A Modern Scottish View of Clans (and Gathering)

[KFCarter]

I have no objection to people using what they see as a connection with a clan name as a means of establishing a closer relationship with Scotland, her history and customs. That is just great for both the individual and my country. I freely confess that I have chosen the tartan for two of my kilts (and for my avatar) from just such a supposed association and I am happy to wear those tartans. But I don't delude myself into thinking that I am preserving or paying homage to a valuable ancient social system when I do so.

I can agree with 99% percent of us, save the last sentence. I think the majority of people join clan societies to pay homage to their ancestors.

T.

I think there's an important distinction between homage to an "ancient social system" and homage to "their ancestors". There have been some reference in this thread to the irony of Americans romanticizing the trappings of an ancient feudal system. I think that misses the mark. Many Americans relate to clans as extended families, not as socio-political systems. In that context, respect for the patriarch (i.e. clan chief) is a natural step. As a member of a clan society, I have no problem tipping a metaphorical hat to the clan chief and the connection he represents to a shared (if very distant) family history. I am proud of that connection. But I'd never consider bending a knee to him. I reserve that for church (okay, sometimes, when necessary, the wife...). I don't feel I owe homage to a social system that ran off, kicked out and dispossessed my various ancestors. But I do owe, and gladly pay, homage to the people of my lineage, their native land and its customs.

In a country such as America where success is based principally on ability, reverence for inherited influence seems totally incomprehensible. I can only assume that there is a latent desire to look up to such people much in the way the late Princess Diana was revered as a fairy tale princess.

Perhaps Americans are comfortable putting so much stock in our ancestry because we are not captives of it. We are free, and have been so for a long time, to remake ourselves on a regular basis. The idea of America as a pure egalitarian meritocracy is as much a myth as any idealized picture of clan life, but it is true that we allow for the possibility that anyone can become anything if they have the energy, persistence and will to make it happen, and we celebrate those who succeed. While some of us may "revere" a Princess or a clan chief in a romantic way, I don't see us granting either any meaningful authority over our lives.