CLANS and TARTANS

---

Probably the most recognized forms of Scottish culture are the clans and their tartans. It is unfortunate that both of these have been the subject of much in print that is nonsense in the romantic novels and the "coffee table books" which are to be found in such profusion on both sides of the Atlantic. Ever since the early 19^th century writers have been cranking out so much about the clans and the clan system which, because of the often found kernels of truth in each of them, are readily bought up and digested with great relish. Perhaps the greatest example of the early romantic novel would be Walter Scott’s "Waverly",for this is a powerful and moving account of life in the Highlands of Scotland during the "Year of the Prince": the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745-46. There is so much information regarding the folkways of the clansfolk and the clan system itself, that the novel is well worth reading. At the same time, the novel mirrors the sentiments and the sensibilities of the upper classes of "Britain" in general and England in particular , at that particular time.. Not unlike the privileged people of that era who wrote passionately about the "noble savage" of North America or New Zealand ( or, for that matter, people of our own time who glorify the native American, seeing all of his spiritual, ecological attributes and little else), those folk of rank and property began to reinvent the wild Highlander and, for that matter, the Scot. The Scottish fighting man had ,at that time, just recently secured for a "United Kingdom" of Great Britain, an Empire. Highland soldiers had been sent to every corner of the globe, wearing kilts and following bagpipes which by law they were banned from having at home. After the wars in India, Quebec, the American Colonies and the continent of Europe, after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the Highlander wakened to find that his native garb was no longer banned, the ban having been lifted some time before, and that he, the "wild" Highlander, had become the darling of British high society. Fashionable ladies began to wear tartan ("plaid") sashes and velvet adaptations of the "Highland Bonnet". Ceramic figurines and fanciful scenes of Highlanders and their sweethearts began to appear as the furnishings in the homes of an emerging new class of wealthy merchants. The rage for things Scottish was carried all the way to the top, and by the time that the obese George IV made his visit to Scotland, complete in kilt and plaid (and pink tights to cover the royal Germanic, overly-white legs), the tartan weavers could not warp their looms fast enough, so great was the demand for "Scotch plaid". At long last, Scotland had something that the British upper classes and middle class folk alike were standing in line to buy. Edinburgh had been seeing a great boom in a new and "acceptable" style of architecture as the wealthy decided to spend some time there…and the English had long since discovered the quality of French-inspired and native Scots pastries, far and away superior to the heavy, doughy and sugary English varieties, so Scots began to market their tartans and, at the same time, to market their cakes in colorful "Scottish" packaging. For these people, long impoverished, long bled white by the wars of Empire, it was no great sacrifice to supply what was being so ardently sought after….and even to start believing some of the romantic notions, the new image in which they had been cast by popular imagination. The public at large has never been able to get past these inventions, and in many ways these perceptions persist to this day. The romance, the drama and pseudo-history has experienced a continuum as is evidenced in everything from the sales and invention of new tartans to swash-buckling films, musicals like "Brig o' Doon", and the never-to-be outdone shortbread tins.

In what follows here, Siol nan Gaidheal-USA will tender a bit more background on clans and tartans; just a bit, of course…for such subjects could very well involve a life-long study. In cutting through some of the fiction, we hope to illustrate that the reasons for Scottish pride are in no way lessened, but perhaps even grown larger in their relevance to the best of human aspirations; the ability of the human spirit to prevail in the face of incredible hardship and what would be to many other peoples, overwhelming odds.

MacDonnell of clan Ranald

The Clans        The Clearances         The Tartans

Very often we hear someone ask upon hearing that someone is Scottish, "What is your clan?" The reply may be "well,my mother was a MacLeod and of course, since I carry the name Donaldson from my Dad, I am of the Clan Mac Donald….but I do not in any way discount the MacLeods!" In this way we find the first introduction to several points of Scottish self-identity. In saying that the individual has connections to two clans, he/she has already made a dent in that fallacy that only the father’s line is to be considered, an idea put forth by the arm of government which would place a strictly patriarchal or patrilineal system upon a people who never had such a perspective when left to their own devices. The individual would naturally have kindly feelings for the families of both parents’ families It would be easier for a person whose surname was Donaldson ,ie. ‘MacDonald’ to wear a tartan and crest of that clan, but there is a good chance that there would be some of the mother's family tartan in the house as well .In ancient times, the Picts traced descent through the female line, after all. Why? Because they were ‘femnists’? No, it was probably because in days when men were hunters and warriors they lived short, brutal lives ,and a woman would have more than one mate in a lifetime. It was much easier to trace descent through the parent who had the longer life and who would probably reside in the same area.

