The clan system in Scotland plays a large role in national culture and traditions. The history of the Scottish clans is rooted in the ancient Celtic tribal system. They existed for hundreds of years and included a family group, a political system and means of protecting the territory and ensuring survival in harsh conditions and difficult times. Today, Scots around the world remain committed to their clan heritage and are very proud of it. In fact, given the growing interest in genealogy, heritage, and history, it can be said that the clans of Scotland are experiencing their own revival.
Clan system concept
In the simplest case, a clan is an extended family, closely connected by kinship, different branches of the same family tree, different families connected by a common history. The origins of the clan system are very ancient, historians suggest that it appeared at least a thousand years ago, long before Scotland became a state. The word itself comes from the Scottish Gaelic language and meant "offspring." However, it was never required that the clans belong to the same family, connected by blood, not always all of their members accepted the name of the leader. Historically, each of them was led by a head, the one who followed those under his care, and also made the final decision on any important issues.
Each Scottish clan had a specific territory, often with several castles that periodically changed ownership. When the clan grew and flourished, it needed more fertile land to grow food and livestock to feed its people, especially during long and often severe winters. Since the best land has always been seized by someone else, any expansion of the clan would require either diplomacy or the power of arms. For this, marriages and unions were often used, although violent confrontation was also common. The last major clan battle took place west of Wick at Caithness in 1680 between Campbell's and Sinclairâs and killed more than 300 people. Deceit, betrayal, and reprisal were also surprisingly frequent occurrences in clan history, and enmity continued for centuries. After the defeat of the last king of Scotland, Jacob VII in 1690, the leaders of mountain families swore allegiance to William III of Orange. After that, a new stage in their history began.
After the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century, the culture of the Scottish clans survived a period of organized, authorized destruction. Many were either killed or taken out of their historical lands, which were then transferred to the supporters of the Crown. Carrying a plaid and kilt, playing bagpipes, carrying weapons, talking in Gaelic and fees for games were prohibited by law. In many ways, this law and the ethnic cleansing that he encouraged succeeded in their intentions, after it was repealed 36 years later, the culture of the highlands and clans changed forever.
History of occurrence
The Scottish clan system developed around the 11th and 12th centuries, but signs of its existence date back to the 6th century.
The original clans of Scotland were mainly extended family groups, most of whose members were blood-related and descended from a common ancestor.
They also contained several âseptaâ, which were families that did not have direct blood ties with the leader, but were absorbed by a large clan for the benefit, as a rule, of both sides. Often these septs themselves possessed a certain clan strength.
Other people sometimes join the clan to show their support, seek protection, or simply stay alive.
In the beginning, the names of clans were usually attached to certain areas known as âclan territoriesâ, they were created in order to link the inhabitants of this area and protect it from invasion or theft by other groups.
An interesting fact: to the north of mainland Scotland are the Shetland and Orkney Islands. They were part of Norway until the middle of the 15th century, and then they were âdonatedâ to Scotland. They never adopted the clan system or many other traditional Scottish cultural traditions, such as kilts or bagpipes. In addition, this type of landscape also played a big role when it came to creating protection for individual territories.
Features of the clan system
Many of the features of the Scottish clans that are currently known and celebrated are actually relatively recent rethinking. For example, before the uprising in 1745, clan members wore a much larger kilt, âfilamhorâ or âgreat kiltâ; it was a long fabric, simultaneously playing the role of a hood, cloak, kilt and blanket. After the law was repealed, it was replaced by a more modern kilt, the manufacturers of which began to use more modern and bright colors, compared to the muted colors that were used earlier. Coats of arms of the Scottish clans have been preserved from the long past.
The Victorians and Queen Victoria herself did a lot to promote the romantic ideal of the mountains, in fact, they reinvented the idea of ââthe clan to fit the ideas of empire and union. Instead of fighting against the crown, the Scottish regiments were sent around the globe, taking with them their tartans, kilts, pipes and warrior culture. However, even before the defeat of Handsome Prince Charlie (Carl Edward Steward) in Calloden, changes were already taking place in the management of clan leaders with the transfer to ownership of land, rather than to managing people.
