Historical question

[McBarnacleBill]

I recently found an ancestor who came over from Scotland in 1650. In one source that I found, it noted that he was a member of SCS Boston. I can't find anything on SCS. I assume that one of those S's stands for Scotland, or Scottish, but have no idea what the rest could be. Any ideas?

McBarnacleBill

[NPG]

I believe this would be the Scots' Charitable Society.

[McBarnacleBill]

I believe this would be the Scots' Charitable Society.

You are exactly right, sir. I did a little research, and found that the Scots Charitable Society is the oldest charitable organization in the Western Hemisphere. It was founded in Boston, in 1657. My ancestor is listed as being a member in Boston, in 1657, so it would appear that he was one of the founding members. Thank you so much for the information; you've made my day!

McBarnacleBill

[NPG]

Glad I could help and congratulations on discovering your ancestor was a part of such storied history.

[Reiver]

Very neat fact there. Question, was he a Highlander or from down south.
I've a relative, Jerome Scott that arrived in 1719....he was a borderer obviously.
It looks, to my untrained historical eye, as many very early Scot's came from the southern regions after the unification.
Just wondering.

[McBarnacleBill]

Hi, Reiver,

The MacCallums are a Highland clan, a sept (I believe) of McCloud. Another of my Scottish ancestors, John MacBean, was also from a Highland clan. There were quite a few Scots arriving, around this time, especially at ports in the Northeast, as British prisoners. They were captured at the Battle of Dunbar, in 1650; and at the Battle of Worcester, one year later. Prisoners from both battles were sold as indentured servants to the London Company of Undertakers, a venture capital group in London investing in the first successful iron works in the American colonies. Bound to the Iron Works at Lynn, now Saugus, in Massachusetts, most of the indentured Scots were required to complete seven years of labor for the company. Both of my ancestors came over as prisoners.

[Steve Ashton]

The MacCallums are a Highland clan, a sept (I believe) of McCloud. Another of my Scottish ancestors, John MacBean, was also from a Highland clan. There were quite a few Scots arriving, around this time, especially at ports in the Northeast, as British prisoners. They were captured at the Battle of Dunbar, in 1650; and at the Battle of Worcester, one year later. Prisoners from both battles were sold as indentured servants to the London Company of Undertakers, a venture capital group in London investing in the first successful iron works in the American colonies. Bound to the Iron Works at Lynn, now Saugus, in Massachusetts, most of the indentured Scots were required to complete seven years of labor for the company. Both of my ancestors came over as prisoners.

Bold added for clarification.

I do not believe that it would be correct to describe MacCallum as a Highland Clan if it were also a sept of MacLeod. And while you can find a crest for MacCallum and websites that say MacCallum Clan there is not a chief or representative on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

I also believe that the whole idea of septs is a Victorian era invention. The Clan system was one of regions and not just last name. For example if your last name is Gordon and your family comes from the area of Galloway in SE Scotland they would have been lowlanders and not part of the Gordon Clan.
If your last name is Campbell and your family comes from Ayreshire they also would not be not part of the Highland Campbell Clan.

The area most commonly recognized with the surname MacCallum is on the Central Western coast of Scotland. This area is associated with the Clan Campbell, while MacLeod is associated with the Hebrides and Skye. Totally different and distinct areas.

I often use the example of back in the olden days. Your last name may be what you did for a living such as Smith or where you were from. Back then those folks who put the feathers on the arrows may have had the last name of Fletcher. Well, everybody needed the guy to put feathers on their arrows so the name Fletcher could have been everywhere.

[Reiver]

Steve,
I'd not seen the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs website before...
http://www.clanchiefs.org.uk/

I guess the family, being only border reivers, was canny enough to gather enough wealth and position to merit some kind of status aye . We are not Highlanders by any means but the family does have a bit of history.
In truth, a borderer at the time of their reiving heyday would not of been caught dead in a kilt....but allowances can be made, I suspect, due to Sir Walter Scott kicking off the kilt craze.

The Clan Chief, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch Richard Scott, has the family gather scheduled for 2019 in the vicinity of Bowhill. I'll be bringing the Scott Hunting you made for the formal dinner. I missed the 2014 affair but it looked right well done. Lord Polwarth is usually in attendance too.

[NPG]

Bold added for clarification.

I do not believe that it would be correct to describe MacCallum as a Highland Clan if it were also a sept of MacLeod. And while you can find a crest for MacCallum and websites that say MacCallum Clan there is not a chief or representative on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

I also believe that the whole idea of septs is a Victorian era invention. The Clan system was one of regions and not just last name. For example if your last name is Gordon and your family comes from the area of Galloway in SE Scotland they would have been lowlanders and not part of the Gordon Clan.
If your last name is Campbell and your family comes from Ayreshire they also would not be not part of the Highland Campbell Clan.

The area most commonly recognized with the surname MacCallum is on the Central Western coast of Scotland. This area is associated with the Clan Campbell, while MacLeod is associated with the Hebrides and Skye. Totally different and distinct areas.

I often use the example of back in the olden days. Your last name may be what you did for a living such as Smith or where you were from. Back then those folks who put the feathers on the arrows may have had the last name of Fletcher. Well, everybody needed the guy to put feathers on their arrows so the name Fletcher could have been everywhere.

While I pretty much agree with most of this. I did find that Clan MacCallum or Malcolm has a chief listed as Robin Malcolm of Poltalloch.

I think one of the issues and perhaps why some modern commentators might have seen MacCallum as highland was their appears to be some association with them with Argyllshire. Now as an outsider with a bit of knowledge of Scotland and Scottish history I see Argyll being associated with different parts of Scotland during different periods of time with the lands being embroiled in contests that involved Highlanders, Islanders and Lowlanders. Perhaps the now defunct idea of Strathclyde would be best to describe it, but it's possible that just adds more confusion to the fire.

In the states, and I would hazard a guess other areas of the Scottish diaspora, I've found that our retained knowledge of Scottish geography is clouded. I know some Americans who define anything north of Stirling as Highland, but that's not how I've heard it described in Scotland. This too might have influenced why some modern sources I see call Clan MacCallum a highland clan.