User Talk: Matt898

January 2025

25px|alt=Information icon ↗ Hello, I'm Jessicapierce. I wanted to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions ↗&#32;to :Thompson (surname) ↗ have been undone because they did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use your sandbox. If you have any questions, you can ask for assistance at the Teahouse ↗ or the Help desk ↗. Thanks.<!-- Template:uw-vandalism1 --> Jessicapierce (talk) 15:29, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

:No worries I was just trying to update the old link that went to a non secure http page. It was late and I was exhausted and looks like i made a mess of trying to "fix" or update the citation. Matt898 (talk) 15:57, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
:So thank you for fixing that! Matt898 (talk) 15:57, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

Scottish clan articles

Hi Matt898, thank you for the message you left on my talk page, albeit unsigned. I think the work you have done on the Clan MacTavish ↗ article is pretty good. Its all sourced and goes into a good amount of detail. There are a lot of Scottish clan related articles which I would like to create but don't have much time these days, such as continuing the articles for the individual chiefs of Clan Mackintosh that I started some years ago. I still occasionally create a new Scottish clan related article but not as often as I used to. Some of the slightly more recent ones I have created are Robert Davidson, Provost of Aberdeen ↗, Roderick Mackenzie (Jacobite) ↗, and James Grant of Carron ↗, but continuing the Mackintosh chiefs individual articles is something I have got to get round to doing. For the most part I watch all the Scottish clan related articles to make sure that they don't fall to a bad standard and that people do not come along and add unsourced information, which happens quite a lot. Hopefully we can collaborate in the future. Regards QuintusPetillius (talk) 17:13, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

:Hello QuintusPetillius I was not too sure of the proper format for leaving a message or using talk as I have not done so much. I should have just reviewed messages on peoples talk page real quick. I would enjoy collaborating in the future as well. A lot of the Clans have limited pages built out for key historical figures like their Clan Chiefs (or even key historical figures with pages, that have already been created, that are not connected to them), and even key geographic places (like there is no page for Dunardry)...Some of the pages I want to tackle I then think well without this topic handled first, it doesnt make sense to do that one...which can lead to a rabbit hole. There are no shortage of valuable updates that can be made on key pages, and areas where I see uncited content added (that appears to have motive or at least cause confusion in the knowlege base...albeit I try never to judge). I will definitely message you for some advice on some things I have been wanting to tackle but not sure the best way with respect to some high level Scottish History pages. And even some things like in the Scottish clan template it could be valuable to differenciate between family names that are direct translations and/or phonetic contractions vs Septs (associated family names) that truly fit in that defintion (all under the umbrella of related family names in the generic sense still)...however, perhaps that leads to unecessary complexity. Anyhow again look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with you in the future - Matt898 17:38, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
::Hi, just looking at Template:Scottish clans ↗, there does not seem to be any Sept ↗ names in it if that is what you mean ? And I certainly don't think we should add any to it. All of the surnames in it either have or once had a "chief of the name" recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms ↗. As for if all of these surnames were actually "clans" in the historical sense is questionable, but they are all officially recognized as such today by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, including the "Armigerous" clans who do not currently have a chief. Then we get on to the subject of if there were actually clans in the Uplands and Lowlands: I think there were some, especially in the Scottish Borders, but again we should include all that are recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and the Lyon Court ↗. QuintusPetillius (talk) 19:36, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:::I likely misspoke regarding the specific template. My main point was that there is a distinction between names that directly evolved from the original Clan name—such as through Gaelic-to-English translations, phonetic contractions, or spelling variations—and historically separate families who were adopted by a Chief. While the latter don't share a linguistic history with the Chief's lineage, all of these names are typically grouped together under the generic umbrella of 'septs' to make it easier for people to find and connect with their associated clans. Matt898 (talk) 20:25, 18 June 2026 (UTC)