WHY . . . do you support Clan MacTavish?

[Jennifer Hicks]

Feel free to elaborate

[Joan E. Zaher]

Hi! Great subject.

I joined Clan MacTavish in the hopes of finding information regarding my ancestors. I had hoped to match my information with other members in this search for my grandfather, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland and his family. I must report that I am still looking for a willing participant in that project.

I have found that I thoroughly enjoy ALL the activities at the festivals. The music and the food are always great. What is a festival wihtout the pipes, the sheep dog demonstrations and the Scottish dog display? During the last couple of years I found an interest in the sports program. The cattle are so cute. I wish I had one in my backyard, lol. That last thought reminds me of my childhood. I grew up in the city. Every time my parents would take me for a pony ride, I would plead for a pony. When asked where I would keep him, I said, "in the backyard." When told we lived in the city and could not do that I replied, "well, I could keep him in my bedroom closet!", lol. I have been an animal lover all my life.

Most of all, I love meeting "family" from all over the country. There is much joy to be found at the family tent during these events. In New England, after the festivals close we have barbeques and we invite other clans to join in. I always enjoy that closeness I feel.....while hanging out with our family members. It is something that is difficult to describe. You really have to be there to experience it yourself.

We will all be going to Estes Park, Colorado this coming September. THere we will meet our new Colorado Commissioner, Father Hill and all the new members he signed up there last summer. I have been there before and I know how beautiful the area is. We hope you will all join us. As for me.....I can't wait!

Slainte
Joan

_________________
Every path has a few puddles.
You canot unsay a cruel word.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Joan(n)

[raven]

Interesting subject,

I would have to say that I always was interested in scottish history, my only claim to Scotland is that I found a viking ancestor that invaded it and set up shop there. My current set was I was doing research for my firend Daniel, and I tracked down the affiliation for him, I offered my allegiance and was pleasantly surprised that they took me in.

[Tom Stevenson]

Long before I had compiled any of my family history, I knew that I was Scottish. Being from the rural South I never had an opportunity to get involved in any of the Games or Festivals. After years of tracing the history of the family and confirming that we did indeed migrate from Scotland to County Down, Ireland for a generation and then take the plunge across the Atlantic; I searched for several years before finding Clan MacTavish. Now it appears y'all are stuck with me. I regularly check the forums. I can't wait to visit with some of you at the games this year; and Edinburgh in 2009 is at the top of my list of things to do.

[Jennifer Hicks]

Hi Tom,

Part of my family also came from Scotland to America via a couple generations stay in Northern Ireland.

I wonder how many other members family have this migration as part of their history?

Jennifer

[tomepa]

One line of my family started in Ireland, got kicked out (the migration to what is now Argyll), returned to Ireland from Scotland after the '45 (got kicked out of there too we think) and landed in Philadelphia in the late 1700's.

_________________
Donley
Lieutenant to the Chief

[Joan E. Zaher]

My family are the Thom(p)sons. My grandfather was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1878. His family moved to Ireland, where they lived for some (unknown) period of time. There he met my grandmother Elizabeth. They moved to America in the late 1890's. Their first (of six) daughters was born in the USA in the year 1900.

If you will all check the Maine web site, you will find that they have an Scots/Irish Ulster project going on. You might be interested in reading about it. Here is the link--
http://www.mainehighlandgames.org/ulsterscotsproject.html
Slainte,
Joan

_________________
Every path has a few puddles.
You canot unsay a cruel word.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Joan(n)

[Patrick Thompson]

Why support the Clan? Family is important. What do we really have if not each other? Membership in the Clan MacTavish helps to support the efforts to grow and to spread the word about our re-establishment after a long dormancy so that we can bring our kinsmen and kinswomen together. Some may call that membership growth, but I tend to think of it as family reunited since great Scottish diaspora.

My ancestors came from North Knapdale, Rudle farm area, moved into Kilmartin and very early on one of the sons John was killed in a fight, according to family tradition. The other Alexander fled to the Lowlands, took the name Thomson, and under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, enlisted in the Army went to Northern Ireland and fought at the Battle of Kinsale on Christmas Eve, 1601. (Apparently there was some skullduggery afoot.) During the Reign of King James who succeeded, supposedly my ancestor was granted lands in Northern Ireland (which records cannot prove). We can find all the descendants listed in the Lisburn Cathedral records. A couple of generations later two sons, one for sure, came to Pennsylvania (1735) and we find his will in the Chester County archives there, where the name changed from Thomson to Thompson. All this history was written down in a chronicle kept by my family in the Family Bible, which I was fortunate to inherit, There are names like Tomson, Thomson, Thompson, MacCavish and MacAwes all listed, as relatives, plus some place names which I just recently found out were actually farm or estate names (having to do some rather deep research). These were in the Sheriff Court records in Argyllshire, and some of the relatives mentioned in my family chronicle also show up. Interestingly a few of those listed, when compared to placenames, show up with MacTavish names vice Thomson names, or vice versa.

In my opinion, its a no brainer to support the Clan society, it being an integral part of the Clan itself. Joining family together, exploring and celebrating our heritage and history, and having fun doing so is a wonderful experience.

You will never know unless you get involved.

Patrick Thompson
Seannachie