Cowdens Sept of Colquhoun/MacDougal?

**TNScotsman** · 23rd July 20, 11:08 AM

Thanks for the information Shaun! My Campbell ancestors seemed to have a talent for aggravating almost everybody in Britain; thankfully folks have mostly been willing to forgive us over the course of a few hundred years

It's a hard call between the tartans as both are so nicely done, although the MacDougal would look so nice at Christmas!

**ShaunMaxwell** · 23rd July 20, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by TNScotsman

It's a hard call between the tartans as both are so nicely done, although the MacDougal would look so nice at Christmas!

I have a kilt in the Marton Mills MacDougall ancient tartan, which is nice enough, but I much prefer the Heritage MacDougall or Dalriada District tartans which X-Marker figheadair was instrumental in reviving and making commercially available. You can see them here: https://www.dunollie.org/shop

See http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...revived-68592/ for more information.

That said, the Colquhon tartan is handsome as well, so perhaps one of each, since we're only talking scarves and not kilts!

Cheers,

SM

**Tobus** · 24th July 20, 04:12 AM

The surname Cowden, like many names, could have come from one of many original sources. It could be a Scottish name, as a variant of Cowan and others, or it could be an English name. Chasing down the genealogy would be the most accurate way to determine from which one your grandmother derived it. To my knowledge, Clan Colquhoun does not list Cowden as an official sept/associated name. But given the many, many variants of names that have evolved over the centuries, this doesn't necessarily mean anything. If you were to wear the Colquhoun tartan based on a Cowden connexion, I doubt anyone would bat an eyelash over it, considering Cowan is a fairly prominent name in the clan and Cowden is so similar.

**TNScotsman** · 24th July 20, 08:07 AM

Thanks for the reply Tobus. Genealogy does get tough as you go back and many of my ancestors seemed much more concerned with keeping food on the table rather than carefully documenting things. Clan Colquhoun has actually replied to an inquiry I sent and were very quick to welcome me so I suppose I'll need to at least pick up a tie in the right tartan to honor the connection. It's definitely a nice way to honor the memory and heritage of my grandmother.