Of ancient origin, the MacLachlan clan is descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King in Ireland in 400 A.D. Lochlainn was the name of the senior branch of the descendants of Niall, and by the thirteenth century the name appears in Scotland when Lachlan Mor of this family lived on the shores of […]
From the Brythonic word ‘ir-afon’ which means ‘green water’ comes Irvine. The name is territorial in origin, from an area in Dumfriesshire. Records of the family date back to some time between 1124 and 1165. The family claim origin from the High Kings of Ireland, through to Scotland’s Early Celtic Kings. Crinan Eryvine married the […]
It is possible to trace the descendancy of this famous clan to Normandy, France in the 11th century. Robert de Brus followed William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy to England in 1066. One of his relatives, Robert de Brus, became a companion-in-arms to Prince David in his visit to the court of Henry I of […]
Also found as Blain, the name is a reduced form of MacBlain. Most commonly found in Wigtown and Ayr. Patrick Blane was provost of the burgh of Wigtown in 1561, and John Blain had a charter of the half of the ten-merk lands of Meikle-Wig in the parish of Whithorn in 1674. Agnes Blain is […]
The Latin word “Scotti” originally denoted the Irish Celts and later the Gaels in general. The earliest certain record of the name was of Uchtredus filius Scotti, who lived around 1130. From him were descended the Scotts of Buccleuch and the Scotts of Balwearie. The Scotts married well and acquired more lands and in time […]
In 1241, the time of Alexander II, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, granted the lands of Colquhoun in Dunbartonshire to Humphrey of Kilpatrick. Humphrey’s son Ingram is the first person recorded as taking Colquhoun for his surname. Around 1368, Luss, on Loch Lomond, was acquired by Sir Robert Colquhoun through marriage. From then on the chiefship […]
he de la Hayes were a powerful Norman family, princes of whom came with William the Conqueror to England in 1066. The name means hedge, and was not translated into the English language. In Gaelic, however, the nameholders became Garadh, a word encompassing hedge, wall, dyke and also a defensive stockade. To this day the […]
(By Dr Bruce Durie) It seems strange that a surname apparently descended from Alpin, father of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cinaed mac Ailpin, Coinneach mac Ailpein) has never had a Chief of Names and Arms. The reality is that there are no connected genealogies back to Alpin, despite claims of seven established Clans to descend from him […]
Described as ‘fiercer than fierceness itself’, the Clan Cameron is said to be one of the most ancient of Scottish clans. One theory for their inception is that they are descended from a son of the Danish King Camchron. There were numerous names circulating in the 13th century which would appear to be the progenitors […]
The name of Ogilvie derives from Gilbert, one of the descendants of the ancient Earls of Angus. The name Ogilvie derives from the old British ‘ocelfa’ or ‘high plain’. The Ogilvie lands are to be found in Angus, with the Ogilvie family being made hereditary sheriffs of Angus in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In […]
