One of the biggest misconceptions involved with Clan Oliphant is that it is in any way a sept of Clan Sutherland.
It is believe that Clan Sutherland (the name comes from the area the tribe inhabited, named by the Norsemen Sudrland or South land, as it is in respect to the Norse lands of Caithness) progenitor was Hugh Freskin (who was believed to be Flemish, although it is said that he is descended from the Ancient Gaelic tribe of Moray.) The race of the Clan is unknown, some believe it to be mainly Pictish, some believe mainly Celtic, some believe mainly Norse but, it is probably a combination of the three. The Sutherland Clan controlled huge amounts of land and was awarded many prestigious titles, including Earl of Sutherland and Lord of Duffus (for more information on Clan Sutherland see Links). Of the Duffus branch comes the connection with Clan Oliphant. Alexander Sutherland of Duffus, Strathbrock and Berriedale died leaving only a daughter, who was the heiress of these great lands of Caithness. She married William Oliphant, second or third son of John 2nd Lord Oliphant. Some have deduced that this marriage ensepts the Oliphants to the Sutherlands but this has no merit whatsoever. The second connection between the two is the mutual bond of manrent signed by the Chief of the Oliphant's (Laurence 3rd Lord) and the Chief of the Sutherlands, pledging mutual support against their common enemy, the Gunns and the Sinclairs. Some believe that these two events ensept the smaller Oliphant Clan to the larger Sutherland, which is incorrect; firstly, the Oliphant who married the Sutherland heiress was related to, but not the Chief of the Oliphant Clan (on later being styled Oliphant of Berriedale, he became a chieftain but never chief) and could therefore not ensept Clan Oliphant to any other Clan, secondly, the bond signed by the two chiefs with regards to mutual protection was undoubtedly a bond of mutual manrent and therefore cannot be deemed to have ensepted the Oliphants to the Sutherlands any more than the Sutherlands to the Oliphants.
This was probably another of the many misconceptions created during the Victorian period, where lumping the smaller Oliphant Clan in with the Sutherlands would simplify things for people involved. |
