The Scottish Clans

Motto: Defend
Origin of Name: French
Clan Lands: North Esk, Largo Bay & Angus

History
The erroneous notion that clans are Highland groups and families are Lowland units is very much a Victorian one. In fact, the terms are interchangeable, and many a Lowland laird has held from the Lyon Court the title ‘Chief of the Name and Arms’. This is true of the Woods.

The Old English name Wood (also Wod, Vod, Yod, Wode, Woode, Woods, Voud and other variations) may well derive from the Norman French de Vosco, or de Bosco (modern French Dubois or just Bois), meaning ‘of the wood’ (occupational names of people crafting in wood being typically Wright, Wheelwright etc., Carpenter, Arrowsmith, Carver, Cooper, Sawyer and many others). Gaelic forms incorporating ‘Coill’ also took the English translation over time. Among the Wood families that moved into southern Scotland – some say with King David I – were the Woods of Bonnytoun in Angus. They held extensive lands in that district as well as Kincardineshire, Perthshire and elsewhere.

Admiral Sir Andrew Wood Bt., of Largo, Fife, (circa 1455 – 1521) was almost certainly a scion of that ancient clan. He was famous for inflicting many defeats on foreign pirates and privateers as well as squadrons of ships sent by the English government to harass the Scots. His successors built a hospital and school in Fife for their kinsmen named Wood, and were prominent in Scottish history both politically and militarily: they continued to be a significant influence in British politics and were foremost among the thousands of Scots who contributed enormously to the economic and armed expansion of the British Empire well into the 19th century. The main line of Sir Andrew’s descendants is considered by the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be the chiefly one. The record of succession is complete right down to 1916, when Andrew George Wood died in Mayfair, London, leaving his estate on the border of Wales and Shropshire to his second wife. The Clan Wood Society is continuing the search for its Chief.

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Motto: Je pense (I think)
Origin of Tartan: The “Vestiarium Scoticum”

History
The name of Wemyss is derived from the Gaelic ‘uaimh’ meaning ‘cave’.

On the coast of Fife, below the ruin known as MacDuff’s Castle are caves containing Pictish paintings and it is thought that these gave rise to local place name of Wemyss. Wemyss has been the seat of the chiefs of the Clan Wemyss since the twelfth century and they almost certainly took their name from the land where they made their home.

The Wemyss family have the distinction of being one of the few lowland families directly descended from the Celtic nobility, through the MacDuff earls of Fife.

The family initially ensured their prosperity by supporting the cause of Robert the Bruce, and thereafter the name multiplied into many branches. The family seat, Wemyss Castle was built early in the thirteenth century and has the distinction of being the setting for the first meeting of Mary, Queen of Scots and her future husband, Henry. Lord Darnley.

By the eighteenth century the Wemyss family were recognised as the senior representatives of the ancient earldom of Fife.

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Gaelic Name: Uallas
Motto: Pro liberate (For liberty)
Badge: Oak
Lands: Ayrshire and Renfrewshire
Origin of Name: From Volcae, a tribe in North Gaul

History
In old Latin documents the term Walensis is used to designate the Welsh, but in Scotland is more commonly used as a native name meaning a Strathclyde Briton and not, as is often thought, a Welshman coming in the train of the Norman French. It is from this Walensis that the name Wallace is derived.

The name of the clan Wallace is first found in records in the twelfth century as holding extensive lands around Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. Richard Walensis of Riccarton is hailed as the founder of the Wallace family.

The motto of the Wallace clan is “Pro Libertate – for liberty” and no member of the family encompasses that ideal more than the great Scottish patriot, Sir William Wallace of Elderslie. The Wallace clan had refused to submit to Edward I, and William led his family and fellow patriots in what was to be one of the earliest guerrilla campaigns in military history.

His military genius made him hated and feared by Edward I and he was known traditionally as “Guardian of Scotland”. He was ultimately betrayed to the English and executed with great brutality.

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Gaelic Name: Urchurdan
Motto: Meane weil speak weil and doe weil
Badge: Wallflower
Lands: Ross-shire and Inverness-shire
Origin of Name: Placename, Ross-shire

History
The name Urquhart is considered to be of Gaelic origin and has been variously translated as “by a rowan wood” or “fort on a knoll”. The Urquhart family derive their name from the district of Urquhart which can be found in the old locality of Cromarty, on the north side of the Great Glen.

Traditionally springing from a seafaring tribe, they are of minor importance in Scottish history but certainly of ancient origin. In fact, the writer Sir Thomas Urquhart compiled his own genealogy and described himself as being 143rd in direct descent from Adam and Eve.

The family history of erudition and learned pursuits is epitomised by Sir Thomas Urquhart, who was a renowned writer of the seventeenth century and considered one of the most eccentric geniuses in Scottish history. He travelled Europe, collecting written works and on his return was taken prisoner by the English. While imprisoned in the Tower of London he published the first book of Rabelais, one of the world’s masterpieces of translation.

The chief of the clan Urquhart now resides in America.

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Gaelic Name: Sutherlarach
Motto: Sans Peur (Without fear)
Badge: Cotton Sedge
Lands: Sutherland
Origin of Name: Placename, Scotland
Pipe Music:
The Earl of Sutherland’s March

History
The Earldom of Sutherland is claimed to be the oldest in Britain.

The Sutherland clan derive their name from the territory known as Sudrland by the Norsemen who had conquered much of the Scottish mainland north of Inverness. The family are thought to be of Flemish origin, descendants of Freskin, who is also an ancestor of the Murrays of Atholl.

The Earls of Sutherland maintained feuds with many neighbouring clans, in particular Clan McKay. Relations with the Sinclairs of Caithness were also strained, and the 11th Earl of Sutherland and his wife died of poisoning, at the instigation of the Earl of Caithness.

The first Duke of Sutherland was renowned for being a keen reformer and he cleared his tenants ruthlessly from the land to set up new industries on the coast. He was responsible for virtually destroying the old ways of life in Sutherland and was never forgiven by many people for these clearances.

The principal seat of the chiefs of clan Sutherland is the fairy tale castle of Dunrobin, which has been transformed from a traditional Scottish castle into a vast palace in the French chateau style. Now open to the public, it remains in the possession of the Sutherland family.

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