Brief History
In 1809, the then Chief of the family, John Carruthers 12th of Holmains and 8th Baron died leaving the family without a head. As chiefs, the Holmains line has run continuously from 1548 after the extinction of their cousins, Carruthers of Mouswald. Mouswald are recognised as being our first Chiefs whose lineage dates back to at least the 1100’s and William of Carruthers, first recorded use of our name. Thomas (the Clerk) Carruthers, 1st of Mouswald received a charter of lands from Robert the Bruce in 1320 for services to his family. The senior cadet branch off the Mouswald line comes through the progenitor of Holmains, John Carruthers, Chancellor for Annandale for King David I, the younger brother of the first Chief of Mouswald.
John’s own son Roger received a further charter of lands from the Earl of March, George Dunbar the then Lord of Annandale in 1375. This was added to his father’s’ lands of Raffols, chartered to him from King David I in 1361, which was to become the kernel of the huge Holmains Estate.
As not all who were using arms were deemed worthy to hold them, the Lyons Act of 1692 was initiated by the Scottish parliament to police their use. In that year all Scottish arms had to be presented to the Lord Lyon for his consideration and if accepted, registration. The Holmains arms were accepted and added to the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings of Scotland. This register remains active and comes under the jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon to this day. The current evidence however, has shown that the Holmains arms were used by the this line of Chiefs prior to 1672 and the opening of the register itself.
To reflect their ancestry, the arms of Holmains are a melding of the ancient arms of Carruthers and those of Sir Simon Carruthers of Mouswald, last of his line, who died in 1548 in a border raid leaving no male heir. These arms were petitioned for registration by John Carruthers, 9th of Holmains and 5th Baron, a direct ancestor of our current chief. It is for this reason that the arms we recognise today as ‘Carruthers’ are that of our Chiefs, ie Carruthers of Holmains, they are not the arms of the family/clan/name and can only be used with their permission.
All other Carruthers arms since 1672 must be differenced from them at least twice to indicate they are a cadet line. The seraphim volant Proper ie the Holmains crest, which sits on top of the Chief’s helm and has done so for nearly 500 years that we know of, cannot be changed, added to or have bits removed except by the Chief himself, which is unlikely to happen.
The lost time
Those who could have stepped up to wear the mantle of Chief after 1809 chose not to and the direct line of our chiefs going back to the 1100’s, went into abeyance. The inheritance of all his lands and titles to include the Chiefship, was clearly covered in John’ 12th’s Marriage Contract of 1762, where it stated that his heirs would be ‘of his body’ i.e. either male or female. Going forwards, John’s line passed through his eldest daughter Christian for one generation as his eldest son John died before 1770 as did Christian’s only other younger brother, Robert. From there it reverted back again through the male line to her nephew and continues as such to this day .
Was the initial glitch due to the fact that although women could inherit a chiefship, the husband would have been the one to dispense those duties? We do know that things changed over time and at least by the 1930’s when Dame Flora Mcleod of Mcleod had become chief of that clan in 1935 she was definately accepted as such in her own right. But then again over 100 years had passed. These days it is not unusual to see a female chief of a Scottish clan or family, but in 1809 it may not have been considered viable for Christian to have taken on the role herself.
This piece of information may throw further light on Marion, daughter of Sir Simon, last of Mouswald who refused to marry the chosen suitor of James Douglas of Drumlanrig. To do so would give Douglas, through her husband control of her portion of the Mouswald lands as it had done with her sister Janet. However, after her sad death, Douglas did in fact absorb the Mouswald lands of both orphans.
It then took a total of 210 years before the chiefly line of Carruthers was reinstated and in 2016 after much investigation by our Convenor and our heraldist Mr Antony Maxwell, the senior member of the chiefly line of Holmains was located and approached.
