| Clan Blair | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Blar (meaning field or plain) | |||
 Crest: For Blair of Blair: a stag lodged, proper For Blair of Balthayock: a dove, wings apart | |||
| Motto | Amo Probos (Love the virtuous) Virtute tutus (Protected by virtue) | ||
| Profile | |||
| District | Ayrshire and Blairgowrie | ||
| Animal | Stag and dove | ||
 | |||
| Clan Blair no longer has a chief, and is an armigerous clan | |||
| Seat | Ayrshire and Blairgowrie | ||
| |||
Clan Blair is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Blair as a place name is found in over two hundred localities throughout Scotland. Blair as a surname in Scotland is first recorded in the early 1200s with two main families – Blair of Blair (also known as Blair of that Ilk) from Ayrshire, and Blair of Balthayock from Perthshire, with no known evidence of a common ancestor. [1]
The records of the monastery of Kilwinning apparently show that the Barony of Blair was conferred upon a Norman, Jean Francois, by King William I of Scots (1165–1214). It is generally accepted that John Francis de Blair’s grandson, William de Blair, married one of the daughters of King John of England.
Alexander de Blare was mentioned as witnessing an agreement between the burgh of Irvine and Brice de Eglunstone in 1205. Alexander was probably of the Barony of Blair in Ayrshire, granted by King William "the Lion". [2]
William de Blare was knighted by King Alexander II and was made Steward of Fife in 1235. [3]
Sir Bryce de Blare was knighted by King Alexander III. He eventually supported William Wallace and was executed by the English at the Barns of Ayr Massacre in 1296. His nephew, Roger de Blare, was knighted by Robert the Bruce after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. [4]
This Blair family can trace its ancestry back to Stephen de Blair, who held lands in the Parish of Blair in Gowrie, now named Blairgowrie. He also witnessed a charter on the lands of Balgillo, Angus, by Dovenald the Abbot of Brechin to the monastery at Arbroath between 1204 and 1211. [5]
These Blairs have several cadet branches:
These two families long contested to be recognised for chieftanship of the entire Blair clan until King James VI affirmed in 1658 that "The eldest male of either of the two Families would have precedency over the younger to the Chieftainship". The significance of this suggests that members of these two family groups had frequent interchange with each other and recognized some form of kinship, whether secular or by blood ties. [7]
The following properties are associated with both Blair families: [8]
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west. It was a local government county from 1890 to 1930.
Dalry is a small town in the Garnock Valley in Ayrshire, Scotland. Drakemyre is a northern suburb.
Clan Boyd is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands and is recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Clan Nesbitt is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders that is recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness.
Clan Cunningham is a Scottish clan. The traditional origins of the clan are placed in the 12th century. However, the first contemporary record of the clan chiefs is in the thirteenth century. The chiefs of the Clan Cunningham supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Clan Cunningham feuded with the Clan Montgomery. Historically, the chief of Clan Cunningham held the title of Earl of Glencairn. However, in modern times the chief of the clan is Cunningham of Corsehill. On 18 December 2013, Sir John Christopher Foggo Montgomery Cunninghame, Baronet of Corsehill, was recognized by Lord Lyon as Clan Chief after the chiefship had been vacant for over 200 years.
Clan MacDowall or MacDouall is a Lowlands Scottish clan.
Clan Oliphant is a Highland Scottish clan.
Clan Straiton, also called Straton or Stratton, is a Lowland Scottish clan. The clan does not currently have a chief therefore it is considered an Armigerous clan.
Clan Muir is a Scottish clan that is armigerous. Per certain sources, holders of the surname Muir, of Ayrshire, have been noted as a possible sept of Clan Boyd, though this is not clearly identified to a reliable resource. A spelling variation More/Moore is a sept of Clan Leslie in Aberdeenshire, and, having genetic proof of Muirs in Aberdeenshire, may have roots in the Mure/Muir line of southwest Scotland.
Clan Wood is a Lowland Scottish clan from North Esk, Largo Bay and Angus in Scotland.
Sir John Lyon of Glamis was a Scottish nobleman who was Chamberlain of Scotland between 1377 and 1382. He is regarded as the progenitor of the Chiefs of Clan Lyon.
Clan Crawford is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands. The clan is of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon origin. There was in the early 18th century a mistaken belief that the clan had Norman origins. While historically recognised as a clan by the Court of the Lord Lyon, it is now an armigerous clan as it no longer has a chief. The last chief was Hugh Ronald George Craufurd, who sold his land and moved to Canada in 1904. He died in Calgary in 1942, leaving no male heirs.
Giffordland is in North Ayrshire, Parish of Dalry (Cunninghame) in the former Region of Strathclyde, Scotland.
Clan Walkinshaw is a Scottish clan. It does not have a chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law. Clan Walkinshaw is considered an armigerous clan, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms, however no one at present is in possession of such arms.
Clan Schaw is a Lowland Scottish clan. Clan Schaw does not have a chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law. Clan Schaw is an armigerous clan, meaning that it had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms, however no one at present is in possession of such arms.
Oswald is a surname of Scottish, northern English, German and Swiss-German provenance.
Clan Bissett is a Scottish clan. The clan is recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms but does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law. Clan Bissett is considered an armigerous clan, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms; however, no one at present is in possession of such arms. The surname Bissett is also considered a sept of the Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Clan Pollock is an armigerous Scottish clan whose origin lies in a grant of land on the southern bank of the River Clyde, courtesy of King David I, to the sons of Fulbert from Walter fitz Alan, the 1st High Steward of Scotland, in the 12th century. It is among the oldest recorded surnames in Scotland. The clan is a sept of Clan Maxwell.
Clan Ralston is a Scottish clan. The clan is recognized as such by the Court of the Lord Lyon, but as it does not currently have a chief recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms it is considered an Armigerous clan.
