BRANCH NEWS

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Branch

The Royal House of Dunkeld by James E. Fargo, FSA Scot

Published a series of articles from James E. Fargo on the Royal House of Dunkeld. These can be found from the main menu HISTORY tab.

Articles include stories on some of the Royal House of Dunkeld, such as:

Reign Of King Edgar (1097-1107)
Reign Of King Alexander I (1107-1124)
Reign Of King David (1124-1153)
Reign Of King Malcolm IV (1153-1165)
Reign Of King William The Lion (1165-1214)
Reign Of King Alexander II (1214-1249)
Reign Of King Alexander III (1249-1286)

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Branch

Review of Clan Video by James E. Fargo, FSA Scot

The 1994 clan video, "History of the Clan Donnachaidh", produced by Dan Robertson, a member of our Upper Mid-West Branch, is an excellent video. Dan has done a superb job of capturing the flavor of our history and kept the 73 minute tape interesting and very informative.

I enjoyed seeing several of our own Mid-Atlantic Branch members in the video: Don Robertson talking to award winning movie star Cliff Robertson at the 1993 Centenary Dinner and Vice President Evan Duncan dancing the night away at the Centenary Ball at Blair Castle.

The Parent Society's solicitor, Colin Liddell, is to be congratulated for having found a new calling as a narrator while he was successfully completing the fund raising campaign to build the addition to the Clan Museum Centre which opened in April 1995.

To a historical purist (like yours truly), there are a few minor errors that need correction. The battle of Methven is reported as having occurred in 1307 instead of 1306, and our 6th chief, William, is reported as being beheaded at Tulliemet in April 1516. Fortunately for our 6th Chief, it was his cousin, William MacPatrick Robertson who was beheaded by the Earl of Atholl's men. The latter is a common enough mistake that has been incorrectly reported by many Scottish historians due to the similarity of the names. These minor corrections most certainly do not detract from the overall effect which is absolutely excellent.

The narrative was well written and the photography is great! Overall, I heartily endorse this video and I think it is a "must" for every clanfolk's video library. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Dan and his crew for their efforts and for taking the initiative to attempt this well done production. The way YOU can thank Dan Robertson is by ordering a copy of this video as a gift for someone or just for yourself, as I did.

To order, send a check for $46.95 (shipping included) to:

FRAMEWORK
24260 Graver Ln.
Naperville, IL
60564 USA

Tel. (630) 961-5733
Fax. (630) 961-0817

Email: Dan Robertson

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Branch

Clan Donnachaidh Music

Some well known tunes are "Robertson's Rant", "Robertson of Ladykirk" and "Robertson of Lude".

General John Reid, the last Baron of Straloch, was a well known flutist and he wrote the music to "The Garb of Old Gaul", which is the regimental slow march of the Black Watch and the Scots Guards.

Another famous clan pipe tune is the "Laird of Struan's Salute", also known as the "Coming of the Robertsons" which legend has it was played as the clan marched to Bannockburn in 1314.

The oldest surviving Robertson piobaireachd is the An Ribean Gorm, "the Blue Ribbon", also called "The Robertson March".

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I.V.C.

Donnachaidh Branch Leaders

Please review the information in the message below as e-mailed yesterday by our Clan Society's Webmaster, Brian Robertson. If you did not receive his message, then your e-mail address has not been added to the website's mailing list and you are missing out on great information.

Go to this link and add your e-mail address to the list: donnachaidh.com/mailinglist.html. Also, please contact your members, who are also members of the Society in Scotland, and ask them to do the same.

In my report following the AGM, it was announced that the South U.S. Branch would be reduced to one state, now only Georgia, and will undergo a name change. Since then we have been working to establish a branch in the states which were excluded. We have work in progress in the state of Alabama, thank you to Jonn & Kathy Duncan.

Yesterday, I received a call from Dean Robertson, president of the Mid-West Branch (Oklahoma) saying they want to include the state of Louisiana in their branch. Fantastic! Thank you to Dean & Jean Robertson. Of the original five states excluded, that just leaves three; Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. If you have any contacts in those states, please let me know.

BTW, for those of you who are familiar with the Robertson family of Louisiana, "Duck Dynasty", we understand they have contacted the Clan Centre in Scotland and will be soon visiting our Clan Donnachaidh Museum. Won't that be interesting?!!

Keep in mind that the Clan Donnachaidh ad will now appear in the Scottish Banner. If this newspaper is available in your area, please let me know if you see it and submit any suggestions for changes. Remember to take advantage of the option to submit an ad for an upcoming activity at your branch on the "Events" page. This is a free service and can be added on-line anytime at: scottishbanner.com/events/.

I hope you are all having a great Summer and enjoying the highland games in your area. Please keep in touch.

Kind regards,
Christy Lange
IVC

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I.V.C.

Donnachaidh Branches

Recently added to the Clan Society's website is an explanation of the major issue which will be decided at the upcoming 2013 AGM in September. We have received questions from the members on how the consolidation of the Clan Donnachaidh Society and the Charitable Trust would work and how it would benefit the Society.

Please inform your members that this explanation on the special resolution is now available on the website for review. We hope it will answer questions on the process.

A vote will be taken at the 2013 AGM on officially approving this step in the process. Members may cast a vote by being present at the AGM, by submitting a proxy, or by sending an e-mail message (prior to the meeting) to our Clan Secretary.

When the final wording for the resolution is received from the attorney, a proxy form, along with instructions for casting a vote via e-mail, will be e-mailed to you. Please send this information out as soon as you can to your members who are also members in Scotland so they have a voice in this process.

We appreciate the special efforts of Ginnie Wilkie, our Clan Secretary, to provide this information so every member of the Clan Donnachaidh Society (Scotland) has the opportunity to vote on the issue. Any questions, let me know.

Christy Lange
IVC