Chapter 12 - Conclusion (summary of real Gunn history)
2. Conclusion
The individual chapters can be downloaded as pdfs from latrobe.academia.edu/AlastairGunn
Real Gunn history is simple.
The Gunns are best viewed as being very early settlers of northern mainland Scotland; Gunn is a regional / area surname. Gunns were not related as a tribe, but obviously family groups existed. There is not the slightest shred of evidence to support any Orkney Islands / Norway Gunn ‘Chief’ origin.
The Gunns are not a clan on any historic or academic basis as clans require a founding father and Gunns do not have such a person. There is not the slightest academic evidence to support any ‘Gunn Chief’ until one was found for the Countess of Sutherland[1] in the early 1800s.
The first Gunn known to history was Coroner Gunn of Caithness, he was killed around 1450. He had children. His main two sons had families from which we have the MacHamish Gunn family and the MacRob Gunn family, both with living descendants. These families, over time, fulfilled minor roles in history. Ancient Gunn history – pre-historical sources if you like - finished with Coroner Gunn as from his time historical sources progressively exist.
After Coroner Gunn, especially as the years roll on, modern Gunn history is nothing more than assorted family histories and these family stories can be found in various texts. These events involving Gunns might show what applied to other Gunns - for example in the Highland Clearances or emigration – but no assumption that the Gunn in any account relates to any reader is valid. After all, although Scottish Gunns share a surname they do not axiomatically share close relationships. A reader may know - and have provable - family trees which shows a person in history to be a relative, but that is another matter…
There is little (if anything) uniquely Gunn as we are all created / modified by our upbringing / nationalities and various cultures / religions through which we and earlier generations have moved. The further generations move on from a Scottish past, the more social / cultural leftovers from that time will have dissipated - but what our ancestors experienced is of historic importance as are real genealogical links.
***
[1] The Countess Sutherland demanded a Clan Gunn Chief be found so an ‘inquistion’ was held (as she was so important) in 1803 – the legal basis of which is unclear. A ‘Chief’ was found but the male line died out. See Appendix 3.
The individual chapters can be downloaded as pdfs from latrobe.academia.edu/AlastairGunn
Real Gunn history is simple.
The Gunns are best viewed as being very early settlers of northern mainland Scotland; Gunn is a regional / area surname. Gunns were not related as a tribe, but obviously family groups existed. There is not the slightest shred of evidence to support any Orkney Islands / Norway Gunn ‘Chief’ origin.
The Gunns are not a clan on any historic or academic basis as clans require a founding father and Gunns do not have such a person. There is not the slightest academic evidence to support any ‘Gunn Chief’ until one was found for the Countess of Sutherland[1] in the early 1800s.
The first Gunn known to history was Coroner Gunn of Caithness, he was killed around 1450. He had children. His main two sons had families from which we have the MacHamish Gunn family and the MacRob Gunn family, both with living descendants. These families, over time, fulfilled minor roles in history. Ancient Gunn history – pre-historical sources if you like - finished with Coroner Gunn as from his time historical sources progressively exist.
After Coroner Gunn, especially as the years roll on, modern Gunn history is nothing more than assorted family histories and these family stories can be found in various texts. These events involving Gunns might show what applied to other Gunns - for example in the Highland Clearances or emigration – but no assumption that the Gunn in any account relates to any reader is valid. After all, although Scottish Gunns share a surname they do not axiomatically share close relationships. A reader may know - and have provable - family trees which shows a person in history to be a relative, but that is another matter…
There is little (if anything) uniquely Gunn as we are all created / modified by our upbringing / nationalities and various cultures / religions through which we and earlier generations have moved. The further generations move on from a Scottish past, the more social / cultural leftovers from that time will have dissipated - but what our ancestors experienced is of historic importance as are real genealogical links.
***
[1] The Countess Sutherland demanded a Clan Gunn Chief be found so an ‘inquistion’ was held (as she was so important) in 1803 – the legal basis of which is unclear. A ‘Chief’ was found but the male line died out. See Appendix 3.