Forgan, Fergie, Fergus, Fergushill, Ferguson, Fergussill,Fearghus, Ferrie, Ferries, Ferris,Forgie, Furgerson, Hardie, Hardy,Kiddie, Kydd, Keddie, Keddle, Ketchen, Kidd, MacTavert MacHerries, MacKidd, Madani. The Gaelic name has been rendered through translation into the forms, MacFergus. variations as MacAdie, MacCade, MacErries, MacHerries, MacKerras (especially common in Argyll and Australia), MacKersey, MacKestan, MacFhearghuis, MacMagnus and even MacIrish, MacInlay, MacNaughton were formed.
The Scottish Gaelic patronymic of Fergusson is MacFhearghuis which can also be translated as son of the angry.[2] There is a tradition that attributes a common ancestry to the various distinct families bearing the name of Fergusson, however there is no evidence to support this and the heraldry of the chief's family is significantly different from that of other Fergusson families.[2]
The Fergussons of Argyll claim descent from Fergus Mór, king of Dál Riata who came from Ireland across Argyll.[2] Most shields of this family include a Boar's head which indicates a connection with the early Scots of Dál Riata.[2]
The Fergussons held lands at Kilkerran from probably the 12th century, although the first certain record is that of John Fergusson of Kilkerran in 1464.[2] This John Fergusson may have been descended from John, son of Fergus who was a witness to a charter of Edward Bruce, which was signed in 1314 after the Battle of Bannockburn.[2]
There were Fergussons all over southern Carrick by 1600, who all acknowledged Fergusson of Kilkerran as their clan chief.[2]
17th century and Civil War
The Clan Fergusson allied themselves with the Clan Kennedy chiefs, the Earls of Cassillis in their feud against the Kennedy Lairds of Bargany.[2] The Fergussons were part of John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis's band in 1601 when a skirmish took place at Maybole where the Kennedy Laird of Bargany was killed.[2]
The Ayrshire Fergussons adopted the Protestant faith during Protestant Reformation whilst Sir John Fergusson of Kilkerran fought for the royalists during the Scottish Civil War.[2]
18th century
Sir John Fergusson, who was born in about 1653 was a distinguished lawyer and a member of the Faculty of Advocates. In 1703 he was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia.[2] In 1735 his son, James Fergusson became a judge of the Supreme Court and was given the title Lord Kilkerran.[2] General Sir Charles Fergusson, the 7th Baronet served in the British Army for almost forty years.[2]
Clan Chief
Clan Chief: Sir Adam Fergusson of Kilkerran, 10th Bt., Chief of the Name and Arms of Fergusson.[3]
Clan Chief's Arms: Azure a buckle Argent between three boars' heads couped close Or.
Fergus Mór mac Eirc was a possible king of Dál Riata. He was the son of Erc of Dalriada.
Clan Kennedy is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of 4,580 in 2020. It is situated 9 miles (14 km) south of Ayr and 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypassed by the A77.
Dunure Castle is located on the west coast of Scotland, in South Ayrshire, about five miles south of Ayr and close to the village of Dunure. Today the castle stands in ruins on a rocky promontory on the Carrick coast, overlooking the small harbour of Dunure.
Clan Armstrong is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders.
The Fergusson Baronetcy, of Kilkerran in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 30 November 1703 for the prominent advocate John Fergusson. The second Baronet represented Sutherland in the House of Commons and served as a Lord of Session under the judicial title Lord Kilkerran. The third Baronet, who with his brothers owned plantations and enslaved people in Jamaica and Tobago, sat as Member of Parliament for Ayrshire and Edinburgh. In 1796 he claimed the earldom of Glencairn. The House of Lords decided that he had successfully proved that he was heir-general to Alexander Cunningham, 10th Earl of Glencairn, but that he had not proved his right to the earldom. The sixth Baronet was a Conservative politician and colonial governor and notably served as Governor of New Zealand from 1873 to 1874 and as Governor of Bombay from 1880 to 1885. The seventh Baronet was Governor-General of New Zealand between 1924 and 1930. The eighth Baronet was an author and historian and also served as Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire.
Greenan Castle is a 16th-century ruined tower house, around 2+1⁄2 miles southwest of Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Situated at the top of a sea cliff, it was originally a promontory fort converted into a motte-and-bailey in the 12th century. In the 15th century a tower house was built by the Lords of the Isles, which later passed into the hands of the Kennedy family.
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.
Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis, PC was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis and Margaret Kennedy. He succeeded to the titles of 6th Lord Kennedy and 4th Earl of Cassillis on 28 November 1558. He fought in the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1568, for the side of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth Mure, a member of Clan Muir, was the first wife of Robert, High Steward of Scotland, and Guardian of Scotland, who later became King Robert II of Scotland.
Fergus or Feargus is a common and one of the oldest known Scottish or Irish male given name derived from Old Irish, meaning "the strong (one)" or "the masculine (one)".
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.
Dunduff Castle is a restored stair-tower in South Ayrshire, Scotland, built on the hillside of Brown Carrick Hills above the Drumbane Burn, and overlooking the sea above the village of Dunure.
Kerse Castle or Carse Castle is a ruined fortification once held by the Craufurd Clan, situated in the Parish of Dalrymple, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran, was a Scottish aristocrat, broadcaster, journalist and historian.
Kilkerran House is an 18th-century private house near Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. It is a category A listed building set within grounds included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. The name Kilkerran relates Campbeltown Loch, originally referred to as 'Kinlochkilkerran'.
Gilbert Kennedy of Bargany and Ardstinchar was a Scottish landowner and murder victim. Kennedy had inherited a long-standing family feud with John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis, on the death of his father, Thomas Kennedy of Bargany. On 11 December 1601 he met the Earl and his followers at Pennyglen near Maybole and was murdered with a lance thrust in his back.
Thomas Kennedy of Bargany was a Scottish courtier and landowner.
The Kennedy Aisle or Bargany Aisle at Ballantrae, South Ayrshire is a vaulted burial chamber and crypt containing a large mural memorial, the Kennedy Monument, an ornately carved stone monument dated to between 1602 and 1605 that commemorates Gilbert Kennedy of Bargany and Ardstinchar, his wife, Janet or Jean Stewart, who died in 1605 and three of their children.
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