McClellan: A trip to Scotland reveals a family motto that is just right – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

I did not go to Scotland to seek my roots. In fact, I was only there because one of my wifes sisters and her husband had rented a place in rural northern England and we decided to visit.

As long as we were in northern England, we might as well hop the train north to Edinburgh. And as long as we were in Edinburgh, we might as well hop the train north to Inverness. Thats where Loch Ness is. I booked us a hotel next to the Loch.

If I get a photo of Nessie, we pay for the trip and then some, I said to Mary.

But back to Edinburgh and my roots. We were strolling along in the tourist section when we came across a Clan store. The different Scottish clans families have their own tartan patterns and family crests. These crests include the family motto and are displayed on brooch pins, which are meant to be worn on kilts.

The Clan store did not have any tartan stuff in the MacLellan pattern no scarves for the women in my life but it did have a brooch pin. I took a quick look at it. Think On was the family motto. I do not want to embarrass any Scotsperson by singling out a particular clan, but most of the mottos were fierce. These were people who glorified violence.

Then there was us. Think On.

Maybe these guys wouldnt be scornful of a descendant who enjoys a good latte on weekend mornings. Vanilla with whole milk. Think On.

In addition to the brooch, I bought a booklet of our clan history. On the back of the booklet, it said, Recipients of high honors, they nevertheless often paid dearly for their allegiances and beliefs.

Bad choices. Its a family thing. Im going to start asking for skim milk with those lattes.

Back in the hotel room, I read the booklet. It explained that Think On came from a 15th-century incident. The king had put out a reward for the head of a notorious bandit called Black Morrow. Apparently, he was a Moor from North Africa. Sir William MacLellan had the good fortune to come upon the bandit as he lay in a drunken stupor. Sir William dispatched him.

I remember my dad saying, If you cant kick a man when hes down, when can you kick him?

Too bad that wouldnt fit on a brooch pin.

Sir William got an immediate audience with the king, and because those were literal times, he showed the head of Black Morrow to the king. The king seemed to hedge a bit about the reward. Sir William drew the kings attention back to the severed head. Think on this, he said.

A threat to the king in the kings own castle? Who would dare do such a thing? I read it to Mary and said that it had the sound of a story a guy might make up after a few glasses of malt. So then I said to the King, Think on this!

Mary nodded. That does sounds like something a McClellan might do.

Think on, I replied.

The king relented. Sir William got the reward and the family got a motto. All for the good luck of stumbling upon a bandit who had passed out.

The good luck did not last. There was always a lot of fighting going on and far too often we found ourselves on the losing side. We won an occasional battle. Using a huge cannon, we battered down Threave Castle. We gave ourselves a second family motto. Destroyers of Proud Things.

But our destroyer days were short-lived. One bad choice too many, and we were banished to Northern Ireland. In return for signing a pledge to remain protestant, we were given land.

I had always imagined that a forefather had distinguished himself while serving for a protestant king and had been rewarded for that service with land in Ulster. Yes, I know. No matter how we got the land, it didnt belong to us. We were usurpers. The displaced owners would never accept our ownership. Welcome to The Troubles.

I took a closer look at the brooch. The design features a head impaled on a sword. The Black Morrows head, no doubt.

I wondered if our clan could be any more politically incorrect. Why couldnt we have stumbled upon a drunken white renegade? Why did our bandit have to be Black and a Muslim?

That is the thing about life, though. You have to play the cards youre dealt. Had Sir William stumbled upon a passed-out white Christian with a price on his head, hed have dispatched him. This was not a hate crime. No bigotry involved. Just circumstance.

Still, would any of the women in my life want to wear the the brooch? You have to look pretty closely to see the impaled head, but once you see it, it is unsettling. Why are you wearing a pin with an impaled head and who did the head belong to?

Too much explaining required. The brooch will end up in a drawer.

So, yes it is a strange history I discovered in the tourist section of Edinburgh, but Im glad I learned about the clan. Im proud of my ancestors. They kept on keeping on. I have always maintained that you cannot judge a person of the past by todays standards. Wise people predict that people of the future will be appalled that we ate meat. So I cut the old-timers some slack. Besides, I really like the family motto.

These adorable endangered kittens were born in Scotland. The mother, Talla, gave birth to five kittens at the Wildcat Wood in Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland. Keith Gilchrist of the Highland Wildlife Park said, Wildcats are Scotland's most iconic animal but sadly also one of our most endangered.Buzz60s Keri Lumm has more.

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McClellan: A trip to Scotland reveals a family motto that is just right - St. Louis Post-Dispatch