Clan of the Month - The Amazing Andersons

Clan Anderson, unlike many of the other clans, doesn’t have a fantastic origin story involving epic battles and curious beasts. It uses a patronymic naming convention - the name ‘Anderson’ simply means ‘Son of Andrew’, as does the related name MacAndrew (Mac indicates ‘son of’ in Gaelic). Both names are extremely widespread in Scotland, with Anderson being more common in the lowlands and MacAndrew in the highlands. This makes it difficult to pin down the original Andrew from whom the name originates!

The earliest recorded mention of an early iteration of the name seems to be in the 13th century. In 1296, David le fiz Andreu of Peebles and Duncan fiz Andreu of Dumfries both took an oath of fealty to Edward I of England during the Wars of independence.

Both Anderson and MacAndrew have existed for hundreds of years across Scotland, so there’s no official clan territory. However, there are some details in the Kinrara manuscript claiming that the MacAndrews came to Badenoch from Moidart in around 1400. The largest group of Andersons historically have been found in Aberdeenshire, in the north-east of Scotland, particularly in Aberdeen, Elgin and Banff, so there may well be some truth in this claim.

There are also records of land-owning Anderson families in the Borders, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Lothians, Fife and Angus, as well as further north in the Black Isle and even in Orkney and Shetland. There have always been both Andersons and MacAndrews in and around Inverness and the Moray coast.

Anderson is the eighth most common surname in Scotland, with 0.70% of the population bearing the name. So, if you’re an Anderson, you’re in good company!

Clan Anderson is an armigerous clan. If a clan is armigerous, it means that the clan, family, or name is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon but doesn’t currently have a chief recognised by the Lyon Court. The Lyon Court regulated heraldry in Scotland and keeps records of the genealogy and the register of grants of arms.

Some members of the clan are Armigers, meaning that they have the right to bear arms. They’re sometimes called Armigerous Gentlemen of the Clan, and in the absence of a clan chief, it would fall to these representatives to settle any issues relating to the clan.

It’s unclear whether the Andersons have ever had a clan chief. Records are few and far between, although there is a mention of an ‘Anderson of that Ilk’ (meaning ‘Anderson of Anderson’, or ‘Chief of that name’) in a mid-16th century manuscript called the ‘Workman Manuscript’. This document included depictions of coats of arms of prominent contemporary Scots, including one ascribed to ‘Anderson of that Ilk’. This suggests that the coat of arms belonged to someone who’d been recognised as Chief of the Anderson Clan, but there are no records of the actual name of this supposed chief. No family has been identified, and so there’s no record of his succession.

At roughly the same time, there were records of an Officer of Arms, Carrick Pursuivant, named James Anderson of Sterheuch, and it could be presumed that he was also the ‘Anderson of that Ilk’. However, this claim has never been substantiated.

It can’t be definitively said, therefore, that the clan did have a chief at this time as there isn’t enough factual evidence. Who knows, though - perhaps in time more records will be found, and the Andersons will no longer be a clan without a chief!

The motto of the clan is ‘Stand Sure’, and this can be found on the clan crest, along with an oak tree. Both the motto and the emblem seem to have been taken from the Andersons of Noth, Strathbogie, who were an influential family. Their crest and motto has been accepted as that of the whole clan.

An oak tree carving can also be found in the entrance porch of Strathdon Church in Aberdeenshire, an estate which was held by the Andersons of Candacraig for ten generations.

The Anderson tartan is quite unique in that it contains seven different colours - most clan tartans have six or less. Containing light blue, red, black, yellow, white, green and navy, it’s an eye-catching tartan that’s certainly not for the faint-hearted! The design is so intricate that it must be woven on a special loom.

The Anderson Modern tartan features strong reds and a bright yellow that will stand out from the crowd. The Anderson Ancient tartan comes in more muted colours, thanks to the animal and vegetable dyes that were used prior to 1860. And finally, the Anderson Weathered tartan uses the same colour palette, but with a wind, rain and sun beaten effect (mostly rain, we imagine - we are in Scotland after all!). It’s possible that this version of the tartan most closely resembles what the Anderson forefathers would have worn hundreds of years ago.