The Speckled Band » MacFarlane Clan http://www.thespeckledband.com or “how did i get here?” Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:36:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc OK, So I’m A Highlander http://www.thespeckledband.com/ok-so-im-a-highlander http://www.thespeckledband.com/ok-so-im-a-highlander#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2005 11:31:43 +0000 Cameron http://www.thespeckledband.com/?p=44 MacFarlane TartanMy secret is out! OK, it might not be a secret as such but more a statement. My family name is a Sept name of the Clan MacFarlane…..and I’m pretty proud of it I’d have to say – even if at times there were less than desirable incidences that are associated with the Clan – blackmail and murder amongst them. In fact the word “blackmail” comes directly from one of the MacFarlane’s activities – along with the MacGregor’s (of Rob Roy fame) and one or two other rowdy highland Clans. Back then the “black” came from the black highland cattle and the “mail” came from an agreement not to steal said cattle. In other words we were cattle rustlers! It was said that the MacFarlanes stole cattle by “the light of MacFarlane’s Lantern” – which basically meant the full moon. I’m not exactly sure when we were given exclusive rights on the moon though, but still?

I also read somewhere recently that apparently real estate was now being sold on the moon? Now I would think it would be a little difficult to check out your claim in person? But I digress

Murder, treachery, theft and blackmail were not unusual amongst the highland clans – hell, just about all of them did it! What was interesting to me was that out of all the uncontrollable and unruly highland clans, the MacFarlanes were probably the worst! Maybe that’s why there’s occasionally a little “berserker” in me trying to get out? It also may explain why I like wearing skirts. OK, scratch that…..I don’t really wear skirts at all – though I did once at a party……But even then that was kinda like a kilt anyway!

MacFarlane LandsWe weren’t all bad though – well, unless you were English of course. On many occasions we would fight for our homeland from the oppressive English! We fought valiantly alongside William Wallace, and then later Robert The Bruce at Bannockburn, and hid both of them from the English on our lands located on the uppermost left of Loch Lomond. The Clan even managed to capture three standards from Queen Mary when we fought against her armies.

Along with the MacGregor’s we were finally outlawed and our lands seized. Our last Clan Chief left Scotland for America in the 1800′s, never to return. To this day we are still without a Chief.

MacFarlane LithographLast year I started collecting together information, books, etchings, photographs and old postcards for a possible book that I wanted to write on the clan. There are one or two books already out there but they’re either long out of print or slim “introductory” volumes. What I wanted to do was a little bit different but I needed to see what was around and available before committing myself to writing one. I’d only just started the writing before Christmas and I put it aside for the holiday period. After Christmas I then got into doing the re-vamp on The REG Temple so I put the writing aside for a while. So far I’ve not got back into it but I will at some time in the future.

That’s when I’ve finally got some other things out of the way first!

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