A tartan conundrum.

[Bob C]

I searched long and hard for a tartan that belonged to my family. Finally, after accepting that there was none, and deciding that the clan association in the "Tartan for Me" mythology was a load of crap, I settled on a district tartan that I like very much. It was the kilt I was married in and it's the tartan I wear most of the time.

Now, there is a new tartan with my family name. It was commissioned by a guy who bought a barony and hired Matt Newsome to design it. Apparently, this guy now considers himself "the titled head of the family" (Matt's words). This, despite the existence of an Earl with our name - one whose family gained the title in the 1800s through public service.

Let me be clear - I'm not criticizing Matt. He was hired to do a job and he designed a beautiful tartan.

My problem is that I resent a guy who bought a title declaring himself the head of my family and committing my family name to a tartan of his choosing - one which is not based on actual family history, as near as I can tell. I don't accept Matt's assertion that Baron Boughtmytitle has any more right to co-opt the family name than I, or anyone else of our ilk, do.

So, here's the conundrum. I would love to be able to tell people that the tartan I'm wearing is my family tartan, and I DO like the tartan, but my resentment over the situation makes me unlikely to wear it.

At the very least, I think the tartan should have been registered as "Family name" of Boughtmytitle instead of simply as "Family name." The more I think about this, the angrier I get.

Opinions?