Company Clans

“Fight loyally and with courage. That is all your clan asks of you.”

Last month my wife and I did a road trip through Scotland and visited some pretty amazing places. The Scottish countryside was breath taking, their castles awe inspiring and their history spell binding. We got super lucky with the weather, though we did come get considerable attention from the local midges!

I once again experienced the unique taste of haggis and black pudding (not something my wife was keen to try!) and saw more bag piper buskers than I have seen elsewhere in the world all my life. Now I am a big fan of the bagpipes and fulfilled a life-long dream of having a piper at my wedding last year when I got married in the kilt my father bought for me on my eighteenth birthday. So, for me this was a special trip of connecting with my ancient past and exploring where my ancestors had lived, travelled and died.

We first visited Edinburgh and then took to the road on a wide arc that took in Inverness and Perthshire, the Highlands, the Isle of Skye and the Quiraing (ranges), Loch Ness, Stirling, Fort William and the Trossachs National Park and everywhere in between, before returning to Edinburg. There was so much we saw (including stalking the Hogwarts Express from Mallaig) and even more we didn’t have time to see. My heart fell in love with the Highlands, my mind was captivated by the haunting battlefield of Culloden and Clava Cairns and mesmerised by castles like Eileen Donan and Blackness, but what took me by surprise was what I came across on our last day when we got back to Edinburgh.

We visited the HQ shop of Kinloch Anderson, a 150-year old six generation Scottish clothing business that I had only previously known through my many online purchases last year in the lead up to my wedding. I was expecting a modest retail shop and instead found a centre of Scottish culture with a museum quality display at the back of the premises that chartered the history of the company as providers of kilts and uniforms to the royal family and various Scottish regiments over many many years. Any business that has received the Royal Warrants of Appointment as Tailors and Kiltmakers to HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Prince of Wales clearly is going to be an impressive place, but whilst their history of serving the royal family and various Scottish regiments was interesting what was really fascinating was something else; something quite unusual.

There is something special walking into a shop like this one. The last time I did visited quite this special was when I turned eighteen and visited Scotch House in London (which is sdaly no longer operating) and was kitted out with my Ancient Duncan kilt. Since then I have supplemented the outfit with little additions along the way including my grandfather’s Glengarry cap. Wearing a kilt, as I did at my wedding only a year ago, is a great honour and provides a link and association with the rich history of our forefathers, which in the case of the Duncans includes a royal lineage to King Duncan I in 1034, whose forefather King MacAlpine was the first ruler of Scotland who united the Scots and the Picts in the middle of the ninth century and whose descendants would rule Scotland and England for the best part of seven subsequent centuries.

The rule of King Duncan 1 was cut short after only five years when he was killed by Macbeth, a true story that was sensationalised by William Shakespeare, which combined with the many stories of struggle within the Duncan clan, explains our motto “Disce patti’ which roughly translates to “learn to endure/suffer”!

Thus, tartans are more than a fabric or design. They represent a weave through history where every thread tells its own story of honour, loss, betrayal and valor.

It seems that tartans today though are not merely something that has survived the many centuries of Scotland’s history and distinguished one family themselves from another clan, but they have since become a form of corporate ‘badge’.

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

Jane Howard

As In discovered to my surprise on the back wall of the Kinlock Anderson shop and as the picture shows, was the evidence that for a price a company can now procure their own tartan. Companies like Caledonian Airways (remember them!), St Andrews (Golf course), Chivas Regal and Drambuie along with a host of other iconic brands a wide variety of categories all have their own tartan. Whilst they mostly seem to be companies of Scottish heritage there was one in particular that stood out for me – American Express.

This got me thinking…

Whether you feel it is right or not for a company, entity or Society, be they Scottish or not, to have a tartan, the idea is an interesting one.

It emphasises that a tartan is a mark of belonging, a brand and symbol that not only highlights the wearer’s identity, but also confers certain values and associations. Is that any different than the brands that live amongst us today who have a unique ‘look’ like Gucci, Burberry and RM Williams?

I am not suggesting that clan tartans should be commercialised nor comparing the ancient clan tartans and their rich history over hundreds of years of Scottish history to modern commercial brands, but what I am saying is that there is something magical about the way a colour, design, symbol and look can serve to unite and bond people together. The tartan is the fabric of ancient Scottish society that conferred a sense of identity and belonging and one that was worn with pride for life.

It struck me that whilst modern brands offer their wearers a bond by association that can be bought, a tartan is effectively a blood bond that comes through birth or marriage. As such there is a much deeper level of authenticity in the relationship with the tartan. Take me for example – I have never lived in Scotland, nor have I a hint of a Scottish accent, but I am immensely proud of my surname, heritage and forefathers and have a powerful sense of connection to the two tartans our family have of Ancient (light green) and Modern (dark green) Duncan.

So, as I left Scotland and ventured South to London I gave a great deal of thought to this topic and was left thinking that as is so often the case we can learn so much from history and others elsewhere in the world. In this case, it was a reminder that there is such a powerful bond and association between a group of people and the ‘tartan’ they have in common.

Here I refer to ‘tartan’ metaphorically as the symbolism of the entity or group. If a business leader can identify what makes up the identity of their team and find ways to visualise this and their values, this can then form a banner around which to rally everyone whenever the need arises. In doing so, the team can have their own ‘tartan’ which they can wear with pride and one which when seen will symbolise all the values of the group. It may not be quite strong enough to rally the team to march into harm’s way as was the case for the many clans who answered the call of Bonnie Prince Charlie and fought and died at the Battle of Culloden on 16th April 1746, but it may just be enough of a glue to help get through some tough and lean times.

“I give ye my obedience, as kinsman and as laird, and I hold myself bound by your word, so long as my feet rest on the lands of clan MacKenzie.”

Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), ‘Outlander’ TV Series