This was taken from a communication issued by COSCA (Council of Scottish Clans & Associations) to its members, of which Carruthers is one, and reflects the piece by Lord Bruce, eldest son and heir of the Earl of Elgin, Chief of Bruce at the Scottish North American Community Conference in December, held in Alexander, VA.
His comments are important to us as a family because Carruthers are involved in this excellent and powerful project, which augments and strengthens the future of not only our very own Border clan and family, but all other Scottish clans and families as well.
To quote a good friend of ours:
“Being Scots is being part of a very exclusive club, which has a proud world-wide membership“.
Gordon Casely, Aberdeen 2015
In order to retain our links to Scotland, honesty in our celebration has got to be paramount as it enhances our relationship with our own Scottish Heritage, History and Culture and reflects with typical Scottish candour, our very own spiritual and ancestral association and attachment with our homelands.
With this in mind, Carruthers have followed the arduous but official route to have both a Chief recognised by the Lord Lyon after 12 years of effort in 2019 and also finally a tartan in our own name rather than Bruce, officially recorded in the Scottish Register of Tartans, a Scottish government agency, in Edinburgh in 2019 as Carruthers Clan/Family tartan.
Below is the full piece by Charles Lord Bruce discussing the ‘Clan Chiefs Heir Project’, which he is heavily involved with.
Clan Chiefs Heirs Project
During the 2023 Scottish North American Community Conference (SNACC) on December 1-2 in Alexandria, Virginia, Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce, spoke about the “Heirs’ Project” of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC.) Lord Bruce serves on the Executive Committee of the SCSC. Lord Bruce reported that an important issue has become known as the “Heirs’ Project.” Here is a summary of his remarks.
We’ve taken our responsibility to our heirs very seriously. We’ve prepared a short booklet which has been distributed to our heirs and successors and lays out what they could expect and what a good chief should be expected to do.
So what are these expectations you may ask. Being a chief is about relationships. It’s important to demonstrate the necessary care and concern for clan or family. There are different ways to do this. Write an occasional column for the clan society newsletter. Be prepared to receive visitors to your home. Discuss your shared history. Make occasional visits to attend games and other events overseas. But above all, be a good listener.
Most society folk in the United States are fiercely proud and protective of their chiefs… The useful goal of the heir’s project is to help chiefs, heirs, and societies to plan wisely and to do what they can to make sure these relationships are as good as they can be in the years ahead.
An important issue in this regard has become known as the “Heirs’ Project.” This can mean different things to different people but in essence it is about our collective responsibility to be good stewards of our heritage and to ensure that there are good hands ready to receive it when we pass it on.
This is a challenge for any organization and the Standing Council is no different. We’ve taken our responsibility to our heirs very seriously. We’ve prepared a short booklet which has been distributed to our heirs and successors and lays out what they could expect and what a good chief should be expected to do. We’ve arranged events where the booklet has been distributed and these expectations have been discussed.
And the heirs themselves have responded by forming a work — group to serve as a support structure, a mutual resource for each heir where common challenges can be raised and addressed.
So what are these expectations you may ask. Relations with clan societies in north America and elsewhere are laid out as critical responsibilities and this is as it should be. Being a chief is not just a title, it’s a job, an office. And the relationship between chief and clan or family has a high degree of mutual obligation. An earl or viscount arguably is responsible only to himself or herself and their ancestors. But a chief is a chief of something, a clan or extended family. And if you’re going to accept the role of leader, you have to be prepared to lead.
Being a chief is about relationships. It’s important to demonstrate the necessary care and concern for clan or family. There are different ways to do this. Write an occasional column for the clan society newsletter. Be prepared to receive visitors to your home. Discuss your shared history. Make occasional visits to attend games and other events overseas. But above all, be a good listener.
You shouldn’t expect to be the CEO of your clan society or a kind of non-executive chairman. But even in that capacity, it’s important that you are seen to understand the issues and that you are known to care. Where there is goodwill on both sides of a relationship, everyone is happy. Any issues can be addressed by encouraging and cultivating good communication skills.
Most society folk in the United States are fiercely proud and protective of their chiefs and to say this is a critically important area is not to say it’s currently a problem or that such relationships are necessarily uncomfortable. The useful goal of the heir’s project is to help chiefs, heirs and societies to plan wisely and to do what they can to make sure these relationships are as good as they can be in the years ahead.
Carruthers Involvement
Is Carruthers involved? Our own Chief Peter Carruthers of Holmains, has two children, the eldest is a son and heir to the Chiefship and the youngest is a daughter.
Being privy to this project through personal discussions with Lord Bruce, we are fully aware of the role that our own Chief’s heirs have undertaken in the project itself. The Chief’s son Ash, is running the heirs WhatsApp group for the project itself to ensure open and constructive debate exists.
In fact, at the first meeting of the Heirs Project, the journey that led to the confirmation of Peter Carruthers, Clan Chief, Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers was highlighted. The role of the Clan Carruthers Society (International) and the great effort and hard work by our convenor, Dr George Carruthers FSA Scot, was recounted by Ash to the other heirs. George’s tenacity in wishing to do things right by crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s helped us traverse the Lord Lyon process and successfully attain official status through our chief, on behalf of all Carruthers worldwide. The story was very well received by all in attendance and the discussions he had had with Lord Bruce prior to starting the process was told by Lord Bruce himself.
“You have to be there to be involved and involved we are”.