Clans are probably the extension of the basic family unit; the ‘extended family’ involving people who were descended from a common ancestor and some others who, though possibly not related by blood, had lived and worked within the group as if they were of the same family stock. When, for example, someone in writing a history might mention the Macleans having a quarrel with clan Donald, the writer would be also including a great many Lamonts who had migrated to the lands of the Macleans and joined them in peace or war, in whatever projects or struggles they found themselves to have undertaken. There are said to be three criteria for membership in a clan. The first is descent from a common ancestor (real or mythical ), the second is that of bearing the clan name, and the third is having lived and worked with the people of a given name in their clan lands for at least three generations. Well then, what of an American black whose ancestors were working on the land of a family of a clan, whose own ancestors upon emancipation chose that family’s name for themselves due to their having been well-treated by them and having developed a respect for them ? Would a descendant of such a family of former slaves have the right to claim a connection with a clan? No? According to ancient practice, the answer would have to be " Yes". And if the descendant knew that he/she actually carried the blood of that stem family, the answer is decidedly ‘yes’!

Clann is a Gaelic word which means "children". So if we say "Clan Donald" we are saying in effect "children of Donald". Mac is another Gaelic word which means "son", as in " MacCormack,. "son of Cormack" which is to say "descendant of Cormack". In the Gaelic language there is a separate designation for females : Nic…which is a short form of ‘Nigheann ‘ic’…or "Daughter of…" In ,this way we might say "Iain MacCormac" ,but Mairi NicCormac. So, if a woman in our day and age wanted to keep her name and her birth-name was MacDonald, she could style herself "Eilean Nic Donald. If she remained single and had an adopted son or a son of her own body , he would be Colin MacDonald ,not Colin NicDonald. Of course, not all names exhibit the name of an ancestor. Some allude to a title or great office. Mac Nab comes from ‘mac an Abba ,or ‘son of the Abbot’, Mac an toiseach (MacIntosh) which is ‘son of the chief or ‘leader’. Macrae is Mac Rath …son of grace, or fortune ( or NicRath…daughter of grace or fortune). Other names are taken from a clan country or region such as Murray from "Moray", or ‘Brodie’ or ‘Sutherland’. Names such as Gow(Smith), Fletcher, Bannerman, Dewar( a guardian of sacred relics) ,Stalker, etc., denote folk descended from ancestors who had had specific trades or duties. Sometimes in a village or clan area where many people shared the same clan name, they dropped the surname altogether when among themselves This gave rise to names derived from physical features or characteristics : John Short or Andrew Lang (long or tall): Alan Breck ( Alain Breac in Gaelic)…or ‘freckled Alan’ The Gaelic name Cameron comes from the Gaelic: Caim sraoin…or’ crooked nose’.

Is it safe to assume that all Scots are connected to clans? No. Clans are usually associated with Highlanders, but here again we may run into trouble! The jury is still out as the saying goes, as to which areas of Scotland were the wild Highlands. Generally it is accepted that the NorthWest of Scotland and the Isles of the West are the identifiable "Highlands".Yet ,the rolling lands of the East, a great part of Aberdeen, was home to such unquiet tribal groups(clans in every sense of the word), as the Gordons and the MacDuffs, Leslies, Frasers and many others of a restless nature and strong familial ties. In the very South of Scotland, along the English border, were some of the most clannish, wild family groups of Scottish history: Armstrongs, Scotts, Douglases and many raider families which forced the English to put watchtowers on their farmsteads. (Of course the English had been appropriating Scottish lands, livestock, and even the furnishings of churches for such a long period of time that the Scottish Borderer lost little sleep due to an uneasy conscience after a cattle raid into England!). In any case , we can say that for the most part when we speak of the clan, we are referring to those groups which somehow kept that particularly Scottish form of organization which allowed for a group of people to identify with one another, to a stem family of which the chief or chieftain was the head and representor of an ancient ‘progenitor’ or initiator of that group, and to a clan territory. These three factors however, do not seem too different from those which would be found in other tribal groups throughout the world. What makes the Scottish system unique is in the role of the chief and the relationship of his clansmen to him. The chief had the power of a judge and a war-lord, he held the lands in trust for his people, yet despite such power, he was usually called by his Christian name by his people , and when he would meet one of them ,the clansman would be taken by the hand. Clansmen held their own pieces of ground and their homes by the services which each performed. A piper, a bard, a fighting man, a weaver, etc., each had a place in the scheme of things. There were often great shows of a chief being preceded by his piper and sword bearer and travelling with a retinue or ‘tail’ of adherents. This was theatre for the outside world, there being little time or reason for it when at home in the clan country. It was not until the law required the leading families of Scotland to send their sons southward to England for education, that chiefs began to come home with English wives, English accents and half-English children, that the feeling of kinship with the clansfolk slowly was replaced by an English notion of ‘tenant and master’.

