A warrior of the Chatti tribe is said to have killed the Danish General, Camus, at the Battle of Barrie in 1010.[1] For this valour Malcolm II of Scotland dipped three fingers into the blood of the dead and drew them down the warrior's shield.[1] The warrior was thereafter named Marbhachair Chamuis which meant the Camus Slayer.[1] The chief of the Clan Keith has borne the same three lines on his shield ever since.[1] It can be found as early as 1316 on the seal of Sir Robert de Keith.[1]
King Malcolm's victory at the Battle of Carham in 1018 brought him into possession of Lothian, and the lands of Keith in Lothian were subsequently held by the Camus Slayer.[1] It is from these lands that his progeny took their name.[1]
A Norman adventurer named Hervey married the native heiress of Marbhachair and in about 1150 David I of Scotland granted her a charter for the lands of Keith.[1] In a charter of 1176, their son was styled as Marischal of the King of Scots.[1] The Marischal was charged with the safety of the king's person within Parliament and was also custodian of the royal regalia.[1]
The Clan Keith were often at feud with the neighbouring Clan Irvine and, in 1402, the Clan Irvine are said to have attacked and defeated an invading war party of the Clan Keith in what was known as the Battle of Drumoak.[3]
Sir William Keith the Marischal who died in 1407 married the heiress of Sir Alexander Fraser and in doing so added great estates in Buchan, Kincardine and Lothian to his existing patrimony.[1] William's half-brother, John Keith, married the Cheyne heiress which brought the Keiths massive estates in Inverugie as well as Inverugie Castle, which later became the seat of the clan chiefs.[1] Three of Sir William Keith's children married children of Robert II of Scotland, while another daughter married Sir Adam Gordon, ancestor of the Earls of Huntly.[1]
Circa 1458, the heir of the Marischal or Great Marischal was made 1st Earl Marischal and was the only peer to be styled by his office of state.[1]
A branch of the Clan Keith who inhabited Caithness fought at the Battle of Tannach (probably 1464) where they assisted the Clan Mackay against the Clan Gunn.[4] They later fought another battle against the Gunns, known as the Battle of Champions (probably 1478). This battle was fought between twelve men of the Clan Gunn and twenty four men of the Clan Keith. Most the Gunns, including the chief of the clan, were killed. However, Keith of Ackergill was soon after killed by the Gunns in a revenge attack.[5][6]
16th and 17th centuries
The ruins of Dunnottar Castle, a seat of the chiefs of Clan Keith
A clansmen, William Keith of Delny (died 1599), was a Scottish courtier and Master of the Royal Wardrobe.[7] He also served as ambassador for James VI to various countries.[8][9] He was an important intermediary between George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and the king, the king and courtiers, and the king and foreign governments.[10]
After Charles II of England was crowned in 1651, William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal, was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London.[1] He remained there until the Restoration when the king appointed him a Privy Councillor and later Lord Privy Seal as recompense for what he and his family had suffered in the royal cause.[1] After Charles's coronation the Scottish crown jewels had been hidden on the Keith lands and as a result Marischal's brother, John Keith, was created Knight Marischal and Earl of Kintore.[1]
In 1978, the Chief of Clan Keith and the Commander of Clan Gunn signed a peace treaty at the site of the Chapel of St. Tayrs, ending the feud between the two clans which began in 1478.[11]
In 2002, the 13th Earl of Kintore, who was the previous Chief of Clan Keith, entered into a peace treaty the previous Chief of Clan Irvine, with at an elaborate ceremony on the banks of the River Dee to end their 600-year feud.[12]
Chief
The current Chief of Clan Keith is Sir James William Falconer Keith of Urie, 14th Earl of Kintore, 14th Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall, 4th Viscount Stonehaven, 4th Baron Stonehaven, 5th Baronet, 6th of Ury (b. 15 April 1976).
Jack Dalgety notes of June 1963 state: 'This sett is the same as Falconer, Austin and Marshall and derives from Lord Falconer who took over the entailed lands of the Keith, Earl Marischal in the early 1800's. There is a family Keith-Falconer who wear this tartan' The earliest known date from a list compiled by D.C. Stewart from Wilsons of Bannockburn letters is 1838. Also recorded in Wilson's of Bannockburn, 1819 pattern book as No. 75 or Austin. D.W. Stewart writes in 'Old and Rare..'in 1893, "that it is included in every early collection." The Keiths were a powerful Celtic family, who held the hereditary office of Great Marischal of Scotland. They are associated with Dunottar Castle, near Stonehaven'. Wilsons of Bannockburn a weaving firm founded c1770 near Stirling. The Pattern books are in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh. Copys of the Pattern books and letters in the Scottish Tartans Society archive[13]
The Clan Crest and motto
The clan crest is a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) also known as the roe, western roe deer or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck.[14] The Keith Clan Motto: Veritas Vincit is translated as Truth Conquers.
