The Scottish Clans

Motto: Cursum perficio (Latin) – I have completed the course.
Origin of Tartan:

History
The Hunter family have an interesting claim to fame in their early years. It’s almost certain that a Hunter had a hand in creating the Bayeux tapestry, one of the greatest historical documents of early history, documenting the path to the English Throne of William the Conqueror. We know this because the wife of someone holding this name was Lady in Waiting to Williams Queen, Matialda who organised the creation of the tapestry to honour her husband.

The Hunter’s association with Norman Kings probably dates back to around 896 when the Viking, Rollo sacked the city of Paris. They became huntsmen to the Motto: Cursum perficio (Latin) – I have completed the course.

The Hunter family have an interesting claim to fame in their early years. It’s almost certain that a Hunter had a hand in creating the Bayeux tapestry, one of the greatest historical documents of early history, documenting the path to the English Throne of William the Conqueror. We know this because the wife of somene holding this name was Lady in Waiting to Williams Queen, Matialda who organised the creation of the tapestry to honour her husband.

The Hunter’s association with Norman Kings proably dates back to around 896 when the Viking Rollo sacked the city of Paris. They became huntsmen to the Viking King’s descendants who later became Dukes of Normandy. The family would have continued that association possibly travelling over to Britain with Queen Matilda after the Battle of Hastings.

The Hunters were hereditary keepers of the royal forests, a position they would have transferred from Normandy to England and on to Scotland as the Normans advanced. They would probably have arrived in Scotland sometime during the 12th Century, most probably on the invitation of David I who had grown up in England’s Norman court.

The signature of Aylmer le Hunter of the county of Ayr was on the infamous Ragman Roll when many Scottish Noles subjegated themselves to the soveriegnty of Edward I of England ‘ The Hammer of the Scots’.

Another claim of the Hunter’s is that they probably have the best landlords in the known world! A charter signed by Robert II in 1374 grants lands to William Hunter ‘for his faithful service rendered and to be rendered to us in return for a silver penny payable to the Sovereign at Hunterston on the Feast of Pentecost’. The current Laird has a small collection of suitable currency, dating from the reigns of Robert II and George V just in case the Royal party arrive on the appointed day to collect payment. One would presume that he would be hoping they wouldn’t be asking for any back rent.

The fourteenth Laird, John fell along with his fellow nobles at the Battle of Flodden. Robert, his son was a sickly boy who was excused service in the army by James V. However this was granted on the condition that he enlist his eldest son and his tenant. In 1546 his son succeded him but was killed the following year at the Battle of Pinkie.

The Hunters of Kirkland stem from a son of the twentieth Laird, Robert. A grandson of the same Laird, also called Robert was Governor of Virginia and later Governor of New York.

The potential financial decline of the family in the eighteeenth century was halted by Robert Hunter, younger son of the twenty-second Laird. His talent for estate management more or less rescued the family. He died at the ripe old age of 86 and was viewed with great respect by his tenants. His daughter Eleanora, who succeded him married Robert Caldwell a wealthy banker. Robert took on the Hunter name and they began a program if improvements which included Hunterston House.

Their grand-daughter Jane Hunter Weston who died in 1911 was succeded by her son, Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Hunter- Weston. He was with Kitchener during the Egyptian War of 1896, and also served in the Boer War and in France during the early years of the Great War. As well as this he also took part in the Gallipoli landings and commanded the legendary 8th army on the Western Front.

As well as his military career for which he was well decorated he also served as an MP for North Ayrshire and Bute for twenty-seven years. Unfortunately he had no children and he died in 1940, his wife following him fourteen years later in 1954. The line was then taken from his mother, Jane’s younger sister, Eleanora Hunter. traced through this line was Eleanora; ‘Miss Hunter of Hunter-ston’.

The Hunter estates passed on to her nephew, Neil in 1969 who became the twenty-ninth Laird and chief. He was a keen sailor and represented the United Kingdom in two Olympic Games during which he won a silver medal. Neil died in 1994 and Pauline his eldest daughter was recognised as chief. Madam Pauline Hunter of Hunterston and of that Ilk and 30th Laird, is continuing to build a secure future for Hunterston and develop the Clan Hunter Associations worldwide.

