Clans

Piping in full kilt

Sometimes I take for granted that everyone understands the Clan system of Scottish heritage. It may be difficult to fully describe because it is such an intricate system.

Basically, if you have Scottish ancestory in your family, you can trace your family back to a particular Clan. Some family names end up being a subset or a branch of the main Clan.

The Clan system is what evolved as protective states within the country of Scotland. Think of the tribal systems in North America. Some Clans were friendly toward each other and others were bitter rivals. Think Hatfields and McCoys.

If your name starts with Mac...well, that's a good sign you have Scottish ancestory. If your name starts with Mc...that's a sign you have Irish ancestory. Not a scientific way to determine the line, but a simple litmus test.

My Clan is Cumming...which is a branch of the Comyn Clan. The Comyn Clan goes back a very long way. Our great ancestor, Red Comyn was one of the heirs to the throne of Scotland but Robert the Bruce (the first King of Scotland) murdered him in a church. Which caused a huge ruckus...Bruce was excommunicated from the church, which means he could not be king until he was forgiven. While his friends were trying to get the Pope to remove the excommunication, Bruce went and terrorized the Comyn clan. All lands belonging to Comyn were sliced up and the family was left scrambling for safety. Some changed their name and some joined the protection of other clans. I visited the remains of Dunphail Castle in Forres where our family was starved and burned out. We were the keepers of the forest there (which means we had hunting rights and we permited those we deemed to hunt in the forest). The rights were granted to the neighboring Clan, the Randolphs. It ended badly for us.
The remains of Dunphail Castle

Each clan has a tartan color that is distinctive to the clan. There are many legends about kilts and tartans but you just need to know if you have a clan...you have a tartan. There are many different styles of tartan, such as hunting, ancient and modern. Depending on what you want you can have a choice. A simple google search can help you but if you go to http://kiltstore.net/ it could be a good place to start.

Cumming Clan Tartan (modern)

Once you know there are specific tartans for specific families, you will feel foolish in another family's tartan. Kilt's are expensive and are unique. If you waste your money purchasing a kilt because it "looks good", you miss the point and will regret it when someone asks you what family kilt you have. You know if your name is Jones and you were a Smith...they'll either think your are unloyal, stupid, or both.

Each clan has a crest and a slogan. Our slogan is "Courage". We wear our crests with pride. You will become very prejudice of your tartans and crest. We all think ours is the best. It fits us. You will take pride in your kilt and gear.

The crest and slogan of Clan Cumming "Courage"

I will spend more time on kilts later. But for now, no that if you have Scottish ancestory you belong to a Clan. Unless of course, your family immigrated from another country and landed in Scotland.

Best of luck finding your clan.

Here's a site for you to help your search:

scotclans.com (click picture)