One of Scotland’s oldest clans has appointed a new chieftain – more than 230 years after the last one died.
Clan Gunn have been without a chief since the death of Morrison Gunn in 1785, who had no traceable heir.
But Iain Alexander Gunn officially became the new head of the clan at a ceremony on Saturday.
A clan is a kinship group among Scots and give a sense of shared identity to members.
Nowadays they have an official structure recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon, which regulates Scottish heraldry and coats of arms.
The Clan Gunn Society was set up in 1960 to promote kinship among members of the clan worldwide and to find a new chief.
William Gunn of Banniskirk was appointed commander of the clan in 1967 until the rightful chieftain could be found.
Upon his death in 1972, the Lord Lyon King of Arms appointed Mr Gunn’s nephew Iain Alexander Gunn, of Banniskirk in the Highlands, as the new commander.
In 2014, a group including the arms-bearing, landowning Gunns, together with past and current presidents of the International Clan Societies, petitioned the Lord Lyon to settle the chiefship.
The Lord Lyon Dr Joseph Morrow QC approved the petition and recognised the commander as the clan’s new chieftain.
An investiture ceremony was held on Saturday in Edinburgh to officially recognise Mr Gunn as the new chieftain.
The new chief said: “I am most grateful for the congratulations and messages of support from members of the clan worldwide on my recognition by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as chief of Clan Gunn.”
