The Clan Chattan is unique in the history of the Scottish Highlands. It is a confederation of several major clans and many associated families. Through it, smaller clans gained strength by joining forces to avoid being overwhelmed by more powerful neighbours. It is hard to pinpoint an exact date of origin. While records show the Clan well established in the thirteenth century CE, the Clan is suspected of being much, much older.

The Clan Chattan is often known as the “Clan of the Cats” since most of the clans that make up the confederation carry the European wild cat on their badges. Each Clan’s badge shows the cat in its own particular pose. The Clan motto is “Touch not the cat bot a glove”, with bot being an archaic word meaning without. This is certainly good advice for dealing with the wild cat, so it constitued a stern warning to anyone threatening the Clan generally or the people in particular.

The Clan is also significant for the Curse that dogs members of certain families. It started in the fourteenth century CE with the family Uasal, but has likely wandered among various families in the Clan. The Clan remains active all the way to the present. The diagram below traces the known path of the Curse from its origin to modern times. Names shown in italics indicate a carrier of the Curse (usually male). Names shown in bold and italics indicate an actual victim of the Curse (always female). The geneology is incomplete in detail. The lines of descent from the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, and from there to the twentieth century are uncertain and indicated by dotted lines. Links below the genology lead to individual biographical pages as available.

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