Clan Chattan is one of the most unusual structures in Scottish clan history — not a single family but a confederation of families, bound together by a shared identity rooted in an ancient Gaelic kindred and formalised through a series of bonds of manrent across the medieval period. The name itself means the Clan of the Cat, a reference to the wildcat that serves as the Chattan badge and that still represents the fierce, independent spirit of the families that made up the confederation. At various points in history, the Clan Chattan confederation included over a dozen distinct family groups, some of them related by blood, others by alliance, and all of them connected to the central Highlands territory of Badenoch, Strathspey, and the districts surrounding Inverness.
The leadership of Clan Chattan was itself contested for much of the confederation's history. Two families — the MacKintoshes and the MacPhersons — claimed the captainship of Chattan, a dispute that generated one of the longest-running internal conflicts in Highland clan history and that was never fully resolved to both sides' satisfaction. Understanding Clan Chattan means understanding that its history is not tidy, and that the relationships between the families within it were complex, competitive, and sometimes violent even as they maintained a shared identity against the outside world.
Clan Chattan Names at a Glance
The families of the Clan Chattan confederation include: MacKintosh, MacPherson, Davidson, MacGillivray, MacBain (MacBean), Shaw (of Tordarroch), Farquharson, MacQueen, MacAndrew and Anderson — along with the great sept surnames the confederation produced: Smith and Gow (from the hereditary smiths) and Clark (from the clerics). If your family name connects to Clan Chattan or the central Highlands, use the search bar above to find clan and heritage gifts for your surname.
Clan Chattan: The Confederation and Its Origins
Clan Chattan itself traces its origins to a Gaelic kindred rooted in Badenoch, the high-altitude plateau between the Cairngorms and the Monadhliath Mountains that drains into the upper Spey. The early history of the confederation is somewhat obscure, but tradition holds that the common ancestor was one Gillecattan Mòr — the great servant of Saint Catan — whose descendants formed the original core of the Chattan kindred. The formalisation of the confederation through the medieval period, as other families joined through bond, marriage, or submission, transformed this original kindred into one of the most powerful alliance structures in the Highlands.
Clan MacKintosh: Chiefs of Chattan
Clan MacKintosh held the captainship of Clan Chattan through most of the confederation's history, their chiefs serving as the recognised leaders of the alliance and their territorial base in Badenoch and Strathspey providing the geographic centre of gravity for the confederation as a whole. The MacKintosh seat at Moy Hall near Inverness remains associated with the family today, and the Battle of Moy in 1746 — when a handful of MacKintosh people stampeded a government force of fifteen hundred men by creating the impression of a large Jacobite army — is one of the more improbable episodes in the 1745 rising. Anne MacKintosh, the chief's wife who organised the clan's support for Bonnie Prince Charlie while her husband was serving on the government side, became known as Colonel Anne and is one of the more remarkable women in Jacobite history.
Clan MacPherson: The Rival Claimants
Clan MacPherson of Badenoch disputed the MacKintosh claim to the Chattan captainship throughout the medieval and early modern periods, their own connection to the confederation through the Cluny MacPhersons giving them a territorial base in the heart of Badenoch that was at least as ancient as the MacKintosh claim. The MacPherson museum at Newtonmore preserves the clan's most remarkable relics, including the black chanter said to have been given to the clan by the fairies and the Green Banner that is believed to have been carried at Bannockburn. Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, who evaded capture for nine years after Culloden by living in a cave on Ben Alder known as Cluny's Cage, became one of the great figures of Jacobite legend.
Clan Davidson: The Ancient Kindred
Clan Davidson of Badenoch was one of the oldest constituent families of the Chattan confederation, their history connected to the strange and violent episode of the Battle of the Clans in 1396 at Perth, where thirty champions of Clan Chattan met thirty champions of Clan Cameron in a formal judicial combat arranged by Robert III to settle a Highland dispute — one of the most extraordinary events in medieval Scottish history. The Davidson connection to Tulloch Castle near Dingwall in Easter Ross gave the family a territorial dimension beyond their Badenoch homeland.
Clan MacGillivray: The Dunmaglass Warriors
Clan MacGillivray of Dunmaglass in Strathnairn were among the most committed Jacobite fighters in the entire 1745 rising, their regiment charging the government lines at Culloden with a ferocity that temporarily broke through the Hanoverian front before the weight of fire and disciplined counterattack overwhelmed them. Alexander MacGillivray of Dunmaglass, who led the charge, was killed in the battle at a spot still marked on the Culloden battlefield. The MacGillivray warriors' sacrifice at Culloden has made them among the most remembered of the Chattan families in the Jacobite tradition.
