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Clan Rollo (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Rollo

Clan Crest: A stag’s head couped, Proper

Clan Motto: La Fortune Passe Partout (Fortune Passes Over Everywhere)

Origin of Name: Norse

Historic Seat: Pitcairns House

Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon. The Lord Rollo

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Rollo Clan History

Clan Rollo is of Norman descent. They can, however, be traced back to the feared Norsemen who raided the coasts of England and Scotland in the seventh and eighth centuries. Sigurd Rollo was the Jarl of Shetland and Orkney, and his son, Einar, was a well-known Viking who raided not only Scotland, but also parts of his Norwegian homeland. He was pursued by Norwegian King Harald I of Norway, and he eventually turned his attention to France's northern coast. His descendants became Dukes of Normandy, and their spirit of conquest led them to England's shores in 1066. Erik Rollo accompanied his uncle, William the Conqueror, on the invasion, and his son or grandson, Richard, is thought to have accompanied King David I of Scotland when he left the English court to reclaim his Scottish throne. The name first appears in a charter granted by Robert de Brus in around 1141. According to Black's Surnames of Scotland, there are numerous spelling variations for this name, and one Robert Rolloche obtained lands near Perth from King David II of Scotland in 1369.

The chiefly family's fortunes were established in February 1380, when John Rollok, secretary to David, Earl Palatine of Strathearn and brother of King Robert II of Scotland, received a charter from King Robert II of Scotland. Duncan Rollo of Duncrub, his son, served as Auditor of State Accounts until his death in 1419.

On August 26, 1511, William Rollo of Duncrub received a charter, establishing his lands as a free barony. He and his elder son, Robert, are thought to have died leading the Clan Rollo at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Andrew Rollo inherited the estates and married Marion, the heir to David Rollo of Manmure. Peter, one of his younger sons, became Bishop of Dunkeld and a Court of Session judge. Sir Andrew Rollo, his grandson, was knighted by King James VI of Scotland.

During the civil war, the Clan Rollo were staunch royalist supporters of the king. In 1651, King Charles II made Sir Andrew Lord Rollo of Duncrub for his devotion. However, by 1654, Oliver Cromwell had firmly established himself as the ruler of Scotland, and Lord Rollo was fined £1,000,000 for his royal connections.

Sir William Rollo, Lord Rollo's fifth son, was a gifted soldier and one of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose's lieutenants. At the Battle of Aberdeen in 1644, Chief Sir William Rollo led the clan and commanded the royal army's left wing, and he followed the marquess on his famous forced march over mountainous terrain, which surprised the forces of the Marquess of Argyll and led to the royalist victory at the Battle of Inverlochy. When Montrose advanced south, the royalist forces were trapped at the Battle of Philiphaugh by an unexpected force of Covenanter cavalry. In October 1645, Rollo was captured and beheaded in Glasgow. The fact that William's brother, James, second Lord Rollo, married first to the sister of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, and then to the sister of his rival, the Marquess of Argyll, reflects the complicated politics of Scotland at the time.

Despite his father's support for William of Orange, Andrew Rollo's son, the fourth Lord Rollo, was a staunch Jacobite who attended the great hunt at Aboyne in August 1715, which was actually a secret council to plan the rising that year. He and Clan Rollo fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir but were defeated. He was imprisoned for a time before being released in 1717. He had seven children and died peacefully in March 1758 at Duncrub.

Andrew, fifth Lord Rollo and chief of Clan Rollo, his eldest son, became a professional soldier, though he did not begin his career until he was forty years old. He fought for the British at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession, and by 1758 he was commanding the British 22nd Regiment of Foot. He was sent to the Americas, where he fought in the final campaign to secure Canada as a British possession under General Murray. In 1759, he was sent to capture the French Caribbean island of Dominica, which, despite being heavily fortified, he took with a force of only 2,500 men. In 1760, he was promoted to brigadier general. He fought in the Caribbean for two more years, during which both Barbados and Martinique fell to the British. However, the climate had a negative impact on his health, and he returned to England in 1762, dying in Leicester in 1765.

Military service continued to entice the Rollos, and the seventh Lord Rollo distinguished himself during the siege of Pondicherry in India, commanding a force of marines. Between 1793 and 1795, John, eighth Lord Rollo, served as an officer in the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, which is now known as the Scots Guards.

David Eric Howard Rollo, the thirteenth Lord Rollo and fourth Baron Dunning, the current chief, still resides in Perthshire.

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Rollo Tartans

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Rollo Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Rollo Crest

Crest Description: A couped stag's head, Proper

Coats of Arms of Rollo:

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.