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Families & Clans
of Scotland and the British Isles

A B C D E F G H I J K L M Mc/Mac N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Welcome home to your clan

Scottish clans are communities united for mutual support.

A clan includes many families, with no formal membership. Your surname (or any in your ancestry) means you belong.

In fact just feeling loyal to a clan lets you wear its tartans or badges with pride.

Family & Clan Tartans

A family or clan can have many plaids in different designs, palettes, and fabrics. Just choose your favourite!

For garments or homewares in your family or clan tartan(s), find your surname in the world’s most complete Tartan Finder, then explore hundreds of items in your plaids.

Family & Clan Insignia

Family crests are a symbol of kinship, and anyone loyal to a clan can wear their chief’s badge.

We have an excellent range of clan crest products, search for your clan or surname in the CLAN Family Finder above to find products in your crest.

Clan map of Scotland

This map shows the lands controlled by Scottish highland clans and lowland families.

If your forebears lived in an area, they and their descendants (you) can wear their colours.

Pinpoint your clan on the map by selecting from the list.

Celebrate your heritage

Authentic tartan and heritage goods from local producers

The origins of Scottish clans

The original Scottish clans of the Highlands and the great families of the Lowlands and Borders were gatherings of families, relatives, allies and neighbours for mutual protection against rivals or invaders. Scotland experienced invasion from the Vikings, the Romans and English armies from the south. The Norman invasion of what is now England also had an influence on land-holding in Scotland. Some of these invaders stayed on and in time became ‘Scottish’.

The word clan derives from the Gaelic language term ‘clann’, meaning children, and it was first used many centuries ago as communities were formed around tribal lands in glens and mountain fastnesses. The format of clans changed over the centuries, but at its best the chief and his family held the land on behalf of all, like trustees, and the ordinary clansmen and women believed they had a blood relationship with the founder of their clan.


Clan hierarchy

There were two way duties and obligations. An inadequate chief could be deposed and replaced by someone of greater ability.

Clan people had an immense pride in their lineage. Their relationship with the chief was like adult children to a father and they had a real dignity.

The concept of clanship is very old and a more feudal notion of authority gradually crept in. Pictland, for instance, was divided into seven principalities ruled by feudal leaders who were the strongest and most charismatic leaders of their particular groups.

By the sixth century the ‘British’ kingdoms of Strathclyde, Lothian and Celtic Dalriada (Argyll) had emerged and Scotland, as one nation, began to take shape in the time of King Kenneth MacAlpin. Some chiefs claimed descent from ancient kings which may not have been accurate in every case.

By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the clans and families were more strongly brought under the central control of Scottish monarchs.

Lands were awarded and administered more and more under royal favour, yet the power of the area clan chiefs was still very great.


Scottish independence

The long wars to ensure Scotland’s independence against the expansionist ideas of English monarchs extended the influence of some clans and reduced the lands of others.

Those who supported Scotland’s greatest king, Robert the Bruce, were awarded the territories of the families who had opposed his claim to the Scottish throne.

In the Scottish Borders country – the notorious Debatable Lands – the great families built up a ferocious reputation for providing warlike men accustomed to raiding into England and occasionally fighting one another.

Chiefs had the power to dispense justice and to confiscate lands and clan warfare produced a society where martial virtues – courage, hardiness, tenacity – were greatly admired.

Gradually the relationship between the clans and the Crown became strained as Scottish monarchs became more orientated to life in the Lowlands and, on occasion, towards England.


Clan culture

The Highland clans spoke a different language, Gaelic, whereas the language of Lowland Scotland and the court was Scots and in more modern times, English.

Highlanders dressed differently, had different customs, and their wild mountain land sometimes seemed almost foreign to people living in the Lowlands.

It must be emphasised that Gaelic culture was very rich and story-telling, poetry, piping, the clarsach (harp) and other music all flourished and were greatly respected.

Highland culture was different from other parts of Scotland but it was not inferior or less sophisticated.


The end of clan rule

Central Government, whether in London or Edinburgh, sometimes saw the Gaelic clans as Clan warfare produced a society where courage and tenacity were greatly admired a challenge to their authority and some sent expeditions into the Highlands and west to crush the power of the Lords of the Isles.

Nevertheless, when the eighteenth century Jacobite Risings came along the cause of the Stuarts was mainly supported by Highland clans.

The word Jacobite comes from the Latin for James – Jacobus. The Jacobites wanted to restore the exiled Stuarts to the throne of Britain.

The monarchies of Scotland and England became one in 1603 when King James VI of Scotland (1st of England) gained the English throne after Queen Elizabeth died.

The Union of Parliaments of Scotland and England, the Treaty of Union, took place in 1707. Some Highland clans, of course, and Lowland families opposed the Jacobites and supported the incoming Hanoverians. After the Jacobite cause finally went down at Culloden in 1746 a kind of ethnic cleansing took place. The power of the chiefs was curtailed. Tartan and the pipes were banned in law.

Many emigrated, some because they wanted to, some because they were evicted by force. In addition, many Highlanders left for the cities of the south to seek work.

Many of the clan lands became home to sheep and deer shooting estates.


Clans today

The warlike traditions of the clans and the great Lowland and Border families lived on, with their descendants fighting bravely for freedom in two world wars.

Remember the men from whence you came, says the Gaelic proverb, and to that could be added the role of many heroic women.

The spirit of the clan, of having roots, whether Highland or Lowland, means much to thousands of people.

Christmas Feast, the Scottish Way!

With Christmas around the corner, let's get into the holiday spirit, Scots style!

Quick Facts about the Highland Games

The Highland Games take place around the world and is a way to celebrate Scottish traditional culture. The Highland Games have existed for centuries, and were founded as an athletic competition - testing strength and conditioning of Scottish troops.

Scottish clans & family traditions