More on Septs

[MacSpadger]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sept comes into the English language from French and before that, from Latin. The first documented use was in 1517. Sept refers to a division of a nation, tribe, or clan, and was originally used in reference to Ireland.

Yes, I have the OED and it says "Occas. used by anthropologists (after Sir H. Maine, Early Hist. Institutions, 1875) for a clan consisting of those who are, or at least are believed to be, descendants of a common ancestor", so the 1875 date fits in exactly with my earlier posts about the concept coming into use during this time.

I suppose the question here is what would you call a real connection? If there is a tartan specific to one's surname, that's easy enough. For a sept connection, one could do an extensive genealogy to see whether or not their family name actually came from, or had any association with, the clan that a tartan represents.

I've done all that, but may be in the minority here.

Or you could skip all that and just join the clan association/society, ask for permission from the chief, etc.

In truth, I strongly suspect this may be nearer to how it was done than any family ties.

As I understand it though, the history of Scottish tartans being recorded, mass produced, and associated with specific clans goes back only as far as the 19th century.

Wilson's of Bannockburn began in the 1700's, and their tartan pattern book was published in 1819.

On a basic level, just going with what the tartan industry says is your clan/sept sett is actually quite "traditional."

If you want an unassailable link, you can design and register your own, or wear a district tartan

I am fine with who I am, as I said earlier, just wear fit ye' bluddy well like, but dinnae' invent nae' spiel. It's just that the more I look for evidence of "septs", the less I find. Clans were quite simply communities, only the elite within them had blood ties, and like all communities they changed with the passage of time. People came and went, dynasties crumbled, time brought cheviots, stags, black, black oil and the people dispersed. "Septs" just appears to be an early form of branding, IMHO.