Looking for Advice

[Katertot79]

I am trying to figure out which clan colors I should be wearing as part of my heritage, and I could use some advice. So, for the past 6 months, I have been doing genealogical research on my family trying to track down my Scottish heritage. (Quick history: My family with only one exception has been in the US for over 300 years so it's been hard to trace back things until recently as I'm the first person, that I'm aware of, to really care about our heritage).

Anyways, I've been able to trace back my two most paternal lines back to Paisley, Scotland in the 1600's.

I have an 8th great grandfather named John Whyte who was an apothecary. (Most paternal line)

I have an 8th great grandmother named Barbara Hume. (My second most paternal line)

Whyte is a sept of both Clans Lamont and Gregor, but I can't find any information that ties my Whyte ancestor to either clan specifically and I'm certain that I've hit a dead end.

Hume, of course, is another variant of Home as in Clan Home, and I feel much more confident about the clan connection in that lineage.

What do y'all think? Or should I try and keep digging to see if I can't find any more information. My goal in the end would be to go with one clan, and that be my clan for here on out if possible.

[Tarheel]

You may also consider the area you found your family (as best you can tell) is from. There are many tartans that represent districts, and areas, an example being Isle of Skye. You may find a tartan that is beautiful to you that would be appropriate before you find a particular family or clan connection.

My family has been in America since 1637 but I found the last connection to my Scottish clan and will eventually get a kilt in that tartan. Until then, I wear the U.S.Army tartan (as a veteran) and the Confederate Memorial (I'm a North Carolina child). I could wear other tartans that fit my tastes in color and pattern (like the Carolina tartan) as well because I can explain my attraction.

I recommend you don't worry too much on getting an exact tartan before you search deeper into the genealogy or are just compelled with a tartan that you are attracted to.

[The Q]

You've reached a dead end, because the majority of people of Scotland were not in clans. Clans were in general, groupings of the gaels.

The Home's / Humes being a border family would not normally be associated with being called a clan, the word clann being derived from a Gaelic word for children . But the Homes are of Anglo Danish descent from the borders of Scotland with England .

Personally I think the suggestion of a regional tartan is a good one.

[ctbuchanan]

Although the 1600's was a time when many clan lands were still intact, the fact that both your lines end up in Paisley indicate that they had moved. Clan Lamont was from the Cowal Peninsula in Argyle - just across the Clyde from Paisley so it may be your closest match. The Clan Gregor (MacGregor) were up on the northeast shore of Loch Lomond, again not terribly far. The Hume were a powerful border family.

So I guess if I was asked, I would go with Lamont (which if you are in the U.S. is not pronounced the way you think - its more like lament.) After 400 years no one is going to question your choice. Plus the clan is active in the U.S. at many highland games and that means something here.

But there is a very nice Paisley district tartan the might be just the thing.

http://www.tartansauthority.com/tart...-district-clan

[Riverkilt]

Don't worry about limiting yourself. Get a BUNCH of kilts in tartans that are meaningful to YOU.

[Jock Scot]

Don't worry about limiting yourself. Get a BUNCH of kilts in tartans that are meaningful to YOU.

Well, that is a perfectly legitimate point of view. The opposite view perhaps, that is a more traditional route certainly in Scotland, is stick to the one tartan of your choice and concentrate building your better accessories around it. It is a far chea... umm well, less expensive route to take in the long run and in my humble opinion, a far better way to attire yourself effectively.

Each to their own.