The name GRANT
The Origin and Meaning of the Name GRANT: “True Grit” is the most commonly adopted or accepted meaning with it’s origins being one of the earliest adoption of surnames in the 12th century. For an interesting examination of the origins or the Grant surname click on the link to the UK Society https://www.clangrant.org/index.aspx?pid=20
The a
ncestry of the Grant’s and our origin has been a highly debated one and a history that that has been widely chronicled in many a manuscript throughout time. The most comprehensive examination of the families origins as it test’s all the theories of all the compiled text, DNA, and evidence is contained in the 2012 publication “Legend, Logic & Evidence – Scottish Clans” by Adrian C Grant. http://www,fast-print.net/bookshop His work is comprehensive and given it’s complexity is often difficult to navigate. A pad and pen is recommended to make you make your own notes to interpret some parts of the book which are disjointed.
In short it has been established that the origins of the Grants lay with Olav Hemmingsson and his ancestry back to 9th century Norway and importantly the integration of the clans of the Siol Alpin late in the 11th century.
Clan Grant
A Clan is a concept which dates back to the 12th Century. The Scottish clans were originally extended networks of families who had loyalties to a particular chief, but the word ‘clan’ is derived from the Gaelic ‘clann’, meaning literally children.
In Scotland a clan is still a legally recognised group with an official clan chief. The chief’s Seal of Arms, incorporated by the Lord Lyon’s letters Patent, is the seal of the corporation and only the chief has the legal right to use the seal on behalf of his clan.
In a Clan you have the Chief’s line, then you have Cadet line which usually associated with a direct relative of the Chief who was in charge of certain estates or lands and would operate them independently of the Chief but still remain loyal to the clan.
Septs in the context of Scottish clans, septs are families that followed another family’s chief, or part of the extended family and that hold a different surname. These smaller septs would then be part of the chief’s larger clan. A sept might follow another chief if two families were linked through marriage, or, if a family lived on the land of a powerful laird, they would follow him whether they were related or not.
Whilst much of this history is lost to us, the following names are considered by some to be Septs of Clan Grant:
Allan, Allen, Bisset(t), Bowie, Buie, Gilroy, MaccAllan, M(a)cgilroy, M(a)cIlroy, McKerran, M(a)cKiaran, M(a)cKessock, Pratt and Suttie.