Iain, I am in absolute agreement with you on this. Presently some of us from Clan Donnachaidh are now transferring the M222 results for all surnames of the project into Exel to have a look at phylogenetic trees using at least 2 or more analytical methods. I suggested to John some time back that it would be good to gather the M222 data from all the designated Scottish Clan projects and run them simultaneously as one large group, not just one project at a time. I think this would be very useful. From the little bit of research (and it certainly has not been extensive by any measure) on surname acquisition with-in Scotland, there were a variety of ways surname use evolved. It seems that early on the son's took on the McC, Mac, SON etc. (Duncan linguistically is supposedly a Saxon derivative used in the Anglicization process) of the given name of the father; ie if the father's given name was Robert, Robert(son), Mc Robert, Mac Robert, etc. There are some good sources to better explanations available. People also acquired their name by taking on the name of a chieftain or a renowned hero even if not blood related; taking on a name as suggested such as many who stood with Bruce were allowed the honor of carrying the name Robert(son). Some were required to take on a name -- ie there are histories suggesting that Robertson(s) often would change their surname to fly under the radar when the English were breaking up the clans -- Other stories say explicitly that some Robertson(s) in certain Scottish environs were required to change their names to McC; there are other stories which claim explicitly that McCs on Isle of Bute were required by the English to change their names to Duncan. And of course once patrilinear (sic) surname use was the norm, unless required to change name as seems to be the case in some instances, the surnames followed blood lines. Blood line surname use, however, was a bit late in the game. So in short it is rather a mixed up mess, and if nothing else perhaps by looking at the clans member databases at a whole, perhaps we will see more clarity into which groups and/or individuals were genetically related to who.