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This summer and fall will be special for this region’s—and the world’s—Buchanan clan.
When John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan is installed as the new chieftain of the Buchanan Clan of Scotland in October, there will be a Roanoke contingent on hand to cheer on the first installation of this type in 370 years.
The new chieftain is the 60-year-old owner of Cambusmore Estate near Callander, Scotland (near Glasgow), and initially claimed the title about 20 years ago. Sophisticated genealogical research over those 20 years established Buchanan as the rightful chieftain.
This will be a world-wide celebration of one of the oldest and most storied Scottish clans and it will have special significance to the Buchanans of our mountains, which so resemble the highlands of Scotland that many immigrant Scots over the years have settled here.
Chris Green of Roanoke has made it his special goal to ensure that as many of the Blue Ridge Buchanans as possible know and celebrate their heritage as the unofficial director of clan relations for the Buchanans. Marj Easterling, a small business guru in Roanoke and an historic Buchanan, has taken on helping publicize the Buchanan name and Chad Clark, a Hall of Fame Highland Games athlete from Roanoke, is out front, as well, gathering the clan.
Clark, a hulking 300-pounder with minimal body fat and arms the size of beer kegs, heaps praise on Green, a man considerably less than half his size. “Chris has been a model of consistency with this,” says Clark. “He’s at all the local events as a collector of family history and he presents it well. The history display [at the upcoming Highland Games at Green Hill Park August 27] will be spread over two tents and will have its own timeline.”
“It started with one tent” and little interest, says Easterling. “A lot of people don’t realize how [clans] play out here. Take a look at the Hatfields and McCoys feud, which was begun as a need to survive here.”
“People like Chris take this on their shoulders with persistence, drive and dedication,” says Clark, and that has made the Buchanan name even more prominent in this region.
The Highland Games—which are held all over the world—are an historic celebration of ancient Scottish life featuring events that mirrored rural life in the hills of Scotland. This region is home to several world-class games athletes, including Emily Adams of Lynchburg and Johnathan Harding of Pulaski, along with Clark.
Easterling will be one of several Roanokers to attend the four-day inauguration and Clark says he would “change my name to Buchanan in order to go.”
(Note: Writer Dan Smith is a Buchanan on his mother’s side of the family.)
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