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Clan Forsyth (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Forsyth

Gaelic Name: Fearsithe

Clan Crest: A griffin sergeant Azure, armed and membered Sable, crowned Or

Clan Motto: Instaurator Ruinae (A repairer of ruin)

Historic Seat: Ethie Castle, Angus

Clan Chief: Alastair Forsyth of that Ilk

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Forsyth Clan History

William de Firsith was the first person of the name to be recorded on the Ragman Roll in Berwick on August 28, 1296. Because Oliver Cromwell destroyed many of Clan Forsyth's records during the Civil War, little is known.

During the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century, King Robert I of Scotland bestowed lands on Robert de Forsyth. Osbet Forsyth, the son of Roberts de Forsyth, led the clan against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Fersith the Clerk, who was probably Robert's brother and was granted £100.95 per annum from the lands of the Polmaise Marischal by Robert II, rendered the accounts of the 'Customers' of Stirling in 1364.

Robert Forsyth rendered the accounts of the Burgh of Stirling in 1418. In 1432, his son, also named Robert, was made Burgess of Stirling and a Baille in 1470. Duncan and David Forsyth were elected Burgesses in 1497, and their descendants settled in Stirling and held civic office for centuries. In 1488, David Forsyth, now Burgess of Stirling, purchased the Dykes, also known as Hallhill, near Strathaven in Lanarkshire. The castle had fallen into disrepair, but it wasn't demolished until 1828.

Clan Forsyth's current seat is Ethie Castle (main image), near Arbroath in Angus.

Forsyth Places & People

People of Clan Forsyth

William Forsyth (1737-1804) - (top image)

Botanist from Scotland. He was the Royal Horticultural Society's first president and a royal head gardener. Forsythia is a flowering plant genus named after him. Forsyth was born in Aberdeenshire's Old Meldrum and trained as a gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden. He was named chief superintendent of the royal gardens at Kensington and St James's in 1779.

T. Forsyth, Peter Taylor Forsyth (1842-1921)

Theologian from Scotland. He attended the University of Aberdeen and then Göttingen as the son of a postman. He was ordained into the Congregational Ministry and served in a variety of positions before becoming the Principal of Hackney College in London.

Some more orthodox Christians were suspicious of him because of his early interest in critical theology. However, he came to the conclusion that liberal theology had a moral problem with the guilty conscience. This caused him to have a moral crisis, which he found resolved in Christ's atoning work. His theology and attack on liberal Christianity can be found in his most famous work, The Person and Place of Christ (1909), which foreshadowed much of the subsequent generation's neo-orthodox theology. He has been referred to as a "Barthian before Barth."

Bill Forsyth (born 1946)

Scottish film director and writer known for his dedication to national cinema. Forsyth rose to prominence with the low-budget film That Sinking Feeling, which featured a cameo appearance by Edinburgh gallery owner Richard Demarco.

The film's relative success was carried to a higher level by his next film, Gregory's Girl, released in 1981. This featured some of the same young actors, particularly John Gordon Sinclair, as well as Clare Grogan's acting debut. The film was a smash hit, winning 'Best Screenplay' at the BAFTAs that year.

Later, he wrote and directed the successful David Puttnam film Local Hero. Forsyth followed Puttnam to Hollywood, but with limited success. In 1987, he made his first American film, Housekeeping. After Puttnam was fired, the studio buried his film Being Human for four years. Gregory's Two Girls debuted in 2000 as a Gregory's Girl sequel, but received mixed reviews.

Michael Bruce Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean (born 1954)

Conservative and Unionist politician. From 1995 to 1997, he was Secretary of State for Scotland, where he led a high-profile but ultimately unsuccessful campaign against the opposition parties' plans to establish a devolved Scottish Parliament.

He focused in particular on proposals for the parliament to have the authority to change the basic rate of income tax by up to three pence in the pound, which he dubbed the "Tartan Tax" on multiple occasions. Forsyth's perseverance was widely credited with prompting the Labour Party's unexpected decision – slammed by the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party – to separate out the tax-varying issue in a two-question referendum on devolution. The "Tartan Tax" label, however, was insufficient to prevent the Scottish electorate from ultimately voting in favor of the proposal by a nearly two-to-one margin.

Forsyth was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Stirling in 1983, but lost his seat to Labour's Anne McGuire in 1997. He is now a member of the House of Lords, and previously worked in the City of London for investment bank JP Morgan, most recently as Deputy Chairman, which he left in July 2005.

Forsyth Tartans

The Forsyth clan tartan is said to have been designed by William Forsyth around 1795.

Forsyth Contemporary

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Forsyth the Ancient

Forsyth Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Forsyth Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

Azure, a griffin sergeant armed and membered Sable, crowned Or

Coat of Arms of Clan Forsyth

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.