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rfmcdonaldWhen I was very young, I joined my mother and grandmother at festivities hosted by her Scottish clan association, in her case Clan Matheson. In Scotland proper, it seems that the clan system is facing new challenges in adapting to the 21st century.
Andrew Spooner in The Independent seems to claim that the clan system is largely irrelevant in Scotland, and that it's increasingly of interest only to people of Scottish descent. That's what one Margaret Elliot, head of her clan, thinks.
Is all this just another case of diasporas tending to be more conservative than their counterparts in the homeland?
Robert McWilliam, president emeritus of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, said {Facebook] was the best way of communicating with young people.
However, the special meeting at Holyrood also heard that some clan chiefs do not take their duties seriously and consider the system outdated.
It was held ahead of the world's largest clan gathering and Highland games in Edinburgh on Saturday.
More than 20,000 people with Scottish heritage from around the world, along with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, are expected to attend the events.
Thousands of tickets have remained unsold, however, with new figures revealing that a million fewer tourists visited Scotland last year.
Mr McWilliam, from the US, told the other chiefs that he had a message from American Scots that they need to use modern forms of communication.
[. . .]
Donald MacLaren, chief of Clan MacLaren, said: "A minority of chiefs think this is not for them. It's a great disappointment for those who look upon them as the head of their family."
He said some thought the clan system moribund since the mid-18th Century, but he disagreed and insisted it still had a future. North America alone has a clan membership exceeding 100,000.
Andrew Spooner in The Independent seems to claim that the clan system is largely irrelevant in Scotland, and that it's increasingly of interest only to people of Scottish descent. That's what one Margaret Elliot, head of her clan, thinks.
"I was brought up in Suffolk, have quite a plummy accent and while I consider myself a Scot, I see myself as a bit of a hybrid. Aren't we all?
"The chieftainship and clan society were passed to me by my father when he died 20 years ago and all I had to do was carry on what he'd started. We have people from all over the world in the clan society, but mainly from America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. They join, I guess, for a feeling of kinsmanship, to find out where they came from.
"My role is to be the figurehead and keep it all together. It's a hobby. If I had a full-time job – I would describe myself as a country lady – I probably wouldn't do it. Both the Gathering and the Clan Convention look quite interesting. I'm not sure that being a clan chief is that important, but it's a wonderful thing to do, and quite an honour."
Is all this just another case of diasporas tending to be more conservative than their counterparts in the homeland?
