Dating back to the medieval era, to a time when the Norsemen were driven out of the Highlands and Islands by the Scottish kings, assisted by powerful warlords who offered protection to locals in the return for fealty, the clan system shaped the political landscape of Scotland for centuries.
The modern history of the country – including its relationship with neighbours England and Ireland – is inextricably tangled up with the ferocious and fiendishly complicated feuds and fights between these groups, as they battled for control of fiefdoms.
- Where is Outlander filmed? A guide to the compelling historical drama's filming locations
- The oldest castles in Britain: Explore Britain's ancient fortifications
Many clans spanned the Irish Sea and some wielded power beyond the British Isles. Clanship still exists in many forms, not least in the surnames of hundreds of thousands of Scots. The word stems from the Gaelic clann, meaning ‘children’, and even today, around a third of families living in Scotland are connected to a clan.
Historically there were hundreds of clans spread across the Scotland and Ireland, all with their own distinct tartans, crests and mottos, but the system also included ‘septs’, families that shared land with a clan and swore allegiance to the chief.
How many Scottish clans are there?
The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, an organisation established in 1951 that claims to be the primary authority on clans, currently recognises 135 distinct existent clans, while the Lord Lyon King of Arms, a position that has existed since at least 1377, officially oversees Scottish heraldry.
6 most powerful Scottish clans
Clan Campbell
Region: Argyll
Seat: Inveraray Castle
Modern titles: Duke of Argyll
Motto: Ne Obliviscaris (Forget Not)
Arch-enemies: Clan Donald / MacDonald
Originally called Clan Dairmid, ‘Campbell’ allegedly derived from the Gaelic for‘crooked mouth’. The name was first recorded in 1263, when Gilascoppe Cambell was awarded estates in Clackmannanshire by King Alexander III of Scotland. His son, the warrior Cailean Mór Caimbeul, is heralded as an important early ancestor.
The Campbells became an immensely powerful clan, controlling much of western Scotland around Argyll and Loch Awe (but also Perth and Kinross and as far north as Nairn) and playing a pivotal part in the major events in modern Scottish history, including the Wars of Scottish Independence, during which they fought on the side of Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) and elsewhere.
However, they opposed the Jacobite Risings and, infamously, soldiers from Clan Campbell of Glenlyon turned upon and slaughtered members of Clan MacDonald, who had been hosting them, during the Massacre of Glencoe on 13 February 1692 in the Highland village of Glen Coe. At least 30 Macdonalds were murdered on that morning, in an event that still scars Scottish history.
The Campbells also fought on the side of the British crown at the decisive Battle of Culloden in 1746 and were instrumental in the suppression of the Highland Uprisings in the 18th and 19th centuries. Members of Clan Campbell formed the basis of The Black Watch, an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland established initially tasked by the British to patrol the Highlands and suppress insurgencies.
Clan Donald / MacDonald
Region: Western Highlands and the Hebrides
Seat: Finlaggan Castle on Islay and Armadale Castle on Skye (neither habitable)
Titles: Lord of the Isles (historic)
Motto: Per mare per terras (By sea and by land)
Arch-enemies: Clan Campbell
Arguably Scotland’s biggest and oldest clan, there are multiple branches to Clan Donald, which became Clan MacDonald (‘Mac’ means son-of). With roots that are Norse-Gaelic and join up with ancient Irish royalty, the clan’s name (Clann Dhòmhnaill, Children of Donald) originates with Domhnall mac Raghnaill, a powerful Hebridean noble active in the mid 13th century, whose grandfather Somerled was a Norse-Gaelic warlord and the original Lord of the Isles (a title the clan carried for several generations).
The Donalds fought for Scottish independence with Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn and acquired the title Earl of Ross through marriage. A destructive civil clan war between John MacDonald of Islay and his son, Angus Og Macdonald – which came to a head in the Battle of Bloody Bay in 1481 – weakened the clan and resulted in loss of the Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross titles in the late 15th century, and led to a great fracture in Highland society.
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1638–1651) and Jacobite uprisings put the MacDonalds and the Campbells on opposing sides, and the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe cemented this terrible blood feud between the clans. The various branches of the MacDonalds supported the Jacobite uprisings in 1715 and 1745, and took part in numerous battles.
Clan MacLeod
Region: Isle of Skye
Seat: Dunvegan Castle
Motto: Hold fast
Arch-enemies: Clan Macdonald of Sleat
MacLeod means 'son of Leòid’, referring to a mysterious Norse-Gael from the 13th century, about which little is known, but some stories claim he was the youngest son of Olaf the Black, one of the last Norse Kings of Man.
Leòid died around 1280, and was buried on the holy island of Iona, where six successive Clan MacLeod chiefs were subsequently interned. There are two main branches of this clan, which trace their heritage back to Leòid’s sons, Tormod and Torquil: the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan, known in Gaelic as Sìol Tormoid (which translates as ’seed of Tormod’) and the Clan MacLeod of Lewis Assynt and Raasay, Sìol Torcaill (seed of Torcall).
Famed for their warrior traditions, the MacLeods were caught up in the civil clan war that tore Clan Donald apart, and William Dubh MacLeod, chief of Clan MacLeod was killed in the Battle of Bloody Bay in 1481. They continued to feud and fight with Clan Macdonald of Sleat through the 15th and 16th centuries.
