Genealogy and Clans -

I have been working, for the past two and half or three years, on my family tree. I have recently completed my tree, at least 6 generations back, for every branch except for one. That branch happens to belong to my paternal grandfather. Why did it have to be the one my family name comes from? I cannot tell you how that irks me! Anyway, I will keep working on until I find something or quit the whole thing altogether. My great grandfather did not drop here from the Moon. There has to be some record of him somewhere.

In researching my family tree, I have found a few things that were a surprise to me. The biggest surprise was all of the Scottish ancestry that I have. I had no idea of my Scottish roots until I started this project. That explains why I love Scotland so much and why I had to go there - which I did in 2000 - and would love to go again! It was lovely there and I could easily move there and just exist. However, the staunch gun loving American that I am married to would never go for it. Besides, not much work for my hubby there:)

In the process of all of this research, I have had several heated discussions with family members who are not interested or do not want to face the fact that we are descended largely from Scottish Presbyterians and some other very fundamental faiths such as Primitive Baptists (aka - snake handelers and such). Not sure why that makes such a huge difference to them, but it does. I wonder what would happen if I found a couple of Jewish ancestors? Oh, the angst! The truth is, that my family is classically American. They have been here, for the most part, since the 1700's and are very diverse. You could find almost anything in my family that is of English, Scottish, Irish or German descent. As with everything else, a person takes away what they wish to take away from such information.

One of the biggest discussions has been: Which Scottish clan do we belong to? I need professional advice here I think. I have a large clan that is 4 generations back on my mother's side. This clan, Clan Leath (a sept of Clan Hay) is the closest to me generationally. Other clans of my mother's side include the names Gordon, Landrum, and Lauderdale. All of these are 6 generations back. However, there are two clans of my Dad's side 5 generations back. They are Cobb ( a sept of Clan Lindsay) and Burns (a sept of Clan Campbell). There is also Clan Blair, which is back 6 generations. Oh, and here is the clincher.....I beleive my grandfather was related to a family named Rose and I believe this to be his birthname (though I cannot prove it yet). If that is true, then it is obvious which clan I belong to. I, however, cannot prove it. The others I can prove.

Now, I have read that the most prominent clan from your father's side is the clan you should claim. I have also read that the clan closest to you in bloodline is the one you should choose. Then, I have been told, that if you are a female of Scottish decent and have not married into a Scottish family, you may choose to claim all of the clans in your family or choose one. See why I am so confused? And, I would like to add, business like this seems to be par for the course when clans and their claims on their descendants are involved. Then, there are the people who say it does not matter because I am an American and Americans are always trying to lay claim to something that is not theirs.

I have decided that I would be wise to take all the verified genealogy that I have to a Scottish historical society and ask them to direct me to someone who *knows* about such things. If there are any of you who have any experience is such matters, I would greatly appreciate an input you may have. I, for one, am out of ideas!