CLAMECY, kla-mi-se, France, town in the departtnent Nievre, 38 miles northeast of Nevers, left bank Yonne, at the mouth of the Beuvron. It was formerly surrounded by enor mous walls, and defended by a castle which commanded the town and environs. One of its suburbs, situated on the opposite side of the Yonne, was the seat of a bishopric in partibus, lcnown as the bishopric of Bethlehem, founded in 1180 for the bishop of that place, who had been expelled by the Saracens. Wood-rafts for the supply of Paris with fire-wood are made up here, and floated down the Yonne and Seine. The parish church, founded in 1497, is remark able for its tower and for some fine sculptures. Clainecy carries on several industries, the chief being that of tanning. Pop. 4,869.
CLAN (Gael. clann, Ir. clann, eland, off spring, tribe), a tribe or number of families, bearing the same surname, claiming to be de scended from the same ancestor and united under a chieftain representinK that ancestor. The members shared certain rights and privi leges, and vowed solemnly to avenge each other's wrongs. The clan systern is essentially the same as that existing among the Arabs, the Tartars and tribes similarly situated. The clan differs from the village or pagus, which was the first step toward the enlarging of tribal life. From ancient times the "clans" existed in Ireland. The system is said to have
sprung up in Scotland about 1008, while Mal colm II was reigning, but it may have been of greater antiquity. In 1747 the legal authority of the chiefs over their followers was abolished as a punishment for the part which the former had taken in the insurrection which ended in 1745 at Culloden. While the clans flourished they were divided into two, the clans of the borders and those of the highlands. Consult Mayne, (Hindu Law and Usage' (London 1883) ; Morgan, (Ancient Society' (New York 1878) ; Leist, (Grwco-italische Rechtsgeschichte) (Jena 1884); Meyer, (Geschichte des Alter tums) (Vol. II, Stuttgart 1893) ; Krauss, (Sitte und Brauch der Siidslawen) (Vienna 1885); Skene, (Celtic Scotland) (3 vols., Edinburgh 1876-80) ; Lang, (The Secret of the Totem) (London 1905) ; Bradley, (Malta and the Medi terranean Race) (London 1912).
klin-na-g51, Irish secret society, founded in the United States for the purpose of aiding in securing "Home Rule" for Ireland. The Society has been charged with some grave crimes, said to have been perpe trated for the purpose of intimidating the Brit ish government; but so little is really known about the workings of the organization nothing positive can be asserted.