Scrymgeour

Clan Crest: A lion’s paw erased in bend Or holding a crooked sword or scymitar Argent

Clan Motto: Dissipate (Disperse)

Origin of Name: Old English ‘Swordsman’

Clan Badge: Rowan

Lands: Fife

Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Dundee

⇨ View All Scrymgeour Tartan Products

Scrymgeour Clan History

Scrymgeour is thought to be derived from the Old English word'skrymsher,' which means "swordsman." The Scrymgeours are most likely descendants of the great MacDuff Earl of Fife, and they may have claimed their position as standard bearer as early as their Celtic origins. Celtic armies were usually accompanied by sacred holy relics, which were usually carried by a hereditary keeper. The Clan Scrymgeours are thought to have carried St Columba's pastoral staff.

Clan Scrymgeour supported Sir William Wallace during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Sir William Wallace confirmed them as banner bearers in 1298. The document in which this is recorded is the only contemporary document in which the names of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce appear together. The chief of the clan at the time was Alexander Scrymgeour, who was later captured by the English and hanged in Newcastle in 1306 on King Edward I's direct orders. He was succeeded by another Alexander Scrymgeour, who rode as the clan's royal banner bearer during the Battle of Bannockburn.

The Clan Scrymgeour prospered in the 15th century, and the chief, who was the seventh constable of Dundee, acquired the lands of Dudhope in 1495. They went on to build a castle in this land, which served as their seat until 1668. Clan Scrymgeour fought at the Battle of Flodden in the 16th century. Because the chief was an infant, his nephew, John Scrymgeour, led the clan. John died as a result of his injuries.

Sir James Scrymgeour was sent to Denmark to negotiate King James VI's marriage to Princess Anne, and in 1604 he was appointed a commissioner to negotiate a political union with England after Queen Elizabeth I died without heir, and King James of Scotland became King of England as well. He died in 1612, and his son John Scrymgeour succeeded him. In 1641, King Charles I elevated John Scrymgeour to the peerage as Viscount of Dudhope and Baron Scrymgeor of Inverkeithing.

During the Civil War, the second Viscount of Dudhope was dispatched with Scottish Covenanter forces to aid the English Parliament in its fight against Charles I. In July 1644, he led the Clan Scrymgeour at the Battle of Marston Moor, where he was killed. His son, also named John, succeeded him. In 1648, this John Scrymgeour backed the Royalist cause by commanding a cavalry regiment from the clan under the Duke of Hamilton. In 1651, he also took part in the Battle of Worcester. He fled after the royal defeat and joined General Middleton's army in the Scottish Highlands. He was eventually apprehended in 1654.

He was made Earl of Dundee upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. He died without issue in 1668, and the Duke of Lauderdale seized all of his castles, lands, estates, and royal office under a legal pretext. Lauderdale dispatched troops to steal all of the Clan Scrymgeour charters and papers from Dudhope Castle. He then declared that there were no lawful heirs and that the esates belonged to the crown. The crown then gave all of Lauderdale's estates to his brother. The estates should have gone to a John Scrymgeour of Kirkton, the great-grandson of Dundee's fifth Constable.

David Scrymgeour of Birkhill, Sherriff of Inverness, married Cathrine, daughter of Sir Alexander Wedderburn of Blackness, the grandson of the rightful John Scrymgeour of Kirkton. In 1788, their son succeeded as the heir of David Wedderburn of Wedderburn. As a result, the Scrymgeours inherited that family's title and estates. The Scrymgeours maintained their claim to their ancient titles, which had been stripped from them. Henry Srymgeour-Wedderburn carried the Scottish standard at King Edward VII's coronation.

In a case before the House of Lords, Henry Scrymgeour's grandson was successful in reclaiming the Scrymgeour estates in Dundee and gaining the title of 11th Earl of Dundee. In 1954, he was elevated to the peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Glassary, allowing him to serve as Deputy Leader of the House of Lords. Clan Scrymgeour's current chief is Alexander Henry Scrymgeour of Dundee, the 12th Earl of Dundee, who has followed his father into politics in the House of Lords.

Birkhill, north of Cupar in Fife, is still the Scrymgeour family seat.

Scrymgeour Places & People

'Neddy' Edwin Scrymgeour (1866-1947)

Dundee's Member of Parliament. As the candidate of the Scottish Prohibition Party, he is the only person ever elected to the House of Commons on a prohibitionist ticket.

Scrymgeour was a Dundonian who attended West End Academy. He founded his party in 1901 and was a member of Dundee City Council. He began contesting elections in the 1908 Dundee by-election, in which Winston Churchill was first elected for Dundee, and continued to fight in every subsequent election, increasing his vote. Because of his popularity, general left-wing sympathies, and history with the labour movement, the Labour Party agreed in 1922 to nominate only one candidate for the two-member Dundee constituency and run a joint campaign.

Scrymgeour and Labour candidate E. D. Morel defeated Winston Churchill, who had represented the city as a Liberal (at the time Coalition Liberal), in the 1922 election. Scrymgeour remained an M.P. for Dundee until the 1931 general election, when he was defeated by Florence Horsbrugh, the first British female Conservative M.P. Scrymgeour worked as an evangelical Chaplain at Dundee's East House and Maryfield Hospitals outside of Parliament. Scrymgeour led the unsuccessful opposition to the dissolution of the Scottish Prohibition Party in January 1935.

Scrymgeour Tartans

Scrymgeour

Scrymgeour Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Scrymgeour Crest

A lion's paw is erased in a bend on the crest. Argent, holding a crooked sword or scimitar.

Coats of Arms of Scrymgeour:

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.

Coat of Arms of the Earl of Dundee

The personal arms of Viscount Dudhope and Earl of Dundee were created on November 15, 1641.

Benvie Kirkyard's roadside wall. James Scrymgeour, 2nd Viscount of Dudhope's arms (a lion rampant wielding a scimitar) are impaled with those of his wife, Lady Isabella Kerr (or Carr), daughter of Sir Robert Kerr of Cessford, 1st Earl of Roxburghe (on a chevron, three mullets, and a unicorn's head erased in base). Initials are IVD for Dexter and ILC for Sinister. Date: 1643, the year of James' succession to the throne. (The metal plaque pictured above is incorrect.)