The Scottish Clans

Gaelic Name: MacCuinneagain
Motto: Over fork over
Origin of Name: Placename, Ayrshire

Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):
Chonigham Conigham Conighame Conningans Conyghans Conyngham Conynghame Cunigham Cunigom Cuninggame Cuningham Cuninghame Cunningghame Cunningham Cunninghame Cunnygam Cunnyngayme Cunnynghame Cunygam Cunyghame Cunymgham Cunyngaham Cunyngahame Cunyngame Cunynghame Cwnninghame Cwnygham Cwnyghame Kuningham Kyninghame Warnebald

History

The first Cunningham is believed to have been a Flemish man named Wernibald, who took on the placename as his own when he received a grant of Kilmaurs in Cunningham, Ayrshire from Hugo de Morville, the Constable of Scotland, in 1140.

Haakon IV, King of Norway, arrived off the coast of this area to re-assert his rule over Scotland’s Isles in 1263. This led to the sea battle of Largs from which Haakon would never return home. For his part in the battle, Harvey Cunningham of Kilmaurs had his family’s property expanded by Alexander II.

In 1321, Robert the Bruce granted the lands of Lamburgton to Hugh Cunningham. When Hugh’s grandson Sir William married Margaret, heiress of the Dennistons of that Ilk, Glencairn became the property of the Cunninghams also. James III made Sir William’s grandson, Alexander, Earl of Glencairn in 1488. He and his King died together at the Battle of Sauchieburn later in the same year.

The 5th Earl of Glencairn was a member of the ‘Lords of the Congregation of Jesus Christ’, whose business was misappropriating church property and undermining Scotland’s government on behalf of the well-paying English. The group’s work was instrumental in the Tudors’ destruction of Mary, Queen of Scots’ rights.

The 9th Earl, however, was a patriot in the mould of the 1st Earl.

While Scotland was under the control of Cromwell’s generals in 1653, Glencairn raised a rebellion on behalf of Charles II who was safe on the Continent. The rebellion was hopeless but in 1660 he was created Lord Chancellor of Scotland, following the Restoration.

In the 18th century, a number of Cunninghams, including the 14th Earl, were friends in art with Robert Burns.

For the chief, Burns wrote this tribute:

The bridegroom may forget the bride
Was made his wedded wife yestreen;
The monarch may forget the crown
That on his head an hour has been;
The mother may forget the child
That smiles sae sweetly on her knee;
But I’ll remember thee, Glencairn,
And a’ that thou hast done for me!

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Gaelic Name: Cuimean
Motto: Courage
Badge: Cumin plant
Lands: Roxburghshire, Buchan, Badenoch and Altyre
Origin of Name: Placename, Norman

Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):
Bochane Boghan Buccan Bucchaine Bucchan Buchan Buchane Bughan Buquhan Comine Common Commons Comyn Comyns Cumin Cumine Cuming Cummin Cummine Cumming Cummings Cummins Cumyn Knevan MacNaoimhin MacNeiving MacNevin MacNivaine MacNiven Naomhin Neiven Neivin Nevane Nevein Neveine Nevene Nevin Nevins Nevinus Nevison Nevyn Nevyne Nevyng Newein Newin Newing Nifin Nivein Niven Niveson Nivine Niving Nivison Rossel Rossell Rusel Russale Russall Russaule Russel Russell Russelle

History

When William the Conqueror came to England he had a companion named Robert of Comyn, believed to have been so named from Comines in Flanders, whom he made Earl of Northumberland in 1069. When David I came to Scotland, Robert’s grandson Richard came with him, and was made Chancellor of Scotland in 1133.

The speed with which the Comyns established themselves and their power is notable. They settled in Badenoch where the clan’s chiefs were known as Lords of Badenoch, ruling from the impregnable island castle in Lochindorb.

Richard married Hexstilda of Tynedale, grand-daughter of King Donald Ban. Their son William became Earl of Buchan through marriage, and his son from a previous marriage became Earl of Menteith and Lord of Badenoch.

When King David I’s line ended in 1286, the Comyns were the most powerful family in Scotland, and had claim to the empty throne on two counts. However the crown went to King John in 1292. He was the son of Devorguilla, David’s great-grand-daughter, and John Balliol, founder of Balliol College in Oxford and another of Scotland’s most powerful men.

When King John was deposed the Balliols left Scotland and again the most powerful man in the country was a Comyn. Devorguilla’s grandson was known as ‘The Red Comyn’ and ruled with complete self-interest, sometimes fighting for Scotland and at other times for England.

