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Clan Dunbar (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Dunbar

Clan Crest: A horse’s head, Argent, bridled and reined, Gules

Clan Motto: In Promptu (In readiness)

Origin of Tartan: Border tartan from the “Vestiarium Scoticum” Region: Lowlands

Historic Seat: Dunbar Castle, East Lothian

Clan Chief: Sir James Dunbar of Mochrum Bt.

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Dunbar Clan History

Crinan of Dunkeld, who was born around 975, was the Thane and Seneschal of the Isles. He was King Duncan I's father and Gospatric's grandfather. The newly arrived William the Conqueror bestowed the Earldom of Northumberland on Gospatric in 1067.

Dunbar Castle ruins, 19th century engraving

However, the Earldom was reclaimed from him in 1072. As a result, Gospatric came to Scotland and was appointed Earl of Dunbar by King Malcolm III. Dunbar, a town and port on the Lothian coast, has witnessed many significant events in Scottish history. After the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Dunbars sheltered the fleeing, defeated Edward II at Dunbar Castle until he could leave Scotland by sea.

If Patrick of Dunbar had detained Edward, it is believed that he would have had to recognize the Scottish crown and make peace with Bruce. Instead, the two countries continued to fight for many more bloody years.

Dunbar and King Robert (main image), who were cousins, settled their differences in 1315, and when the English occupied Berwick, where Dunbar was governor, in 1337, he renounced allegiance to Edward III.

The Earl of Salisbury then attacked Dunbar Castle. The castle was defended by Dunbar's wife, Black Agnes, who irritated Salisbury to the point where he retired to England in defeat after nineteen weeks.

He said of her:

She caused a commotion in the tower and trench.

That brawling, rowdy Scottish wench.

I arrived early, I arrived late,

Agnes was standing at the gate when I arrived.

When the greedy and jealous James I ruled, the enormous wealth and properties amassed by the Dunbars over 400 years were annexed to the crown.

Sir George Dunbar of Kilconquhar, the 11th Earl, was the last. By this time, the Dunbar family had grown to include the Earlship of Moray, which they kept. Only after a celebrated court case before Lord Lyon, King of Arms, the Supreme Court of Edinburgh, and the House of Lords was the current claim to the chiefship settled in 1990.

Clan Dunbar Places & People

People of Clan Dunbar

Agnes, Countess of Dunbar (circa 1311-1369) - main image, 1906

'Black Agnes,' so named because of her dark complexion and hair, was a thorn in the side of the Earl of Salisbury, who wasted nineteen weeks in 1338 conducting a siege against her and Dunbar Castle.

When her castle was hit by cannon fire, it is said that she would dust the battlements with her handkerchief. Salisbury, frustrated, eventually returned to England and to Edward III.

Dunbar, William (1460-1513)

'Master Poet' in James IV's court. His works celebrated his King's and the court's accomplishments, but his eloquence and poetic skill also allowed him to express criticism, advice, and warning to court members.

'Lament for the Makaris, The Fenzit Freir of Tungland, and Ane Dance in the Quenis Chamber' are among his works. High Macdairmid and Richard Burton are two contemporary admirers of Dunbar's work.

Gavin Dunbar (1495-1547)

Gavin Dunbar went on to become James V's tutor and advisor after studying at Glasgow University. From 1525 to 1547, he was Archbishop of Glasgow. He also became Lord Chancellor for 11 years in 1528. Around the same time. Gavin Dunbar, his uncle, was Archbishop of Aberdeen beginning in 1519. His legacy includes making a significant contribution to the completion of the Bridge of Dee and St Machar's Cathedral.

Gavin Dunbar's seal

Clan Dunbar Locations

East Lothian Castle, Dunbar

Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria, built the first stone castle around 1070. Until 1497, the castle was owned by the Earls of Dunbar. The castle is now ruined, and has been so since the Scottish Parliament ordered it to be slighted (intentionally damaged) in 1567.

Dunbar Tartans

In 1842, the Dunbar tartan was first published in the Vestiarium Scoticum.

Dunbar the Elder

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Dunbar Contemporary

Clan Dunbar Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Dunbar Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

Argent, a horse's head bridled and reined in Gules

Coats of Arms of Clan Dunbar

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.