The book, which is numbered 37 of 500 copies, is set to fetch between £500-800 in the sale. It also provides a historical observation on the literature, art, manufactures, and commerce of the Highlands and Western Isles during the middle ages, and on the influence of the sixteenth century, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries upon their present condition.

The books authors have been the subject of much controversy in recent years, and were recently the subject of the BBC documentary Spinning a Yarn: The Dubious History of Scottish Tartan.

Costume of the Clans was published by John and Charles Allen, the sons of a naval officer, who moved to Scotland from England and changed their name to Sobieski Stuart, claiming to be descended from Bonnie Prince Charlie.

When it was first published, the book was celebrated by the gentry, but experts now insist the brothers were fantasists or early marketing geniuses, who invented many of the tartans and traditions themselves.

They also claimed to have discovered a manuscript, Vestiarium Scoticum, or wardrobe of the Scots, which could be traced back to the 1580s.

Vestiarium Scoticum was published in 1842, followed in 1845 by The Costume of the Clans.

Brian Wilton, director of the Scottish Tartans Authority, said: “The Costume of the Clans is amazing, filled with fantastic illustrations. The problem is, one does not know what is fantasy and what might be based on fact.“The Sobieskis produced beautiful tartan designs, and even allocated tartans to families, who had never had a tartan before, particularly in the Lowlands.“Of course, they were only too happy to accept everything the Sobieskis said, because it made them the equal of those in society who were connected to the Highlands.“Much of it was pure fantasy, but they were hugely influential. Following the visit to Scotland of George IV in 1822, the Sobieskis helped establish the importance of tartan.“Most of these are the tartans we have today for the clans.”Henry Baggott of Bonhams said: “This particularly impressive book had an enormous impact when it was originally published in 1845, and lavishly reproduced nearly 50 years later in 1892. It is beautifully bound and the artwork is striking.

“There could be a large market for this book, including perhaps among clan chiefs. There is also a strong market in America for this kind of thing.”

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The Seal of Robert II, King of Scots. 1316-1390

Half of all men in the United Kingdom with the surname Stewart, or Stuart, can claim ancestry from Scotland’s Royal family. Research released by ScotlandsDNA has revealed for the first time the individual in the 13th century who founded a branch of the Royal Stewart line.

In the United Kingdom alone there are about 70,000 people with the surname, meaning that around 17,5000 men can now claim descent from the royal bloodline. The source of the line is Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll, who met his demise at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 fighting alongside William Wallace. The Stewart family’s well-documented pedigree allowed ScotlandsDNA to carry out tests on his descendants, and those of his brother James, the 5th High Steward of Scotland and the grandfather of Robert II, the first Stewart king.

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Robert Currie, Commander of Clan Currie

Robert Currie, Commander of Clan Currie, received an honorary doctorate from Edinburgh Napier University on Thursday. The doctorate of arts was awarded for his tireless efforts in promoting and preserving Scottish heritage worldwide.

Currie, who is also President of the Clan Currie Society of New York, is an international figurehead in promoting Scottish culture, education and events including the 2013 MacMhuirich Symposium held in Nova Scotia, and the annual Pipes of Christmas concert held in New York City.

Also awarded an honorary doctorate was Sir Jackie Stewart OBE – known as ‘The Flying Scotsman’. Sir Jackie won the F1 Grand Prix 27 times, was Formula 1 world champion three times and is a leading advocate for motor racing safety.

Professor Andrea Nolan, principal and vice-chancellor of the university, said: “We’re really proud to see our students graduating alongside these accomplished individuals. Their drive, passion and integrity is admirable and a true inspiration to our students.”

The MacMhuirichs, a name later anglicized to ‘Currie’ and in some parts of Scotland as ‘Macpherson’, ‘Murray’ and even ‘MacMillan’, served for over 700 years as professional poets to the Lords of the Isles, and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald. The Red Book of Clanranald, one of Gaelic Scotland’s literary treasures, was penned by successive generations of the MacMhuirich bards on South Uist.

The Clan Currie Society was originally formed in Glasgow 1959 to further the knowledge and appreciation of the MacMhuirich bardic dynasty. Today, the society plays an active role in preserving and promoting their highland heritage at Scottish Games, ethnic festivals, as well as community groups and classrooms. The Society has also sponsored a number of highly successful concerts featuring Scottish music and Gaelic poetry and has been a leading sponsor and coordinator of National Tartan Day events in the United States.

