What is a Sept . . . According to ElectricScotland.com, the variety of surnames within a Scottish clan do not represent separate and definable sub-clans but instead reflect the vagaries of transition of the Gaels into the English naming system as well as marriages, migrations and occupations. The main family itself may have developed a variety of surnames.
The preferred modern usage is to avoid the use of the term "sept" and to simply describe these names as what thay are - surnames of the family and of allied or dependent families. It is preferable to speak of "The names and families of Clan X" rather to call a name "a sept of Clan X". "Sept" is actually a term borrowed from Irish culture in the nineteenth century to explain the use of a variety of surnames by members of a single clan. Where Scots would say "MacGregor and his clan" and Irish historian might say "O'Neill and his sept". |
The ClanTurnbull.com Position . . . While we understand the explanation of the word Sept may not lend itself to proper usage as a Scottish term, the word is so much a part of the festival culture that we will continue to use the term "Sept" to refer to our beloved relatives. |
