'Clan Gunn Family Trees Second Edition' - the traditonal Clan Gunn Chief line is not extinct27/8/2021 Clan Gunn Family Trees: Second Edition. From Killernan (Clan Gunn Chief) to Kinbrace and Osclay Gunns The below text covers the opening pages and the Introduction to the second edition of this text. The Trees when put together clearly show that George Gunn of Corrish had two sons Donald and Alexander who died without issue and that the family of Margaraet Gunn who married John Gunn in Kinbrace are the senior ongoing line suitable to be Clan Gunn Chief today. See the below flowchart. For the complete downloadable text see https://www.academia.edu/51032440/Clan_Gunn_Family_Trees_Second_Edition_From_Killernan_Clan_Gunn_Chief_to_Kinbrace_and_Osclay_Gunns The book can be bought at https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/awgunn ***** Clan Gunn Family Trees: From Killernan (Clan Gunn Chief) to Corrish, Kinbrace and Osclay Gunns second edition by Alastair Gunn Second edition August 2021. Copyright © Alastair Gunn 2021. Alastair Gunn hereby asserts and gives notice of his right under Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher (Alastair Gunn) except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. This booklet is a print on demand book; it is possible that significant new information could be found which means I could produce a revised version of this text and perhaps even a third edition. See http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/awgunn or http://clangunn.weebly.com/for possible further information. Contents The Clan Gunn Chiefs Introduction 1. The Reay / Bloomingdale Tree and letter of 1822 2. The 1868 / 1870 Trees of Aeneas Gunn of Edinburgh 3. The 1896 Captain Gunn Tree 4. The post-1917 New Hebrides Clan Gunn Tree Conclusion Appendix 1: Gunns of Kinbrace and the ‘Clan Gunn Chief’ line Appendix 2: Gunns of Kinbrace family line Bibliography The Clan Gunn Chiefs Introduction It is important to consider the early histories and Trees which have shaped much of the perception of (Clan) Gunn’s past.[1] Mark Rugg Gunn in the Introduction to his Clan Gunn provides a summary of the histories and the authors involved. His argument broadly goes initially there was the Reverend Donald Sage (1789-1869) of Kildonan who became interested in the Gunns and wrote notes on the subject[2] which included information from David Gunn of Acheneccan[3] who was a clan sennachie.[4] Then the second Reverend Alexander Gunn of Watten[5] (1809-1893) saw Sage’s material and incorporated it into his (Clan) Gunn history which became the basis for Gunn history thereafter. In other words, traditional Gunn history is, for many, determined by stories believed to be true in rural, northern Scotland in the early 1800s as collated by one man, reused by the second Reverend Watten[6] and then further reused by others. Mark Rugg Gunn paid little attention in his Introduction and only occasionally in the main text, to Sir Robert Gordon’s A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland from its Origin to the Year 1630. Sir Robert Gordon was alive 1580-1656 so his knowledge about the early time of the Gunns is of importance as he was closest to those times. What he wrote may not have always been accurate but events not mentioned by him (or not supported by primary documents of the time) must be assumed to be fiction as there is no other logic for stories to appear hundreds of years after him. Overall, much (Clan) Gunn history fails the factual test; these errors are explored in Chapter 10 of my The Gunns: History, Myths and Genealogy. Some of these mistakes include the way the word MacHamish has been wrongly used (it is not a singular title but a Gunn Killernan family identifier), the way the concurrently alive William Mhor MacHamish Gunn and William Beag (sometimes Bheg / Beg) MacHamish Gunn were treated as brothers but were really nephew / uncle, that with the death of William Mhor his line died out and the senior ‘Chief’ line became descent from William Beag and the way some wives were assigned to the wrong MacHamish Gunns. Such mistakes are not surprising – using early 1800s memories as a base for a written history is asking for confusion. This doesn’t mean the early ‘histories’ were totally wrong – the closer in time the person writing was to the events described then the more likely that some information would be correct as such events would be in the living memory of the author or the person providing the information. It is, though, with Clan Gunn Family Trees with which I am concerned here. These Family Trees, in time order, are – 1.The ‘Reay / Bloomingdale Gunn Tree of 1822’ but my copy is a little later. The Tree comes with a copy of the letter which accompanied the original Tree. I have photographic images of these texts – neither seems to have been discussed before. 