Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 2 on 5/6/2002.

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Scottish Clans

The image, history and reality of Scotland's famous clans

Clans – the word evokes images of tartan-clad Jacobites, fired by a fierce local and national patriotism, brandishing broadswords as they rush joyously to war, urged on by the skirl of the pipes. Is that an accurate reflection of the clan system?

Despite its obvious exaggeration, that slightly caricatured portrayal is closer to the truth than the modern school of hairshirt historians would have us believe. Sometimes history and romance coincide to a remarkable degree and the Scottish clans are a striking example.

Clanship was the system which replaced the former division of Scotland into seven tribal areas in Pictish times. It began with the introduction of surnames, around the reign of King Malcolm Canmore (1058-1093). The clans provided the basic structure of Highland society for the best part of a millennium and the social organisation of the Borders and even parts of the Lowlands was similar in many respects.

Although clanship is based on blood affinity, a striking feature of the Scottish clans is their descent from totally different races. The MacLeods derive from Norsemen; the Murrays and Sutherlands from Flemish stock; the Bruces, Chisholms and Frasers from Normans and Angevins; and the royal house of Stuart from a Breton nobleman. In contrast, Clan Chattan and the MacMillans descend from old Celtic ecclesiastical office-bearers. It is an area which offers rich possibilities for modern techniques of DNA research.

The Gaelic word clanna means ‘children’ and tha.....

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By Gerald Warner

Section : Scottish Clans

Page number : 56