Clan Donnachaidh is the only Scottish clan that still uses its Gaelic name. Its principal surnames are Robertson, Duncan and Reid, found in large numbers in the clan heartland in Perthshire and the neighboring counties. The Chief Alexander Gilbert Haldane Robertson of Struan is the 23rd Chief. Having succeeded his father in 1983, he celebrated 40 years as Chief in 2023. He and his family are members of, and actively support, the clan society.

Historically, “The Robertsons of Struan are unquestionably the oldest family in Scotland, being the sole remaining branch of that Royal House of Atholl which occupied the throne of Scotland during the 11th and 12th centuries,” wrote William Skene, the Historiographer Royal. They descend in the male line from the Celtic earls of Atholl and from the Kindred of St Columba. The first chief was Donnachadh Reamhar, which translates to Stout Duncan. Hence his clan was called the Clan Donnachaidh, the children of Duncan. He was said to be a close adherent of King Robert Bruce and he called his son and heir Robert after the great king.

Clan Donnachaidh is traditionally listed among the clans present at the Battle of Bannockburn. The 4th chief, another Robert, captured the assassins of King

James I. For this he was awarded a royal charter for his lands granted in 1451, a thousand square miles of beautiful Highland country that included Lochs Tay and

Tummel, the Fairy Mountain Schiehallion, and stretched as far as the gates of Perth. His successor was named in his charter ‘Alexander, Robert-son’ and from then the chiefs and their descendants used the name Robertson. The later earls of Atholl were kinsmen of the Stewart kings and they nibbled away at the clan’s domain.

The most successful was uncle and guardian of Alexander’s grandson, William. In the turmoil following the Battle of Flodden, he succeeded in snatching the best part of the clan’s territory in 1515 and, the following year when William obtained his majority and objected, the earl chopped off his head. In spite of this, great numbers of Robertsons remained on these lands and they tended to follow their chief rather than the earl. It was fortunate that the interests of the earls of Atholl and the clan chiefs usually coincided in later centuries.

With the incoming Stewart lairds they fought together as Athollmen in defence of their country. The historian Robert Scott Fittis wrote ‘The Robertsons of Athole were long esteemed the best swordsmen in Scotland, and their prowess, under the royal banner, mainly contributed to the brilliant triumphs of Montrose.’ The clan fought in all three Jacobite Risings. In 1689, Alexander, the Poet Chief, was the first to raise his sword for King James. In the ’15, the Earl of Mar said that Struan’s brigade was the strongest in his army and, aged 75, Alexander brought his clan south to fight at Prestonpans. At Culloden, as part of the Atholl Brigade, they suffered terrible casualties and the clan lands were forfeited.

The clan lands were restored to the 15th Chief in 1784 and he rebuilt the house at Dunalastair near Loch Rannoch, which had been burnt by government troops after the 1745 uprising. However, the Chief’s estates were heavily mortgaged and the 16th Chief sold part of his lands to the Duke of Atholl. The 18th Chief sold the house at Dunalastair, leaving only the moorland along Loch Rannoch that was difficult to farm. The remaining estates were eventually sold in 1926.

The 20th Chief was enthusiastic about the Clan’s heritage and took a leading role in the founding of the present Clan Society in 1893. He had no children; his heir when he died in 1910 was his cousin, George Duncan Robertson, descended from an uncle who had emigrated to Jamaica. George Duncan Robertson, the 21st Chief, was a distinguished public servant and Mayor of Kingston in Jamaica. His eldest son Langton, a historian and schoolmaster, became 22nd Chief in 1949. His son Gilbert became 23rd Chief in 1983