Gilbert Robertson of Struan, 23rd Chief of Clan Donnachaidh is the head of one of most diverse of Scottish clans to attend the Gathering in Edinburgh.
People from all over the world came together in the summer sun to celebrate the diaspora of Scots in all four corners of the earth. The event was organised as the showpiece of the Homecoming Year on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.
Robertson was one of over 125 clan chiefs who enjoyed meeting and mingling with the crowds at the hugely successful event.
“I think the clans are doing very well,” he said. “They have survived since Culloden. They’re still going and I think we will continue to go, and go from strength to strength. “
His clan is one of the most dynamic, and has a large number of family names associated with the clan including Robertson, Roberts, Duncan, Robson, Robbie, MacConnach, Kinnach and Dobbin.
Addressing them all, the chief said “I would like to send you greetings from everybody in Scotland and wish you all very well.”
The Clan Donnachaidh Society was launched in 1823, and now has seventeen overseas branches. A Clan Donnachaidh DNA surname project has been launched in Houton, Texas.
The clan began with Donnachaidh Reamhair, a descendant of the Royal House of Duncan through the Celtic earls of Atholl.
In nearly a millennium of history since then the clan have borne warriors and poets, sharing the same rise and fall as the rest of Gaelic culture which prompted many of the clan to make their way to the new world.
