The link between the Campbell's and the Burns, Burnes, Burnett and so on is a little thin. It seems to go back to Robbie Burns who was friendly with a Campbell family. The spelling of (Robbie) Burns from Burness to Burnes was just to suit local dialects. They were all the same people. You have to remember that in the early 1800s (and even up to when I was a little kid) the Campbell's were considered traitors by the Scottish because 50% of them had fought with the English against the Scots. For the Campbell's to adopt the most famous Scot of all into their Clan would have been optimistic on their part. Robert Burns himself refuted the Campbell association. His cousin James Burns was given part of the Campbell crest (By the Campbell's) for his coat of arms. The spurious Campbell connection was later deleted and the seal of Robert Burns accentuated. It was Campbell's who claimed Burns were part of their Clan not the other way around. If you read the Campbell account of this you will see it is all very vague in this area. It would seem that a lot of Burns, Burnett, Burnes and so on lived in that area prior to all of this. One Campbell who was on the run at one time changed his name to Burnses or Burnhouse to make it hard to find him. If go to this Robert Burns site it will explain more details (with pictures) http://www.worldburnsclub.com/newsletter/0010/1000_the_myth_and_the_gentle_science.htm Chris Burns ----- Original Message ----- From: <AReyno5980@aol.com> To: <BURNS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 10:27 AM Subject: [BURNS] BURNS TARTAN > I too think the Burns is part of the Campbell Clan and wore their tartan. I > have a map of Scotland with all the Clan and their Tartans. Listed on the back > is a directory of all Scots names and their Clan and that is exactly what it > says. Allice Burns Reynolds > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >