Clan Baird Gathering in Scotland

Clan Baird is gathering in Scotland every two years now. We were there in 2019 and will be back in 2021. We hope you will join us Agust 6-8 in Aboyne, for the Scottish Festival there and our meetings at Potarch Lodge, Balogie Estate. 

Photo: Branton Baird, holding the Standard, with Commander Richard Holman-Baird, during a ceremony commemorating the ridge at the old Auchmedden Mill, Pennan, (now named the Mill of Nethermill) which was built by Bairds and Gardens in 1719. A plaque was placed during the general meeting in 2019, celebrating the bridge being in existence for 300 years. It was the first road bridge joining Aberdeenshire and Banffshire on the north coast. 

Clan Baird, through more twists and turns than most clans endure, has revived itself in the modern

era, and we have a Commander appointed by the Lord Lyon; a leader for the first time since Culloden. Our history is one of strife and challenges due to one branch (the Auchmeddens) being Jacobites, another branch (the Saughtonhalls) being British soldiers far, far back into history, including at Culloden, another branch (the Newbyths) dying out and then being regenerated through a different line, Sir David Baird in the 19 the century, and another line rising from farming in Lanarkshire (the Gartsherries), from the original Cambusnethans of whom the Auchmeddens originated in the 1400’s.

Most of Clan Baird’s Scottish world has been played out in Lanarkshire and Aberdeenshire. Our new

Commander, Richard Holman-Baird of Rickarton, Ury, and Lochwood, owns the last Baird estate in

Scotland, Rickarton, which lies just north of Stonehaven.

Photo: Bairds and Twinning partners, meeting at Rickarton House for signing of Sister City documents with Athens, Alabama and Stonehaven, Scotland, 2019.

As all can imagine, the family fractures that have come about from being on differing sides of the Risings in Scotland, from difficulties with philosophical and political ideologies, and the loss of estates and fortunes over time, have caused a scattering of Bairds around the globe. In fact, more Bairds live in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States than still reside in Scotland. All that strife of diaspora almost caused us to dissolve as a family.

But, in the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s, two groups came into being. The Bairds of Atlantic Canada and Clan Baird Society in the United States, which later became Clan Baird Worldwide, Inc. With hard work and determination, these two groups began the long journey back; visiting Scotland, seeking out family leaders still there, and trying to give us all a home once again, as part of a larger organized group than our local immediate families.

Our new Commander, Richard Holman-Baird’s grandfather and grandmother helped with these fledgling efforts, inviting all to their home and into their lives. His father and mother continued this effort, and gave Bairds a place to feel welcomed in Scotland. These efforts helped bring the varied groups of Bairds back to the table and back into the fold. Richard and his wife Polly continue this tradition and are always happy to see Bairds as part of their work.