Durie
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Associated Names (with spelling variations):
History
There are two schools of thought regarding the origin of this name, one asserts the Gaelic origin, the gaelic for ‘little stream’ being ‘dobharach’. The other more convincing is that it comes from the French phrase ‘Du Roi’ , suggesting a Norman origin. There is also a suggestion that they traveled to Scotland with Queen Margaret in 1069.
Early records of the Duries originate from Fife in 1119 and the families reputation rose through their involvement as administrators to Princess Joan, sister of Henry III of England. Other charters from the 13th and 14th centuries originating from Fife also bear the family signatures.
The estate of Craiglus-car, near Leven was granted to them and the house built there remained in the family till the 1900s. The Durie arms can also be seen above the entrance of nearby Burntisland Castle. In 1563 this castle like so many other in Scotland was occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots, however it was part of the estates taken from the family during the reformation. The estates were sold around 1614 to Sir Alexander Gibson who later took the title Lord Durie.
Abbot George Durie (1496–1572) was the last Abbot of Dunfermline (1530–61) before the the Reformation. He was appointed an Extraordinary Lord in 1541 and became a Lord of the Articles and a member of the Governor’s ‘Secret Counsale’ in 1543 and a Lord of Council and Session, and Keeper of the Privy Seal, in 1544. He strongly supported Mary Queen of Scots and became bitterly opposed to reformations of the faith. He later fled to France with the relics of Saint Margaret which were subsequently lost. The Abbots brother who was Bishop of Galway in 1541 was a great enemy of John Knox. The animosity was understandable as the Duries’ strong Catholic beliefs would have been at odds with Knox’s teachings. The Abbots’ sons continued this; both were educated in Paris, John became a Jesuit and was implicated in a plot to depose Queen Elizabeth I and place Mary Queen of Scots on the throne in her place.
George had another son, Henry. He retained the Craigluscar estates. He was married to Margaret McBeth, a herbologist of some repute she attended the birth of many royal children and was responsible for saving the life of the young Charles I.
In later years the Durie’s had a distinguished military career to rival their ecclesiastical one, George Durie was a captain in Louis XIV’s Scots guards and his brothers fought in Flanders. After a spell without a recognised chief Lt Col. Raymond Varley Dewar Durie of Durie was recognised in 1988. His military career spanned 35 years with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders distinguished by his actions during the Chinese civil war and Japans invasion of China.
He died in 1999 aged 93 and the chiefship passed to his son Andrew.
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