Although to be found today throughout the length and breadth of Scotland, Lanarkshire and the Borders were the original stamping grounds of bearers of the Aitken name.
• It was in the Borders that they forged a close kinship with the distinguished Clan Gordon, who were later to also hold sway in the northeast of the country.
• Both at home and abroad, Aitkens have achieved fame and distinction, and their proud tale is recounted here.
• One particularly colourful and infamous bearer of the Aitken name was James Aitken, born in Edinburgh in 1752 and who, because of the artistic ambitions and pretensions he harboured, is better known to posterity as John the Painter.
