Did the clan system emerge out of the feudal system brought by the Normans or did it merge with and influence something that had already been in Scotland for centuries?  This topic comes from numerous conversations on the Scottish Clans Facebook group.  Join me as I dive in and share my thoughts in this two-part episode.

Sponsor:

usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

Sources:

Kingdom of the Isles by R. Andrew McDonald

Kinship, Church, and Culture by John Bannerman

among others...Check out more of my source recommendations at scottishclans.podbean.com.

In English, we say "clan".  But in Gaelic, the kin-based system is so much more developed, and this is evident in Gaelic vocabulary.  In this episode, let's look at some of the basic Gaelic words that contemporary sources used when referring to kin groups along with a few examples of each.  This is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Sources

A list of sources from my website on Podbean.com

Clans and Dynasties - Irish vs Scottish Clans

Cathy Swift's youtube video

The Alan G. MacPherson paper I cited

Sponsor

usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/c/USAKiltsOfficial

The MacSweens/MacSweeneys had a very dynamic history.  One thing is for sure, whenever they were knocked down, they got back up again and improved their situation.  This episode highlights just a few things I find interesting about this clan.  Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Sources:

https://named.publicprofiler.org/

https://archive.org/details/leabharchlainnes00walsuoft

The Kingdom of the Isles by R. Andrew McDonald

Sponsor:

usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

Also mentioned (but not sponsors)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjklBJY8QT8u__aJ44UHEmw

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScotlandHistoryTours

Right after releasing the last episode, I was able to acquire a copy of Alison Cathcart's "Kinship and Clientage: Highland Clanship 1451-1609."  It really helped me understand with more depth the factors involved in the succession to the chief of a Highland Clan.  Join me as I share what I learned.

Sponsor

usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

Source

https://www.amazon.com/Kinship-Clientage-Highland-Clanship-1451-1609/dp/9004150455

In many descriptions of the Highland Clans, Tanistry is often given as the method used to decide succession among chiefs.  I have already done an episode describing this system.  In this episode, I relate my findings from a historical survey I did with seven Highland/Hebridean clans to see whether this system was employed or whether primogeniture was more common.  I traced the chiefly line of seven clans: Mackintosh, Mackay, MacLean, Cameron, Robertson of Struan, MacLeod and MacFarlane.  Join me to see what I found.

Sponsor:

usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

In this episode, I finish what I started in the last one about the MacLeods' Fairy Flag and its use in the Battle of Glendale.  Did it turn out how the MacLeods hoped?  Also, I discuss a subject from the Facebook group: Scottish clan maps.  Do you have one?  Do you want one?  How useful are they really?  This is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

 

Sponsor:

usakilts.com andhttps://www.youtube.com/c/USAKiltsOfficial

In the same vein as the last episode on the Brahan Seer, we dive into some clan folklore.  This time we're with the MacLeods and their Fairy Flag.  Was it a gift to a chief from a fairy lover or a souvenir from the Crusades?  Has it really saved MacLeod lives in battle?  This is the first of a two-part project.  Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify as well.

 

Sponsor:

usakilts.com and their Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

 

Sources:

Thomas Pennant's account: https://archive.org/details/tourinscotlandvo01penn

The MacLeods of Dunvegan: https://archive.org/details/macleodsofdunveg00macl

Some stuff on MacLeod genealogy, not so much about the fairy flag:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052405/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson1.html

We're taking a bit of a turn in the world of the clans by getting into folklore with this episode.  Coinneach Odhar got a supernatural start to his supernatural abilities.  Or was he even real?  This is also available on Podbean, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Website: scottishclans.podbean.com

Sponsor:

USA Kilts - usakilts.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

 

Sources:

Anne Ross, Folklore of the Scottish Highlands

A little-known episode in the Jacobite story, the Battle of Glenn Affric was the result of differing views regarding who had the authority to collect rents in Mackenzie territory and where that rent should be sent.  Join me to see how it went!  Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Sponsor:

Check out usakilts.com and their youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

Source:

https://www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie/images/CHAPT.10.pdf

The Chisholm's started in the Scottish Borders but through advantageous marriages became established in the Highlands.  After a couple of generations, they would have been indistinguishable from the native Gaels who had been there for hundreds of years before.  Let's look at a few of the things that make this clan worth getting to know.

Sponsor: USA Kilts

usakilts.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCni9cPU0kh5S84aQ-3d_DJA

Source:

History of the Chisholm, 1890 Alexander Mackenzie p.x., The Clan Chisholm and Allied Clans, 1935, Harriette F. Thrasher