Clan Davidson
also Clan Davidson, Mac Dhàibhidh
Sons of David — Clan Chattan of Strathspey.
CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Clan Davidson
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Clan Davidson.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
The pledge surface for chiefdoms and missions is being built. Until it ships, register your name through the submit form.
Stake your name →Motto
Sapienter si sincere
— Wisely if sincerely
What does the Davidson name mean?
Patronymic — son of David. The eponymous David is held by clan tradition to be David Dubh of Invernahavon, a son of Muriach Cattanach in the 13th century — making the Davidsons a sub-sept of Clan Chattan, the great Highland confederation centred on the Mackintoshes. The clan's territory was the Badenoch district of upper Strathspey, around modern Newtonmore. The Davidson chiefs were an inner-circle Clan Chattan family until they were nearly destroyed in 1370 at the Battle of Invernahavon, after which the surviving Davidsons reorganised under the Mackintosh banner.
The history of Clan Davidson
The Battle of Invernahavon (c.1370), at the confluence of the river Truim and the Spey, was the foundational disaster of Clan Davidson — a precedence dispute with the Macphersons within Clan Chattan turned to confrontation, and the Davidsons were nearly wiped out. The clan reformed slowly over the following centuries under continued Clan Chattan affiliation; the chief was recognised as a sub-chief of Mackintosh into the modern era. The 1396 Battle of the North Inch in Perth — thirty Clan Chattan warriors against thirty Cameron — may have been a continuation of the same Davidson-Macpherson dispute, though the historical record is contested.
William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson (1881–1950) co-founded Harley-Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee in 1903 — the foundational American motorcycle manufacturer, still producing under the Davidson name a century later. Donald Davidson (1917–2003), the Springfield, Massachusetts-born philosopher of language, was the foremost American philosophical analyst of the late 20th century after Quine. Bruce Davidson (b. 1933), the Oak Park, Illinois-born photographer, documented the American Civil Rights movement in his East 100th Street and Brooklyn Gang series.
Notable bearers of the Davidson name
- Arthur Davidson (1881–1950) — co-founder of Harley-Davidson Motor Company
- Donald Davidson (1917–2003) — American philosopher of language
- Bruce Davidson (b. 1933) — photographer (East 100th Street, Brooklyn Gang)