{"id":9,"date":"2018-10-13T22:43:59","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T22:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2025-10-17T12:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:20:16","slug":"clan-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/clan-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Clan History"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 15th<\/sup> of May, 1986, a group of Clansmen met and decided to form a branch of the Clan Donnachaidh Society.\u00a0 The name decided upon for this group is the Clan Donnachaidh Society of the Rocky Mountains<\/strong>.\u00a0 Elected to office at that meeting were Robert H. Baskin, President; Barbara Bromgard, Vice-President\/Treasurer, and Curtis W. Roberts, Secretary. This began the Rocky Mountain branch.<\/p>\n

There is a variety of local and international history.\u00a0 These pages include the stories, the history, and bits and pieces from different sources ncluding documentation from the International Society, and research found by past and present members.\u00a0 You may discover that there are threads of similarities as well as conflicting representations.\u00a0 Thus is the reality of history, with it be things passed from one generation to another by word of mouth and\/or the documented understanding of events.\u00a0 We have included all different types of information to give visitors and members possible understanding of the history.\u00a0 Some of these pages are printed and shared with visitors at meetings and games to give them a basic overview and understanding of our societies.<\/p>\n

For International Society History<\/strong> we recommend that going to their website and we recommend The Robertson\u2019s, by <\/em>James Irvine Robertson. \u00a0This book gives anyone a great overall history.<\/p>\n

This history description is from Maria Costantio\u2019s book \u201cThe Handbook of Clans & Tartans of Scotland\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe chiefs of the Clan Robertson are descended from the Celtic \u201cmormaers\u201d or ruling princes of Atholl.\u00a0 The clan is more correctly called Clan Donnachaidh, which means \u201cChildren of Duncan\u201d, after their ancestor Robert Riabhach \u201cGrizzled Robert\u201d Duncanson, the 4th<\/sup> Chief of the Clan.\u00a0 His lands were elected into the Barony of Struan in 1451 by James II as a reward for the capture of Sir Robert Graham who had (under great provocation) murdered King James I in 1437 at Perth.\u00a0 Riabhach\u2019s son took the name Robertson, which thereafter became the Clan and family name.<\/p>\n

Like many clans, the Robertsons feuded with their neighbors, in this case the Stewarts of Atholl; the 6th<\/sup> Chief, William Robertson was killed by the Stewarts while trying to recover lands stolen from him, and the 8th<\/sup> Chief was murdered.\u00a0 His brother inherited an estate so deeply in debt that a large portion of the lands had to be sold off.\u00a0 In early times, the chiefs had castles at Rannoch and at Invernack near Struan, and until 1854, their principal residence was Dunalastair, or Mount Alexander, at the foot of Schiehallion in Rannoch.\u00a0 In 1606, John Robertson, a wealthy Edinburgh merchant with claims to kinship, transferred the title of the lands to Robertson of Struan.<\/p>\n

In 1636, the chiefship was devolved to Donald, known as the \u201ctutor of Struan\u201d.\u00a0 Intensely loyal to the Stewart monarchy, Donald raised a regiment to fight for Charles I in the Civil War.\u00a0 Alexander, 17th<\/sup> Chief of Struan, was known as the \u201cPoet Chief\u201d.\u00a0 He followed James VII into exile in France in 1690 and had his estates forfeited.\u00a0 He was pardoned in 1703, but would never swear fealty to the Hanoverian succession, calling the Clan Donnachaidh out in 1715 to support the \u201cOld Pretender\u201d and again in 1745 when they rallied to the side of the \u201cYoung Pretender\u201d, Prince Charles Edward Stewart.\u00a0 When the Poet Chief died, the chiefship passed to a kinsman, Duncan Robertson of Drumachuine.\u00a0 He was unable to take up the Robertson estates because he, too, had been forfeited for his participation in the 1745 Rising.\u00a0 In 1784, his estates son Alexander, the 15th<\/sup> chief, succeeded in having the Barony of Struan restored to him by the Crown.\u00a0 In 1854, George Robertson, the 18th<\/sup> Chief, sold off the Struan estates and, for many years, his successors lived in Kingston, Jamaica, although a Clan Donnachaidh Society was formed in Edinburgh in 1893.<\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

How to pronounce Donnachaidh?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDonna-key<\/strong>\u201d, translated as “Children of Duncan”, emerged from the union of the Scottish and Pictish kingdoms and counts among its forebears the Kindred of St. Columba.<\/p>\n

What are the things the clan does?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have an Annual General meeting which includes a potluck. Our officers and council meet every other month\u2014all members invited to attend and participate in these. We regularly participate in various games especially the Colorado Scottish Festival in Highlands Ranch and the Long Peak Estes Park games and are sponsors of Colorado Tartan Day. We have our own Robert Burns Dinner with a piper, haggis, drawings and a program with Celtic music by local performers. Our summer activities include an annual Ice Cream Social\/Picnic, and a trip to the Renaissance Faire for the Scottish\/Irish weekend. We try<\/u> to have an additional program or fund raisers during the year like a Scotch Tasting or genealogy seminar.\u00a0 The Yule\/Holiday Party includes our community service project of collecting food donations for a local food bank.<\/p>\n

Who is our\u00a0 current International Chief<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexander Gilbert Haldane Robertson of Struan<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 15th of May, 1986, a group of Clansmen met and decided to form a branch of the Clan Donnachaidh Society.\u00a0 The name decided upon for this group is the Clan Donnachaidh Society of the Rocky Mountains.\u00a0 Elected to office at that meeting were Robert H. Baskin, President; Barbara Bromgard, Vice-President\/Treasurer, and Curtis W….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaXsCz-9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3977,"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions\/3977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockymountainscots.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}