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Clan Boyd (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Boyd

Gaelic Name: Buidhe

Clan Crest: A dexter hand erect and pale having the outer fingers bowed inwards

Clan Motto: Confido (I trust)

Origin of Name: Gaelic, Buidhe (Fair)

Clan Badge: Laurel leaves

Lands: Bute, Ayrshire

Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon Lord Kilmarnock

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Clan Boyd History

The name's origins are either descriptive or geographic, but it is unmistakably Gaelic. The name may derive from the Irish word 'buidhe,' which means "fair" or "yellow." It could also refer to Bute, the smaller island next to Arran, which is called "Bod" in Gaelic and has the genitive case "Boid."

Dominus Robertus de Boyd witnessed a contract between the Lord of Eglinton and the burgh of Irvine in 1205; as a result, the name was found throughout the 13th century in south-west Scotland. Duncan Boyd was killed by the English in 1306 after swearing allegiance to Robert the Bruce and the cause of Scottish independence.

Sir Robert Boyd was equally committed to the Bruce cause and served as a commander at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. His valor on the battlefield earned him lands confiscated from the Balliols in Kilmarnock, Bondington, and elsewhere in Ayrshire.

James II bestowed the title 'Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock' on the family, indicating that they had attained peerage. This platform enabled Robert, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock, to attempt a coup. As a trusted royal officer, he was named one of James III's Regents following the death of the young King's father in 1460.

Robert Boyd, along with his younger brother Thomas, had a strong influence on James. By 1466, Thomas Boyd had become the King's instructor in Knightly exercises, and Robert Boyd had become Great Chamberlain. The coup took the form of kidnapping his young charge and obtaining an Act of Parliament, with royal consent, of course (though whether this was freely given is debatable). Their position was strengthened by Thomas' marriage to Princess Mary, the King's sister, who was also given the title 'Earl of Arran and Kilmarnock.'

However, Robert Boyd, the newly appointed Earl of Arran, and Alexander Boyd, Robert's brother, suffered as a result of their pursuit of privilege. They had sparked a conspiracy against them in order to persuade the King that the throne itself was in jeopardy due to the Boyd ambition. To answer such charges, all three were summoned to appear before the King and Parliament in Edinburgh. Sir Alexander, a sick man, was the only one of the three to meet the fate that they all knew would await them: execution for treason.

On hearing of these events, Lord Boyd fled to England, while the Earl of Arran, Thomas Boyd, accepted his permanent exile in Europe. Princess Mary was summoned from Scotland under the guise that her husband, Thomas, would be pardoned. Her presence did not entice Thomas to break his exile and risk death, and her marriage was annulled while she was detained by her brother.

During the Civil War, the family supported the King's cause, and after the Restoration, William, Lord Boyd, was created Earl of Kilmarnock. During the 1715 rising, the third earl opposed the Stewart claim and commanded an Ayrshire volunteer regiment. The fourth earl rejected his father's sympathies and fought for Prince Charles Edward Stewart, who appointed him to the Privy Council with the rank of general. He fought in the Battle of Culloden, but was captured and executed on Tower Hill on August 18, 1746.

Clan Boyd Places & People

Clan Boyd Individuals

William Boyd (1704–1746)

William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, was educated in Glasgow. In the 1715 rebellion, William initially supported the Government side, but in the 1745 rebellion, either due to a personal affront, the influence of his wife, or his dire financial circumstances, he deserted George II and joined Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender.

He was appointed a colonel of guards and then a general after becoming a Privy Counsellor to Charles. He fought at Falkirk and Culloden, where he was captured and beheaded on Tower Hill on August 18, 1746.

Sir John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr (1880-1971)

Scottish doctor, biologist, and politician who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and scientific research into nutrition. Orr grew up in Kilmaurs, near Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, before attending a teachers' college and the University of Glasgow, where he majored in Arts.

He returned to university after three years of teaching to study medicine and biology. During World War I, he worked as a military doctor for both the British Army and the Royal Navy, first as an active duty doctor and then as a researcher into military diets. Following the war, his research was primarily focused on animal nutrition; however, as a researcher and an active lobbyist and propagandist for improving people's diets, his focus shifted to human nutrition.

Following WWII, Boyd Orr held several positions, most notably at the FAO, where his comprehensive plans for improving food production and equitable distribution were rejected by Britain and the United States. He then resigned from the FAO and became a director of a number of companies, proving to be a savvy stock market investor, amassing a substantial personal fortune, allowing him to donate the entire amount when he received the Nobel Prize in 1949 to organizations dedicated to world peace and a united world government. In 1949, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Boyd-Orr.