Commissioned to mark the 10th Anniversary of Tartan Day on Ellis Island in New York in 2011, the Society launched the Ellis Island Tartan as a tribute to those who passed through Ellis Island on their way to a new life in the United States of America. The society also runs an impressive scholarship programme, with scholarships available for those studying piping, Clasarch and Gaelic.

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I’d like to continue by reproducing Alaistair Moffat’s reading given at St Giles. It was an excellent account of the battle and the aftermath.

—

FLODDEN ADDRESS. – ALISTAIR MOFFAT

When dawn broke on the morning of 10th September, 1513, the landscape of hell was revealed. On the gently undulating northern ridges of Branxton Hill more than 10,000 men lay dead or dying. In the midst of the carnage were the naked, plundered bodies of King James IV of Scotland, his half-brother, Alexander Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews, George Hepburn, Bishop of the Isles, two abbots, nine great earls of Scotland, fourteen lords of parliament, innumerable knights and noblemen of lesser degree and many thousands of farmers, ploughmen, weavers and burgesses. It was the appalling aftermath of the battle of Flodden, the greatest military disaster in Scotland’s history.

In the grey light of that terrible dawn, sentries posted around the captured Scottish cannon could make out where the brunt of battle had been joined. Below them, at the foot of the slope ran the trickle of a nameless burn now choked with slaughter, a wrack of mangled bodies, broken pikeshafts, shattered shields and everywhere blood and the sickening stench of death, vomit and voided bowels. Not all of the bodies were yet corpses. Through a long dark night the battlefield had not been a silent graveyard. Trapped under lifeless comrades, crippled, hamstrung or horribly mutilated, fatally wounded men still breathed. Bladed weapons rarely kill outright and they were often used to bludgeon men to their knees or into unconsciousness. In the churned mud of the battlefield some men will have lost their footing, fallen and been hacked at before they could get up. Many bled to death, maimed, lacerated by vicious cuts, screaming, fainting and screaming once more in their death agonies. Some will have been put out of their misery by parties of English soldiers scouring the field by torchlight for plunder, stripping the bodies, ransacking them for valuables. But other men will have lingered on in

unspeakable pain, praying to their God, passing in and out of consciousness, slowly bleeding to death. The fury of the battle on Flodden field may have been stilled and awash with death and defeat. But all was not yet over. In an instant the plunderers and scavengers looked up and the sentries by the cannon stood to, frantically peering through the morning light. They could hear the rumbling thunder of hoofbeats – and then, suddenly, riders erupted over Barelees Rig. With 800 horsemen at his back, Lord Alexander Home galloped hard across the horrors of the battlefield and up the slopes of Branxton Hill. They had not come back to Flodden to rejoin a lost battle but to rescue their captured ordnance. And they very nearly succeeded. After a sharp skirmish, the English gunners managed to load and get off a volley at Home’s squadron, and they scattered.

And so it ended. As the Border horsemen wheeled round and raced out of range, the remnants of the shattered Scottish army were limping across the Tweed at Coldstream. There was no organised pursuit. The victorious English army had taken heavy casualties and the Earl of Surrey and his captains were exhausted. In any event, their bloody work was done. The floors o’ the Forest were a’ wede awa, Flodden was a national disaster, a harbinger of lawlessness in the shape of the Border Reivers, the beginning of a long period of political uncertainty and the last medieval battle in the history of Britain. The last time a king was to die leading his army.

It was also an epic. As two huge armies mustered and marched into history, extraordinary scenes had been witnessed. At Ellemford, high in the Lammermuirs above Duns, where sheep now graze on the flanks of the hills, where buzzards hang in the updrafts and an elegant bridge crosses the Whiteadder, King James IV and his army camped. Huge guns were trundled down the hill trails, dragged by oxen, and by 21st August 1513, almost 30,000 men had massed in this beautiful, now lonely valley. Two days later, the largest force ever to leave Scotland crossed the Tweed at the fords below Coldstream. They had declared war, they had entered the realm of the Tudors, of the ferociously ambitious and bull-like Henry VIII.

Meanwhile Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the Bishop of Durham carried the standard of St Cuthbert before their battle-hardened troops. In front of the high altar of the great cathedral, Howard had watched the bishop bless the flag of the Haliwerfolc. The lands of Palatinate, of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, reached to the Tweed and beyond, and in an early definition of Englishness, their people were known as the Holy Man’s Folk, the Haliwerfolc. Ancient allegiances were being roused and summoned.

Between 2nd and 9th September two vast armies circled each other in a small corner of North Northumberland, like heavyweight boxers looking for weaknesses or waiting for wrong moves. After the Earl of Surrey had despatched a herald, the Rouge Croix, it was finally agreed that battle would be joined on 9th September. Supplies for almost 70,000 men, horses and camp followers were running dangerously low

and neither army could remain in the field much longer.

Realising the strength of the Scots’ entrenched position, Surrey led his men to the east, skirting Flodden Edge and staying out of artillery range. On the morning of the appointed day, he crossed the River Till and took up a position to the north of James IV’s army, barring any retreat to Scotland. And then, on a damp afternoon, the greatest battle ever fought between England and Scotland began.

On the left wing of the Scottish host, the Highlanders led by the Earl of Huntly massed in formation with Lord Home’s Borderers, and in the moments before their chiefs roared the claideamh mor, the order to charge, the Gaelic-speaking warriors did something remarkable. They began to summon the army of the dead. They began the sloinneadh, the naming of the names of memory. To bolster his courage, each man began to recite his genealogy. Many waiting to charge could go back 20 generations. As if they were offering up the murmur of prayer, each man remembered why he had come to fight. Is mise mac Iain, mac Ruaridh, mac Domhnuill. I am the son of John, the son of Roderick, the son of Donald. And once their quiet voices stilled, the roar of the claideamh mor rent the air and they broke into the charge. With their broadswords and Lochaber axes, the Highlanders tore into the English ranks, the division led by Edmund Howard, They scattered and a rout was only prevented when Lord Dacre rode to the rescue with his English Borderers. As history rumbled across Branxton Hill, fortune appeared to be smiling on the Scots.

At the same time, James IV was about to make a catastrophic decision, a crucial error of judgement. Instead of occupying an elevated position at the rear of his vast army, he chose to lead from the front. His division raced down Branxton Hill and as they reached the lower slopes and much softer ground, many men began to skid and lose their footing. This unsteadiness made it very difficult for them to control their long, 12 foot pikes. The wet ground made them charge out of formation, only engaging piecemeal with the solidly planted ranks of English billmen, With their shorter, more easily handled bills, they began to slice into James IV’s division. And as the men at the back saw the Scottish pikes go down, they hesitated and many of them ran, believing their king to be killed. By leading from the front, James was immediately submerged in the ruck of the fighting, only able to see what was directly in front of him, in no position to direct his forces. The result was disaster.

The legacy of Flodden was most immediately and keenly felt in the Borders. North of the Tweed the memory of the battle is kept alive in the fabric of the midsummer common ridings. At Selkirk the ceremony of the casting of the colours is unique in Britain and it is based on the return of a soldier known as Fletcher, traditionally believed to have been the only one of sixty from the town to return. In his bloodied hand he held aloft, in a gesture of desolate defiance, a flag captured from the men of Macclesfield in Cheshire. Many Englishmen had fought and fallen at Flodden. And passions still run high. When the Mayor of Macclesfield recently wrote to the Provost of Selkirk asking for the return of the flag, he was told that he would need to come to the Borders and take it.

Flodden is an immense story. Like Culloden in 1746, it signalled the end of a fading, feudal Scotland.  And it also ushered in a century of lawlessness, the criminal society controlled by the appalling Border Reivers. Across Europe, renaissance, enlightenment and the reformation were changing lives, forming new ideas and creating the institutions of the modern world. In the first half of the 16th century, central authority broke down in a leaderless nation, and while swords and spears spoke in Scotland, the law was often silent.

What is to be learned from all of that suffering and slaughter, from all of those ancient enmities? First that they are ancient and must remain firmly in the past. In 2014 Scotland faces a historic choice and whichever way the people of Scotland vote, it must be a signal lesson of Flodden that enmity, even ancient enmity can have no part. And it is to the credit of politicians on all sides of the argument that it has not reared an ugly head. But it might.

And alongside that it mustmbe important to remember, to understand the visceral, bloody realities of whatmwent on on that terrible day 500 years ago. Lest we forget, Flodden should become a place of remembrance and of pilgrimage, a place where the uncomfortable lessons of history can be learned and never forgotten.

Two weeks ago, on one of the countless beautiful evenings of this glorious summer, I drove over to Branxton. As the sun threw long shadows across the gently undulating fields, I tried to imagine the 10th of September, 1513, the distant roar of thousands of men, the screams, the fear and feral closeness of hand-to-hand fighting when

men can smell the breath, smell the sweat of men grunting pushing, hacking, swearing at them, trying to kill them. In a Gaelic phrase, I tried to listen for the music of the thing as it happened. I tried to listen to the slow, sad music of our history. I hope that many in Scotland and England hear it too.

