Scottish clan
: Scottish clans (from Old Gaelic clann, children), give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the heraldry and Coat of arms. Each clan has its own tartan patterns, usually dating to the 19th century, and members of the clan may wear kilts, skirts, sashes, ties, scarves, or other items of clothing made of the appropriate tartan as a badge of membership and as a uniform where appropriate. Clans identify with geographical areas originally controlled by the Chiefs, usually with an ancestral castle or manor, and clan gatherings form a regular part of the social scene. |
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Origins of
the clans :
The word clann in Gaelic means children of the family. Each clan was a large group of related people, theoretically an extended family, supposedly descended from one progenitor and all owing allegiance to the patriarchal clan chief. It also included a large group of loosely-related septs – related families - all of whom looked to the clan chief as their head and their protector. Some clans such as Clan Campbell and
Clan Donald claim ancient Celtic mythological progenitors mentioned
in the Fenian cycle, with a group including Clan MacSween, Clan
Lamont, Clan Erinvines, Clan MacEwen, Clan MacLachlan, and MacNeil
tracing their ancestry back to the 5th century High King of Ireland.
Others such as Clan MacAulay, Clan MacKinnon and Clan MacGregor
claim descent from the Scots King Kenneth Mac Alpin who made himself
King of the Picts in 843, founding the Kingdom called after the
name of the land Alba (modern-day Scotland). The MacDonalds and
MacDougalls claim descent from Somerled, the half-Gael/half-Norse-Manx
Lord of the Isles in the mid-11th century. |
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