Clan gunn

The Gann Clan is descended from the Norwegian Jarls of the Orkney Islands and the Celtic Mormors of the Atoll . The ancestors of the clan are Ranhild, the daughter of Matad (Maddadar), the Mormair Atoll , and the daughter of Hokan Palson, co-regent of Magnus Saint in the county of Orkney , and her husband Ganni (Gannar), the great-grandson of the hero of the Saga of the Orkneys Sven Asleif. Presumably on behalf of Ganni (in translation - “war”) the name of the clan happened.

After the death in 1198 of Harald Maddadson, who was an Orkney Islands jarl and Caithness mormer, his sister Ranchild inherited and brought vast lands to the family in Caithness and Sutherland . Subsequently, these possessions passed to Snackall (translated - "White Head") Gann, son of Ganny. However, he was soon deprived of part of the land as payment for the murder of John Haraldson, the last Norwegian Jarl of the Orkney Islands, which occurred during a dispute over the right to own the hereditary lands of their Norwegian ancestors.

The heyday of the clan’s power came in the middle of the 13th century, when the Ghans owned all Caithness. However, over the next two centuries, most of the clan’s fertile lands were withdrawn by order of the crown to the Sinclair and Keith clans. As a result, in the middle of the XV century. Clan chieftain George Gunn, known as "Am Braisdeach Mor," that is, "the one who wears a large brooch," controlled only the rocky coast of Caithness. Under his leadership, the Ghana had been at war with the Keith clan for a long time, challenging each other's lands and influence in Caithness.

As often happened, the clans ’struggle for power was intertwined with blood feud. Dagald Keith had a passion for Helen, the daughter of Lachlan Gunn of Bramor. When she rejected his courtship, he besieged her father’s house and, having killed many of the Hanns, forcibly took the girl to his castle of Akergill. There, Helen, refusing to obey the kidnapper, committed suicide by dropping herself from the tower.

The Ganns repeatedly raided the domain of the Whales. When the number of those killed on either side exceeded reasonable limits, the leaders of the clans agreed to meet at which they were going to put an end to the feud (possibly through a personal duel). It was decided that each side would send 12 horses (i.e. 12 riders) for negotiations. However, the Whales cheated, and when they arrived at the appointed place, it turned out that two people were sitting on each horse on their side. Having a numerical superiority, the Whales massacred. The leader of the Hanns and his four sons were killed, and the brooch of the leader, a symbol of the power of the Hanns, was stolen.

Subsequently, one of the surviving sons of George Gunn avenged his father by killing the leader of the Clan Keith and his son in Akergill.

After the death of the leader, the clan split into several branches. James, the surviving eldest son, moved with his family to Kildonan in Sutherland. Another son, Robert, settled in Bramore, south of Caithness (this clan branch took the surname Robson or Robinson), and the third surviving son, John, was at the mouth of the Terso River in Westerdale. In addition, it is believed that the two youngest sons of George Gann, Henry and William, also formed independent branches - Henderson, Williamson and Wilson.

During the split, the clan faced a difficult struggle for survival. In 1586 the counts of Caithness and Sutherland united against the Hanns, and a lot of blood was shed on both sides. The Ghans strengthened their position a little when one of the clan members, Gann from Killernan, married Mary, the sister of Lord Ray, the leader of the Mackay clan, and the leader of the Ganns took his daughter as his wife. From this marriage, the sixth leader of the Gann clan, Donald Krottach, nicknamed the "Hunchback", was born. At the time of his supremacy, the Gannes lost their ancestral lands and a house in Killernan - the lands were given for debt, and the house was destroyed due to careless handling of gunpowder. In the XVIII century. Decline came to the Robsons, the branches of the Hannahs in Bramore, when they were also confiscated from the land by creditors. Subsequently, the Ganns of Killernan received land in Badenoch.

In the XVII century. one of the prominent members of the clan was Sir William Gann, who was personally knighted by King Charles I. After the king was executed during the English Revolution , Sir William moved to the continent, married the German Baroness and served as general in the army of the Holy Roman Empire .

During the Jacobite revolt in 1745 , the Gann clan, unlike most of the Scottish clans who wanted to see Jacob III on the throne of the “Old Challenger,” remained on the side of the current King George II .

In 1780 , the eighth leader of the clan, William Gann, died in India , after which the status of leader was to go to his brother, Morrison Gann, who also served in the British army. But in 1785 , Morrison died in Gibraltar , never having had time to officially assume office. The brothers did not leave the male descendants, and the successive line of leaders, ascending to Donald Krottach, was interrupted.

The Ganns currently do not have an officially appointed leader, but there is a chosen clan manager, Ian Alexander Gann.

• Clan Gunn Society (UK)
• Clan Gunn Society (North America)