Walter MacFarlane or MacFarlan (died 8 June 1767) was a Scottish antiquarian and 20th chief of the

Clan MacFarlane Clan MacFarlane (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Phàrlain ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Descended from the medieval Earls of Lennox, the MacFarlanes occupied the land forming the western shore of Loch Lomond from Tarbet up-wards. From Loch Sloy, a s ...

. MacFarlane was the second son of John MacFarlan of Arrochar (d. 1705), chief of clan MacFarlane, and Helen (d. 1741), daughter of Robert, 2nd

Viscount of Arbuthnott Viscount of Arbuthnott is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641, along with the subsidiary title Lord Inverbervie, for Sir Robert Arbuthnott. The Viscount of Arbuthnott is the hereditary chief of Clan Arbuthnott. At the time ...

.Pollard and Du Toit 2005. His date of birth is uncertain: he is known to have been under twenty-one in 1709, so was certainly born after 1689, and possibly not long before the death of his father in 1705, when he succeeded as chief of Clan MacFarlane. He was the author of a number of "collections", among them multi-volume genealogical works. His ''Geographical Collections relating to Scotland'', a work in three volumes that collected historical, geographical, and folkloristic information dating from 1600 to 1730. MacFarlane had gathered much of the material in 1748–49; it was published posthumously by the

Scottish History Society The Scottish History Society is a historical and text publication society, which promotes the study of and research in the history of Scotland. It was founded in 1886, as part of the late 19th-century revival in interest in Scottish national id ...

in 1906, edited by Arthur Mitchell. The work included a large number of observations recorded by

Robert Sibbald Sir Robert Sibbald (15 April 1641 – August 1722) was a Scottish physician and antiquary. Life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of David Sibbald (brother of Sir James Sibbald) and Margaret Boyd (January 1606 – 10 July 1672). Educated at th ...

, who had attempted a methodical survey of Scotland's parishes.

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