The
following article was published on the
Courier website at about the same time that
a similar article appeared in the printed Newspaper
on 18th February 2017.
Clansmen and women head home
to Scottish roots
by Richard Burdge February 18 2017,
8.18am
*****
A previous Clan MacThomas gathering in Glenshee
******
Members of an
ancient clan whose ancestral lands lay in Glenshee and
Glenisla will be heading from around the world this summer for
a gathering in Perthshire.
This year the
clan MacThomas members have also been invited to take in a
performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, marching
on to the castle esplanade wearing the clan
tartan.
*****
Following their
appearance at the tattoo on August 24, the clan
gathering will be staged in Pitlochry and Glenshee from August
25 to 28.
*****
Events will
include a tour of the clan territory, genealogy research,
attendance at the Strathardle Highland Games in Kirkmichael,
and a clan dinner in the presence of the 19th chief, Andrew
MacThomas of Finegand, in Pitlochry.
*****
There will also
be a ceremony held at Clach na Coileach in Glenshee, battle
re-enactments in both Glenshee and Glenisla and a
ceilidh.
*****
Mary Grundberg
(née Thoms), the clan’s European secretary, said: "The
gathering is always a memorable get together with clansfolk
coming from all over the world".
*****
"This year will
be extra special with the opportunity of taking part in the
world famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo."
*****
According to the
society’s research Tomaidh Mor "Great Tommy", from whom the
clan takes its name, lived in the 15th century in
Glenshee.
*****
To the government
in Edinburgh they were recognised as a separate clan and known
as MacThomases.
*****
The 7th chief
extended the clan’s land into Glen Begg, Prosen and
Strathardle and he purchased the Barony of Forter in
Glenisla.
*****
Cromwell won the
7th chief’s admiration but this soured his relationship with
the neighbouring clans and on the restoration of Charles II in
1660, he found himself in trouble with parliament, who fined
him heavily.
*****
The fine, a feud
and a cripling law suit that followed ruined the MacThomases,
and following the 7th chief’s death, his sons were forced to
sell their lands and the clan started to drift apart with some
taking the names McCombie, McComb and McCombe as well as the
anglicised forms Thom, Thoms, Thomas and Thomson.
*****
The Clan
MacThomas Society was founded in 1954 and information on the
tattoo appearance and the gathering is available
at www.clanmacthomas.com.
The
article can be read on the Courier Website by clicking
here.
Clan Society News
The
following article was published on the
Courier website at about the same time that
a similar article appeared in the printed Newspaper
on 18th February 2017.