Honored Guest
Margaret Frances Boswell Eliott

Margaret Frances Boswell Eliott of Redheugh, is the 29th Chief of Clan Elliot. She inherited the chiefship from her father, Sir Arthur Eliott of Stobs, when he died in 1989 and since then, she has been active in promoting the clan’s activities and, through them, bringing visitors to the Liddesdale, the original family lands.

Much of her childhood was spent in London where her father was the senior partner of Gilbert Eliott & Co, a firm of stockbrokers but she spent every summer at Redheugh, deep in the Scottish borders. Margaret’s education was mainly at Hatherop Castle School in Gloucestershire and when that was finished she spent her time, travelling, working and having fun.

In 1974 she settled down and married Anthony Vaughan-Arbuckle and had two children, Ben and Kate. Sadly Margaret was widowed in 1985 and consequently set up a business in Suffolk as a specialist paint decorator. She ran the business until she married Christopher Wilkins in 1990; they lived in Edinburgh and London until 1995 when they moved into Redheugh from where she runs the Clan Society and small museum.

Margaret is involved with charitable work in the Borders. She is a trustee of the Landward Trust and founded and runs the Sir Arthur Eliott Memorial Trust, established to help people from Liddesdale with their education. She also plays an active part in the local community and is on the Community Council. She is Patron of The Boswell Society (being a direct descendant of the diarist, James Boswell) as well as being on the Executive Committee of The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. Apart from these duties her particular interests are in plants and gardening.

Distinguished Guest
The Earl of Caithness

Born on 3rd November 1948 Malcolm Ian Sinclair inherited the earldom and the title, The 20th Earl of Caithness following the death of his father Roderick, the 19th Earl of Caithness in 1965.

The title dates from about 870; Malcolm is both the 58th Earl (including the Nordic dynasty) and 20th under Scottish law and hereditary chief of Clan Sinclair.

His hereditary peerage gave him the right to sit in the House of Lords. In 1984 Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister, invited him to join her reforming government. He started as a Whip and Lord in Waiting to The Queen before progressing to an Under Secretary of State at the Department of Transport and then Minister of State at, successively, the Home Office, Department of the Environment, the Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and back to the Department of Transport. He is the only hereditary peer in the twentieth century to have served in the three great Departments of State (Foreign and Home Offices and Treasury) and while in the Treasury was also Paymaster General. He was created a Privy Councillor to Her Majesty The Queen in 1990.

He continues to take an active part in Parliament as well as being the chief executive of The Clan Sinclair Trust, which has charitable status in the UK and USA, set up to preserve the clan’s unique heritage and foster the links with the clan worldwide.

James McBain of McBain--FSA Scot

Biography:

James McBain of McBain--FSA Scot
Greeting: McBain

Matriculated arms 15th February 1979 by Lord Lyon King of Arms as the 22nd Hereditary Chief of the Ancient Celtic Clan McBain (MacBean).

James followed his father Hughston McBain of McBain, 21st Chief from 1959 until his death in 1978. Hughston purchased land and had built the McBain Memorial Park 7 miles southwest of Inverness Scotland. This area is the duthis   (homeland) of the Clan McBain (MacBean, Bean, Bain, Vean and all spellings.

The area is in a remote location near the village of Dores and the Dores Inn proprietor maintains a guest book for those who wish to leave comments.The Memorial includes a cairn at the top with a brief history of the Clan.There are footpaths around and through the memorial and a recently rebuilt gate at the entryway emblazoned with the Catt symbols of the Clan.

The McBain has three children, Christina, Jacquelyn, and Richard. Richard is designated as Richard McBain of McBain younger--the Tanist. McBain was born in Evanston Illinois to Hughston and Margaret on July 13, 1928.Hughston was the first in the family line to be born in the USA.

Presently the McBain is active as Vice President of Clan Chattan (Scotland), member of the Royal Scottish Dance Society (Edinburgh), speaker at Scottish events throughout the US and Canada. Retired as owner of Scot Photo Shop in Tucson.

He has visited over 50 Scottish games and events as a representative of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (Edinburgh). The McBain published the book The Clan McBain (MacBean) A History of an Ancient Family in 2005.