I Joined my clan society

[McMurdo]

I was a proofreader for 13 years, and I did not notice, but then I was just so happy to get it that I did not really look that closely yet, but I will bring it up with them.

[Dirk Skene]

Fantastic! Now be careful. They might just want you to work It happened to me

[McMurdo]

You would be very much mistaken.

There is much misinformation in many of the lists of septs and families that are claimed to be associated with the various clans. These bogus lists are perpetrated by tartan merchants who want to sell as much of their product to as many people as possible, and by clan associations who want to attract as many members as possible. Some common names appear on several of these lists.

The first step in tracing your family's history is going to the oldest people in your family and asking them what they remember about their parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. Then one goes to the public records to verify and flesh out these stories, ALWAYS working backward one generation at a time, without skipping any.

Sir I appreciate your input, as you have gone to the trouble of looking into your family background, I would like to tell you of the other materials sent to me today, there was a welcome letter I will not bore you with the particulars, just what pertains to your comments quoted above:

Enclosed you will find a genealogy chart. Please fill in the chart, copy it and send the original to Nellie Graham Lowry at the address listed on the chart. Perhaps we can help you make a "connection" and your information will be added to our genealogical records.
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I see nothing wrong with this statement, my hope is that joining the clan society will bring me to a greater understanding of the history of my clan.

[GreenDragon]

Congratulations!

[ccga3359]

Canadian spelling eh

If so they spelt honour incorrectly. Sorry Glen always at your expense. Actually weren't the grahams warriors, not spellers? Congratulations, as I recall I was with you when you signed up. You were quite excited at the time.

[McMurdo]

Yes I was excited Grant and still am I think what I will do is to re-do it and send it to them.

[ccga3359]

Yes I was excited Grant and still am I think what I will do is to re-do it and send it to them.

As well you should. Being English we don't have clans or this sense of history. I might be a distant relative of the Harmsworth newspaper barrons from the turn of the last century and likewise the Harmsworth Trophy. Then again if I am then I'd be related to a nazi sympathizer at a time when Dad and his two brothers marched off to war. Would I be prepared for those skeletons?

[Monkey@Arms]

And your evidence he did not follow this exact procedure is...?

Quit being so argumentative with those trying to learn their own family's history. Every time one of these posts shows up, you're pishing all over it and it has become more than tiresome.

I find Gilmore's posts on these forums to be cogent and well reasoned. There's a lot of myth out there that passes for history, which isn't to say that I don't enjoy the myth sometimes.

I just joined a clan society that lists my wife's family as a sept. Now my wife's family's name is a Gaelic trade name, and thanks to posts by Gilmore, and articles by Matt, and others I do so fully realizing that its unlikely that her ancestors were members of that clan. That doesn't matter to me all that much. As has been pointed out in the past, the clan system is in fact no more, and all the rest of this is something else.

Joining the clan society gives my family a place to hang their hat at the games, and a sense of belonging, and that's well worth the price of the dues. But a shared last name does not an ancestor make.

Best regards,

Jake

[gilmore]

And your evidence he did not follow this exact procedure is...?

Quit being so argumentative with those trying to learn their own family's history. Every time one of these posts shows up, you're pishing all over it and it has become more than tiresome.

I have no idea what procedures the poster followed.

I don't see how pointing out a few well-accepted facts is being argumentative.

It is a fact that many lists of clan septs are wildly inaccurate. It is a fact that tartan merchants use these lists to sell merchandise.

My problem is with the statement "if you are interested in your family history I would say the first step to a larger world would be to join your clan society," which is quite unrealistic. The standard and accepted practice of genealogical research is starting with one's immediate family and working backward, generation by generation. Trying to take short cuts almost always leads to trouble at some point in the future. (The one exception is the possibility of DNA testing's being helpful.)

Nor do I have problems with people joining clan societies. I once joined one myself. But face it, they are simply organizations for people who happen to bear the same surname, through accidents of birth and history.

I don't have problems with people making claims to their friends and others about their clans, their ancestry, their relatives, their right to wear certain tartans, etc, if it makes them feel good.

My problem is with these claims and methodologies being taken seriously, passed on to those of us doing serious genealogical work, and wasting our time.

If I wanted to be argumentative and puncture a few Brigadoonish fantasies, I would insist that the vast majority of Scots were Lowlanders descended from Anglo-Saxon-Jute Northumbrians who never spoke a word of Gaelic, were never part of the clan system, whose surnames were never associated with a clan, and looked down on the Highland clans as uncouth barbarians. But I wont.

[gilmore]

Sir I appreciate your input, as you have gone to the trouble of looking into your family background, I would like to tell you of the other materials sent to me today, there was a welcome letter I will not bore you with the particulars, just what pertains to your comments quoted above:

Enclosed you will find a genealogy chart. Please fill in the chart, copy it and send the original to Nellie Graham Lowry at the address listed on the chart. Perhaps we can help you make a "connection" and your information will be added to our genealogical records.
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I see nothing wrong with this statement, my hope is that joining the clan society will bring me to a greater understanding of the history of my clan.

Good idea. Once you have done your chart, you might also want to go to www.rootsweb.com, search for their McMurdo message board and mailing list, and post it there.