The University of Glasgow named a building after John Boyd Orr, and the Hunterian Museum houses his Nobel Prize.

Billy Boyd (born 1968 in Glasgow)

Scottish actor best known for his roles as Peregrin Took (Pippin) in the Lord of the Rings film adaptations and Barrett Bonden in Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Clan Boyd Locations

Dean's Castle

Dean Castle is located in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, in the Dean Castle Country Park. Sir Thomas Boyd built it around 1350 as the Boyd clan's stronghold. The castle remained in the Boyd family until 1746, when James Boyd sold it.

Castle Portencross

King Bruce rewarded Robert Boyd with Portencross Castle and other prominent properties in Strathclyde in exchange for his loyalty. Portencross was owned by the Boyd family for over 400 years, from around 1385 to 1785.

Castle of the Law

Law Castle was built in 1468 for Princess Mary, James II's daughter, following her marriage to Thomas, Master of Boyd and later Earl of Arran. The Tower of Kilbride is another name for the castle.

The Penkill Castle

The castle was last owned by the Boyd family before being sold in the 1960s.

Clan Boyd Tartans

The Boyd tartan was created in 1948 for the Earl of Kilmarnock and registered with the Lord Lyons office in 1957. Because the Earls of Kilmarnock are descended from both the Hays and the Stewarts, their tartan combines elements from the Hay-Leith tartan and the hunting Stewart tartan.

The term'modern' refers to the dye colors, which are typically dark.

Threadcount Y/10 G44 K4 B4 K4 K4 K4 K20 R78 G10 R8 K8 W/10

Boyd Contemporary

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Boyd the Elder

Clan Boyd Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Boyd Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

A dexter hand that is upright and pale, with the outer fingers bowed inwards

Coat of Arms of Clan Boyd

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.

Ballymacool's Boyds

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Dr. Frederick Tilghman Boyd's (late) arms

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1) BOYD

Boyd, Lord

2) BOYD

Kilmarnock, Earl

Argent and Gules a fess chequy Azure

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THE PINKELL BOYD

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules, and a cross Moline Or in base

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THE BOYD OF PITCON

A fess chequy Argent and Gules within a bordure of Azure Or

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TROCHRIG BOYD

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules between two cross crosslets fitchée in chief and as many mullets in base of the second

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1) BOYD, David

Edinburgh

2) Lieutenant General Sir Robert BOYD

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules between two second barrulets

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BOYD, John

Edinburgh

A fess chequy Argent and Gules between three roses in chief and a crescent in the base of the second.

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Waddell, Captain James BOYD

A fess chequy azure Argent and Gules, a saltire in base chequy and two buckles in chief of the second. Or, conversely, of the third

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Alan Tindal LENNOX-BOYD, Rt Hon

Boyd, Viscount of Merton

Azure a fess chequy Argent and Gules between an abbatical mitra simplex of the second filleted of the third in chief and in base a rose of the second seeded Vert and barbed of the third

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Stirling, Thomas Jamieson Laycock BOYD

Between three crosses, Azure a fess chequy Argent and Gules Argent a bordure engrailed Moline of the second

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BOYD, Hugh Alexander MA

Ballycastle is a town in Ireland.

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules between four second crescents

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BOYD, Iain William

Chequy Argent and Gules a Celtic interlacing pattern on a chief Azure Or

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Alastair Ivor Gilbert BOYD, Rt Hon

Kilmarnock, 7th Baron

Quarterly 1st Argent and Gules a fess chequy Argent and Gules (for Boyd)Argent, three inescutcheons gules (for Hay), 2ndArgent three gillyflowers on the third (for Livingston) Gules within a double tressure flory counter flory Vert The fourth Sable is a bend between six billets Or (for Callendar).

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1) Venerable William BOYD

Arncliffe's Archdeacon and Vicar

Secondly, Edward Fenwick BOYD

Moor House, Leamside, Durham County

Argent and Gules a fess indented chequy between two lozenges of the second

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BOYD, John

Maxpoffle, Roxburghshire

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules between three mullets in chief and an anchor wreathed about a cable proper

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BOYD, William Henry

Ballymacool, County Donegal

His children;

1) BOYD, John Dopping

2) Ker Porter, William Henry BOYD

3) BOYD, Charles Knox

Azure, a fess chequy Argent and Gules, a trefoil Or in chief

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George Arthur BOYD-ROCHFORT is a surname.

Quarterly 1st and 4th Azure a fesse chequy Argent and gules between three second crescents (for Boyd) 2nd and 3rd Azure, a lion rampant Argent in chief, two robins redbreasts proper (for Rochfort).

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