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Motto:
Origin of Name: ‘Hop’; Middle English

History
Hope is probably a native Scots name deriving from ‘Hop’. In middle English this means ‘small valley’. Another suggestion is that it derives from ‘oublon’, which is French for ‘hop’ and could be from the family de H’oublons of Picardy. This borders family, whatever the origin of their name it was among those added to the Ragman Roll, The oath of fealty given to Edward I in 1296.

The principle line is traced. back to John de Hope, who reportedly travelled from France with Magdalen, first wife of James V. John settled in Edinburgh and became commissioner for Edinburgh to the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1560.

Sir Thomas Hope, John de Hope’s grandson was Lord Advocate, appointed by Charles I. They became ‘Hope of Craighall’ after aquiring the estates of the same name in the parish of Ceres in Fife. His contribution to the Scottish legal profession was immense and his works are still referred to by Scottish lawyers today. He saw 2 sons raised to the Supreme Court Bench and was created of Baron of Nova Scotia in 1638. He also drafted the National Covenant. After his death in 1646 his eldest son took the title ‘Lord Craighall’. Lord Craighall became a trusted advisor to Charles II, his advice proved particularly in his dealings with Cromwell.

In 1792 the Craighall estates were sold on by the sixth Baronet to the Earl of Hopetoun, Sir Thomas Hope. The eighth Baronet is best known for turning former plague pits in Edinburgh to the ‘Meadows’ park.

The sixteenth Baronet served in both the Boer War and the Great War and was MP for Midlothian between 1912 and 1918.

The younger son of the great Sir Thomas Hope founded the Hopetoun branch of the family and settled in West Lothian. His son was lost at sea when the frigate Gloucester sank. There is a story that he died saving the Duke of York, James VII. Sir Thomas’ grandson was a young member of parliament for Linlithgow, rising rapidly to the Privy Council and by 1703 was made a peer; Earl of Hopetoun, Viscount Aithrie and Lord Hope. Around this time the magnificent Hopetoun House, one of William Adam’s best known houses was built for the family

The Earl of Hopetoun’s estates grew rapidly in the 18th century with most of West Lothian, and parts of East Lothian and Lanarkshire.

The fourth Earl, who had a notable military career, particulary during the Peninsular War worked with Sir Walter Scott in welcoming George IV during his visit to Scotland in 1822. Hopetoun house being used to host a lavish reception for the Monarch.

The name John Aidrian Hope is well remembered on the other side of the world; the seventh Earl was first Governor General to the Australian Commonwealth in 1900. Two years later he was made Marquess of Linlithgow. The second Marquess was Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943. The family still live at Hopetoun house.

The Chiefly line of the Hope family survive through the Baronets of Craighall.

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Gaelic Name: Uamh(cave)
Motto: A home
Badge: Broom
Lands: The Borders
Origin of Name: Gaelic, Uamh (Cave)

History
The names Home and Hume are of the same enormously powerful borders family. Descended from the Saxon Princes of Northumberland was Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, and his second son, Patrick, is believed to be the originator of the family. His descendant Aldan was the first recorded as having taken on the name of Home, Berwickshire, to become Aldan de Home around 1172.

By 1266, William de Home is recorded at Coldstream Monastery with land grants. Geoffrey de Home’s name is on the Ragman Roll, submitting to England’s Edward I. Geoffrey’s son, Sir Thomas, gained the Pepdie estate of Dunglass when he married it’s heiress.

The 1st Lord Home, created in 1473, was Sir Alexander, who died in 1491. During his life he established the collegiate church of Dunglass, was an ambassador to England and was among those who had the blood of James III on their hands in 1488.

Despite having led the vanguard of Scots knights at Flodden field, the 3rd Lord Home, Alexander, was found guilty of treason against the Regent Albany by conspiring with the English. He and his brother had their heads displayed on spikes at the Tollbooth in Edinburgh.

In the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, the allegiance of many families swayed in the turbulent political winds. In 1560, the 5th Lord Home supported the Reformation. Later he was in favour of the marriage of Mary and Bothwell. By the time of the Battle of Langside he led his men against her and aided her imprisonment in Lochleven.

In 1573 he was accused of treason against James VI and spent the rest of his life imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. His son, however, was a stolid supporter of James VI all his life, accompanying him on the journey to claim the throne of the new Kingdom. His devotion earned him the title of Earl of Home in 1605.

