Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 17 on 29/11/2004.

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A clan spanning the generations (Robertsons of Clan Donnachaidh)

In the latest of his series, James Irvine Robertson looks at his own clan name – one of the oldest families in Scotland

THE Robertsons of Clan Donnachaidh are the oldest family in Scotland, said the Historiographer Royal W.F. Skene in the middle of the 19th century. Since every family is as old as every other one, this is Victorian shorthand for the family that can trace its origins back the furthest.

And Clan Donnachaidh – pronounced donnachy – stems from the rulers of the ancient Pictish kingdom of Fotla, now Atholl, which lies at the centre of Scotland. This family gave the last Celtic kings of Scotland in the line of King Duncan, killed by MacBeth, and, from the last of the Celtic earls came Duncan of Atholl, considered the first chief of the clan.

The Gaelic for Duncan is Donnchadh, in the genitive case Donnachaidh, so the name of the clan literally translates to ‘Children of Duncan’.

During the Wars of Independence, King Robert Bruce was defeated at the Battle of Methven outside Perth in 1306and fled into Atholl where he was given protection by Duncan. They fought together at the battle of Dalry where the king lost his broochto the Macdougalls of Lorne and Duncan and his clan were beside their monarch at Bannockburn. Duncan named his eldest son and heir Robert after his king.

The fourth chief, Robert Riabhach – meaning “grizzled” – tracked down and captured Walter of Atholl and Sir Robert Graham who assassinated James I in Perth. For this the new king offered him an earldom. Instead he preferred a legal charter to his lands which then stretched from the gates of Perth to the beautifu.....

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By James Irvine Robertson

Section : Scottish Clans

Page number : 62