Clan MacLeod supported the Jacobite rising of 1715, but the chief (Norman MacLeod of Dunvegan) sided with the British government forces in 1745, although one branch, the MacLeods of Raasay, defied the chief and fought as part of the Jacobite army (in the Glengarry Regiment) during the Battle of Culloden, for which they were punished.
The clan seat on the Isle of Skye, Dunvegan Castle (home to the same family for eight centuries) still hosts to the Clan MacLeod Parliament, which meets every four years, and several clan heirlooms are kept there, including the Fairy Flag (said to possess magical powers), the Dunvegan Cup (made in Ireland in 1493), and Sir Rory Mor's Horn - a drinking horn that could be up to 1000 years old, which the clan chief must empty of alcohol in one hit upon reaching the age of manhood.
Clan MacGregor
Region: Argyll and Perthshire
Title: Earl of Galloway
Seat: Boreland House
Motto: 'S Rioghal mo dhream (Royal is my race)
Arch-enemies: Clan Campbell
Clan MacGregor is famous in popular culture thanks to the antics of one of their kin, Rob Roy MacGregor, who fought with the Jacobites (as did his clansmen) before becoming an outlaw and leading a spirited campaign against the Duke of Montrose and the British Crown in the late 17th and early 18th centuries; he is heralded as a Scottish folk hero, largely thanks to Sir Walter Scott’s highly romanticised accounts of his exploits.
However, this Highland clan’s roots go right back to the 9th century, with connections to Celtic royalty, claiming (along with several other clans, collectively known as Siol Alpin ‘seed of Alpin’) direct descent from Alpin, father of Cináed mac Ailpín, who was King of the Picts and, arguably, the original King of Scots.
The first known clan chief was Gregor of the golden bridles, who was active in the 1300s and was succeeded by his son, Iain Camm One Eye. The clan was chased from its land around Loch Awe by Clan Campbell, who continued to persecute the MacGregors, to the extent that they became known as the Children of the Mist.
In April 1603, James VI of Scotland decreed that anyone with the name MacGregor must denounce it or be killed, and the clan dissipated. Charles II of England repealed this order (because MacGregors had fought on the side of the crown during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms) but it was re-imposed by William of Orange and the persecution of the clan continued until 1774, when the laws were finally repealed and a new clan chief installed. The MacGregors are credited with being one of the first families in Scotland to pick up the bagpipes (in the early 17th century).
Clan Stewart
Region: Highlands and Lowlands
Seat: Edinburgh Castle (while on the throne)
Motto: Virescit vulnere virtus (Courage grows strong at a wound)
Arch-enemies: Clan Douglas
Although Clan Stewart no longer has a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Stewarts are a historically powerful force directly connected to the Royal House of Stewart, which ruled Scotland (and later Britain and Ireland) for centuries.
The offspring of a Norman invader from Brittany, an early member of the clan, Walter FitzAlan, became High Steward of Scotland during the reign of David I of Scotland (1124–53), and the name Stewart derives from the word ‘steward’.
The position was hereditary, and the Stewarts filled it for centuries, helping to repel Viking invaders attempting to retake Scotland. James Stewart (5th High Steward of Scotland) initially supported the English crown during the Wars of Scottish Independence, but subsequently switched allegiance and sided with Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.
Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, married Marjory, a daughter of king Robert the Bruce, and their son Robert became king in 1371, starting a line of Stewarts (changed to the French spelling ‘Stuart’ by Mary, Queen of Scots, who was raised in France) that ruled Scotland (and Britain and Ireland) until the death of Queen Mary in 1714 (except during the period of the Commonwealth, 1649–60, when Britain briefly became a republic).
After losing the throne, the Stewarts/Stuarts campaigned to retake the crown, with their supporters becoming known as the Jacobites.
Clan Douglas
Region: Lowlands
Seat: Douglas Castle (historic)
Titles: Earl of Douglas (Black Douglas) / Earl of Angus (Red Douglas)
Motto: Jamais arrière (Never Behind)
Arch-enemies: Clan Stewart (Black Douglases) / Clan Colville
A once-powerful Lowlands force, Clan Douglas no longer has a chief or clan seat. Originally from Lanarkshire, they wielded power across the Borders, Angus, Lothian and Moray, but also in France and Sweden. The clan has existed since at least 1179, with early members taking part in battles against the Norse.
There is a big split within this clan, with two main groupings: the Black Douglases from Lanarkshire and the Red Douglases from Angus. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, Sir William Douglas the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, was caught by the English and forced to recognise Edward I of England as overlord of Scotland, but he subsequently sided with William Wallace, until being recaptured and thrown in the Tower of London, where he died.
His son, James Douglas, was the original Black Douglas, who fought with Robert the Bruce for Scottish independence, including at the Battle of Bannockburn and is regarded as a Scottish hero. ‘The Good Sir James Douglas’ was tasked with taking the heart of Robert the Bruce to the Holy Land, but he was killed during this quest (and Robert’s heart returned to Scotland).
The clan was involved in multiple feuds, and once laid siege to Edinburgh Castle. William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas was murdered by King James II of Scotland, who stabbed him in the throat during a dinner at Stirling Castle in 1452 when Douglas refused to swear fealty.
Further battles with the Royal Stewarts saw the Black Douglases destroyed by the king's forces, led by George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus (the Red Douglas). The Red Douglases subsequently became very powerful, wielding huge influence under successive Stewart monarchs. However, after many divisions and battles, the Douglases supported the British Government during the Jacobite risings in the 18th century, and Douglas Castle was burnt by the Highland armies of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745.
