Clan Buchanan

Buchanan’s documented history begins on the east shore of Loch Lomond in the thirteenth century. During the time of Maldouen, Earl of Lennox, Anselan was granted the island of Clairinch in 1225, and Gilbert de Buchanan received a charter in 1231 confirming Clairinch and other lands. The name is territorial, from either Mac a’ Chanonaich, son of the canon, or Buth Chanain, seat of the canon. The clan lands lay around Killearn on Loch Lomondside, with Buchanan Auld House as the historic seat. Sir Alexander Buchanan is reported to have killed the Duke of Clarence at Bauge in 1421; the chief’s elder son Patrick was killed at Flodden in 1513; and the clan fought at Pinkie Cleugh in 1547.

Buchanan’s strongest story is a modern one. John Buchanan, 19th chief, died in 1681 leaving no male heir, and the chiefship then lay dormant for 337 years. A petition was lodged with the Court of the Lord Lyon in December 2016, and in August 2018 the Lord Lyon allowed it, recognising John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan as Chief of the Name and Arms of Buchanan. He sits on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. The descent from an Irish progenitor often printed in clan literature is tradition, not record.

The Buchanan tartan

Buchanan is unusually well documented. Two setts are attributed by the Register to Wilsons of Bannockburn — Buchanan 1800 and Buchanan 1850 — which is a genuine commercial pedigree independent of the Victorian forgery that supplied so many clan tartans. A third, Buchanan 1842, is attributed by the Register to the Sobieski Stewarts, meaning it comes from the Vestiarium Scoticum, whose supposed ancient manuscript was shown by chemical testing in 1895 to have been artificially aged.

Further distinct records include Buchanan 1907, Buchanan of Leny (attributed to the antiquarian James Logan, 1831), Buchanan Hunting (1955), an Old Dress sett by Peter Macarthur & Co, a Dress sett by Pringle’s of Inverness (1980), a Dress Blue by Hugh Macpherson (1983), and a Buchanan Inauguration tartan designed by Lucy Buchanan for the 2018 restoration.

A note on honesty: Buchanan Modern, Ancient, Weathered and Muted are not separate tartans. They are dye shades applied to one of the threadcounts above — if a supplier offers you “Buchanan Ancient”, the useful question is which sett it is woven to. No Buchanan tartan is documented earlier than 1800, so nothing worn at Bannockburn or Bauge was a Buchanan tartan.

Clan facts

References

1. Buchanan tartans — The Scottish Register of Tartans
2. Our Chief — The Clan Buchanan
3. Members of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs