Clan Donnachaidh, the Robertsons

The Robertsons are Clan Donnachaidh, the children of Duncan, and their country is Highland Perthshire — Glen Errochty, Loch Rannoch and Struan. The clan descends from Donnchadh Reamhar, “Stout Duncan”, a landholder near Dunkeld who supported Robert the Bruce.

The surname comes from Robert Riabhach, the “Grizzled”, fourth chief, who captured men responsible for the murder of James I at Perth in 1437. For this James II erected the clan lands into the Barony of Struan in 1451 and granted the distinctive crest of a hand holding up an imperial crown. The clan fought for Montrose in the civil wars and was out in the risings of 1689, 1715 and 1745, most famously under Alexander Robertson of Struan, the “Poet Chief”. The estates were forfeited and restored in 1784.

The Robertson tartan

The Register credits the plain Robertson sett to Wilsons of Bannockburn. The Hunting Robertson is the better-documented of the two: it is the Atholl district pattern with a white stripe added through the blue, probably developed in 1803 for the Loyal Clan Donnachie Volunteers raised by General William Robertson of Lude.

There is a telling detail in its history. When David Stewart of Garth sought a clan pattern in 1815 the chief could not name one; in 1816 Colonel Alexander Robertson of Struan sealed this hunting sett for the Highland Society of London’s collection. A further Robertson comes from the Vestiarium Scoticum of 1842.

A note on honesty: the 1803 origin is described by the clan’s own society as probable rather than proven, and the clan’s ultimate descent, whether from the Celtic Earls of Atholl or the Lords of the Isles, is genuinely unresolved.

Clan facts

References

1. Robertson tartans — The Scottish Register of Tartans
2. Origin of the Robertson Hunting Tartan — Clan Donnachaidh
3. The History of Tartan — Peter MacDonald
4. The History of Tartan — The Scottish Tartans Authority