As important as the great clans of the Highlands and Border country were the great families of Scotland. Wallace of Ellerslie was the head of such a family. A proper nobleman in his own right, he commanded great loyalty from his own following…and because of his bravery, his vision for a great and sovereign, independent Scotland, he attracted other families and even wild Highlanders to his battle flag. The Hamiltons and the Douglases, the Lennox Stewarts,Bruces, Crawfords, Cunninghams and so many other great families which were to shape the very nature of the Scots nation, were not clans, but they somehow had that particularly Scottish inter-connectedness which made them very formidable in war and at the bargaining table; with sword and with lawyers’ writ alike. Remember that there has never been a King or Queen of Scotland, but rather a "King of Scots" or a "Queen of Scots". In other words, they had no claim to the land of Scotland, but they had a claim to the loyalty of the people of Scotland. Yet, Scots have always had the right to depose a bad monarch. Like chiefs and heads of great families, the monarch of the Scots took his/her subjects by the hand. An English envoy was horrified to observe the King of Scots allowing his cook and butler, as well as a wild-looking messenger from the Highlands ,to sit at the same table with the royal person. The harshness of the climate and the interdependence of individuals translates to the tendency to omit many of the "airs and graces" to be found in the courts of England and the European continent. Yet, to return to Scotland’s great families, it is perhaps one of the greatest tragedies that, in romanticizing the Clans we tend to overlook the importance of Scotland’s families which have no clan affiliations. These were the people who had to deal with the building of Scottish commerce and law, her international alliances and her domestic tranquility. Read again the Declaration of Arbroath which we have so prominently set forth on the home page. This is the world’s first "Declaration of Independence"! Then, remember that it was composed and set forth in 1320 ! Read the names of the signatories and mark them well, for these are the names of the same families which have forged the very identity of the Scottish nation throughout the centuries. Their decisions may not always have been what we today may be wishing them to have done, but decisions were being made in any case.We should remember too, that many representatives of Lowland families were "out" with, and along side of, the Highlanders in the rebellions. History tells us that when the Scots crossed the border into England in 1745, the local people could not distinguish Highlander from Lowlander, for all of the ‘rebels’ were wearing tartans and "Highland" dress. Perhaps it is since that time that the tartan and the kilt became the mark of the Scot, rather than that of the Highlander alone. The Boyds of Kilmarnock and many folk from Galloway blended very well with their screaming "savage" compatriots from the north. Perhaps it is also since that time that the distinction between Highlander and Lowlander began to fade( although Heaven knows that it has not vanished altogether even yet!), for if Lowland lords held commissions in the army opposing the rebellion, they certainly had Highland chiefs who also held royal commissions, sharing their mess hall and looking at the same charts and battle plans. Ladies in Edinburgh and Glasgow were seen to be wearing "plaid" as signs of sympathy for the rebels, and little children gleefully danced around "British" soldiers in the streets ,singing:

" Little wot ye wha’s comin’,
Little wot ye wha’s comin’
A’ the Wild MacCra’s are comin’!"

Perhaps we glorify those rebellions so much because it appears to us to be the last great hurrah of a nation fighting within her own borders for her own place in the scheme of things. History is always written by the victors, so we are told, and yet our sympathies always find themselves to be drifting towards those who lost. Our own American Civil War is a prime example of this, for despite the cries of the revisionists who would have us believe that the struggle was one of racism vs. equality, in our heart of hearts we know that men do not die so willingly for such reasons. Ways of life, perceptions and perspectives came to collision. The U.S. lost something very valuable when we lost the old South…and Scotland lost a piece of her very heart at the mass graves of Culloden. Go to Culloden and see the stones with their long graves : Clan Cameron, Clan MacGillivray, Stewart of Appin….on and on. This was the ‘Wounded Knee’ of our Highland clans, but at that time it was our forebears who were the ‘Indians’. The clans had been broken, but not entirely. There was one more step to be taken to effect their total destruction……, an almost unknown blot on the pages of history which we have come to refer to as " the Clearances".

 

" The CLEARANCES"

You will not get much information about this tragic turn of events in any encyclopedia. It is one of the greatest possible tragedies ever to befall the Scots people, and yet very little is known or published about it. Historically it spans a time period from about 1800 until the 1850’s. One of the blackest spots on Scotland’s history, it resulted in the hemorrhaging of her population, the dispersion of her sons and daughters to the four corners of the Earth. Of course, what was Scotland’s loss was to be a great gain for The U.S., Canada. Australia, New Zealand and many other countries.

After the defeat at Culloden, the occupying forces of King George turned their wrath against the non-combatants: men, women , children, the elderly; it didn’t matter. Many families managed to escape, some young men who had been on the side of the Stuarts, made it to France or some other continental state or kingdom, to take up service there. Many came to North Carolina, where their descendants are to be found to this day. Even so, the worst was yet to come. Many of the former chiefs were in hiding and often their lands had been seized by the crown. In the next two generations the lands in the Highlands were often in the possession of Chiefs who had ceased to be chiefs in every way save for the name. These were Anglicized in education and in speech; certainly in outlook. They looked around for ways in which the old clan lands could become a source of cold cash. After all , there were now taxes to be paid, and wives who wanted more luxurious surroundings, homes to which the wealthy English in-laws and old university friends could be invited without embarrassment. This was the age of servants in livery and white wigs. The rough, Highland "gillie" just would not do at all, save for working at the stables or as a grounds keeper. Highland estates produced no cash. The old system which allowed for the keeping of cattle, bees , a few hens on the parts of the people who worked and lived on the land, produced no cash flow. At the same time, great tracts of land were being bought up by newcomers from the south. It had become fashionable to have a country estate in Scotland, to buy Scottish dress and accoutrements, to dine to the music of a piper , and to throw an annual "tartan ball"….or, simply put, "to play the Laird". Something had to be done to generate more income!

A scheme had been brought forth for clearing the land of people in order to make way for more sheep…which would be raised in very large flocks under the care of one shepherd and his dog for each of the large flocks. The people were at first encouraged to leave and a few landlords even paid to resettle them. Increasingly the methods became less and less kind. Families were simply evicted. Their walls tumbled in or their thatched roofs set afire, their meal-chests and food supplies destroyed. The factors of the estates were told to carry out the landlords’ policies. Many of the factors were also the ministers of the church, whose livings were paid for by the local landlord. It gave the ministers a bad name that they did not do more for their people, although those who were not regular in their church attendance could easily be rooted out first. It should be stated that some chiefs did what they could. Norman MacLeod of MacLeod almost impoverished himself trying to help his people, MacDonell of GlenGarry was not very kind, but his brother, Father MacDonnell brought a great many of the Glengarry people and some members of other clans to Canada in 1818, where he settled them in Glengarry County, Upper Canada (Ontario). One of the most notorious of the evicting Lords was the Duke of Sutherland. It is interesting to note that Harriette Beecher Stowe, that great protagonist for the American slave, wrote much of her book "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" while she was a guest of the Sutherlands, and at a time when the air around her was thick with the smoke of burning thatch and the sound of bawling cattle. Apparently Ms.Stowe, who had probably never been on a southern plantation for any length of time, did not smell the smoke nor hear the sounds of human tragedy all around her . Of course, she could not have known that on the same size ship which, before slave trading had been outlawed, the admiralty had placed a limit of no more than 400 black Africans, there were being carried a number of passengers from Scotland in excess of 600 . Many of the ships never landed their human cargoes. If cholera broke out, the ship was disallowed from mooring and had to stand off until all had died, then the ship would be burned to the water-line. At last the clans were done for. Their own chiefs had nailed down the lids of the coffins.