Prior to the sir Malcolm MacGregor (who has admitted that try as he might he can not find a single MacGregor involved in the battle) researched the casualty lists. The following names are clans and families who are known to have fought at Flodden along with notable people who fell in the battle:

From the Highland Clans: 

Campbell, Erskine, Fraser, Gordon, Graham, Guthrie, Haldane, Hay, Keith, Leslie, Lindsay, Macaulay, Macfarlane, Mackay, Maclean, Macnab, Menteith, Moncreiff, Moray, Murray, Ogilvy, Oliphant, Ramsay, Rattray, Ross, Ruthven, Seton, Sinclair, Stewart, Forbes, Forsyth, Grant, MacKenzie, MacNaughton, Ross, Skene, Buchanan Of Leny, MacDonald

The Lowland and Border Clans and Families:

Adair, Abercromby, Adam, Anstruther, Baillie, Baird, Balfour, Barclay, Blackadder, Bonar, Boswell, Carnegie, Cathcart, Cleland, Cockburn, Colville, Craig, Crauford, Crichton, Cunningham, Dunbar, Dundas, Edmonstone Of Duntreath, Elphinstone, Fotheringham, Gray, Grierson, Haig, St.Clair Of Roslin, Henderson, Hepburne, Herries, Home, Hoppringle, Houston, Lauder, Liddel, Lockhart, Lumsden, Lyon, Masterson, Maitland, Maule, Maxtone, Maxwell, Melville, Muirhead, Mure, Napier, Rollo, Sempill, Somerville, Spottiswood, Stewart Of Traquair, Allardice, Ballingall, Kerr, Colville, Crammond, Eliott, Ferguson, Fleming, Foreman (Standard Bearer), Inche, Inglis, Johnstone, Kirkcaldy, Knolis, Logan, Montgomery, Morton, Muir, Nelson Of Madinpap, Otterbrun, Pitcarin, Pringle, Reid, Rorison, Savage, Scott, Seton, Tunstall, Vallanche, Wood Of Raik, Kennedy, Douglas, Hamilton, Livingstone, Wemyss, Wallace, MacLellan, MacCulloch, MacDowall

Chief Or Notable Head Of House/Family

King James IV, Archbishop Of St.Andrews (King’s Son), Earl Of Morton ( Grandson Of James 1), Earl Of Glencairn, Douglas Of Drumlanrig, Sir James Dunbar, Dundas, Lord Elphinstone, Lord Erskine, Earl Of Huntly, Earl Of Montrose, Sir Alexander Guthrie, Haig Of Bemersyde, Haldane Of Gleneagles, Earl Of Errol, Earl Of Bothwell, Sir William Keith, Earl Of Cassilis, Earl Of Rothes, Earl Of Crawford, MacDowal, Earl Of Garthland, MacFarlane Of Arrochar, Hector MacLean Of Duart, Maxwell Lord Of Carlaverock, Sir John Moncreiffe Of That Ilk, Moray Of Abercairney, Ramsay Of Dalhousie, Rattray Of That Ilk, Rollo Of Duncrub, Master Of Ruthven, Lord Sempill, Lord Seton, Earl Of Caithness, Earl Of Atholl, Earl Of Lennox, Lord Darnley, Master Of Angus, Anstruther Of That Ilk, Ballingall Of That Ilk, Master Of Eliott, Lord Forbes, Master Of Lovat, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Lochinvar, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Knockenshene, Grant Of Freuchie, John Henderson Of Fordell, Lord Alexander Home, Sir Patrick Houston Of That Ilk, William Johnstone Of That Ilk, Lord Keith, Lord Lorn, Lyon (Sons Of Lord Glamis), MacKenzie Of Kintail, Sir Alexander MacNaughton Of That Ilk, Andrew Pitcairn Of Pitcairn And 7 Sons, Lord Ross, William Ruthven Of That Ilk, Sir Walter Scott Of Buccleuch, Alexander Skene Of That Ilk, Sir David Wemyss, Earl Of Argyll, Lord Kinnaird, Master Of Cathcart, MacDonald Of Lochalsh.