He represented the legitimate royal line and so Robert the Bruce stabbed him to death in the Church of the Minorite Friars at Dumfries in 1306. The following War of Independence saw Bruce become King the next month and the Comyns destroyed and powerless by 1308.

The Red Comyn’s only son John died trying to avenge his father at Bannockburn. In that Dumfries church in 1306, Sir Robert, John’s uncle, was also murdered. He was not descended from Devorguilla and his descendants were not as persecuted as their cousins. This branch acquired Altyre in Moray and, using the spelling Cumming, it has remained the clan’s chief seat to this day.

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Motto:
Origin of Name: Placename Midlothian

Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):

History

The name Crichton originates from the the lands of Kreitton, a very old barony near Edinburgh. Recordings of the name first appear around 1128 when Thurstan de Crechtune witnessed the foundation of the Abbey of Holyrood House by David I. Thomas de Crichton, possibly Thursdan’s son is recorded on the Ragman Roll of nobles swearing to Edward I in 1296.

Thomas’ family prospered especially when his son William married Isabel de Ross who was heiress to the barony of Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire. Sir Robert Crichton of Sanquhar became sheriff of Dumfries county in 1464 and later Coroner of Nithsdale. In 1487 Sir Robert’s eldest son, also named Robert, was made Lord Crichton of Sanquhar’ by James III.

Alas the title appeared to bring nothing but bad luck for the Crichtons; William the third Lord, was murdered by Lord Semple around 1552. The sixth Lord Sanquhar was accused on being involved in the murder of a fencing master who had previously blinded him in one eye and he died in disgrace. The title eventually passed to the family of Crichton-Stuart, the present Marquesses of Bute.

Sir William Crichton made the mistake of getting involved in a feud with the Douglas’s. In 1439 while serving as Chancellor of Scotland and governor of Edinburgh Castle during James II’s minority the Sir William arranged the notorious ‘Black Dinner. His great rival the Earl of Douglas had recently died and he invited the new Earl and his brother to the castle to attend a Royal Banquet. With the young King in attendance the after dinner entertainment was rather disappointing for the Douglas’s as they were both dragged from the banqueting hall and executed at nearby Castle Hill.

The Douglas’s were a powerful clan and they besieged the castle until Crichton finally surrendered. despite this he was still raised to the peerage with the title Lord Crichton. Through marriage the 2nd Lord Crichton obtained the barony of Frendraught in Banfshire.

The third Lord united with the Duke of Albany, brother to James III in an attempt to size the throne but as a result lost his estates and Crichton Castle was taken and passed to, among others the Earl of Bothwell, Mary, Queen of Scots third husband.

James Crichton was son of the Lord Advocate of Scotland. He is better known as ‘the Admirable Crichton’ due to his incredible mental and physical agility. By the age of twenty he was an expert in just about every field and had mastered around ten languages. If that wasn’t enough he was also renowned for his horsemanship and sword skills. With such impressive skills the young man naturally moved to Paris where his charm could be put to good use, he ran intellectual rings round the cities professors and next day won a jousting competition. On a visit to Rome he impressed the Pope and the Duke of Mantua. So much so that the Duke asked him to be tutor to his son, Vincenzo.

Alas Italian youths are less impressed with such showmanship then Popes and Parisian professors. In 1582 while Crichton was attending a carnival he was ambushed by a gang. He rapidly dispatched five of them and was preparing to finish the sixth when he revealed himself as young Vincenzo. Shocked by the discovery James was unprepared for Vincenzo’s attack who promptly stabbed him.

James Crichton, Viscount Frendraught fought alongside the Marquis of Montrose in 1650. The story goes that he gave his horse to Montrose during a battle at Invercarron so he could evade capture. Crichton was taken prisoner but, considering the fate of Montrose was probably fortunate that he died of his wounds before he met a similar end.

It is from Crichtons of Frendraught that the present line descends and the seat is at Castle of Monzie near Crieff.

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Motto: Tutum te robore reddam (I will give you safety by strength)
Origin of Tartan: A lowland tartan from the “Vestiarium Scoticum”

Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):
Crafford Crafoard Crafoord Craford Crafort Crafuirde Crafurd Crauffurd Craufoord Crauford Crauforth Craufurd Craufurde Craunford Craweford Crawfaird Crawfeurd Crawffurd Crawford Crawfurd Crouford Krauford

History

Crawford was a barony in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale. The name of Galfridus of Crawford is recorded around 1179, and he seems to have been a man of success.

