Ross

Gaelic Name: Rôs

Clan Crest: A hand holding a garland of juniper, Proper

Clan Motto: Spem Successus Alit (Success nourishes hope)

Origin of Name: Placename, Ross-shire

Clan Badge: Juniper

Lands: Ross-shire, Ayrshire and Renfrewshire

Clan Chief: David Ross of Ross and Balnagowan

⇨ View All Ross Tartan Products

Ross Clan History

The name Ross is derived from the ancient Celtic word "Ros," which means "a promontory," in this case the Easter Ross lands. Highlanders refer to the clan as Clann Aindreas, which means "the sons of Andrew."

Fearchar Mac a t Sagairt, which translates as "son of the priest," was the clan's traditional progenitor. Fearchar was made Earl of Ross in 1234 in recognition of his services to Alexander II.

The last chief of the Ross clan to hold the earldom died in 1372, having had no sons. His daughter attempted to claim the earldom, but it passed to the MacDonalds of the Isles and then to the crown in 1476. In the 18th century, the once proud Ross estate of Balnagowan became heavily burdened by debt and was purchased by a lowland branch of the Ross family who, despite bearing the family name, were genealogically complete strangers to the Celtic Earls of Ross.

The chiefship of the clan Ross was restored to the true line in the early twentieth century.

Ross Places & People

Ross Clan People

Fearchar Mac a t'sagairt (circa 1200)

Mac a t'sagairt, Fearchar Fearchar was known as the'son of the priest,' alluding to his descent from Applecross' hereditary abbots. He was a well-known fighter, and for his services to Alexander II, he was knighted and made the first Earl of Ross.

David Ross died in 1711.

At the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he led 1000 men from the clan Ross against Oliver Cromwell.

Ronald Ross, Sir

Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932)

Sir Ronald Ross was a modern medicine pioneer. He is well-known for discovering the source of malaria. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1902.

Ross was born in India to Sir Campbell Claye Grant Ross, a Scottish general in the British Indian Army, and moved to Britain when he was eight years old to further his education.

Admiral John Ross (1777-1856)

Famous Arctic explorer. Beginning in 1829, he attempted to find the North-West passage. He returned unsuccessfully in 1833, but not before discovering the Magnetic North Pole. At the age of 73, Ross returned to the Arctic in search of any trace of explorer Sir John Franklin.

Ross Tartans

Ross Red Aged

Modern Ross Red

Ross Goes Archaeological

Modern Ross Hunting

Ross Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Ross Crest

Crest Description: A hand holding a juniper garland, Proper

Coats of Arms of Ross:

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.

Balnagown / Balnagowan ROSS

Argent, three rampant lions gules.

Hawkhead's ROSS / Halkhead's ROSS

Sable and Argent, a chevron chequy between three water-bougets of the second.

Lord Ross of Halkhead (1499-1754) was a Scottish nobleman.

Ross, Michael Wallis

MA, MSt, PhD, MPH, DipTertEd DipSTD DipAppCrim FRSA, FRSH, FRIPH, FNZPsS, FAPA, and FSA Scot.

Gules, five lions rampant in cross argent, a dagger point upwards of the second, handled or.

Crest: A pale argent lion's dexter gamb, armed gules, holding a wreath of laurel vert.

Nulli secundus means "second to none."

Matriculated: Volume 73, page 18, September 13, 1989.

The grant is made to Charles Macintosh Ross, the fourth son of Alexander Ross of Kingscassie, Tain, Ross-shire, who immigrated to New Zealand in 1879. Sir John Ross Marshall, GBE CH PC, his great-nephew, was Deputy Prime Minister and later Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1960 to 1972. Charles Macintosh Ross was the great-grandson of John Ross of Tain, Ross-shire, who was born in 1720.

Dr. Alastair Robertson Ross, CStJ, ARSA, FRBS, DA, FSA Scot, Hon.FRIAS.

Baron Baillie of the Easter Moncrieffe Barony

Arms: Gules and Or per fess, in chief two lions rampant argent, armed and langued Azure, in base a garb Vert banded of the First.

Crest: a dexter hand issuant grasping a sculptor's mallet Proper in bend sinister.

EX SAXO EGREGIA is the motto.

Granted: 12th December 1976, Lord Lyon's Court, Lyon Register volume 61, folio 37.

Baron Biggar Charles Russell Clayton Ross of Biggar

Arms: Quarterly first and fourth Gules, in chief two lions rampant respectant Argent, grasping a wreath of laurel leaves Or, and in base a rod of the Last entwined by a snake of the Second between two plates each charged with a fleam sable (for Ross); Second Sable a chevron between six rams counter passant Argent armed and unguled Or (for Harman); Third per pale Azure and Gules, two

Crest: a demi-lion rampant and reguardant Gules grasping a saltire Argent in its forepaws

Prospera et spera in Deo (Success and hope in God) is the motto. It responds to the Clan Chief's 'Spem successit alit' (success feeds hope).

Gules furred ermine, chapeau.

Badge: a goat's head erased Argent armed with a juniper sprig Vert within a wreath of Bigg

Standard: in the hoist an Argent St Andrew's cross, in the fly four tracts Argent and Gules, split at the end, depicting the badge in the first and third compartments and the crest with the motto Prospera et spera in Deo in letters Argent on two transverse bands Azure.