Clans


The role of the clan T


he history of its clans is integral to the heritage of the West Highlands, and while the era of the great chiefs


may be gone, their influence continues in the landscape, language and culture of the region, and is an ongoing feature in the names of local people and places. From the 12th century onwards, the clan system brought together large groups of people who were often, though not always, part the same extended family and lived in the same area. Clan members lived under the protection and leadership of a chief, who was ulti- mately responsible for the security of their territory, and performed important personal and political tasks - such as being the fam- ily matchmaker. Many clan members were related and in- herited a common surname, but others joined the group for strategic or practical reasons, and often still took the chief’s name as a symbol of their loyalty. Unlike in England, where the system of pri- mogeniture determined that the first born male inherited the title, clans employed a version of tanistry, where the chief could


nominate an heir from a handful of eligible relatives, and the ultimate selection had to be approved by a clan assembly, an ap- proach designed to ensure that the chief- in-waiting, or tanist, was a strong and ca- pable leader. Today clan identity is seeing something of a resurgence, providing a sense of shared heritage for people of Scottish descent around the world. Events such as Highland Games are popular as far afield as Alaska, along with cultural pursuits like highland dancing and playing the bagpipes - last year’s World Pipe Championships in Glas- gow saw bands from 16 countries compet- ing. Many clans and their septs (related family groups) have invaded, occupied or held in- fluence in the West Highlands. While membership may have become an innocuous, even unifying concept today, allegiance – as the clan mottos indicate – once entailed a degree of loyalty that could have fatal consequences. Each of the families has seen much its clansmen’s blood spilled over centuries in the battles for supremacy and survival.


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