Quote Originally Posted by Quaich Maker View Post
Todd , I am well aware of the article by Hugh Cheape .
You will note that William Cumming was one of a family of pipers , spanning at least 7 generations over more that 150 years .
They were Grants by by clan and , at least from the time of Williams children , by ancestry also . Were they also Cummings by clan ? Well , if they were , they would have had to have sworn allegiance to two Clans , and two chiefs .
Not an easy thing to do at any time .

Scary as it may seem , there are out there in the world , Cummings who are Grants , not Cummings clan members .


Of note in this paper of Hugh Cheape's , is reference to The Grant of that time , speaking in terms of a clan sett and its colours .
The paintings also make that abundantly clear.
Something that seems to pass unnoticed before the eyes many so called tartan experts , and many those who do have of pointed out to then have a habit of explaining it away to nothing .

Todd ,
this paper by Cheape should have enough for a wee article in you news letter , tho it may not be the clan connection you had hoped for .
Further information may be available from our scholars and historians , or not , considering the works , as yet unpublished , underway .

Stand Fast

yours aye ,
Ian Patrick Grant

Ian,

It's enough of a connection in the fact that they bear the surname Cumming, whilst being employed as pipers to the Grants. I use it as a frequent illustration in talks, etc. about how surnames in terms of clan affiliation are sometimes misleading, as you mentioned. Nothing scary about that at all.

The Cummings were somewhat of a "broken" clan at that time anyway, given the fact that the Altyre branch were really the only ones left after Bruce's pogrom against the Buchan and Badenoch Comyns in 1308. It's only natural that they would seek alliances with larger clans like the Grants & the Gordons -- as recent as 2003, our current Chief's father bore the surname of "Gordon-Cumming".

Regards,

Todd