"Going to America"

Yet, many of us descended from those victims are very proud of our clans and their names, the histories and the music. Each clan was, after all, a separate little nation once upon a time, with its own mini-culture. We have distinctive clan music, and a good piper learns that he had better learn not to play "MacDonald’s Away to the Wars" at a Campbell wedding. And "Lament for Duncan Macrae of Kintail " is not appropriate for a MacDonald gathering(especially since Duncan’s claim to fame is the number of MacDonalds that he did in!). In fact, it is over here, in North America, that clanship is so strong. The number of clan and family societies is amazing.

The clearances never really ended. In fact the clearances go on to this day as the brightest and most far-seeing of Scotland’s young people must look beyond the sea for a life for their children. Nor is this a problem which is the sole heritage of the Highlander, since very soon after the violent clearances of the early 19^th century, folk from every part of Scotland found themselves to be dispossessed in one way or another. The old Lairds were gone and foreign people held proprietorship. A Swiss owns thousands of acres which are used for holidays and his guests. An Arab Sheik owns a huge tract of land in the Northwest and has been demolishing houses. A hundred and fifty years ago? No, The year before last.. Scotland is owned by 5% of the population, and many of those owners are not residents of the country. Scotland’s clearances go on and on. Her sons and daughters have been the prime movers in other lands, but have little hope at home. The descendants of transplanted Scots have much to be proud of. The Scottish immigrants have left their children with a strong sense of loyalty, honor and a great work ethic. The descendants have a lot to live up to. Above all, we must be the best Americans , Canadians or whatever, that we can possibly be, giving our love to the new homeland which has allowed us to be Scots!

Kilberry Head (looking westward)

Some related material to clans and clan societies:

Clans, clan societies :  
www.scotclans.com/clans/societies.htm

www.rampantscotland.com/clans.htm

Be sure to see the collection of McIan’s Clan Prints !……
www.rrmcian.com/pages/clan_list.htm

Suggested reading from the SnG Index

The abolition and proscription of Highland Dress

Observations and Remembrances

Diaspora Contributions: the Clearances

ENVIRONMENT… Land Monopoly

 

Suggested reading ( Books List ):
Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands , Frank Adams

Clans and Tartans of Scotland , Robert Bain

The Scottish Gael , James Logan ( A very old book, but it can sometimes be found in libraries. Excellent, very early account of clan life)

Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia , Way and Squire

Beyond the Highland Line , Caroline Bingham (Scholarly look at Highland life, manners and society among the clans)

Culloden , Massacre of Glencoe , Lion in the North, all by John Prebble

 

Videos and Films:
The Blood is Strong…a documentary in three parts :

Rob Roy, the true Story

William Wallace, the true Story

Culloden Moor

( the above videos may be found at : www.scotvision.com )

 

---

The TARTANS

The Tartan has come to be the universally accepted mark or sign of the Scot and all things Scottish. Why this has come to be is anyone’s guess, for cloth woven in stripes which cross one another at right angles and thus define a pattern, have been known in many of the world’s cultures and since very ancient times. Certainly we know that it was widely used among the ancient Celts, for Caesar has made mention of it in his writings of the wars in Gaul, and other writers, Roman and Greek, have made mention of its use among the Celts as well. In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, German , Swedish and French chroniclers identified it with Highlanders who were serving as soldiers in continental armies, and even have given us some drawings of these somewhat unusual and outstanding warriors in their midst. The Highland soldiers are shown with the great kilt…which is to say, the large length of tartan cloth which was worn in one piece, rather than to be cut into a kilt which fitted from waist to knee (as it is best known to us today) ,….. and another piece , the plaid (pronounced ‘plade’ ), as the upper garment. There has been a great deal of discussion, some of which has been quite heated ,as to just how long the tartan has been used by clansmen, but even more a "bone of contention" is the question of how long clans and families have used tartans to distinguish themselves from other families and ‘tribal’ groups. One of the great tragedies of life is to see our cherished images, notions and perceptions which we have long held to be absolute truths, crumble or melt away before our eyes as a result of our gaining or having gained more knowledge of the subject. The harsh ‘facts’ or realities of day to day existence force us to recognize the improbability of some of our opinions which we may have held for a very long time. Sooner or later we find that not all Confederate soldiers wore gray uniforms ,since many of them were found to be even without shoes. We discover that Thanksgiving was not a November event at all, but initially a harvest festival held in late September or early October. Certainly this in no way detracts from Thanksgiving being perhaps our own, truly American holiday, a time for family gatherings and homecomings. Had we not held romantic notions or misconceptions in the first place, we would not have to adjust our thinking. Well, many of us may have to adjust our thinking in regard to Clan Tartans.

