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Clan Turnbull (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Turnbull

Clan Crest: A bull’s head

Clan Motto: I Saved The King

Lands: Borders

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Turnbull Clan History

Turnbull is one of a number of Scottish surnames with a romantic origin, according to early etymologists. King Robert I is said to have given the name Turnbull to a man named Rule. According to legend, Rule saved the king's life by 'turning' a charging bull that was about to gore the royal.

As a reward for this deed, Robert bestowed the lands of Bedrule and the new name Rule on Rule. Hector Boece (1526) was the first to record this story, as well as many other picturesque tales from Scottish history. However, it is widely assumed that in many of these stories, the story is shaped to fit the name rather than the other way around.

The name is most likely derived from the old English name Trumbald, which means'strongly bold,' and is commonly pronounced as Trummell, or Trumell in Teviotdale.

Robert I granted the land west of Fulhophalche (now Philiphaugh) to Willelmo dicto turnebule (William called Turnbule) in 1315.

David II granted John Trumble the lands of Humdallwalschop (now Hundleshope) in the barony of Mener at some point during his reign.

Adam de Roule's charter for the lands of Altonburn was witnessed by Walter Tronebole around 1354.

Patrick Turnbull was bailie of Edinburgh in 1388, and Thomas Tornebule was one of the borrowis for Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas' bounds on the Middle March in 1398.

In 1400, John Tournebulle, nicknamed "out with swerd," was a Scottish prisoner-of-war in England.

In 1408, Thomas Turnbule witnessed a charter for the lands of Drumgrey.

William Turnbul was a 'cubicular' of Pope Eugene IV in 1433, and William Trubul was canon of Glasgow in 1452. Between 1448 and 1454, another William Turnbull, also known as Turnbol and Trumbil, was the bishop of Glasgow.

Maister Jhone Trimbill was vicar of Cleigh (Cleish) in 1507, and Stephen Tournebulle was procurator of the Scottish 'nation' at the University of Orleans in France, also in 1507.

Mark Turnbull was provost of Jedburgh in 1561, and Mathow Trumble was bailie of Glasgow in 1609.

The frequency with which the surname Turnbull appears in Pitcairn's Criminal trials demonstrates that the family was among the most volatile of Border clans.

The Turnbulls' earliest recorded arms, those of Agnes Trombel in 1497, were Ermine, three bars, the center bar charged with a star flanked by two ermine spots.

William Trumbul's arms in Dalkeith, 1603, have a bull's head erased, but these are possibly canting arms (arms that suggest the bearer's name).

People with this surname settled in France, and their arms were argent, three bulls' heads couped sable, armed and langued gules, but the Turnebu, or Tournebu, family, who claimed Scottish ancestry, had argent, a bend azure. The Tourneboeuf family, from the central French province of Berry, bore azure, three bulls' heads, and the inscription "les Tournebulle de Champagne portent d'azure à trois têtes de buffle."

William Paterson Turnbull (d. 1871), a well-known American ornithologist, was born in Fala, Midlothian, in 1830. Frederick Turnbull (d. 1909) introduced turkey-red dyeing to the United States in 1847 in Glasgow.

Turnbull Places & People

Turnbull Positions:

Bedrule Castle is located on the Scottish border. Remains of a 13th century castle that was taken over by the Turnbull Clan in the 15th century.

Fatlips Castle is located near Jedburgh. The Turnbulls own it.

Turnbull Tartans

Tartan Turnbull

Tartan Turnbull Hunting

Turnbull Crest & Coats of Arms

Turnbull Family Crest:

A bull's head is depicted on the crest.

Coats of Arms of Turnbull:

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.