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Clan Brodie (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Brodie

Gaelic Name: Brothaigh

Clan Crest: A right hand holding a bunch of arrows, all Proper

Clan Motto: Unite

Origin of Name: Place name, Moray

Clan Badge: Periwincle

Lands: Moray

Clan Chief: Alexander Brodie of Brodie

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Clan Brodie History

The lands of Brodie near Forres in Morayshire are the ancestral home of this ancient clan. The precise origins of the clan were hidden from history by Lord Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquis of Huntly, in a malicious attack on Brodie Castle in 1645. As a result, the origins of all archive material, such as charters, are unknown. The gaelic origin of the Brodie name is clearer, though - it derives from the Gaelic word 'brothaig' meaning 'ditch'.

The clan built the original Brodie Castle in 1567, but it was destroyed by fire by the Gordons in 1645. In the 1820s, it was rebuilt and expanded to become a mansion house. The National Trust for Scotland now controls it.

Robert the Bruce issued the charter of confirmation for the Brodie lands, which stated that Michael Brodie of Brodie held the rights of thanage over Brodie by right of succession from his paternal ancestors, including his father Malcolm of Brodie.

There is also the suggestion that the family has Pictish origins through descent from the royal family who carries the Pictish name 'Brude'.

The extensive archaeological evidence of Pictish settlements around Brodie supports this. A finely carved Pictish symbol stone, for example, stands close to the castle. This is a relic of an old aristocratic order, the pinnacle of which was MacBeth: near Brodie castle is 'the blasted heath,' where MacBeth is said to have met the three witches.

Alexander Brodie of Brodie (b.1617) was a devout Presbyterian (reformed) who attacked Elgin Cathedral in 1640, destroying the carvings and paintings of the Crucifixion and Last Judgement that he considered idolatrous to his religion. His position among the local nobility was secure: he represented Elgin in parliament, and he was one of the commissioners sent to negotiate the return of exiled Charles II to Scotland in 1649.

His diplomatic career also included a summons to London by Cromwell in 1651 to discuss a Scottish union with England. He resisted attempts to appoint him to judicial office until Cromwell's death in 1658 forced him to relent. Following the Restoration, Charles II found it difficult to forgive men who had tried to impose their Calvinist beliefs on him as a condition of their allegiance.

The family has avoided any role in public affairs commensurate with social status for centuries, preferring the security of title and home. Mrs Helena Brodie of Brodie discovered a vellum pontifical in her loft in 1972, beneath a set of Bleau atlases. It was dated to the year 1000 and shows evidence of Durham connections. The Brodie Pontifical, which is older than the reign of Saint Margaret, the arrival of the Turgot of Durham, and Elgin Cathedral itself, is now housed in the British Museum.

In a nutshell, it is proof of the family's antiquity as well as an invaluable historical document.

Clan Brodie Places & People

Clan Brodie Individuals

Deacon Brodie (September 28, 1741 – October 1, 1788)

By day, William Brodie was an Edinburgh town counsellor, and by night, he was a thief. Brodie was arrested and executed after one of his accomplices provided King's Evidence.

Deacon Brodie is widely regarded as the inspiration for the characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Clan Brodie Locations

Castle Brodie

Clan Brodie built Brodie Castle in 1567, but it was attacked and destroyed less than 100 years later by Clan Gordon, led by Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquis of Huntly. Between 1824 and 1845, the castle was restored and transformed into what it is today.

It is widely assumed that the lands were given to the Brodies by King Malcolm IV in 1160, and when the castle was sold to the National Trust for Scotland in 1999, it ended over 800 years of Brodie ownership of the lands on which the castle was built.

Clan Brodie Tartans

The Brodie tartan is said to have appeared in a mid-eighteenth-century portrait, but it also appears in Sobieski Stewart's Vestiarium Scoticum in 1842 and appears to be one of the Brothers' designs.

The term'modern' refers to the dye colors, which are usually darker.

K/8 R64 K32 Y4 K32 R/8 Threadcount

Brodie Contemporary

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J Claude's 'Clans Originaux' (1880) includes the Brodie Hunting tartan. There was also a 'Note by a Tartan Manufacturer' in a very early edition of Johnston's 'Scottish Clans and their Tartans' which says: 'The handsome tartan shown as Brodie is really the Hunting Brodie, the Brodie proper has a red ground'. In 1893, D.W. Stewart noted this 'of late' tartan and commented that it was based on the 'older' dress sett.

Brodie is on the hunt.

Clan Brodie Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Brodie Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

A proper right hand holding a slew of arrows

Coat of Arms of Clan Brodie

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.