Clan Gunn has a Chief

[Mike_Oettle]

I just love that pun, Jack Daw.

[MacRob]

The first step for a clan without a chief would be to hold a family convention to elect a commander. The Clan Gunn did so many years ago when it elected the current chief's uncle as commander. That gentleman died shortly after his election so another was held which elected Iain Alexander Gunn of Banniskirk as commander in which post he served for 43 years. During the mid-90s there was a case before the Lyon Court seeking recognition of one of two claimants as the chief. They were Rob Kamp Gunn and Michael James Gunn. Rob's petition was denied based on "alienage," meaning his ancestor was not a resident of Scotland at the time when the chiefship became dormant. Rob is a Dutch citizen. The then Lyon stated that the chiefly line rested in Michael's family but that he was junior in his stirps and identified another person as the possible chief. That person subsequently died without petitioning for the chiefship and his son declined to do so. In the meantime more research was done, raising questions about connections within Michael's line which have yet to be resolved. After the passage of almost twenty years since the line was examined in the Court of the Lord Lyon, Lyon Morrow agreed to supervise a family convention last year which suggested, almost unanimously, that Iain be recognized as Chief of the Clan Gunn, as he has now been. The entire process was much more involved that the explanation given here, with many ups and downs. Suffice it to say that the Lyon, with whom I discussed this last April, decided that genealogy was not going to produce an indisputable line from the last recognized chiefs of the Clan Gunn and that it was appropriate to recognize Iain as Chief. Iain is currently developing the Chiefly arms with the assistance of the Court and will be styled as Iain Alexander Gunn of Gunn. We could not have a finer man in the office Chief of Clan Gunn.