| Clan Durie | |
|---|---|
 Crest: A crescent Or | |
| Motto | CONFIDO (I trust) |
| Profile | |
| Region | Lowlands |
| District | Fife |
| Chief | |
 | |
| Andrew Durie of Durie [1] | |
| Chief of the Name and Arms of Durie | |
| Historic seat | Burntisland Castle |
Durie is a Scottish family of the Scottish Lowlands, not a Scottish clan as sometimes reported. [2]
The origin of the surname is often said to be from the French Du Roi',. [2] but this is known to be an error. Nor were they Normans, [2] or "travelled to Scotland in 1069 as part of the entourage of Queen Margaret of Scotland". [2] Modern historical research shows that in 1260 or shortly thereafter, a younger son of the Earl of Strathearn was granted the land in Fife already called Durie and took the name, becoming “of Durie” or, in the Anglo-French used in documents of that time, “de Durie”. A much-quoted reference to the Duries being in Fife from 1119 is based on a mis-reading of a carved stone.
The Duries had the estate of Craigluscar which is near Dunfermline, Fife and the lands called Durie in the parish of Scoonie near Leven, Fife. [2] A house that was built in Craigluscar possibly around 1520 has a stone bearing the initials of George Durie and his wife Margaret Bruce. [2] The family's prominence in Fife is found in charters throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. [2] In about 1258 Duncan de Dury was a witness for Malise, Earl of Strathern. [2] Others bearing the name who appear in documentary evidence include Francis de Douery (c.1250), Malisius de Douery (c.1350), Michael de Douery (c.1373), John de Douery (c.1406) and Richard de Douer (c.1405). [2] It is from Richard de Douer that the main chiefly line is descended from. [2]
In 1382 Burntisland Castle (now known as Rossend Castle) was built and it includes a tablet over the entrance bearing the Durie arms and the date 1554. [2]
Burntisland Castle was the most extensive of Durie properties and in 1563 it was occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots. [2] However it was confiscated by the Crown during the Scottish Reformation. [2]
George Durie reached high offices in church and state, becoming Commendator and the last Abbot of Dunfermline before the Reformation. [2] He also appeared in Parliament between 1540 and 1554, was appointed an Extraordinary Lord in 1541, became Lord of the Articles, a member of the Governor's Secret Counsale in 1543, a Lord of Council and Session and Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland. [2] George Durie was a staunch supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots and as a bitter opponent of the new faith he brought his own cousin, John Durie, a monk to trial for proclaiming the new teaching. [2] The Queen and her mother, the Queen-Dowager wrote several letters to George Durie while in distress and sent him on diplomatic missions to the court of France. [2] Durie later fled there taking with him the relics of Queen Margaret for safe keeping. [2]
George Durie's brother was Andrew Durie who was Abbot of Melrose and Bishop of Galloway. [2] Andrew Durie was despised by the religious reformer John Knox and was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle in 1580. [2] Meanwhile, Robert Durie, minister of Anstruther, was exiled for attending a proscribed General Assembly of the Church. [2]
George Durie's sons, John and George, were both educated at the Scots' Colleges in Paris. [2] There is little doubt that John was the Jesuit Durie who was implicated in a conspiracy to release Mary, Queen of Scots and depose Elizabeth I of England. [2] Another of George's sons was Henry Durie who held the lands of Craigluscar and from whom the main line of the family runs. [2] His wife was Margaret MacBeth who was renowned for her skill with herbs. [2] Margaret was attended royal births at Dunfermline Palace and was a favourite of Anne of Denmark. [2]
In the late 17th century another George Durie was a Captain in King Louis XIV of France's Scots Guards and also a provost of Dunfermline. [2]
The Duries were chiefless for some time until the recognition of Lt-Col Raymond Durie of Durie in 1988. [2] He established his descent through his grandmother, Elizabeth Durie of Craigluscar from Abbot George. [2] Raymond had a distinguished military career which spanned 35 years with Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. His actions were distinguished during the Chinese Civil War and Japan's invasion of China. [2] He died in 1999 and the chieftainship passed to his son,[ citation needed ] the present chief Andrew Durie of Durie, CBE [3]
The main seat of the family of Durie of that Ilk was Durie in the parish of Scoonie, just outside Leven, Fife. Another branch, that of the present Chief, had Craigluscar, near Dunfermline, Fife. Briefly, they held Rossend Castle (Burntisland, Fife) [4] and Grange (near Kinghorn, Fife).
Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and permitted to fall into disrepair. Part of the old abbey church continued in use at that time and some parts of the abbey infrastructure still remain. Dunfermline Abbey is one of Scotland's most important cultural sites.
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was the regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated by a firearm.
Burntisland is a former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 6,269. It was previously known as Wester Kinghorn or Little Kinghorn.
Clan MacDuff or Clan Duff is a Lowland Scottish clan. The clan does not currently have a chief and is therefore considered an Armigerous clan, which is registered with the Lyon Court. The early chiefs of Clan MacDuff were the original Earls of Fife, although this title went to the Stewarts of Albany in the late fourteenth century. The title returned to the MacDuff chief when William Duff was made Earl Fife in 1759. His descendant Alexander Duff was made Duke of Fife in 1889.
Rossend Castle is a historic building in Burntisland, a town on the south coast of Fife, Scotland.
Ethelred was the son of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his wife Margaret of Wessex, the third oldest of the latter and the probable sixth oldest of the former. He took his name, almost certainly, from Margaret's great-grandfather Æthelred the Unready. He became the lay abbot of Dunkeld.
Clan Leslie is a Lowland Scottish clan. The progenitor of the Clan, Bartolf, was a nobleman from Hungary, who came to Scotland in 1067. He built a castle at Lesselyn, from which the clan name derives.
Clan Carmichael is a Scottish clan and is also considered a sept of the Clan Douglas, Clan MacDougall, Stewart of Appin, and Stewart of Galloway.
Clan Cathcart is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Seton is a Scottish clan which does not currently have a chief; therefore, it is considered an armigerous clan.
Clan Colville is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Maitland is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Wemyss is a Lowland Scottish clan.
George Durie, abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St Andrews, son of John Durie of Durie in the county of Fife, and brother to Andrew Durie, bishop of Galloway, was born about 1496. From 1527 till 1530 he acted as judge and executor of the monastery of Arbroath. During this same period he assumed the title of abbot of Dunfermline, and discharged some of the duties of that office under the direction of his uncle, Archbishop James Beaton, the actual titular, on whose death in 1539 he was promoted by James V to the full dignity of the office.
Collessie is a village and parish of Fife, Scotland. The name derives from Scottish Gaelic but is somewhat obscure in its current form. The first element is either cùl (behind) or cùil (nook) and the last element could be either eas (waterfall) or lios.
Robert Pitcairn (1520?–1584) was a Scottish administrator, diplomat and judge, secretary of state and commendator of Dunfermline.
Robert Melville, 1st Lord Melville was a Scottish diplomat, administrator, jurist, and intriguer, and uncle of the poet Elizabeth Melville.
Henry Kemp of Thomastoun was a Scottish courtier.