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Clan Calder (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Calder

Clan Crest: A hart’s head cabossed, Sable, attired Gules

Clan Motto :Be Mindful

Lands: Cawdor

Region: Highlands

Historic Seat: Cawdor Castle, Nairn

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Clan Calder History

The name 'Calder' is thought to have originated in early Common Brittonic, meaning 'hard or violent water' (the modern Welsh word for hard is "caled"), or possibly'stony river'. It is used as a place name all over Scotland. East and West Calder, for example, are both near Edinburgh, as is Calderwood, which is near Glasgow.

According to historian William Anderson, the name was popularized in Scotland by a French knight named Hugh de Cadella, who was made Thane of Calder, later known as Cawdor. Hugh de Kaledouer is listed as a witness to a land charter near Montrose in around 1178 by historian George Fraser Black.

However, the name originated in the fourteenth century around Inverness, where the Calders were great nobles with significant lands. However, the third Calder, Thane of Cawdor, was assassinated by Sir Alexander Rait of nearby Rait Castle.

Hugh de Kaledouer witnessed William the Lion's charter at Montrose between 1178 and 1198, as well as the king's gift of a toft in Forfar to Willelmus de Haia.

During the same reign, he granted the Abbey of Scone forty acres in Buthyrgasc and witnessed a charter by Swan filius Thori.

Donald of Calder, Lord of that Ilk, purchased half of Dunmaglas from William Meignes in 1419.

In 1461, Farchardus de Caldor was prebendarius de Crechmont, and in 1589, John Calder was Bute Persuivant.

Clan Calder Places & People

Clan Calder Positions

Cawdor Castle, near Nairn, was built sometime in the 15th century, with the first mention of it in 1454, when William Calder, 6th Thane of Cawdor, was granted a 'licence to fortify'. Some parts of the fortress, however, appear to date from the late 1300s.

Muriel Calder, the Calder heiress, married Sir John Campbell in 1510, and the castle passed to the Campbells through marriage. It is still in the Campbell family today.

Clan Calder Tartans

Clan Calder is related to the Campbells of Cawdor and can wear their tartan.

Modern Campbell of Cawdor

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Ancient Campbell of Cawdor

Clan Calder Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Calder Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

A cabossed hart's head, Sable, attired Gules

Coat of Arms of Clan Calder

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.

Calder Calder's

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CAWDOR'S COAT OF ARMS.

The four quarters of the arms (the shield in the center) represent the Calder, Campbell, Lorne, and Lort ancestors, clockwise from left. Mottoes: Candidus cantabit moriens ('The pure heart shall sing when dying'); 'Be mindful' (under the arms). Barony (GB) on June 21, 1796. 5 October 1827, Earl and Viscount (UK).

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