Each individual Scottish clan was closely linked by blood and fidelity, and they tended to develop their own very specific customs, traditions and laws.
Loyalty and loyalty are deeply rooted, and hostility with rival clans has often been passed down from generation to generation - ill-will, which refuses to diminish over time.
Destruction of the clan system
Many bloody battles were fought in clan territories between the mountain clans of Scotland and families from the lowlands or septa.
By the 1800s, they were under attack in the form of increasing pressure from the English monarchy and the British government.
In 1746, the Scottish revolt was crushed at the Battle of Calloden, and the Scottish clan system was almost destroyed.
Nevertheless, the Scots, distinguished by decisiveness and endurance, clung to their traditions and beliefs, and in the XIX century they saw that the popularity of their clans began to grow.
Since then, a growing interest in Scottish history and culture has made people around the world want to learn more about their Celtic origin and roots.
In general, clans played a huge role in shaping the culture, traditions, views and moods of the Scottish people.
Update
Today, the revival of clan identity is largely due to the descendants of those who were expelled from Scotland, or the families who followed the Scottish regiments to settle in remote places. For example, all over the world there are Gaelic speakers in Canada, highlanders in Kuala Lumpur, and many hundreds of thousands of Campbell, MacGregor, MacDonald and Senkler. Popular culture continues to depict the life of clans or aspects of the history of Scottish mountain clans, not always with full accuracy, in films and on television, such as Highlander, Braveheart, Alien, Game of Thrones and others.
2009 and 2014 were declared the years of returning to their homeland, as part of these events, events were held to encourage Scots around the world to return to their ancestral lands and learn more about their culture. The Internet helps clan members plan events and gatherings wherever they are. Despite the fact that the Scottish clans have changed over the years, there is a strong surge of interest, and the future of this culture looks brilliant.
How the clan system works
When people think about family, they tend to think about blood relatives, but, of course, there are married relatives and close friends who are often considered family. The clans were arranged in the same way, each of them was led by a leader, and his family usually lived in their ancestral castle.
Interaction
Each clan had its own fiercely guarded territory or land, and it was ruled by a powerful leader who controlled almost all aspects of everyday life.
But historically, this structure is much more than family groups, because for centuries it has been the main political system in Scotland. Membership passes along the male line (patriarchal order).
The clan is centered around the manâs last name, so as soon as a woman gets married, she becomes part of her husbandâs clan, while the rest of her family remains members of her fatherâs clan.
In addition, there are frequent cases when the leaderâs children were brought up by a maternal uncle and his family in another clan.
Both of these practices helped build relationships between families that paid off during trouble or attack. Accordingly, when the clan united to protect the land, livestock and other resources, their strength and strength increased.
Scottish kilt and tartan
Today, Scottish tartan is closely linked to the clan system, but this has not always been the case.
Tartan is represented by an almost endless variety of colors and patterns (although they all have interwoven horizontal and vertical lines). There are five hundred different tartan designs created over the centuries.
Each clan has at least one tartan that is unique and only used by them for them, but many also have several different tartan patterns. The Donald, Stuart, and MacFarlane clans are a prime example of this.
The very first fabrics often had one or two colors, and the connection between color, fabric and design had more in common with the natural resources in a particular region and the craftsmanship of local weavers than with anything else.
The relationship between a particular tartan and an individual clan appeared in the late 1700s, when it became accepted as a symbol of the clan, and the wearing of one's own âclan tartanâ became a matter of pride.
The kilts themselves were seen back in the 1500s as a form of clothing for highlands, although they were significantly different from today's versions.
Modern history
The population of Scotland is about 5,295,000 (the approximate figure from the official census of 2011), but around the world there are a huge number of people with Scottish ancestors, somewhere from 45 to 85 million!
