More on Septs

[CMcG]

Yes, I have the OED and it says "Occas. used by anthropologists (after Sir H. Maine, Early Hist. Institutions, 1875) for a clan consisting of those who are, or at least are believed to be, descendants of a common ancestor", so the 1875 date fits in exactly with my earlier posts about the concept coming into use during this time.

I'm looking at the online version and right after the quote you've included, it goes on to list 10 quotes with dates between 1517 and 1868. It would appear to have had some currency before Sir H. Maine, though perhaps it really gained steam after him?

Wilson's of Bannockburn began in the 1700's, and their tartan pattern book was published in 1819.

I've read that Wilson's of Bannockburn began in the 1760's, which was still during Proscription. But it is quite fascinating to see how entrenched the idea of clan tartans has become, despite the fact that tartan lists attached to names didn't come until the 1800s.

...
I am fine with who I am, as I said earlier, just wear fit ye' bluddy well like, but dinnae' invent nae' spiel. It's just that the more I look for evidence of "septs", the less I find. Clans were quite simply communities, only the elite within them had blood ties, and like all communities they changed with the passage of time. People came and went, dynasties crumbled, time brought cheviots, stags, black, black oil and the people dispersed. "Septs" just appears to be an early form of branding, IMHO.

Sounds good to me And while we're wearing what we bloody well like, I'll take a "sept" tartan over a megacorporation's brand, any day of the week!