CDSUM History

Clan Donnachaidh Society Upper Midwest (CDSUM) was established in 1986 by Gordon and Patricia Wilber along with Joanne Reid and Phillis Anderson. They initially gathered about 12 people the Wilber's town house in Hoffman Estates to begin the task creating Clan Donnachaidh Upper Midwest. The first thing they did was man a table at the Scottish Fair in the Irish American Center in Chicago. There more people signed up. By the end of 1986 the by-laws were written and Clan Donnachaidh Society Upper Midwest was officially established! Clan Donnachaidh Society, Pacific Northwest donated 3 dirks, which were raffled to raise funds for the newly established society. Since that time, the clan created the Clishmaclaver for all Clan members to keep up to date with Clan activities. Gordon and Patricia also began the "Taste of Scotland" at their home. This gave everyone a reason to get together, sample authentic Scottish foods, and of course, a dram or two of single malt scotch. In February 1990, Gordon and Patricia along with Marge Hale and the rest of the CDSUM members hosted the North American Conference of Clan Donnachaidh Presidents in Chicago. Alexander Gilbert Haldane Robertson of Struan (Chief of Clan Donnachaidh) found out about the event and wished to participate, which he did. Struan also returned in February 1993 for a 5 branch tour to kick off the centenary year. Our members represented CDSUM well during the Celebration in Pitlochry Scotland. CDSUM turned twenty five in 2011 with a celebration dinner on the Milwaukee River. The event was arranged by Russ and Jessie Read. This year we celebrated our Thirtieth anniversary with a luncheon cruise on the Illinois River at Peoria. Since its founding, CDSUM has continued to grow. We have active members in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. We currently man CDSUM tents at nine games across our territory.

Tartan Information

The Chief of the Robertsons' is said to have traveled around Atholl asking the old men of his clan what the true clan pattern was, but no-one could agree. Eventually he sealed as the true Robertson Tartan a piece of what is now called Hunting Robertson or Robertson of Kindeace, which is thought to be the tartan used for kilts by the Loyal Clan Donnachie (Robertson) Volunteers, a sort of home guard, raised in 1803. Like all such variations of the Government tartan, this pattern cannot be dated earlier than the late 18th Century and so it cannot have been the old Robertson clan tartan. Indeed, there are other old patterns associated with the clan which would have a better claim to being the "clan tartan" had one existed in c.1815. (Information obtained from http://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/history.htm with permission from Peter MacDonald) Robertson Red (modern) Robertson Red (ancient)   Robertson Hunting (modern) Reid (modern) Duncan (modern)

Scottish Instruments

Bagpipe Information http://www.rootsworld.com/bagpipes/