Septs and Clans

[Nathan]

As a self-described American mongrel I have been doing some work on my genealogy and it seems that my ancestors came to America from England, Ireland, Wales, and apparently from Scotland. The Scottish roots are from the Sanders who according to the websites I've seen are a Sept of Clan MacDonnell (of Glengarry) and emigrated to South Carolina in the 1700s. Is there any permission needed to wear the MacDonnell tartan? Also, the Sanders connection is 4 generations back, is that too far back to claim any affiliation? I know there are no such thing as "kilt cops", but I want to honor the traditions of my forefathers, and not behave in a manner that shows a lack of respect for them or for current members of the Clan MacDonnell.

I'm the Commissioner of Clan Donald Southern Ontario. MacDonnell is one of our branches and the leadership of Clan Donald Canada are mostly Glengarry and are based in Glengarry, Ontario. I happen to be from the closely related branch of Clan Ranald.

Strictly speaking, for Clan affiliation, it goes by your actual family name. So if you are carrying the name Sanders, there would be no question that you would be a full member of the Clan. Clan membership is a paternal line birthright. There were times in history when someone could move into clan territory and officially join the Clan for its protection etc... but most people are a member of the clan associated with their surname.

The reason people can only have one clan is because, frequently, people had connections to multiple warring clans in their ancestry.

Imagine if one's father was Donald (MacDonald, MacDonell, MacConnell etc...) one's mother was a MacIntosh, one's paternal grandmother was a MacLean, one's maternal grandmother was a Campbell and so on... It was the prerogative of the Chief to form alliances with other clans, not the regular clansmen.

The clan system was kinship but it was also based on territory and military service to the chief. Divided loyalties were dangerous and therefore forbidden. Things aren't quite as life or death as they used to be.

That having been said, wearing a tartan and belonging to a clan aren't exactly the same thing. As a traditionalist, I prefer for Clan Donald tartans to be worn exclusively by Clan Donald members. Even though my name is MacDonald, I wouldn't even wear Glengarry, Ardnamurchan, Sleat etc...because I'm Clanranald. That's just how it was viewed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where I grew up.

That said, there is no mechanism to enforce that worldview, no real evidence that clan tartans and the clan system existed at the same time and so lots of people disagree with me.

Glengarry is an unrestricted tartan and any mill will happily sell it to anyone with the money to buy it. Any kilt maker will sew you up a kilt in it if you pay their fee. So what I'm talking about is convention and tradition but does not come close to approaching the strictness around heraldry.

In the end, I don't see the point of writing a letter to Glengarry for permission to wear his tartan unless you included the request to wear his crest surrounded by belt and motto on your bonnet and officially join the clan. It would be respectful, but certainly not an essential step. In all honesty, if you bought a kilt in Glengarry tartan and, when asked, said you have a Sanders connection, most people would probably just leave it at that. This is even more true if that's your only Highland connection.

It's a lovely tartan.

Slainte,

Nathan