The Famous Faces of Clan Duncan

First, we must begin with perhaps the most famous Duncans of all – King Duncan I! While his actual ancestry isn’t 100% known, historians have their theories. There are two primary genealogies and we’ll lay them out here:

• he was the son of Crínán, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethóc, daughter of King Malcolm II
• he was the first son of Abonarhl ap crinan (the grandson of Crinan) and Princess Beatrice, the eldest daughter to King Malcom, the 2nd, and Gunora who was the daughter of the 2nd Duke of Normandy

Phew, that’s a lot to wrap your head around, we know. The important thing to remember is that Duncan I wasn’t quite as he was portrayed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. He ruled Scotland from 1034 to 1040 and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick", despite apparently being a young man when taking the throne. One thing historians and England’s Bard do agree on is that he was, in fact, killed by Macbeth.

While the majority of the Duncan’s on our list are very much Scottish, we’re glad to have a Duncan representing the US and Sandy Duncan does an excellent job! Sandy Duncan is a true triple threat and has been nominated for three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards during her long career. She is one of Broadway’s classic great stars, having played the title role in the revival of Peter Pan, which is traditionally played by a woman. In fact, we might call her a quadruple threat to account for the flying. Not only is she a multi award-winning theatre actress, but her career also spans film and television, with a particular draw to her work in comedy. She was a cast member on The Hogan Family, The Muppet Show, and even had her own episode on The New Scooby-Doo Movies called Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde", in which she voiced herself. If all of that weren’t impressive enough, from 1971 to 1972, Duncan had her own show on CBS called, what else but…The Sandy Duncan Show!

Besides being the Duncan of nobility on our list, Adam Duncan is kind of an historic naval icon. He was born in Dundee in July of 1731 as the second son of Alexander Duncan, Baron of Lundie. After entering the Royal Navy, he eventually earned the position of admiral. During his time in his illustrious role, he defeated the Dutch fleet off of Camperdown in the Battle of Camperdown. His victory is one of the most celebrated in naval history and earned him the Large Naval Gold Medal, as well as his peerage as Viscount Duncan, of Camperdown, as well as Baron Duncan, of Lundie in the Shire of Perth (later known as Camperdown Park, which we’ll be chatting about in our blog all about famous Duncan places, so stay tuned). He was certainly one of the most significant actors in Scottish history during this time and we can only imagine that Clan Duncan is incredibly proud to count him among their ranks.

We’ll give you a second to guess what the ‘C’ stands for… yep, it’s Christopher. C Duncan is an accomplished Scottish composer and musician. His first solo single, "For", was released in December 2014, and he’s been on the up and up ever since. Growing up, he was greatly influenced by his parents, who are both classical musicians. He began his musical journey playing the piano and viola, but eventually, he started playing guitar, bass, and drums. He enrolled in Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) to study music composition and his works have been performed by various ensembles across the UK. All of this inspired his unique music, which often combines classical and modern sounds. His recent compositions have been featured on various television programmes, including “Waterloo Road”, and have been performed by Icebreaker and the Sirens of Titan choir.

Golfers, you’re going to LOVE this one! George Duncan was born in 1883 in Methlick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and became a prominent professional golfer. His path wasn’t exactly perfectly paved as he went through stints of carpentry and footballing before becoming the fast-paced player he was known as – not the typical way we refer to styles of play. Nevertheless, his way of successfully hitting the ball without pause or practice both stunned and gained the admiration of golfers and golf lovers alike. Eventually, he became known as the “pro’s pro” after beginning to teach his swing analysis to other professionals. George Duncan won the first post World War I Open Championship in 1920, during which he had what is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time.

Jane Duncan was actually the pseudonym of Elizabeth Jane Cameron, who was a well known Scottish author. Born in 1910 in Renton, West Dunbartonshire, her childhood in Scotland seems to have been one that many of us might envy – especially those of us across the pond, forever dreaming of the Highlands. While she was primarily brought up in the Scottish Lowlands, she spent a lot of time in the Highlands on the Black Isle in Easter Ross, which is where her grandparents' croft was located. (What a dream, right?) She boasted an impressive education, having graduated M.A. in English from the University of Glasgow, where she also studied French, Moral Philosophy and Scottish History. She is perhaps best known for her My Friends series of semi-autobiographical novels, but she also wrote four novels under the name of her principal heroine Janet Sandison, and some other children's books. We definitely recommend checking out her books for a taste of something inspired by life in Scotland.