Clan Muir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Clan Muir |
|
|---|---|
Crest: A savage head couped Proper
|
|
| Motto | Durum patientia frango |
| Profile | |
| Region | Lowlands |
| District | East Ayrshire |
| Chief | |
 |
|
| None | |
| Clan Chief | |
| Seat | 32 |
| Historic seat | Rowallan Castle |
Clan Muir is a Scottish clan that is armigerous. Per certain sources, holders of the surname Muir (also appearing as Mure and Moore), of Ayrshire, have been noted as a possible sept of Clan Boyd. A spelling variation More/Moore is a sept of Clan Leslie in Aberdeenshire, and, having genetic proof of Muirs in Aberdeenshire, may have roots in the Mure/Muir line of southwest Scotland.
However, there are other instances in which links to the Mure/Muir line of southwest Scotland cannot be confirmed. The surname Moir, for example, is a sept of Clan Gordon in the highlands, but is not part of this same group of Mure/Muir/Moore. A single family, the Mores/Moores of Drumcork, are septs of Clan Grant, but there is no evidence of a connection to the Mure/Muir line. Some also project Muir may be a sept of Clan Campbell, though even Clan Campbell considers this unlikely.
All said, however, a convincing argument has been made that there actually was no Clan Muir prior to the early 19th century; perhaps even the early 20th century. If it came about in the early 19th century, it may have done so solely as part of a revival of Scots nationalism in the wake of the visit to Scotland of King George IV, in 1822; was, in part, courtesy of that same sense of nationalism revived in the written works of Sir Walter Scott; and was developed around the history of the Mure/Muir lines of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. In fact, in the earliest history of the Mure/Muir line, in Historie and Descent of the House of Rowallane, Sir William Mure (1594-1657) makes no reference, whatsoever, to a clan system for the Mure/Muir family. While the book was not published until 1825, the written work itself was produced prior to Sir William Mure's death in 1657. There is no written history of the Muir line known to exist prior to the publication of this work. Further, in the second oldest work encompassing a significant amount of material regarding the Mure line from Caldwell, Selections from the Family Papers Preserved at Caldwell (1854), by George Jardine (1754-1827) and William Mure (1799-1860), there is also no reference to the Mure/Muir lines being part of the clan system.
Contents
Origins and history
The Scottish surname Muir supposedly originated as denoting someone who lived beside a moor. The name is derived from the Scots form of the Middle English more, meaning "moor" or "fen". Some have posited that the Muirs of Southwest Scotland were of Irish origin. Some have even made the unsubstantiated claim of ties to Fergus Mór, of the Dál Riata from Ireland. However, a significant number of Y DNA results clearly demonstrate the Mure/Muir/Moore lines of southwest Scotland had no genetic affiliation with Ireland until the Ulster Plantation in the 17th century. Nor do these test-takers have evidence of their Y DNA being tied to Dál Riata or the Gaels.
That being said, the Mure/Muir/Moore line of Southwest Scotland is genetically of Pretani/Britonic origin, not arriving in Southwest Scotland (likely from the area of the former Kingdom of Elmet, near what is now West Yorkshire, England) until the latter part of the 11th century. Before the years in the Kingdom of Elmet, there is also genetic evidence this Y line may have been in what is now southwest England, being among the many to arrive in that area from mainland Europe in the latter part of the Bronze Age.
The first Mor/de Mor/Mure/Muir with solid documentation to Ayr, Scotland, is David de More. "The most ancient of the name on record are the Mores of Polkelly, near Kilmarnock; one of whom, David de More, appears as witness to a charter of Alexander II", between 1214 and 1249.
Mures of Rowallan
Polkelly seems to have been the "ancient" property held in Scotland by the Mures, though they would not have held it until at least the latter part of the 11th century.
The Mures were prominent figures throughout the history of Scotland, from Sir Gilchrist Mure, who married the daughter and sole heir of Sir Walter Comyn with the blessing of King Alexander III, for his part in the Battle of Largs, 1263. This secured the family seat at Rowallan Castle. Another version states that Gilchrist Mure was dispossessed of the house and living at Rowallan by the strong hand of Sir Walter Cuming, and was compelled to keep close in his castle of Polkelly until Alexander III raised sufficient forces to subdue Cuming and his adherents. The family had held Rowallan, in this version, from unknown antiquity.
The conjoined arms of the first Muir of Rowallan were visible on the oldest part of the castle up until the 18th century. Elizabeth Mure, daughter of Sir Adam Mure of Rowallan and Janet Mure, married Robert Stewart, later King Robert II of Scotland, and bore him nine children before November 22, 1347, when their marriage was legitimized by papal dispensation. Elizabeth died sometime before 1355.
Sir Gilchrist Muir built two chapels, one at the Well named for Saint Laurence and the other at Banked named for Saint Michael. The vestiges of these were still visible in 1876. He also built the chapel of Kilmarnock, commonly called Mures Isle (or aisle).
One of the Sir Robert Mure was slain at the Battle of Sark. His namesake was called the Rud of Rowallane, being large in stature, very strong and prone to pugilism; these characteristics neatly define the meaning of this archaic Scots word. He wasted his inheritance and during his lifetime a protracted feud took place with the house of Ardoch (Craufurdland) which resulted in much bloodshed. The 'Rud' resigned his lands in favour of his grandson John, who married Margaret Boyd a mistress of James IV.
Campbells, later Lairds of Rowallan
Sir William Mure was the sixteenth and last Mure of Rowallan. He served in Germany under Gustavus Adolphus. One of his grand-daughters married Sir James Campbell of Lawers, third son of the Earl of Loudoun, who thus became Laird of Rowallan. His son, Major-General James Mure Campbell of Rowallan (1726–86), became the fifth Earl of Loudoun in 1782. His only daughter's great-grandson, Charles Rawdon-Hastings, 11th Earl of Loudoun succeeded in 1874 and held the lands of Rowallan as Laird.
Cadet branches
Sir Adam Mure's three younger brothers gave rise to numerous branches of the Mure family who settled in Caldwell, Aucheneil, Thornton, Glanderstoun, Treescraig, Auchendrane, Cloncaird, Craighead Park, Middleston, Spittleside and Brownhill.
Clan motto
- Motto - Durum Patientia Frango (By patience I break what is hard).
Associated names
Clan Muir does not have any septs, though common variations of the name Muir or Moore are associated with the clan. Muir/More/Moore/Mure are most prevalent in Ayrshire and areas in the Southwest lowlands, though branches had spread to Eastern Scotland as early as the 15th century.
Clan affiliation by spelling variation
- Muir/Mure/Moore - more common in Clan Campbell
- Moir/Moire - more common in Clan Gordon
- Moore - more common in Clan Leslie
- Moore/More - more common in Clan Grant
Clan membership
Clan membership is determined by surname. According to Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, if a person has a particular sept name which can be attributed to a number of clans, either they should determine from which part of Scotland their family originally came from and owe allegiance to the clan of that area or, alternatively, if they do not know where they came from, they should owe allegiance to the clan to which their family had traditionally owed allegiance. Alternatively, they may offer allegiance to any of the particular named clans in the hope that the Chief will accept them as a member of his clan. Thus if a person offers his allegiance to a particular Chief by joining his clan society or by wearing his tartan, he can be deemed to have elected to join that particular clan and should be viewed as a member of that clan. Members of Clan Muir who do not give their allegiance to any of the clans that list their surname as a sept or who do not have a family history of belonging to any of the aforementioned clans wear the Muir tartan.
See also