Clan MacBain: The Steadfast Kindred
Clan MacBain of Kinchyle near Inverness were one of the smaller constituent families of Clan Chattan, their Inverness-shire territorial base placing them at the northern edge of the confederation's geographic range. Their motto, Touch not the Catt Bot a Targe — the shared Clan Chattan motto, meaning touch not the cat without a shield — connects them directly to the confederation identity that gave all the Chattan families their common badge and battle cry. Major William MacBain at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879, who held a doorway single-handed against the Zulu assault and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, is the most celebrated individual associated with the MacBain name in modern history.
Shaw of Tordarroch and Shaw of Sauchie
The Shaw family had two distinct traditions within the broader Scottish clan world. Shaw of Tordarroch of Strathspey was the Highland branch, their connection to the Clan Chattan confederation giving them a place within the alliance structure that defined central Highland society. The Shaws of Tordarroch claimed descent from Shaw MacDuff, a Chattan warrior at the Battle of the Clans in 1396, giving them a vivid connection to that extraordinary event. Shaw of Sauchie in Clackmannanshire represented the Lowland branch of the family, their history distinct from the Highland Shaws and their territorial base in the Forth valley connecting them to a quite different world.
Anderson and the Chattan Connection
Clan Anderson of the Highland tradition claim a connection to Clan Chattan through the MacAndrew family, a branch of the MacPherson kindred. The Anderson name — son of Andrew — spread widely across Scotland, making it one of the more common surnames in the country, but those with Highland Anderson ancestry may find their roots in the Chattan world of Badenoch and Strathspey.
Smith, Gow, and Clark: The Chattan Sept Names
Clan Chattan also produced three of the most common surnames in the English-speaking world. The hereditary smiths of the confederation — the gobha in Gaelic — gave rise to both Clan Gow and, by direct translation, the surname Smith; the most famous of them, the smith who fought as a champion at the Battle of the Clans in 1396, is part of the confederation's founding legend. The clerics of the confederation gave rise to Clark — from Mac a' Chlèirich, son of the cleric. If your surname is Smith, Gow or Clark with Highland roots, the Chattan confederation is very likely where your story begins — our full A–Z Scottish sept list covers these and dozens more.
The Chattan Confederation at Culloden
The 1745 Jacobite rising and the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 was the defining moment for the Clan Chattan families collectively. The MacKintosh regiment, the MacPherson men, the MacGillivrays, the MacBains, the Shaws, and several other Chattan families all fought on the Jacobite left and centre at Culloden, where the rising effectively ended in less than an hour of brutal fighting. The losses among the Chattan families were severe, and the reprisals that followed — the burning of houses, the confiscation of cattle, the enforcement of the Disarming Acts — fell with particular weight on a confederation whose Jacobite commitment had been so visible and so complete.
The aftermath of Culloden destroyed the social structures within which Clan Chattan had operated. The abolition of heritable jurisdictions in 1747, the prohibition of Highland dress, and the systematic suppression of the Gaelic culture that had sustained the clan world all contributed to a transformation from which the confederation never recovered as a political or military entity. What survived was something less formal but perhaps more durable — a shared identity, preserved in family tradition, in genealogical research, and in the clan societies that maintain the Chattan connection in the modern world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What surnames belong to Clan Chattan?
The confederation includes MacKintosh, MacPherson, Davidson, MacGillivray, MacBain, Shaw, Farquharson, MacQueen, MacAndrew and Anderson — plus the sept surnames Smith, Gow and Clark, which arose from the confederation's hereditary smiths and clerics.
What does "Touch not the cat bot a glove" mean?
The shared Chattan motto — touch not the cat without a glove (or shield) — is a warning: the wildcat's claws are bare even when yours are gloved. Every Chattan family carries a version of it alongside its own crest tradition.
My surname is Smith — do I really have a clan?
If your Smith line has Highland roots, yes: the hereditary smiths of Clan Chattan are the traditional origin of Highland Smiths, and the Gow name is the same word in Gaelic. Our Clan Gow history and sept list cover the full story.
Do Chattan family names have tartans and family crests?
Yes — each constituent family has its own tartan and crest tradition under the shared wildcat badge. Search your surname in the bar at the top of this page to see yours.
Carry a Chattan Name?
If your family carries one of these names — including Smith, Gow or Clark — you can bring Badenoch home: we make family crest woven blankets, mugs, garden flags, ornaments and more for the Chattan family names. Start with our Anderson gift guide, check the A–Z sept list for your name's connection, or see how families display their crest at home.
The Heritage Trio — a woven blanket for the sofa, a mug for the morning, a garden flag for the front of the house — keeps a Chattan name part of daily life, two and a half centuries after Culloden. For the wider region, see our guides to the Clans of the Highlands and the Clans of Aberdeenshire and the North East.