—–

The St Giles Service…

Just over 40 clan chiefs  attended the St Giles service. At the end of the service they mustered for a photograph on the steps. To help you identify who was there we have been given a sketch with a key to the names:

1. Sir Walter Riddell of Riddell 2. The Hon. Elizabeth Fairbairn 3. Madam Pauline Hunter of Hunterston 4. Sir David Bannerman of Elsick 5. Lord Polwarth 6. Andrew Wallace Younger of that Ilk 7. Andrew Dewar Durie of Durie CBE 8. Michael Ancram, Marquess of Lothian 9. Andrew MacThomas of Finegand 10. Earl of Dundee 11. David Campbell of Strachur 12. Roderick Macneil of Barra 13. Sir James McGrigor 14. Earl of Eglinton and Winton 15. Professor David Hannay of Kirkdale and of that Ilk 16. Henry Trotter Younger of Charterhall 17. John MacArthur of that Ilk 18. Duncan Paisley of Westerlea 19. Richard Carmichael of Carmichael 20. Earl of Caithness21. Earl of Lauderdale 22. The Hon. Alexander Leslie 23. Earl of Erroll  24. Lord Napier and Ettrick 25. Madam Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid 26. David Cranstoun of that Ilk 27. Jamie Macnab of Macnab 28. Earl of Wemyss and March 29. Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw  30. The Hon. Kate Nicolson 31. Duke of Montrose 32. The Hon. Peregrine Moncreiffe of that Ilk 33. Martin Haldane of Gleneagles 34.  Lord Sempill 35.  Andrew Marjoribanks of that Ilk 36. Donald MacLaren of MacLaren  37.  Duke of Hamilton 38. Field Marshal the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank 39. Isla St Clair 40. Marquess of Ailsa 41. Madam Margaret Eliott of Redheugh 42. Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor 43. Lord Macdonald of Macdonald 44.  Richard Oliphant of that Ilk

This image will help you identify the chiefs:

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Chambers Street, Edinburgh

In August 1561 Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Edinburgh from France as a Catholic queen in a newly reformed Protestant Scotland. Initially greeted with crowds curious to catch a glimpse of their new queen, Mary Stewart was regarded with suspicion and faced a volatile political situation from the fervent Protestant ascendancy.

450 years on, Mary has made a triumphant return to the Scottish capital in the form of an exclusive major exhibition currently on show at the National Museum of Scotland. Entitled Mary, Queen of Scots, the exhibition chronicles one of the most well-known and captivating royals of all time. It brings together jewels, furniture, tapestry, portraits and documents, providing an insightful view of a fascinating woman and the tumultuous era in which she lived.

Last week I attended a talk highlighting the exhibition’s star pieces by George Dalgliesh – Keeper of Scottish History and Archaeology at the National Museum for over 20 years. He explained that the 200+ items on display aim to present a slightly different view of Mary’s life, focusing on her personal rule in Scotland. He added that Mary still excites controversy to this day, with debates ensuing as to whether the Scottish queen was a Catholic martyr or a scheming adulteress.

Blairs Memorial Portrait of Mary

On entrance to the exhibition the giant Blairs Memorial portrait of Mary towers over you, providing a commanding view of Mary on her way to the executioners block. Commissioned by Elizabeth Curle, a companion to Mary in the final years of her life, the portrait was painted 10-15 years after Mary’s death and was used as a piece of Catholic propaganda to promote Mary’s martyrdom. The portrait also includes visual vignettes of Mary’s grieving ladies in waiting and a scene from the execution.

The exhibition is set out chronologically, with the pinnacle point her reign as Queen of Scotland. Amongst the 16th century artifacts, which include a handwritten letter from Mary to her mother Mary of Guise, an innovative 21st century video shows a 3D image of what Mary would have looked like during her reign. Costume sketches and models by Jasper Conran for a recent production of Donizetti’s tragic opera Maria Stuarda show her renowned regal fashion sense and striking figure that continues to inspire artists today. Even John Knox, the leading light of protestant reformation is said to have described her features as “pleasing”.

Among the most fascinating of the items on display are the documents in the concluding section of the exhibition which include a set of cipher codes, the death warrant issued by Mary’s second cousin Elizabeth I, and a letter from Mary’s son James VI pleading Elizabeth for mercy. The original death warrant disappeared during the legal accusations following the execution, however the surviving copy on display was made for court records and includes the signature of Elizabeth I. The warrant instructs Elizabeth’s commissioners to:

“…repaire to our Castle of Fotheringhaye where the said Queene of Scottes is in custodie of our right trustie servant and Counsellor Sir Amyas Poulet Knight, and then taking her into your charge to cause by your commandment execution to be done upon her person.”

 

 

The Penicuik Jewels

Today very little survives that belonged to Mary for a number of reasons. Following her death her belongings were burned to try and stop the creation of a cult of relics around a martyred Queen. Mary’s half-brother, James Stewart Earl of Moray, is also said to have sold his sister’s jewels following her abdication to pay for troops. A surviving relic on display are the Penicuik Jewels. Originally from a rosary, the jewels are now strung as a necklace and include a locket set with Scottish river pearls. Dalgleish thinks the jewels were probably commissioned by Mary to be given away, as they are not regal enough to be fit for a queen. Giving jewels as gifts was a common practice during the 16th Century as a way of binding a person to your cause.