There are a great many tartans listed, not only for a clan or family, any one of which may have several…such as a clan tartan, a "Dress" tartan, a "Hunting" tartan, etc., but there are also ‘setts’ or patterns for Districts, Provinces, Armed Forces and Cities ! At the time of this writing there is probably a new sett being designed for some family, place or company. We may ask, " But is this the clan Mac Whorple Tartan?" The answer is probably "Yes!", if you are dealing with a reputable Scots firm. The tartans are registered and clan and family tartans have been catalogued. Most merchants are very firm on this and take pride in lining you up with your clan sett. At the same time, there is no guarantee that in 1689 the clan MacWhorple all came screaming down the hill wearing identical uniforms and that tartan which is called by their name. There is a strong probability that not one of those clansmen would have worn that particular sett or pattern! It wasn’t until the early 19^th century that clan chiefs were asked to designate certain tartans as the tartans of their clans. This is not to say that some of the patterns were not in use by clansmen long before that time, but there are only about 17 clan setts which can definitely be traced back to the days before the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. Remember, that after the defeat of the clans on Culloden Moor, the British government outlawed the wearing of the kilt, playing the pipes and any of those manners of speech or dress which could be taken to be signs of rebellion. Many of the old sticks which had been wound around with the colored threads to act as weavers’ guides had been lost after forty some-odd years of the ban on Highland dress. In order to document the setts, people looked at the old portraits of chiefs and notable clansmen. These were not always as accurate as could have been hoped for, since it had become fashionable at one time or other for men of high station to wear several tartans at one time: one for a kilt, one for a waistcoat, another for hose or plaid, nor was there any guarantee that the man in the portrait had not simply bought up some tartans which had appealed to him at the time….or if his mother had been a great heiress he may have wanted to wear a tartan from her district, or perhaps he may have chosen the sett of a family who had fostered him in his youth. Highland familial protocol was very complicated, after all. We have some idea of what it may have been like if we look at some of the old families of the American South, for up until recent times many of the manners and customs among that folk were the social obligations and niceties which their ancestors had brought across from Scotland. It is highly possible that more than one tartan may have been worn due to family obligation. Of course in our own time it is not only frowned upon as a very bad "fashion statement", but also totally unacceptable as far as protocol is concerned. (Oh, well…)

Well then, since tartans as distinguishing features of specific clans and families do not go back as far as we may have thought, are we bound to wear our "clan tartan"? Absolutely! It is now, and has been an established part of Scottish life for at least two centuries…and our own republic isn’t any older than that. The tartans have been a part of Scottish attire since very ancient times….north and south of the "Highland line". The fact that we chose to identify our families by them and with them in more recent times is a sign that Scottish culture is not fossilized; that it is a living, growing entity.

The Importer chain, "the Scottish Lion" puts out a catalog which has a very good section of several pages wherein a great many clan, family and district tartans are shown in color. You might want to ask for their "Highland Wear and Clan Catalog" www.scottishlion.com

"Hielan' Dancers!"

Some sites relating to Tartans :

www.rampantscotland.com/clans/htm www.tartans.scotland.net

www.electricscotland.com www.scottish-tartans-society.co.uk

Reading List Pertaining to Tartans:

Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands, Frank Adam

Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia, Way & Squire

Clans and Tartans of Scotland,…..Robert Bain

Highland Clans & Tartans,…..R.W.Munro

The Highland Clans ,…Moncreiffe & Hicks

DON'T FORGET TO LOOK AT OUR READING LIST !

                      Return to SNG-USA Home                                                                     Return to Culture Main Page