After much personal research within the archives of the National Records of Scotland where most of the contents of the Holmains chest are kept, and through other personal family materials, a petition accompanied by extensive documented evidence and proofs was submitted to the Lord Lyon for his consideration in 2017 by Dr Peter Carruthers.
As a member of the Scottish judiciary and given his rights by Letters Patent through the British monarch, only he retains the authority to grant a matriculation of arms from a proven ancestor and thus give confirmation of the same. Therefore the right to bear the arms of any chief of a Scottish or family is regulated purely by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
As all arms in Scotland belong to and are legally copyrighted to one individual and one individual only, the arms of the chiefship of a clan or family is no exception and they are themselves protected in Scots law.
Any Chief recognised by the Lord Lyon as chief of a clan or family is chief of all who bear the name of the clan or family and not only those belonging to a particular body.
In 2017, two petitions to bear the chiefly arms of Holmains were presented a few weeks apart and the analysis of the documentation presented by both parties took 22 months and two sittings of the Lyon Court before finally Peter Carruthers of Holmains was confirmed Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers with accoutrements. Those included supporters on his arms to reflect his status as Chief of two fallow deer bucks rampant, on a compartment of heathland strewn with the clan plant of gorse in flower. The origin of Carruthers in Annandale, Dumfriesshire is reflected in the compartment and supporters granted by the Lord Lyon.
The Inauguration
Although the confirmation of our Chief occurred in 2019, as a clan and family we felt that it was right and proper that an inauguration ceremony should take place in front of the family.
Accepting there is only one clan and family of Carruthers, which covers all of our name worldwide, the process follows others that have taken the only route available to them to have a recognised chief of a Scottish clan or family confirmed ie through the Lord Lyon. As such this momentous occasion will take place at our first official gathering in well over 200 years, to be held in our ancestral home of Annandale in the town of Annan, Dumfriesshire, August 24th-25th, 2024.
After processing in, the Chief will formally receive his Letters Patent issued by the Lord Lyon, from Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, 11th Baronet LVO, KC, FRGS and as Albany Herald Extraordinary, a senior member of the Lyon Court. Our Chief will then be introduced and inaugurated as Chief by the Shennachie, a member of the Chief’s High Council. The Chief will then be presented with his chosen accoutrements and his oath will be taken. The family will then respond, after which any outstanding clan appointments will be announced.
At this stage the evening events and speakers will begin in celebration of the Chief’s inauguration. The Chief will be accompanied by his family and to date his personal guests include Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, Chief of Clan Agnew and his lady wife, Sir John Ewen, Commander of Clan Ewing and his lady wife, Madam Pauline Hunter of Hunterstone, Chief of Clan Hunter and her partner, Rupert Irving of Bonshaw, Chief of Clan Irving of Bonshaw and his lady wife and Michael Buchanan of that Ilk, Chief of Clan Buchanan and his lady wife.
A full Itinerary will be posted soon.
This is truly a special occasion and highlights and augments CARRUTHERS as a stand-alone and officially recognised clan and family of the Scottish Borders. Further, based on our well documented history in both the borders and Scotland, our tartan which is listed with the Scottish Register of Tartans as officially belonging to our clan/family, reflects this within threads:
- the green, purple and lilac represents the ancestral lands of our family’s origins in Annandale, Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland.
- the red represents the blood we spilt over the centuries, for our country, our lands and our family.
- the subtle and single white stripe represents our historic support for the Jacobite cause.
So why not come and join us and witness this historic event, made even more special as it takes place in the ancestral homelands of our family.
Share in the meeting of friends old and new, meet our Chief, members of his Council and get involved with the hoochin’ and shoochin’ as you dance to the music of our cèilidh band.
For those that are interested, there are trips to historic CARRUTHERS’ sites, a whisky tasting and a distillery tour on the Sunday.
We will be there as witness to Carruthers history being made on 24-25 August 2024 in Annan, Annandale, Dumfriesshire………….. the question is will you?
Something to tell your grandchildren about we feel!!!
Promptus et Fidelis
