Dear Robert If you know a little of the history of Scotland you will know that the mythical idyll you are looking for did not exist and it has never been mooted to have existed except in Hollywood movies.  Historic truth is about the everyday practicalities of living just as life is today.  It is said that life was harder in ancient times but I believe you will find that it was every bit as difficult as our modern lives but with less forgiving margins for error. The Maxwells are not clan, not even a lowland clan. The name have devolved from a single ancestor and grown into a significantly large Diaspora over some 850 years.  Along the way, some Maxwells have had more significant effects on history than others. The Maxwell heroes and Maxwell rogues you read about are probably at best, extremely remote relatives of yours and you are highly unlikely to be descended from them. The real heroes are the ones in your own immediate family. Your grandfather who went off to fight in WWII and your great-grand father who lived through the hell of the great war. your great-great-grand father who built up the family farm or business. These are your real heroes, the ones that should make you be proud to be a Maxwell. The Maxwell World Website is a true reflection of they way Maxwells have lived. I have not included any fabled history as do all the 'highland' clan websites because the Maxwells have a proper recorded history. We do not have to make it up! The truth is, Maxwell family members were just a normal cross section of everyday society in the times they lived. Some were great men and women, some were rogues but the great majority were normal folk trying to get by. Do your own research into you own Maxwell forebears. You will find the heroes you are looking for, they may not have built empires but their struggles have made you the man you are today. Kind regards Anthony Maxwell Webmaster and Maxwell historian