The Real History Of Clan Gunn

Gunns are best thought of as the original, non-related inhabitants of northern, mainland Scotland. They do not have an Orkney Islands origin. Gunns should not be viewed as a Clan as they had no founding ancestor and there was never an historic 'Clan Gunn Chief.' The first Gunn known to history was Coroner Gunn of Caithness who died around 1450. His eldest son started the MacHamish Gunns of Killernan line - many descendants from that line exist all around the world. In other words, the MacHamish line is not extinct as some believe and significant detail on this MacHamish line is included in the text. For a more detailed version of Gunn history see my 'The Gunns: History, Myths and Genealogy'.

Here is a radical, academically based text which demolishes the myths currently masquerading as Gunn 'history'. Gunns are best thought of as the original, non-related inhabitants of northern, mainland Scotland. They do not have an Orkney Islands origin. Gunns should not be viewed as a clan as they had no founding ancestor. There was never an historic 'Clan Gunn Chief'. The first Gunn known to history was Coroner Gunn of Caithness who died around 1450. His eldest son started the MacHamish Gunns of Killernan line - many descendants from that line exist all around the world. Major detail on this MacHamish line is included. This book is an important addition to Scottish Highland history.

This text is the first to explore the four historic Clan Gunn Family Trees some of which have not been seen before. By comparing and contrasting these Trees one can see common threads, in particular the real genealogy of the traditional 'Clan Gunn Chief' line becomes obvious. This book also explores the Gunns of Kinbrace one of whom married into the 'Clan Gunn Chief' line; this starts the Osclay Gunn line. The Gunns of Osclay are certainly alive today and the Gunns of Corrish / Reay may also be alive and well. The idea that the traditional 'Clan Gunn Chief' line is extinct is just wrong.

This booklet is thoroughly grounded in academic research and radically challenges traditional Clan Gunn history. It is obviously not a full history; I am working on that. The traditional Gunn history includes descent from important people on the Orkney Islands (and so from the ancient Norwegian royal families), assorted Chiefs, a Gunn coroner / Crowner being important in Caithness in the early to mid 1400s, assorted Gunn / Keith battles and a couple of Gunn castles. The Gunns have a far simpler past than that which is currently claimed - for example, the Gunns do not have a 'Chief' link to the Orkney Islands and there were no Clan Gunn Chiefs. As said, this booklet provides a radical challenge to the traditional history of the Clan Gunn; check the sample pages.