Clan Associations

I have been told that to ( I'm sure I'm going to use the wrong wording here) join a clan you must first prove ancestry. I've also been told to find one where you feel at home and join right in.

Is there an accepted protocol? Or is it open to interpretation?

Being an American of the Heinz 57 variety, I have many Scottish ancestors. None more direct than any other. But if I get to choose, I like the Logan tartan the best!

What?s a wanna be Scottish lass to do?

I too am very interested of finding my Clan affiliation. I have been working on geneology for now over 18 years. All my work, however, has been taken to the time of their arrival to the States.

My Family names are:

Butler of Ireland
Flaugharty of Ireland
Geoghegan of Ireland
Woodsmall of Scotland

I have never done any research overseas and I do not quit know where to begin. It should be easier than me proving my Native American Ancestry.

Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

May you walk in balance with Creator.

I have heard both methods before as well.

I personally am decended from Alexandra Barron and the Barron's are associated with the Clan Rose up near Inverness so...

But would be interesting to find out exact protocal.

I'll throw my family names out as well. If anyone knows anything of their origins, I'd love to hear from you!

Anderson, Haggerty and Logan came from Ulster Ireland in the very beginning of the 19th century. I am certain they must have come originally from Scotland, but I have nothing farther back than the late seventeen hundreds.

Dodds, McGlaughlin hooked in here in America.

Ferrier and Clawson came from Scotland in the seventeen hundreds, but no one knows exactly from where. The Clawsons are rumored to be either from Orkney or Pitlochry and Perthshire.

All of these immigrated directly via Philadelphia to Western Pennsylvania.

It is a puzzle at best. And in my family, complicated by the fact it was usually a Scottish lass marrying a man of a different nationality. So the Scots nationality often got buried.

A good place to begin researching you clan affiliation might be www,electricscotland.com. This site has a clan section that lists all the recognized clans, and lists the septs(family names associated with a clan).
As far as what it takes to join a clan organization, I can only speak for the Clan Campbell Society of North America, but they have a list of requirements for membership but then end by stating that membership is open to anyone who
recognizes the Duke of Argyll as their Chief. That about opens it up to anybody who wants to be a member of the Clan regardless of other qualifications.
Don't know if this helps or not.

My clan affiliations (that I know of):
McLoughlin (Ireland)
Maxwell (Scotland)

Damn Mike we might be relatives, Ain't that scary!!! LOL!

That is a scary thought

Damn Mike we might be relatives, Ain't that scary!!! LOL!

You a Maxwell/McLoughlin too???

As a native, I was always taught that you took your clan affiliation from your father (women marry INTO a clan).... I therefore know my father's clan and that is mine. I know my mother's clan, too - but I don't consider myself a part of that clan.

However, with foreigners of Scottish ancestry it can be difficult. Many of them have ancestry which takes in many, many, nationalities Some of them (the foreigners) have only one Scottish ancestor, and that is a woman.... I suppose, therefore, they could call themselves, for example, 'Campbell' if that was her name...

The clan societies, in the main, are of quite recent origin.... I have never bothered to even find out WHO is the chief of my clan.... I don't need him/her to give me 'permission' to be a member of the family which I grew up in!!!

However, the rules of the Lord Lyon Court (arbiter of Scottish heraldry) appear to say that only a clan chief can say whether or not you are a member.... In my opion that's a loadahooey as we would say..... My family lines go waaaaaay back into one family name - how can someone give me 'permission' to be a clan member of that name?

Many of the Scottish clan societies are of US origin.... some are fairly strict about 'who' can be a member - ie you must either prove blood lines back to a known member of the clan - or one of the sept names of that clan... others just accept you if you 'feel' that you are related.......

Damn Mike we might be relatives, Ain't that scary!!! LOL!

You a Maxwell/McLoughlin too???

My clan is a protectorate. We lost land title early! We ended up under the clan "McLoughlin" There are other spellings of that clan as well. See my post under clan MacEwen.

My relitives were drunks and gambelers... lost the lands and title to those that preyed on such folk. The branch does not fall far from the tree LOL!

Here are the membership rules for the Clan Maxwell USA Society. Hope it gives a partial idea.

The rules are the same for any of the septs.

This post has been edited by MDF3530 on 06-Oct-2003, 05:13 PM

Well I guess if the Clan Maxwell rules were applied, my Clan would have to be the Clan Flaugharty since that was my Grandmother's name.

May you walk in balance with Creator.

In order to see the clans in their true historical perspective, the examination of five key themes is essential:
1. the origins of the clans
2. The structure of clanship
3.clanship and disorder
4. clans and the royal house of stewart
5. the after math of Culloden

The emergence of the clans has less to do with ethnicity than with political turmoil and social opportunity.
Another significant milestone in the emergence of clanship also arose during the Wars of Independence with the introduction of feudal tenures to regulate land holdings as Robert The Bruce sought to harness and control the martial prowess of the clans through the award of charters (land). The clan system has continued unchanged through nearly 6 centuries. That in itself makes it Rather Grand!
Clans also had cadency marks...these are like badges that represent a males birth order in the family.
Hey girls I think we've been left out!
Annabelle

Hi Elspeth,
Logan, Haggerty and Anderson are more than likely Irish names...I find no reference into family names thru Scottish surnames associated with the clans. The McGlaughlin is more of a Irish spelling. If it was a Scottish spelling it would be MacGlaughlin.

As far as I understand the linage thing, it follows the father.
When a woman marries the man, the bride comes in with her family tartan over her wedding gown during the ceremony...at the end the grooms mother removes her family tartan and puts her son's tartan on the bride showing that she takes up his family colors... that is how all Scottish families followed the lineage thing...as far as I have been educated in these things. That is the reason that you follow the father...been handed down for years.

Annabelle