| Grierson | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Crest: A fetterlock Argent | |||
| Motto | Hoc securior | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| District | Dumfriesshire | ||
| Plant badge | Bluebell flowers, (campanula rotundifolia) being the proper plant badge of the name Grierson have long been symbolic of humility, constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. | ||
| Chief | |||
 | |||
| Sarah Grierson of Lag, [1] | |||
| Chief of the Name and Arms of Grierson. [2] | |||
| Historic seat | Lag Tower | ||
| |||
| |||
| |||
Clan Grierson is a Lowlands Scottish Clan. [3]
The personal name Gregor comes from the Greek for vigilant, through its Latin translation of gregorious. [3] The name was popular amongst clergy in the Middle Ages. [3] It is from this forename that the surname of Grierson is believed to be derived. [3] It has been conjectured that the Grierson family come from the same stock as the Clan Gregor, although this theory has been refuted by modern historians and there is no evidence to support it. [3]
The surname Grierson is a modern spelling of the medieval (circa 1408) surname Grerson. [4]
In about 1408 the Griersons acquired the lands of Lag, which became the principal seat of the clan chiefs. [3] Gilbert Grierson is described in a charter dating from 1420 as armour bearer to the Earl of Douglas. [3] Gilbert married Janet, daughter of Sir Simon Glendinning, whose mother was Mary Douglas, daughter of the fourth Earl of Douglas and Princess Margaret. [3] These royal connections secured the early fortunes of the Griersons. [3] In 1460 Vedast Grierson built a strong tower at Lag. [3]
Vedast Grierson's son, Roger, obtained a royal charter confirming his lands in 1473. [3] However Roger was later killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. [3] The Grierson Lairds of Lag also followed James IV of Scotland to the Battle of Flodden in 1513 where they met the same fate as the king. [3]
During the wars surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots the Griersons declared for James VI of Scotland in the confrontation between the Queen and the Protestant lords. [3]
Chief William Grierson of Lag was allied to the powerful Clan Maxwell and joined forces with them against the Clan Johnstone at the Battle of Dryfe Sands in 1593. [3]
William Grierson of Lag was knighted by James VI in 1608. [3] His son was Sir Robert Grierson who was succeeded by his cousin, another Robert Grierson. [3] This Robert Grierson became the first Baronet of Lag. [3] This Robert Grierson for a time made the name of Grierson synonymous with terror and death throughout the south and west of Scotland, with his persecution of the Covenanters during the reign of James VII of Scotland. [3] He was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in March 1685. [3] In that same year he surprised an illegal Covenanter service at Kirkconnel and in the ensuing struggle most of the worshipers were killed and Grierson of Lag refused to give them a decent burial which earned him his feared reputation. [3] Amongst the Covenanter martys was John Bell of Whiteside. [3] Bell's stepfather was the Viscount Kenmure who was with John Graham of Claverhouse when they encountered Sir Robert Grierson and a quarrel broke out. [3] Kenmure drew his sword but Claverhouse dissuaded him from fighting a duel. [3]
Kenmore made an alliance with the Douglas Duke of Queensberry by marrying the Duke's sister, Lady Henrietta Douglas and not surprisingly the Griersons did not support the Glorious Revolution, considering William of Orange and his wife Mary to be usurpers. [3] In 1689 Sir Robert Grierson was arrested and held in prison until a substantial cash surety was paid. [3] He was later imprisoned on two more occasions, including for being accused of counterfeiting money but was cleared of all the allegations. [3] He died in 1736 but secured immortality in Sir Walter Scott's novel Redgauntlet . [3] He was succeeded by his son, Sir William Grierson, 2nd Baronet who died just four years later and was in turn succeeded by his brother, Sir Gilbert Grierson. [3] His son was William Grierson who was a close friend of Sir Walter Scott. [3]
William's eldest son was Thomas Grierson, a soldier who distinguished himself at the Siege of Delhi in 1857 but died of wounds received there. [3] Sir Alexander Grierson, 8th Baronet of Lag was commissioned into the 78th Ross-shire Highlanders regiment. [3]
During World War I, Sir Robert Grierson, 10th Baronet of Lag served in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, however by this time most of the Grierson lands had been lost, although the ruins of Lag Tower still stand today. [3]
George Abraham Grierson was a distinguished linguist who devoted much of his life to the study of dialects from the Indian sub-continent. [3] John Grierson is widely regarded as the father of the British documentary film movement. [3]
The current Chief of the Name and Arms of the Grierson family, is Sarah Grierson of Lag, [1] the first female to hold this role.
