentation, giving a perception of wealth is best avoided in the Highlands and even wealthy Dukes, for example, are sensitive to this and the "bells and whistles" are kept for very special occasions.

As many of you have noticed, generally speaking we in Scotland do not have many kilts(each) and those we have are rarely of a different tartan.We really don't go in for all this deep and meaningful ancestry bit too justify which tartan we wear and no one will want and sit and listen to a two hour lecture on justifying your choice of tartan.We wear the tartan we do and that is readily accepted by all and we do not expect to change from it.Why should we? People do, incomers invariably, and I am afraid they get stuck with the poser label.

[Tim Little]

While Little is a legitimate Scottish clan in its own right, I've always identified my highland ancestry with the Mackenzies 1) because that is the closest connection genealogically-speaking [my paternal grandmother's maiden name was McKenzie; her father hailed from Scotland], and 2) because she was the one who instilled my interest in Scotland and my Scottish heritage when I was young. All very intuitive, I think.

As I've dug deeper into my genealogy I've of course found other Scottish connections, but mostly lowland families and Borderers. So, if I'm honoring my highland bloodline by wearing highland dress, then Mackenzie it is!

[Joshua]

Generally speaking in Scotland, as you were asking, if your surname is for example, "MacOnion" then you wear that tartan. Other than that you wear ONE tartan that you or your ancestors have chosen and that is it. It would most certainly raise an eyebrow if you as a "MacOnion" were wearing a "MacCarrot" tartan without a very good reason, and there are a few of those. If you are a member of a Pipe Band is one, your regimental tartan is another.

As we are a relatively small and close knit community, particularly in the Highlands, any variation from the tartan you normally wear is noticed. I might add that moving from "ancient" colours to say "weathered" is also noticed,noted,but never commented on by anyone other than the closest of closest family. It would just be assumed that you had more money than sense.Just so you know, ostentation, giving a perception of wealth is best avoided in the Highlands and even wealthy Dukes, for example, are sensitive to this and the "bells and whistles" are kept for very special occasions.

As many of you have noticed, generally speaking we in Scotland do not have many kilts(each) and those we have are rarely of a different tartan.We really don't go in for all this deep and meaningful ancestry bit too justify which tartan we wear and no one will want and sit and listen to a two hour lecture on justifying your choice of tartan.We wear the tartan we do and that is readily accepted by all and we do not expect to change from it.Why should we? People do, incomers invariably, and I am afraid they get stuck with the poser label.

Great post as always. Now you've given me some food for thought, as I have traced my paternal lineage to an Urquhart and several MacIntyres and McKayes - but my surname is Davis... (Granted, my father was adopted by his maternal uncle and was raised with the maiden name of his mother).

The tartan you see in my avatar is Davidson - although as of my most recent digging I've found my "old world" ancestor to be one David Ap Ieuen, a Welshie in the 1660's who had many children in his homeland, all of which anglicized their surnames to "Davis".

I've been torn. Do I raise my son to wear the Davidon tartan, knowing full well that the "Davis" line of my family is about as Scottish as Chopsticks? Or do I wear the Saint David's Tartan of Wales and enjoy the fact that I am 1) Acknowledging my genealogy, and 2) Still enjoying wearing the kilt?