St Kilda Kilts & Scottish Gifts

Clan Chattan takes its name from Gilchattan Mor, the great servant of Saint Cattan, or Cathan. Saint Cathan was the son of the Dál Riatan King Áedán Mac Gabráin (active in the 570s) who became a monk and follower of Saint Columba. So, the cat here is what’s known in heraldry as canting, punning in layman’s terms (heraldic artists like a good pun), as Cathan probably means something like ‘the one who battles’. The cat the Chattans refer to is not your domestic moggy, but the Highland Wildcat, a majestic but fierce and untameable beastie (and one that’s sadly endangered). The motto ‘Touch not the Catt but a Glove’, speaks for itself, bearing in mind that but/bot is a Scottish word meaning ‘without’.

Clan Chattan is the ultimate expression of ‘clanship’, being a confederation of smaller kin groups bought together in alliance for protection. Including descendants of the original Chattans (Macphersons, Cattanachs, Macbeans, Macphails); then the powerful Mackintoshes and their cadet branches (Shaws, Farquharsons, Richies, McCombies, Macthomases); and then non-related allies (Macgillivrays, Davidsons, Macleans of Dochgarroch, Macqueens of Pollochaig, Macintyres of Badenoch, Macandrews). We’ll be returning to some of their crests soon enough, and there’ll be plenty more cats to go around.

MKP 16 September 2021