In the time of William the Lion, Sir Reginald of Crawford was made Sheriff of Ayr. Accompanied by three sons he was witness to a grant in favour of Kelso Abbey.

The Crawford name appears many times through this century on various charters. Sir John Crawford of that ilk died in 1248. His eldest daughter married Archibald of Douglas and the other daughter married David Lindsay of Wauchopedale, the ancestor of the Earls of Crawford.

The 1297 Sheriff of Ayr, Sir Archibald, had a sister Margaret. Their father had been murdered at a banquet by the English in a cowardly fashion and when she married Sir Malcolm Wallace she had a son, William, who would become Scotland’s greatest nationalist.

During these times the family developed three principal branches. A brother of Sir Archibald and Margaret obtained a grant of Auchinames from Robert the Bruce in 1320. The 21st of Auchinames, Hugh Crawfurd, sold his inherited property and died in Alberta, Canada in the 1980s.

Crawfurdland is another branch and this one sprang from the Sheriff’s younger son. His lands were given to him by Robert III in 1391. The third branch comes from Sir John of Crawford whose descendants gained the estates of Kilburnie in 1499. From this house came Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill.

Being the sixth son of Lawrence of Kilburnie in 1530, the family inheritance was spreading thin and so Thomas had to make his own money. He served under Henry II in France before returning to Scotland with Queen Mary in 1561. He eventually married the Queen and became part of the Darnley family. He identified the true murderers of Lord Darnley in 1569 but was ignored.

A baronetcy was placed upon the senior line of Kilburnie in 1781.

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Motto:
Origin of Name: Placename, Midlothian

Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):
Cranestone Cranestowne Cranston Cranstone Cranstoun Cranystoun Craynston Creinstoun Crenestone

History

An area of Midlothian may have given rise to this name. Possibly from the Anglo Saxon meaning ‘Place of the Crane’. The families that settled here and took the name owning lands around Edinburgh and Roxburghshire, the first recording of the name was Elfric de Cranston who is one of the witnesses to a charter by William the Lion in the Abbey of Holyrood around 1170. During the reign of Alexander II Thomas de Craystoun was recorded as giving over land in East Lothian to the church and a Hugh de Cranstoun signed the Ragman Roll in 1296.

The Cranstouns appear to have faired well until late in the 16th Century when their fortunes changed after Thomas and John Cranston were accused of conspiring with the Earl of Bothwell who had attacked Holyrood Palace. With members of the Cranstoun family being accused of treason Sir John Cranston fell foul of the law for harboring his family members. Finally his brother, Thomas was Executed in 1660 for his part in the infamous Gowrie Conspiracy.

The Cranstons relationship with the Monarchy faired better as the 17th Century progressed. In 1609 Sir John Cranstoun of Morristoun was given the title of ‘Lord Cranstoun’ after his service as captain of the guard to James VI.

While the family faired better with the King alas the same could not be said for the ‘higher powers’. In the town of Kettle in Fife the Reverend William Cranstoun held strong Presbyterian views which were at odds with the King’s reforms. An attempt was made to have him forcibly replaced during the middle of a sermon, despite his resistance he found himself branded as an outlaw. Finally in 1620 the Archbishop of St Andrews had him deprived of his charge.

During the English Civil War the Third Lord Cranston fought for the Royalists and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Worcester. Locked up in the tower of London under the protectorate most of his lands were forfeited.

The family allegedly holds a dark secret; A son of the fifth Lord secretly married a Roman Catholic. The husband later denied the marriage had taken place but his wife produced evidence to the contrary. The husband then took off for England and struck ap a relationship with a rich heiress. Not surprisingly her father was not too happy about the situation and the young Cranstoun attempted to smooth over the situation with a ‘Love Potion’. Whatever the potion contained it certainly wasn’t amorous as the father died of poisoning and the heiress was hanged for his murder.

George Cranstoun, who was also descended from the fifth Lord Cranston was a great friend of Sir Walter Scott. They had studied together at Edinburgh University. Whereas Sir Walter had followed a literary career George had pursued his legal profession rising to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1823.

The Cranstons military career also faired well. James, eighth Lord Cranstoun commanded the Bellerophon during a heroic battle against a large French fleet in 1795. He was appointed Governor of Grenada but sadly died from lead poisoning before he could take charge. Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Cranstoun of that Ilk was awarded the Military Cross and was recognised as chief in 1950. After his death in 1990 he was succeeded by the present chief.

The family seat is still at Corehouse in Lanarkshire.

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