Castles
Keith Marischal House, three miles south of Pencaitland, East Lothian, is an L-plan tower house that dates from the sixteenth century.[15] It is on the site of an earlier castle that was built by the Keiths from the fourteenth century.[15]
Dunnottar Castle stands on a cliff-girt promontory above the sea a couple of miles south of Stonehaven, Kincardineshire.[15] There has been a strong-hold there since the twelfth century, although it was held by the Keiths from 1382 after they exchanged their property of Struthers with the Clan Lindsay for Dunnottar.[15] The present ruins at Dunnottar include a tower, courtyard, chapel and the entrance to the castle that is up a steep ascent through a tunnel.[15]Donald, King of Scots was killed there in 900 and William Wallace captured the castle from the English in 1297.[15]Mary, Queen of Scots stayed at the castle in 1562 and James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose unsuccessfully laid siege to the castle in 1645.[15] William Keith, 9th Earl Marischal entertained Charles II of England at the castle in 1650 and the Scottish regalia was kept there when Oliver Cromwell invaded in 1651.[15] Cromwell besieged the castle in 1652 and it only capitulated after eight months by starvation and mutiny.[15] The castle garrison had then been commanded by Sir Robert Keith, fourth son of the 6th Earl Marischal.[15] The castle was held for William of Orange in 1689 and many Jacobites were imprisoned in it.[15] The Duke of Argyll partly slighted the castle after George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal had supported the Jacobite rising of 1715.[15]
Keith Hall in Aberdeenshire, once known as Caskieben,[15] is the current seat of the chief of Clan Keith.[1] It is a Z-plan tower house dating from the sixteenth century.[15]
Ackergill Tower, a couple of miles north of Wick, Caithness is a tower and mansion that dates from the fifteenth century.[15] It rises to five storeys and was originally held by the Cheynes but passed to the Keith Earls Marischal in about 1350.[15] The Keiths who inhabited Caithness had a long and bitter feud with the Clan Gunn.[15] In 1556 the Keiths were besieged in the castle by the Clan Sinclair before eventually selling it to them in 1612.[15] Sir Robert Keith of Benholm had also once attacked the castle during a family dispute.[15]
↑ Gordon, Sir Robert (1580–1656), A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland. p. 69.
↑ Mackay, Robert. (1829). History of the House and Clan of the Name MacKay. p.82. Quoting: Gordon, Sir Robert. (1580–1656). A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland.
Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.
Clan Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan became Earl of Argyll and later Duke of Argyll.
Clan Robertson, is correctly known as Clan Donnachaidh ( Duncan ) (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Dhònnchaidh) is a Scottish clan. The principal surnames of the clan are Robertson, Reid and Duncan but there are also many other septs.
Earl of Kintore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1677 for Sir John Keith, third son of William Keith, 6th Hereditary Earl Marischal of Scotland and Chief of Clan Keith. He was made Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland. At the death of William, the 4th Earl, in 1761, the Earldom and Lordship became dormant, as no-one could prove a claim to them. In 1778, it was decided that the Earldom, Lordship and Chieftaincy of Clan should pass to Anthony Adrian Falconer, Lord Falconer of Halkerton, who changed his surname to Keith-Falconer. The Lordship Falconer of Halkerton and the Earldom of Kintore and Lordship Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall remained united until 1966, when, at the death of the 10th Earl, the Lordship Falconer of Halkerton became dormant.
Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about 2 miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength.
Clan Maclean is a Highlands Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early MacLeans became famous for their honour, strength and courage in battle. They were involved in clan skirmishes with the Mackinnons, Camerons, MacDonalds and Campbells, as well as all of the Jacobite risings.
Clan Mackay is an ancient and once-powerful Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Kingdom of Moray.
The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland.
Clan Maxwell is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands and is recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. However, as the clan does not currently have a chief, it is considered an armigerous clan.
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 Gunn is a Highland Scottish clan associated with lands in northeastern Scotland, including Caithness, Sutherland and, arguably, the Orkney Isles. Clan Gunn is one of the oldest Scottish Clans, being descended from the Norse Jarls of Orkney and the Pictish Mormaers of Caithness.
Clan Sutherland also known as House of Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland; however, in the early 16th century, this title passed through marriage to a younger son of the chief of Clan Gordon. The current chief is Alistair Sutherland, who holds the title Earl of Sutherland.
Clan Boyd is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands and is recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Fetteresso Castle is a 14th-century tower house, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish Gothic style Palladian manor, with clear evidence of prehistoric use of the site. It is situated immediately west of the town of Stonehaven in Kincardineshire, slightly to the west of the A90 dual carriageway. Other notable historic fortified houses or castles in this region are Dunnottar Castle, Muchalls Castle, Fiddes Castle, Cowie Castle and Monboddo House.
James Ian Keith, 12th Earl of Kintore DL, known as Viscount Stonehaven between 1941 and 1974, and Chief of Clan Keith from 1974 on, was a Scottish peer and nobleman.
Clan Irvine is a Scottish clan.
The Battle of Champions was a trial by combat fought in 1478 or 1464 between two Scottish clans, Clan Gunn and Clan Keith. It took place at the chapel of St Tears on the coast north of Wick in Caithness, between Ackergill Tower and Girnigoe Castle. It was arranged to settle a dispute with a battle between twelve men on horseback on either side. However, the Keiths arrived with two men on each of their twelve horses, and massacred the 12 Gunns. The clans finally signed a treaty of friendship in 1978, ending the feud after 500 years.
Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and politician.
Michael Canning William John Keith of Urie, 13th Earl of Kintore, styled Master of Inverurie between 1974 and 1989, was a Scottish peer and nobleman.
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