Siol Alpin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Siol Alpin or ‘House of Alpin’ is a family of seven Scottish Clans that trace their descent from King Alpin of Dal Riata, supposed father of King Kenneth MacAlpin I, first King of Scots.
The seven Clans that make up the Siol Alpin are: Clan Grant, Clan MacGregor, Clan MacNab, Clan MacFie, Clan MacKinnon, Clan MacQuarrie and Clan MacAulay of Ardincaple.
The belief in the Siol Alpin tradition, amongst the individual clans that claim to be part of it, is without question a strong one. All seven clans, for instance, share the same plant badge (see Heraldic badge) - the Scots Pine - worn in their bonnets. Some of the Clans further emphasize this tradition through their respective mottos and slogans. The MacGregor motto for instance is ‘My Blood is Royal’, while the MacFie clan uses ‘For the King’. Clan MacKinnon on the other hand has their clan slogan as ‘Remember the Death of Alpin’.
There are many historical examples which point to the strong beliefs each clan had in the Siol Alpin one example is in the aid given by Clan Grant to Clan MacGregor during the MacGregor's proscription by the crown in the 17th century. The Grants in particular, because they held such strong familial ties to the MacGregors gave an inordinate amount of aid to the MacGregors during the period of their proscription. Documents show that the Chief of Grants paid out huge sums, in fines, for providing aid to proscribed MacGregors during this period and there can be no other reason for this than a belief by the Chief of Grant, himself, that he was protecting and aiding his own kin.
The belief in the close relationship and blood-ties between the Grants and MacGregors was so strong, in fact, that at one point the Grants and MacGregors met at Blair Athol to discuss merging the two clans into one. This meeting broke up when it could not be decided which clan's name they would take, or who would be Chief.
Although the name MacAlpin is used today as a surname, there is little trace of an effective clan of that name in historical record. Charles MacKinnon makes the claim that the overarching clan of MacAlpin was not a clan in and of itself, and he asserts that those of the surname MacAlpin never held their own lands and in almost all cases they belong to one of the other seven clans. Members of the Clan MacAlpin Society are challenging this belief and are pursuing the goal of being recognized as a clan in their own right.
