The Name of the Rose

I really resisted the urge to write a “year end” or “new year” post for this week. It’s not that I didn’t want to do it, I just didn’t want to feel like I was joining in the fray. Instead, I’ve been thinking a lot at the end of this year about how we decide who is a ‘Logan’ and who is not. I use the word ‘we’ in the group sense here to indicate that my thinking has evolved from many discussions over many years, both with Logans and with members of other families and clans.

It was all brought to the forefront of my thinking here at the end of the year when an extended family member broached the subject with me. His surname is one of the accepted derivations of the Logan surname, and he is from a branch not descending from one of the Y-DNA groups most common in the lowlands of Scotland. And to be fair, his discussion started simply enough on what tartan I and a few others thought he should be wearing. Honestly, don’t ask me questions like this because my mind will relate it to things like the Lyon King of Arms Act 1672 or the Treaty of Paris 1783 or possibly to a Van Halen song. Ask Lisa – she will agree (and probably tell you it’ll be linked to an obscure Del Amitri song that no one has ever heard).

In this instance though, I related it more, at least in my head, to the words of Shakespeare,

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title…

– William Shakespeare

Thank you Mrs. Acker for making me commit that to memory, and even more so for helping me with the explanation: something’s essence or value remains the same regardless of what you call it – or more simply, a name doesn’t change the true nature of something.

However, balancing out those warm sentimentalities, we also have to keep in mind that in the modern system of aligning oneself to a family, as in today’s western societies like Scotland, the surname does play the significant role. What happens though is that across time, centuries or more, spellings change. Gaelic may become Latin, which in turn may become Old English, which in turn may become Middle English, and in turn may become Modern English (not the band, the language).

This is how we’ve arrived at many of the derivations of the modern English spelling of ‘Logan.’ But to get here, we had family that may have spelled it ‘Logane’ or ‘Logyn’ or even ‘Loban’ – not to mention census takers, court recorders, and any other number of literate fellows who were in a hurry. As to how so many of us came to be a Logan? Well, I’d say we are just some very fortunate souls with a shared noble tradition. That is where the essence is found, and then mirrored in our family name.

Where does all of this leave us? Here is how I summarized my very long-winded answer to the original question about the tartan:

In short, you are undoubtedly part of the global Family and Clan of Logan and should continue to wear the Logan tartan design and palette that you feel best represents you and your family…as we move into this historic time of naming a Commander of Logan…We will soon begin to regain our historical significance in the founding of Scotland by having a commander to promote our stories and successes as a family and clan as he or she searches for the rightful heir to the title of Chief of Name and Arms of Logan. Thank you for so boldly and quickly taking part in these historic events.

As we are entering a new year full of promise and great significance for the family and clan of Logan, I am so very proud to be a part of all of it. I am moved by the pride I see in everyone’s photos as they sport their Logan tartan of choice to events around the world, regardless of the spelling or way in which they came to cherish their association to Logan.

Hoc Majorum Virtus

Clan Logan Society International (21st Century Logan) tartan palette

P. S. Just for a little fun, Mrs. Acker wasn’t the only way I finally started to understand Shakespeare: