Hello from North Carolina! Question about Tartan!

[The Wizard of BC]

And it may be, like me, that you have no Highland Clan affiliation at all. The vast majority of Scots are not a part of the Highland Clan system at all.

My own situation is that while there is a family oral history that my father's side originated in Scotland I do not carry a Scottish sounding name nor can my genealogy trace me back to the place where my father's line comes from.

So I choose not to just randomly 'adopt' a Highland Clan Tartan. I wear many different Tartans such as this forum's own Tartan, The X Marks Tartan. You can see me as the second from the right in the photo in the upper corner of this forum's pages. Any member of this forum is fully entitled to wear the X Marks Tartan.

I also wear other Tartans which tell the world - This is who I am, This is where my people come from, This is how I got to where I am today.

I wear the Canadian Maple Leaf Tartan because I now live in Canada.
I wear the USMC Dress Blue Tartan as I am, and will always be, a Marine.
I wear the Isle Of Skye Tartan. Although named for the island it is universal and beautiful.
I wear the Highland Granite Tartan as it is the first of the monochrome gray Tartans and holds a special place in my heart because of the maker.
And I wear the Black Watch Tartan in the weathered colorway simply because it is so striking.

[deervin77]

When I told the kilt maker that I wanted to use my mother's family tartan, she replied, "That makes sense. Most Scots don't know who their fathers are." She was Scottish, and this was a well established place. See my thread on MacPherson's. I sensed a bit of tongue-in-cheek, but it came off pretty matter-of-fact!

Sorry, Dad. Of course I know who you are!

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[Crazy Dave]

When I told the kilt maker that I wanted to use my mother's family tartan, she replied, "That makes sense. Most Scots don't know who their fathers are." She was Scottish, and this was a well established place. See my thread on MacPherson's. I sensed a bit of tongue-in-cheek, but it came off pretty matter-of-fact!

Sorry, Dad. Of course I know who you are!

LOL! My grandmother's maiden name was MacPherson and it was interest in the family history that got me interested in wearing a kilt. Family stories have it that Great Grandfather MacPherson owned a kilt and wore it much to his daughter's embarrassment. I wish that that kilt had been handed down! My one kilt, a Sport Kilt, is the MacPherson Red. I definitely want something better wither a MacPherson tartan. Fortunately, I really like every version of the MacPerson tartan that I have seen.

Dave

[AndrewSinclairYoung]

Welcome! This is wonderful and so much fun discovering your heritage and history.

I would research both of those clans and see which one you feel more aligned with - perhaps there is one that has a stronger paternal link but that’s really just a matter of chance and a lot of us have different sir names to our ancestors or clans. Whether it’s passed though a maternal or paternal link, we’re still the same distance away from our ancestors whichever way you trace it.

Not sure about your two clans but maybe they have an organization you could join. I’m a member of Clan Sinclair here in the US who keep us all up to date with clan news and activities etc. It’s great to be part of a community like that!