To this day Mary continues to hold a place in Edinburgh’s heart, as buses make their way through the city’s streets with her face displayed on their sides. The exhibition provides a wondrous insight into the life of a controversial Queen whose legacy still lives on, almost 450 years after her death.

‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ runs until Sunday 17th November 2013. You can read more about the exhibition by clicking here.

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3D Facial Reconstruction of Mary, Queen of Scots

A renowned team of experts at the University of Dundee have revealed a 3D virtual image of Mary, Queen of Scots as she would have looked at the time of her reign. The image was released to coincide with a major new exhibition on the life of the iconic figure that opened at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh last Friday.

Professor Caroline Wilkinson, from the Forensic and Medical Art Research Group, worked from existing portraits and from what is known of Mary’s biography to reconstruct her face as it would have been following during her reign in Scotland from the ages of 19 to 26, a period when there is no portrait record of her.

Professor Wilkinson created a head-and-neck model using the portraits of Mary as templates. The model was created using 3D modelling software and craniofacial templates before digital artist Janice Aitken sculpted clothing and hair then added textures and lighting to create the finished image. The team have previously worked on major projects to reconstruct the faces of Bach, Cleopatra’s sister, Simon of Sudbury and Richard III among others.

“There were no portraits painted during Mary’s time in Scotland, but there were both before and after this period,” explained Professor Wilkinson. “Normally we would begin the process of craniofacial reconstruction by examining skeletal remains, but of course we didn’t have a skull to work from in this case so had to work from portraits earlier and later than the depiction we were asked to create.

“This meant it was a very different challenge for me and the model is more of an artistic representation rather than the scientific interpretation we would normally produce from skeletal remains. We had to get the facial proportions and size of her features from portraits which, luckily, were from slightly different angles so we could look at her face from more than one viewpoint.

“What we wanted to do was depict how she would have looked at the time she lived in Scotland. This was a difficult time for her marked with illness, grief, miscarriage, and imprisonment so we wanted to show the stresses and strains of life on her face because later portraits make her look significantly older than her years.

“She is not what you would describe as a classic beauty. Mary had quite a big nose and a strong chin so when you describe her verbally she doesn’t sound attractive, but the paleness of her skin, red hair, and strong features meant she had a very striking appearance.”

Janice Aitken then put textures on the model and coloured the skin, hair and eyes to ensure it looked as realistic as possible. She created a short movie of the face being shown from several different angles to give the viewer a more complete impression of Mary during the time of her reign in Scotland.

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The image of the lion in art and culture dates back to pre history and cave paintings. Our ancient ancestors who’s story began in Africa would have admired these powerful beasts and they would become symbols of noble savagery. As society advanced the symbolism became stronger; In ancient Egypt the lioness was merged with the human to create the sphinx.

In almost every other culture the lion was also present. Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persian and many early islamic cultures. Its not hard to understand, after all the lioness is a dedicated mother and ruthless hunter, the male lion a majestic animal that defends his pride with fury. a good role model for early civilisations.

The lion probably entered early Christian culture via a manuscript called the ‘Physiologus’. This document probably dates back to around the 2nd century AD and consists of a number of descriptions of animals and birds as characters in a series of moral tales. In the opening story a lioness gives birth to stillborn cubs but the lioness brings them to life by breathing upon them, this and other similar stories are a direct reference to the idea of Christ’s resurrection and the redemption of man. The Physiologicus also gives us the story of the Pelican wounding herself to feed her young, an image that can be seen on the Stewart crest.

In the middle ages the manuscript was translated into latin and spread through central Europe and was adapted into several ‘Bestiaries’ With such strong links to these moral tales such animals would naturally form the cornerstone of heraldic symbolism where they would become like ‘moral flash cards’.

Such tales established the idea of the lion as the ‘king of the beasts’ and so its understandable that heraldic art would take on this concept of using the lion as a symbol of the ruling elite. This symbol entered Scottish heraldry with King William I. Known as William the Lion this tag did not come from his appearance of character but simply from his adoption of the lion as part of his own standard. His successor Alexander II took the same red lion rampant on a yellow ground and made this the royal symbol that would become the well known Royal Standard of Scotland.