2.The ‘1868 / 1870 Trees of Aeneas Gunn’ a version of which is discussed in Thomas Sinclair’s The Gunns. I have a photographic copy of two versions sent to Australia. 3.The ‘1896 Tree of Captain Gunn of Braehour.’ I have a photographic copy of an original held in South Africa. 4.The post 1917 ‘New Hebrides Tree by the Reverend Dr. William Gunn.’ I have a photographic copy of the original. Mark Rugg Gunn mentions the Rev. Dr. William Gunn’s ‘famous genealogical tree’ in his ‘Introduction’ but it is, though, the least important of these Trees. When considering such material one should firstly decide whether any aspect can be supported by primary sources. If so, that’s great as it means the Tree has a part which is factually accurate. It does not mean the whole tree is accurate but it does mean the part which is supported must be accepted and it is probable that closely linked parts to the proven material should also be valid. Secondly, it seems reasonable to assume the author of any Tree is accurate about his close family. In other words, I assume people reading this text would be able to accurately recite their forebears to great grandparent level and I view it as equally valid for anybody making a (Clan) Gunn Tree to do the same. Finally, was the maker of the Tree a recognised clan sennachie / historian or not? Sennachies, due to their position, are more likely to know more about genealogy and consequently it is reasonable to assume that what sennachies say about their own and near family is accurate. FOOTNOTES [1] Gunns are by origin a not-related tribe of early settlers of northern Scotland, they did not have a founding father which is required for a clan on historic / academic bases and the supposed historic Clan Gunn Chiefs have been disproved. For more on these points see - https://clangunn1.blogspot.com/2020/03/chapter-4-why-clan-gunn-is-not-clan.html and https://clangunn1.blogspot.com/2020/03/chapter-3-on-mythical-clan-gunn-chiefs.html.) [2] The Reverend Sage’s document was owned by Captain Gunn of Braehour and also seen by the Reverend Dr William Gunn of the New Hebrides these two constructed Trees under discussion in this text. [3] The Acheneccan line descended from William of Acheneccan, the fourth son of William Beag. [4] Page 3, Mark Rugg Gunn, History of the Clan Gunn. [5] Page vi – vii, Thomas Sinclair, The Gunns. [6] See https://clangunn.weebly.com/aeneas-gunn-family-trees-1868--1870---introduction.html
0 Comments
The traditional Clan Gunn Chief line is not dead.For a detailed discussion of the evidence which proves that Margaret Gunn's descent line continues and fulfils the Lord Lyon type demands to be a Clan Chief see
www.academia.edu/50765310/The_de_facto_Clan_Gunn_Chief_line_from_Margaret_Gunn_daughter_of_Chief_Donald_Crotach_Gunn I thought people might be interested in this memorial to my great-grandfather the Hon. John Alexander Gunn who was also the great great great great great grandson of Chief Donald Crotach Gunn.
See www.monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/technology/science/display/102126-100th-anniversary-of-anthrax-vaccine?fbclid=IwAR2NBFtOMwCGdfZoTpvr7J0ccI2tdvVvZ4qh41lXRNYQHQzKNGq4Zk8pj40 The Real History of (Clan) Gunn by Alastair Gunn I have just published a simplified version of my The Gunns: History, Myths and Genealogy and it is called The real history of (Clan) Gunn. It's a 59 page 8 inches by 5 inches paperback. It also comes in an eBook version. For how to buy these books please see www.lulu.com/spotlight/awgunn Gunns are the original, non-related inhabitants of northern mainland Scotland. They have no Orkney islands origin. Gunns are not a Clan as they had no founding father and nor did they have historic Chiefs. The first Gunn known was Coroner Gunn of Caithness (often wrongly called Crowner Gunn) who died around 1450. His eldest son started the MacHamish Gunns of Killernan line which still exists today and whose line is explored in detail in this book.
For more information on real Gunn history see www.facebook.com/ClanGunn1/ and see https://clangunn1.blogspot.com/ Braehour and Brawlbin Gunn versus |
Archives
August 2021
Categories |