You are welcome, we all make mistakes. On which subject you may have the advantage over me of greater knowledge but I thought the tile was and is Unicorn Pursuivant of Arms. If I do have that right then you better tell Adam Bruce who was appointed to that office three years ago that he has been replaced.

You are correct that Sir Thomas Innes of Learney was briefly a herald after his retirement from the office of Lord Lyon. For the two years before he died in 1971 he was Marchmont Herald.

The Oxford Dictionary has "(of that ilk) Scottish, chiefly archaic of the place or estate of the same name" and Collins dictionary has "Definitions. Scottish. of the place of the same name: used to indicate that the person named is proprietor or laird of the place named." Although, the use of ilk in the sense you use it is correct, though often condemned as being the result of a misunderstanding of the original Scottish expression, it is nevertheless well established. It is not, however, correct when related to a Scottish style (of that ilk being a style rather than a title).

My curiosity having been aroused I checked on-line and indeed you are correct that arms were granted to George Pentland on July 1st 1811 but where he lived at the time I don't know. It might be interesting to see the full entry but not to the tune of £10 unless you'd like to pay it. Records in the Lyon office before 1832 are generally very scanty. One of the Kinnoull Earls, I think the 11th was Lyon at that time. If your chap did live in Perth then Kinnoull would likely have known him and more importantly, his background.

I do agree with you that there is no place called Pentland in Perthshire but am inclined to accept the interpretation of several authorities that it is derived from Cymru-British and most likely the earliest example of its use is in the name of the Pentland hills. It could also have a Norse root which would explain why it crops up in the northern Skerries and Firth.

I had a look at the Pentland Board and can only conclude from the evidence presented there that the earliest examples of the name come from Midlothian. the suggestion that it came from the north via some legendary Pictish Princes is amusing but not credible historically.

Sadly, as I pointed out earlier Sir Thoams Innes is long dead making it impossible to check his view but I remember well his general view of Clans that they only came from The Highlands. In that light and based on what you have written so far I cannot see what the basis is for your belief that you are chief of the clan Pentland.

As with the use of the phrase "of that ilk", however, one must accept that the meaning of words change and in the same way as some Americans call themselves Earl I suppose you are quite entitled to call yourself chief.

Thank you for posted this on the Midlothian Board as I would have missed it otherwise and one is always grateful for some light relief. May i suggest, however, that this is very much a Pentland family issue and better suited to the Pentland Board so perhaps you might ask for the thread to be moved there. It may give you greater access to people with real knowledge of the Pentland family. I will, however, be sure to ask for an alert in case you decide to post again.