Davidson
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It is a curious fact that even
in the heart of Gaelic-speaking societies an
English form of patronymic was sometimes adopted.
But although the Davidsons were members of the
Clan Chattan confederation, they do not descend
from a man called David of the Mac kintosh clan
nor, apparently, of any other clan within this
alliance. They seem to have been a totally
independent tribe which was led by a Moses of the
name of David Dubh into the relative safety of
the Mac kintosh fold.
Before that time, the great
massif of the northern Grampians and the plains
of Buchan and Moray had been dominated by the
Comyn family, the most powerful in Scotland until
Robert Bruce destroyed it. In the hiatus that
followed Bruce’s devastation of Buchan and
the plantation of his supporters throughout this
region, it was natural that communities which had
flourished under the Comyns should seek new
protectors. It is particularly understandable
that they should seek it in the old Celtic tribal
context that was familiar to them, rather than
under new alien feudal overlords. Such at any
rate, were the circumstances in which David Dubh
led the clan which has ever since been called the
Davidsons into the association of Clan Chattan.
In the long run it brought
them neither security nor prosperity. They were
involved in many an unprofitable clan conflict,
in one which they were thought to have been very
nearly annihilated in 1396. Few of their name are
any longer to be found in the Highlands. |
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