Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Sally Jo McLennan Truhlar who is on the mend from knee replacement surgery. I know another McLennan who had both knees replaced at one time! Maybe its something in the genes? Seriously, Sally Jo is a trooper She emailed me the night before surgery to offer some information for a future edition.
HISTORY TELLS US
There has been a great bit of discussion regarding the Mc and Mac spelling in the beginning and ending of
Scot and Irish Names such as Mac,Mc, Mc. This was because of laziness primarily in the USA. This occurred primarily because the children continued to live on the Chief's lands and needed an identification. In some cases the son of was added at the end - Donaldson, Robertson.
In Scotland and Nova Scotia names beginning with Mac were traditionally listed under the first letter of
the last name. The US lists them under M or the 1st letter of the last name. There are however exceptions
to this rule. Some families have an Irish/Scot connection and Pict or Viking connection, example:
Innes/ MacInnes. The Innes families are of Pictal roots . The MacInnes families are of Gaelic origin from the west coast.
Because of these above situations following the origin of some names is very difficult and one must have a
great deal of information before making a wise decision.
In the United States these changes came primarily from census takers. In Scotland up until the late 18th
century the Scots were Illiterate. Only the Chief and ministers could read. Most of the commoners were
not taught to read or write. During this time spelling differences were trivial because most names came from
the profession, or country area, re: carpenter, riverbank.
It was not until 1948 that a written Gaelic Language came about. This was when surnames were written for
the first time.
In Scotland the practice in the South and Ireland was to write two names as one, ex: MacGill/ Magill.
Youth Pages
This is a brand new section submitted from Alexandre McKeon and Colleen MacLennan from Colorado. In a wonderful fun way they have introduced some materials for our youth and potential youth members to become better acquainted with the whole concept of "clan” and a larger family and our history. Congrats to them both for coming up with this idea. Please print and share with your youth.
Sally Jo McLennan Truhlar has written that she has “a couple of old letters, from the early and mid 1800's, written by Neill McLennan, Sr.'s second daughter and his nephew to relatives in Florida describing events in the McLennan Family in early Texas.” “As you may, or may not know, Neill McLennan was the first white settler of both Walton County, Florida and McLennan County, Texas….”
Please add her to your “Caring & Sharing” mental list as she had knee replacement surgery recently. Here’s to a speedy recovery, Sally.
In response to your request, Win has offered to research and write a piece on how the Logan and the MacLennan clans are related. Stay tuned…….
The Clan is Everywhere!
Not sure if you are a “Wikipedia” fan or not but the history of the MacLennan clan is out there for the world to see. Wikipedia for those of you who don’t know, is a self-proclaimed, “free encyclopedia”.
Welcome to the newly designed quarterly MacLennan Clan Newsletter. We are hoping to make this newsletter more about you, the readers. In this edition we are introducing a new format that will include: the Editor’s Corner,Membership, Caring & Sharing, History Tells Us, Clan News Around the World and an Events Calendar.
Many thanks from your new editor to our Membership Chairperson and Convener, Jennifer Young, for all of her support, emails and “gentle nagging” which kept me on track.
Also we have appointed Alexandre McKeon to put together a Youth Program to attract this age group to our association. She can be reached at: DumSpiroSpero_1@msn.com
Many other suggestions were offered but it was the feeling of the members in attendance that we really
need to get these three items in a secure operational mode before any more changes are made in 2007
Additional changes and appointments will be made at the next Annual meeting in the fall of 2007.
With the changes made we should have a much better exposure to the MacLennan name in the country and
will
increase their awareness to our existence.
One of our conveners, Jay Park has returned to military duty and returned for another two year tour
in Iraq. The Clan Association wishes him Godspeed and safety while on tour.
Contributed by Win MacLennan, National President & Association President
Clan News Around the World
Don’t forget to keep in touch with Clan MacLennan Worldwide. Their website is full of interesting and fun information.
MacLennan Clan Crest: A piper adorned with the MacLennan ancient tartan
MacLennan Clan Motto: Dum Spiro Spero
(while I breathe, I hope).
History of Clan MacLennan: the history of the MacLennans is complicated in that the Chiefship remained dormant for over three hundred years. In addition, they are closely associated with the Logans, both having originally settled in Kintail, although the Logans later grew to prominence in the Lowlands of Scotland, becoming Lords of Restarlig.
In the highlands the MacLennans supported the Mackenzie. When the Marquis of Montrose rallied the Clans to the Royalist Cause in 1645, the 2nd Earl of Seaforth, the Mackenzie Chief, and a Covnenter, opposed him. In the ensuing Battle of Auldearn, the men of Kintail, led by the MacLennan Chief, who carried the Seaforth Standard, were decimated.
Here’s two of my mantras for 2007 which you are all welcome to borrow,
“Stone Mountain or Bust”
&
“Grow the Clan”
I borrowed that one from L. Jay Parks who is currently in Iraq. If you would like to email Jay and send him your best wishes from the U.S. his email address is:
The McLennan family left, came all the way from Sun City and Apollo Beach, Fl, Little River, NC and Framingham, MA to have their own family reunion in Stone Mountain, GA. They were surprised and thrilled to have the opportunity to join the larger MacLennan clan that weekend.
From left to right back row:James Duncan McLennan (Jay)
William Alan McLennan (Bill) Lois Anne McLennan (Lois)
From left to right front row: Donna McLennan, Frank McLennan and Joseph McLennan (Joey).
