Blackadder

Clan Crest: A dexter hand issuing from a Wreath grasping and brandishing aloft a sword, Proper

Clan Motto: Courage Helps Fortune

Origin of Name: Territorial

Historic Seat: Old Tulliallan Castle, Fife

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Clan Blackadder History

The clan is named after the Blackadder River and lands in Berwickshire. In 1477, Adam of Blackathir was one of those sent to lead the envoys carrying Princess Cecilia's dower to Edinburgh, and in 1486, Charles Blackater was granted protection and safe passage in England.

At the end of the 15th century, Robert Blackadder was the bishop of Glasgow. Rolland Blaykatter, tenant in the barony of Glasgow in 1521, could be the same Roland Blacadyr who appears as Glasgow's sub-dean in 1524. In 1557, Thomas Blacater was Bailie of the Commendator of Coldingham.

In the 16th century, the name was common in Lanarkshire, and the Blacaters of Tulliallan in Perthshire (from which they were evicted in 1632) were an offshoot of the Border family.

John Blackadder of Tulliallan was a well-known Church of Scotland minister. He was imprisoned as a Covanenter on Bass Rock and died there in 1685.

Fife's Old Tulliallan Castle. The Blackadder family acquired the castle through marriage in the latter half of the 15th century. Tulliallan was occupied by the Blackadders until 1662.

Clan Blackadder Places & People

People of Clan Blackadder

John Blackadder (1622–1685)

Blackadder was born in the year 1622. He was Adam Blackadder of Blairhall's grandson, a cadet of the Blackadder Baronetcy of Tulliallan, and heir to the title as first baronet. He refused to accept the title. He attended Glasgow University and majored in Divinity. He married Janet Haining and had seven children with her.

Blackadder was ordained as minister of Troqueer, near Dumfries, on June 7, 1653. Blackadder, a Covenanter, was expelled after Charles II's restoration. He was briefly detained and taken to Edinburgh before being released. He continued to preach in secret meetings in Glencairn, however, and was chased out by the authorities. Blackadder then became a traveling preacher, mostly in the south of Scotland.

These open-air sermons became more militarized as more members of the congregation began to bring weapons to protect themselves from government forces. Because of the animosity between the two sides, Blackadder was declared an outlaw, with a reward for his capture. Following the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, Blackadder decided to relocate to Rotterdam. In 1681, he returned, but was arrested in Edinburgh, found guilty, and imprisoned on the notorious Bass Rock. Because of the harsh conditions of his confinement, he became ill and died in 1685. He was laid to rest in the churchyard of North Berwick.

Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder (September 24, 1931 – August 23, 2021)

Elizabeth Blackadder is a printmaker and painter from Scotland. She was the first female member of both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy of Arts. Blackadder grew up in Falkirk, and her father died when she was ten years old. She was a solitary child who spent her childhood reading and collecting flowers. In 1949, she was admitted to Edinburgh College to study Fine Art, and she graduated with First Class Honours in 1954. She met her future husband, artist John Houston, while there. After graduation, she spent time studying Byzantine art in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy.

Blackadder continued to travel and developed a strong interest in still life painting, for which she became best known. She received the OBE in 1982 and was promoted to a DBE (dame) in 2003; she also has four honorary doctorates and was Her Majesty's Painter and Limner on Scotland in 2001.

Her work has appeared on stamps and even on the official Christmas card of the First Minister of Scotland in 2012.

Elizabeth Blackadder died on August 23, 2021, just a month before her 90th birthday.

Clan Blackadder Locations

The Blackadder family was a prominent Borders clan that vastly expanded their lands during the reign of James II (1437-1460). Most of the Borders lands held by the Blackadders of that ilk, however, were lost when Robert Blackadder's two daughters, and only heirs, were forced to marry into the neighboring Home of Wedderburn family in 1518.

There was a castle on the Blackadder estates near Allanton in Berwickshire, which was destroyed by English forces in the early 16th century. On the same grounds, Blackadder House, a stately home, was built and expanded extensively in the 1800s. During the First World War, soldiers lived in Blackadder House, which was heavily vandalized. The post-war government refused to pay for the repairs, and the house fell further into disrepair before being demolished in 1925.

Clan Blackadder Tartans

There is no registered Blackadder tartan, but the clan can wear the Tweedside District tartan, which represents the area where the name originates.

Tweedside Borough

Clan Blackadder Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Blackadder Coat of Arms

Worn by everyone with the same name and ancestry

Description of the Crest:

A dexterous hand emerges from a Wreath, grasping and brandishing a sword, Proper

Coat of Arms of Clan Blackadder

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.

THAT TYPE OF BLACKADDER

Azure, Argent, three roses, Gules on a chevron

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Robert Blackadder's seal, the first Archbishop of Glasgow. St Kentigern is depicted as a monk holding a book. The legendary salmon with the ring is beside him, and beneath them is a shield bearing Blackadder's arms. In his early years as bishop, Blackadder had used a different seal.