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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1996-05 > 0831574545


From: "Todd A. Farmerie" <>
Subject: Re: Malcolm II ? Clan?
Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 16:55:45 GMT


In a previous article, (Nancy Hauser) says:

>Dear Todd,
>
>It seems as though Dori was right. I bought some books on Scotland (a
>history and a travelogue). The travelogue said:
>
>MacAlpin: Alpins claim descent from 9th century King Alpin and
>Dunstaffnage was their tarditional home, though the race had no land.
>Their motto is CUIMHNICH BAS AILPEIN - "Remember the death of Alpin"
>

The important phrase in the above quote is CLAIM. MacAlpin simply means
son of Alpin, and the name was not that uncommon. There is no more reason
to assign this origin than to say they descended from an earlier Alpin,
King of the Picts, or from some local cattle rancher or sod farmer. It is
like my mother's Norman family claiming to descend from "Norman the
Conqueror" (which some of them do), or that all Stewarts descend from the
Scottish royal family. There is simply no evidence that there are ANY male
line descendants of King Alpin (and there likely were none by the time of
Malcolm II), and to assign 11th century monarchs to modern clans is
ridiculous.

Todd

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