The crest badge of the Griersons contains the Latin motto: Hoc Securior [1] which may be translated as "Safer by This".
Clan Scott is a Scottish clan and is recognised as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Historically the clan was based in the Scottish Borders.
Clan Gordon is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire. The Chief of the clan is the Earl of Huntly, later the Marquess of Huntly.
Clan Macnaghten, Scottish Gaelic: MacNeachdain, is a Scottish clan.
Sir Robert Grierson, 1st Baronet of Lag was a Scottish baronet from Dumfriesshire.
Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands.
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 Drummond is a Highland Scottish clan. The surname is rendered "Druimeanach" in modern Scottish Gaelic.
Clan Johnstone is a Border Reiver Scottish clan.
Clan Moncreiffe is a Highland Scottish clan.
Clan Hannay is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Clan Jardine is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Clan Eliott is a Border Reiver Scottish clan.
The Grierson Baronetcy, of Lag in the County of Dumfries, is a dormant title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 25 March 1685 for Robert Grierson, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Dumfries and notorious persecutor of the Covenanters, with remainder to heirs male whatsoever. The baronets owned Lag Castle and Rockhall Tower.
Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Sir William Grierson, 2nd Baronet, of Rockhall, Lag, Dumfries, was a Scottish Jacobite and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1709 to 1711. He was captured and imprisoned in the 1715 Jabobite rebellion.
Barscobe Castle is a 17th-century tower house in Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. It is a typical house of a country laird, and according to a panel above the entrance, was built in 1648. The L-plan tower was constructed using stone taken from Threave Castle. The main block is three storeys high with the stair wing one storey higher. The gables have a modification of crowsteps found only in Galloway. It is a fine example of a mid-17th-century house which was unoccupied for many years until 1971 when it was restored. It has a modern byre (barn) attached, which has been converted into a garage. Barscobe Castle is a category A listed building.
Clan Munro is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland and settled in Scotland in the eleventh century, though its true founder may have lived much later. It is also a strong tradition that the Munro chiefs supported Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The first proven clan chief on record however is Robert de Munro who died in 1369; his father is mentioned but not named in a number of charters. The clan chiefs originally held land principally at Findon on the Black Isle but exchanged it in 1350 for Estirfowlys. Robert's son Hugh who died in 1425 was the first of the family to be styled "of Foulis", despite which clan genealogies describe him as 9th baron.
Clan Pringle is a Lowland clan from the Scottish Borders.
Dalgarnock, Dalgarno, Dalgarnoc was an ancient parish and a once considerable sized village in the Nithsdale area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Sanquhar and north of Dumfries that enclosed the parish of Closeburn but was annexed to Closeburn in 1606 following the Reformation, separated again in 1648 and finally re-united in 1697, as part of the process that established the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. It was a burgh of regality bordering the River Nith and Cample Water and held a popular market-tryst or fair from medieval times until 1601 when the Earl of Queensberry had them transferred to Thornhill, commemorated in song by Robert Burns, shortly before its demise and now only a remote churchyard remains at a once busy site.
Rockhall Tower, also known as Rockhall House or Rockhall Tower House, is a 16th-century tower house in Collin, Dumfries and Galloway. The castle originally belonged to Clan Kirkpatrick and later passed, through marriage, into Clan Grierson, becoming the home of the Grierson baronets. Sir Robert Grierson, 1st Baronet lived here until his death in 1733.