I have used the phrase ‘rampant’ above. this refers to the attitude that the animal adopts, in this case raised up on hind legs and paws raised to strike (the lion can stand on either one or two legs depending on tradition although in British heraldry it tends to be one with the other also poised to strike). There are many other attitudes that animals such as lions, wildcats etc can assume; ‘Passant’ is walking with one fore paw raised, ‘Statant’ is standing with all paws on the ground, ‘Salient’ is leaping, ‘Sejant’ means in a sitting position and so on. Other phrases you may hear are ‘Guardant’ or ‘Affrontee’, where the animal faces the viewer and ‘Regardant’ where the animal looks to its rear.

With such strong links to Scottish royalty its no surprise that the Scots nobility would incorporate the lion into their own arms, some such as MacGregor make no secret of this with a lions head and the motto which translates as ‘Regal is my Race’. Here are the clans  and Scottish armigerous families we know of that use the lion symbol in their crests.

Baxter (A Lion Passant)

Broun (Rampant)

Bruce (Statant)

Chalmers (Head and Neck)

Cumming (Rampant)

Dundas (Head, Guardant)

Fairlie (Head Couped)

Farquharson (Rampant)

Heron (Demi Lion Rampant)

Home / Hume (Head)

Inglis (Demi Lion Rampant)

Little (Demi Lion Rampant)

Lundin (Demi Lion Rampant)

MacDowall (Lion’s Paw)

MacDuff (Rampant)

MacGregor (Head)

MacLaren (Head)

MacPhee (Demi Lion Rampant)

Maitland (Sejant, Affrontee)

Middleton (Demi Lion Rampant)

Moncrieffe (Demi Lion Rampant)

Moubray (Demi Lion Rampant)

Newton (Demi Lion Rampant)

Nicolson (Demi Lion Rampant)

Pentland (Head)

Primrose (Demi Lion Rampant)

Stuart of Bute (Demi Lion Rampant)

Vans (Rampant)

Young (Demi Lion Rampant)

Its easy to be confused about how an animal native to Africa could have such a profound symbolic influence in Europe, we should also remember that lions though not native or wild would have been brought over with invading Romans who would have kept the creatures for games or even as status symbols. Personally though I prefer to believe that it was not these poor caged beasts that influence the heralds of early mediaeval Europe but the lion tales of old that were seen as symbols of the ancient code of chivalry.

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Lochranza Castle

Lochranza Castle on Arran was built in the 13th century. It passed to the Stewarts of Menteith and became a royal castle when Robert Stewart became King in 1371. In the 1450s the Tower House was granted to the Montgomeries. They held the castle for the next 250 years.

In the 16th Century the castle’s owner decided to modernise it. Two new storeys and a tower provided extra room. The old spacious interior was subdivided into smaller more private, family-orientated chambers. Gone were the days when a laird had to greet all his vassals in one vast hall.

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Over the years there have been some very notable Scottish-Argentinians. These include

• Cecilia Grierson -  Cecilia was the first Argentine woman to earn a Doctor in Medicine degree, and had Scottish ancestry.
• Alexander Watson Hutton – a Glasgow schoolteacher, Hutton emigrated to Argentina in his late twenties. He taught for a few years in Buenos Aries, before going on to found the Argentine Association Football League, now known as the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, in 1893. It was the first football league outwith the the UK. He is known as the ‘father of Argentinian football’.
• Duncan Antonio Stewart Agell – Born in Buenos Aries in 1833 to a Scottish father and Uruguayan mother, Duncan Stewart was for a very brief time the President of Uruguay.

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Cameron of Lochiel Clan Crest

The name Cameron originates from the Gaelic words ‘cam’, meaning wry or crooked, and ‘sron’ meaning nose, suggesting that the progenitor of the Clan Cameron had a crooked nose!

Cameron is one of the most popular in the Highlands, and the name of Lochiel, the Chief of the Clan, has always stood for everything that is honourable and good.

The home of clan Cameron is in Lochaber, in Inverness-shire, and is part of the beautiful, rugged, and wild region of Scotland which is littered with glens, and mountains, and lochs.

It is very common in the Highlands to connect a family name with the places they are from: for example the MacDonalds with Glencoe; the Stewarts and Appin; and the MacGregors, MacNabs, and the MacLarens with Balquhidder. It’s no different with the Camerons and Lochaber.

Loch Treig – Land of Clan Cameron

There are many great lochs in Lochaber, including the isolated Loch Treig which has a small islet in it which is called Council Island. It was on this island where the Chief of the Camerons would meet other chiefs, in particular with the MacKintoshes, to settle any dispute. Council Island was an ideal meeting place because the two chiefs could meet without risk of one setting an ambush for the other. The Cameron Chief would be escorted by his men to the meeting, and then on a hillside, overlooking the loch, is the Watch Rock, a large boulder where the Cameron sentinels would keep an eye on the meeting and their Chief.

