Hello all,

I'm a bit new to this all and have been doing a little digging around about my family history. To begin, my closest tie to Scotland (and really, only tie that I know of at this point) comes from my mother's father's side of the family, through the name McCauslin. I know that this is a variation of McCausland, which is I've seen claimed to be of both Scottish and Irish origin. The name McCauslin also seems to be listed as being of Scottish origin on some sites provided by google, but from what my mother has told me, our McCauslin ancestors came from Ireland. According to one site, the McCauslsnd name itself may have derived from Absalon, son of Macbed (eventually becoming Mac Absalone), or from Buey Anselan who became Dominie de Buchanan.

http://www.kelcran.com/Genealogy/mccausland.htm

According to that site, there exists a possibility that the McCauslands were the originators of the Buchanan clan name. I for one don't know if this is true (perhaps someone in here has more information regarding this). However, if this is true, that means there is a direct link between the McCauslands and the clan Buchanan. I do know that several variations of the McCausland name are listed as septs to the clan Buchanan.

This brings me to my questions:
1) If this information is true, would it be acceptable for me to wear the tartan of clan Buchanan?
2) Would it only be acceptable if my ancestors came from Scotland, and not from Ireland, or would it be okay/not okay regardless?

I know that it's generally okay to wear whatever tartan a person likes, but I'd like to be properly educated before assuming any connection with a particular clan.

Cheers,
-Jake