Today, the clan is a legally recognized group in Scotland and legally has a âcorporate identityâ (just like a business or company).
This is a "noble association" because the leaders of the clans are considered nobles in Scotland, and this leads to the fact that the clan is officially called the "Honorable Clan ...".
According to Scottish law, it is recognized as the hereditary property of the leader, who legally owns him and is responsible for his management and development.
Although some Scottish surnames are traditionally associated with certain clans, the ârightâ name alone does not guarantee belonging to it. Despite the difficulties in figuring out exactly who the Scottish ancestors were and to which clan they belonged to, in fact today any person with the surname of leaders is considered a member of the clan.
Even if such a person does not have a âcorrectâ name, if he swears allegiance to the leader, he can be considered a member of his clan.
However, in both of these situations, only the head can decide whether he accepts a new member or not.
The origin of some of the famous clans of Scotland
In total there are more than one hundred seventy. Each of them has its own story, its origin.
One of the famous is the Leslie clan. The surname comes from the lands in Aberdeenshire with the same name. She is quite famous in Germany, Poland, France. A Hungarian nobleman named Bartholomew arrived in the retinue of Agatha, the wife of Edward the Exile. He later married Malcolm III's sister, Princess Beatrix of Scotland, after which the king appointed him governor of Edinburgh Castle.
Sir Andrew de Leslie was one of those who signed a letter sent to the Pope in 1320 on the Arbroath Declaration, which claimed Scottish independence.
The lands of the Lamont clan were in the mountains. Its founder is Lauman, who lived in Kavala in 1238. Tradition attributes to him descent from an Irish prince named Anrotan O'Neill. The Lamont Clan, like some others, such as McAven from Otter, MacLachlan, McNeill from Barra and Maxvina, claims to be descended from Anrotan O'Neill, who left Ireland in Kintyre in the 11th century.
The darkest era of this clan dates back to the middle of the XVII century, when about a hundred of its members were killed in Dunoon in 1646 by their powerful neighbors Campbell. The clan did not take part in the Jacobite revolts. In the 19th century, the clan leader emigrated to Australia, where the current head lives. Today it represents the Lamont Clan Society, which was formed in 1895. It meets once a year and accepts membership from any person bearing the family name or any of the names associated with it.
Clan MacAlister is a branch of the Donald clan and originates from Alasdeir Mohr, son of Domnall Mac Ragnail, who was the grandson of Somerled. Somerled is considered the ancestor of the Macalisters, MacDonalds and MacDougalls. Gaelic tradition gave Somerled to Celtic male lineage, although a recent DNA study showed that Somerled could have been of Norwegian origin.
It is believed that the Mackenzie clan from Scotland is of Celtic descent; it is not part of the family that descended from Norman ancestors. It is believed that they are associated with the Matheson clan and the Anrias clan, all three descended from Gillein Aird in the XII century. Founded originally in Kintail, the clan lived in Eilian Donan, the citadel with which it was associated for many centuries. For several generations, Constable Eilian Donan has traditionally been MacRae. Because of this, the Mackray clan became known as the "Mackenzie chain mail." They also had fortresses in the castles of Kilkoy and Brahan.
The Scottish clan MacGregor, or Gregor, also lived in the highlands. For almost two hundred years, he was outlawed due to a long power struggle with the Campbell. It is believed that he comes from Constantine, his wife and cousin Malvina, the first son of Dungalla and the wife of Spontana (daughter of the High King of Ireland) and grandson of Girik, the third son of Alpin Mac Echdach, father of Kenneth MacAlpin, the first king of Scotland.
Also known surnames are Anderson, Barclay, Boyd, Cameron, Campbell, Eliott, Ferguson, Hamilton, Kirkpatrick, Mackintosh, Malcolm, Stuart and others. The last king of Scotland, James VII, was of Stuart descent.