More on Septs

[Tobus]

I'm not sure that your assessment of the early historians being inventors of sept fiction is entirely fair. I know when i read about clans and septs for the first time I was struck by the many inconsistencies. nowhere have I read that "All Leeks are sept of Clan MacOnion" for example, only that they are. Leek would also be listed as sept of Can Cabbage as well which creates some confusion sometimes. Sure, it would have been easier to understand at first blush if I had read that "some Leeks are sept of Clan MacOnion", it would be more precise. After some reading, however, my natural assumption was that there was a lot of grey area and movement between clans. The clan structure is of course gone now and it's all historical context. Perhaps I'm missing something, but that's how I've interpreted the situation.

This is how I've always seen it as well. My own Kilpatricks are listed as a sept of Colquhoun as well as Douglas. Neither claims to be the sole clan that all Kilpatricks belong to. Rather, it is a simple matter of stating that there were people with the name Kilpatrick associated with both clans at some point. (Don't even get me started on the fact that the first Colquhoun was in fact a Kilpatrick!) And there may be other clans who had Kilpatricks under their protection, or as tenants on their lands. So it is indeed folly to think that an 'official' list of sept names is the be-all, end-all of clan associations. Sadly, though, for those of us who cannot prove our lineage back that far, it's all we've got.