In the Jacobite rising of 1715, the 7th Earl was a supporter and was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. The second rising in 1745, however, saw the 8th Earl on the government’s side. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and Governor of Gibraltar.

More recently, the 14th Earl had to disclaim his hereditary peerage to take the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sir Alec Douglas Home died in October 1995.

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Gaelic Name: Mac Eanruig
Motto: Sola virtus nobilitat (Virtue alone ennobles)
Badge: Cotton grass
Lands: Caithness and Glencoe
Origin of Name: Henry’s son

History
Henderson, Henry and Hendry are names so closely tied and so widespread it is not possible to determine one single line as being the first. Through its Gaelic translation into English, the name MacKendrick is revealed as another variation of Henderson. The Hendersons of Caithness and surrounding areas claim their descent from Henry, son of George Gunn, the chief of Clan Gunn and ‘Crowner’ of Scotland in the 1400s, who was deceived and slain by the Keiths.

Meanwhile, there were Hendersons in Dumfries-shire, the opposite end of Scotland.

In 1494, James Henderson became Lord Advocate and founded the line which flourished in Fordell, Fife. Born to this family in 1583 was Alexander Henderson, who drafted the National Covenant of 1638 with Johnston of Wariston. With this and his work towards the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, and the Confession of Faith, he became the Presbyterian Church of Scotland’s most influential representative of those political years.

Claiming descent from ‘Big Henry’, son of King Neachtain, are the principle family of Hendersons, Clan Eanruig of Glencoe. King Neachtain reigned in the 700s and is said to have built Abernethy, the Pictish stronghold.

When the Hendersons came to Glencoe, the heiress of their last chief had given a son to Angus Og of Islay. Their grandson was Iain Abrach and his patronymic, MacLain, became the designation of the MacDonald of Glencoe chiefs.

In the years with the MacDonalds, it became tradition that the Hendersons, known for their size and strength, formed the personal bodyguard of the chief. Standing six feet and seven inches tall, the powerful Big Henderson of the Chanters was MacLain’s piper and protector, and fell with the chief in the cold February night of 1692 in the Massacre of Glencoe, the treacherous outrage ordered by King William of Orange.

At the time of writing, the present chief is a Doctor of medicine, living in Australia.

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Gaelic Name: Mac Garaidh
Motto: Serva jugum (Keep the yoke)
Badge: Mistletoe
Lands: Aberdeenshire and Tweeddale
Origin of Name: French, hail (a hedge)

History
The 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 Chief of Clan Hay is known as Mac Garaidh Mor.

By 1160 the Hays were well established in Scotland. William de la Haye was cupbearer to Malcolm IV, becoming the first lord of Errol, and husband of Eva, Lady of Petmulin, a Scoto-Pictish heiress. Their son David integrated the line further into the ruling classes by marrying Ethna, daughter of the Earl of Strathearn, one of Scotland’s most ancient earldoms.

Sir Gilbert Hay, 5th Lord of Errol, was a comrade-in-arms of Robert the Bruce at numerous battles, including Bannockburn. He was rewarded with the powerful hereditary position of Constable of Scotland, and given much of the lands of Bruce’s defeated enemies the Comyns, including their stronghold Slains, on the Buchan coast.

When the Reformation was forced upon the country, the Hays, with other Catholics such as the Red Douglases and the Gordons, attempted to negotiate an alliance with Philip II of Spain. Ultimately, Errol and Huntly were declared outlaws by James VI, and both had to go into exile, while the King personally supervised the demolition of Slain Castle, leaving it as it can still be found today.

Whether better for his soul or not, Errol found changing his religion better for his position, and returned from exile into royal favour. The Order of the Thistle was given by James VIII, the ‘Old Pretender’, to the 13th Earl of Errol for his support in the 1715 rising. His sister and successor, Mary, was deeply involved in the administration of the Jacobites, using Slain Castle’s ruins as a contact point. She brought the Hays out to fight for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. When she died in 1758, her great-nephew, James Boyd, inherited all, taking on the name Hay, the Earldom and the Chiefship.

James would have been the Earl of Kilmarnock also, had the title not been removed from his father, along with his head, for treason in 1746.

The 19th Earl, William Hay, founded the fishing village of Port Errol, and was known for his generous support of fishermen’s widows.

Other branches of Hays include the Hays of Yester who became the Marquesses of Tweedale.

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