Fort William was a fort built during the times of Oliver Cromwell, and was used as headquarters for the English troops who had been sent north to keep the Camerons in order. It is said that even long after the other local clans had submitted to the English forces, the Camerons held strong, resulting in many a fierce skirmish between to them and the invaders. On one particular occasion Lochiel and his men found themselves in a tight spot when defending one end of a mountain pass, another band of English soldiers started to advance on them from the other end. To most it would have seemed that capture was inevitable, but not to these Camerons. They carefully, and in formation, retreated, walking backwards to remain facing their enemy, up the steep, snow covered hillside, leaving the English looking on in amazement, unwilling to follow.

Highland soldiers were very much accustomed to many hardships, particularly when at war. One story tells of a Cameron fighter who felt disgraced by the actions of one of his sons one night when sleeping outdoors during the campaign against Cromwell’s men. It was wintertime, and snow covered ground. The Cameron son decided to make a pillow out of a large snowball. On seeing this, the Cameron father flew into a rage, kicking the snowball from under the sons head, saying, “Are you become so like a woman that you cannot sleep without such luxury?”

The Camerons were devoted followers of the Stewarts. They fought at the 1689 Battle of Killiecrankie in support of James VII against the government troops supporting William of Orange. At the battle, which saw victory for the Jacobeans, it was Lochiel’s tactics to “fight immediately while the men were in good heart” which proved to have been successful.

Ewen Cameron

They also supported the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. By this point the Cameron chief, Sir Ewen of Lochiel was an old man of 86, but his son Allan accompanied the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, when he landed in Scotland from France. It is claimed that on the morning that the Old Pretender landed in Peterhead, Sir Ewen Cameron awoke from his sleep at his home in Lochaber, and shouted to his wife, Jean Barclay, Lady Cameron, “Wife, wife! The King has landed! The King has landed – and our son Allan is with him!”

Lady Cameron told him that it was just a dream, but Sir Ewen repeated what he said, and insisted that a large bonfire was built. Then the best alcohol in the house was brought out so that all his ‘lads’ – his affectionate term for his clansmen – and friends could drink to the King’s health.

Despite thinking that he was foolish acting so rashly because of a dream, Lady Cameron followed her husbands instructions in helping to organise festivities to celebrate the landing of the James Stuart. And so everyone in the area was invited to celebration, which, in true Highland fashion, last for a number of days.

After a few days had passed, news finally began to filter through to Lochaber that Prince James had in fact landed in Scotland, along with Allan Cameron, at around the exact same time that Sir Ewen Cameron awoke and made the announcement to his wife.

Donald Cameron, known as the ‘Gentle Lochiel’, was grandson of Sir Ewen and he was one of the first nobles to called

Donald Cameron: ‘Gentle Lochiel’

upon when Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Scotland. Cameron could see that the Prince’s campaign was essentially futile, as he had neither the money nor the resources that would be needed, and pleaded with Charles to wait until he had some more definite support. However, the Young Pretender was impatient, and angrily said, ‘In a few days, with the few friends that I have, I will erect the Royal Standard and proclaim to the people of Britain that Charles Stuart has come over to claim the crown of his ancestors. And Lochiel may stay at home and from the newspapers learn the fate of his Prince!’

However, Lochiel responded, ‘No! I’ll share the fate of my Prince, and so shall every man over whom Nature and Fortune has given me power!’

So, in 1745, when Charles, and his 150 followers, went to erect his standard at Loch Shiel in Glenfinnan he was devastated to see the place deserted. But then the distant sound of pipes could be heard, and they were getting nearer and nearer, and soon the notes of a Cameron pibroch could be clearly heard, along with the regular tramp of feet, and a line of tartan could be seen coming down the hill. Before too long the line of men, which was eight hundred strong, arranged into regular formation. It was the Cameron men, much to the relief of the Prince. Then, and only then did he give the Marquis of Tullibardine his banner to unfurl, and so began the great ‘Rising of the Forty-Five’.

Lochiel kept his promise to Bonnie Prince Charlie, giving his all in service to his Prince and to the cause; even getting wounded at the battle of Culloden in 1746. Sir Donald Cameron accompanied Charles back to France, where they failed in persuading King Louis XV to attempt another rebellion. Donald never returned to Scotland. He later took charge of a French regiment in 1747, and died in Flanders the following year.

Quick Links to Clan Cameron Products from The Clan Shop

• Cameron Tartan Tie
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Visit the Cameron Clan Shop  where we sell the largest amount of Clan Cameron products available, in the Cameron tartan and the Cameron Clan Crest >>

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