Yet another "Clan Question"

[Riverkilt]

Just a cousin's welcome,

I have a Bowen (Owen) line going back to Griffith Bowen born about 1600 in Langenith, Gowen, South Wales. A proud line to claim for sure.

Ron

[FreakPower70]

It is not that I do not have a sense of pride about my Welsh line, I suppose I am just wrapped up in the romance of this clan stuff. I mean, I can very well look into clans for my mothers side and look into a St David's society for my fathers.

Thanks alot for the advice everyone.

[ThistleDown]

To me it's not about pedantry (though one should make informed and not capricious decisions about these things) nor about tradition (which changes and evolves) as much as it is about clan, extended family, relatives, one's people, who one is, and who one's ancestors were. These ties have to be maintained and nutured, through the many interactions that we engage in with other, and through having something emblematic of our relationship, like a tartan.

Very well said.

There was a family of MacNivens on the old Dunachton estate prior to its acquisition by the Mackintoshes in 1502 and there is a highly unlikely story about a MacNiven connection to Raits in the 13C. Between them, these gave rise to sept claims for the Mackintoshes and the Comyns in the 19C -- except that none of those MacNivens are known to have reduced their name to Niven.

Most of the Nivens/Nevans in Scotland originated in Galloway and Ayrshire and it is to this part of the country you might reasonably look, FP, if you wish to connect with your mother's ancestry. That part of our country has just as proud a heritage as has the Highlands, albeit not as popularly romantic.

As for the Owen bloodline in you, it is Welsh. Love it because it, too, makes you what you are.