Talk:Clan Macpherson

Capital "P"

I have a concern with the "Origin of Name" section. It states: "As Parson is not a person's name, the clan is usually spelled with a lower case 'p'."

The Word "usually" is my concern. I have seen it spelled this way, but the vast bulk of spellings I have seen have a capital "P". Unless there is a source for this "usual" spelling, I suggest changing it to "sometimes".—Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcphja2 (talk • contribs) 14 August 2006

I agree with this, I am a MacPherson, and I have met many MacPhersons that I am not directly related to that use the capital "P" when spelling their name rather than the lowercase "p". I thing it is inaccurate and very presumptuous to state that it is 'usually' spelled with the lowercase "p" since it would be extremely difficult to quantify this. Please consider revising. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.147.195.158 (talk) 22:03, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

I think there is a difference between the name MacPherson that people have, and the clan's actual name. It seems the clan name is Clan Macpherson (small 'p'). Though most people may write it Clan MacPherson, or write their name as MacPherson. Anyways, the part about why the lowercase spelling is used should have a reference. It seems, to me anyways, that someone put why they thought the lowercase letter is used. A ref should be found to confirm this. Until then it ought to be tagged with "citation needed".--Celtus (talk) 06:01, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

My name is Ewen Macpherson, as most scots with "Mac" in their surname i know this means "son of" whether or not an uppercase or lowercase letter is used in wording the rest of the name is irrelevent but if anthing it's certainly presumptuous to use the capital letter twice in yor surname. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.14.11.52 (talk) 17:45, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Picture

The picture of the Cluny is a picture I took myself at the 2006 Family Gathering in August at Kingussie. It is free to use and not copyrighted.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Xherring (talk • contribs) 12 April 2007

Murray >>> Murdoch?

Gaelic Name: The Gaelic name for Macpherson is 'Clann Mhuirich' – Children of Murdoch.

Is it true? I think that the Gaelic name is Mac a' Phearsoin (http://www.scotclans.com/scottish_clans/clan_macpherson/). Mhuirich is the Gaelic name for the clan Murray (http://www.scotclans.com/scottish_clans/clans/murray/). 88.134.62.236 (talk) 13:13, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

I think that refers to a clan name, you're referring to the modern surname. The clan was known as Clann Mhuirich (spelt variously), because they claimed to descend from Duncan 'the parson', who flourished in 1438 (who was possibly the source of the modern surname). Duncan's great-grandfather was supposedly named Muredach, that's why they were also known as 'the children of Muredach'.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 10:20, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

According to George Fraser Black, author of Surnames of Scotland, some people who bear the surname Macpherson today are actually members of the MacMhuirich family that produced bards for the MacDonalds in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. This family claimed descent from the 13th century bard Muireadhach Albanach, and aren't related to Clan Macpherson. The reason for the confusion and screwup is that Clan Macpherson is known in Gaelic as Clann Mhuirich.

And I just noticed something kinda interesting. It looks like an example of it working the other way. Look at this guy - Martin William Currie. His surname, Currie, has mulitple differing origins, but one of them is as an Anglicised form of MacMhuirich, and some Curries are supposedly related to the bardic family I mentioned. However, Martin Currie's article notes how he has MacDonald and Macpherson family connections, and also links to his coat of arms here. The coat of arms looks Macphersonish to my eye. I wonder if he is an example of a clan member who actually bears an Anglicised form of the old patronym that refers to the ancestor of Clan Macpherson, the man whose name is still preserved in the Gaelic name for the clan - Clann Mhuirich. That's what I love about Scots heraldry.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 08:35, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

Another thing. A few good Scottish Gaelic dictionaries state that bearers of the English-surname Macpherson can bear the MacMhuirich and MacMhurich as Scottish Gaelic-surnames (Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-203-22259-8; and Owen, Robert C. (1993), The Modern Gaelic-English Dictionary, Gairm, ISBN 1 871901 29 4).--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 08:52, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

Motto

The Clan Mackintosh page gives a different interpretation of the motto, i.e. "Touch not the cat without a glove" Would anyone like to enlighten? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.30.200.99 (talk) 16:38, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe that the version on the Clan Mackintosh page is correct but that is just going by the info on the Clan Macpherson page at scotsclans.com. There could be a slight variation though as they are two separate clans, despite both being in the Chattan Confederation.QuintusPetillius (talk) 17:16, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Sir William Grant Macpherson, 1858–1927, RAMC

Wondering if the author of this 1908 book belonged to the Clan Macpherson. Lotje (talk) 13:49, 23 September 2017 (UTC)

Article at William Macpherson. (I took the liberty of refactoring the section head.) I think it’s something of an anachronism to call just about anyone of his era a clansman. The reliance on surnames to identify clan members is quite modern, and the Clan Macpherson Association didn’t exist until the 1940s IIANM. I would be very hesitant to assign a clan to any Highlander who was neither born into the clan system (before 1746 or so) nor a member of a modern clan society, without additional evidence of close ties to a chief or direct descent from a family known to belong. I don’t see any such indications in the article, but of course it doesn’t include his genealogy.—Odysseus1479 16:09, 23 September 2017 (UTC)