The long and arduous journey to record the rich history, heritage and legitimacy of our family began with the intensive original research leading to the family tome –The Records of the Carruthers Family. This began in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and was collated by Arthur Stanley Carruthers for his initial publication in 1924. This volume was so popular that, with the assistance of Robert Corsane Reid, it further led to the ‘Records’ publication in 1934. Robert was the son of the historian John J. Reid, BA FSA Scot, who wrote ‘The Barony of Mouswald and its Barons: a page of Border history, published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (vol 23), detailing the extensive West March feudal history of our family. I’m sure this played a role in AS Carruthers’s investigation into our past.
Building on this solid foundation, my own research into finding the existing senior line began seriously in 2007 and took over 12 years of investigation to locate the ‘superior’ in genealogical terms, member of our family. Originally, it was believed to be Jamie Carruthers, 13th of Dormont, but progressively evidence suggested this was not the case. The first clue was the ‘bordure’ around the Dormont arms suggesting a more senior line may still exist. The Dormont arms further retained the serephim volant Proper as their crest, as used by Holmains and their motto of Promptus et Fidelis, but the engrailed chevrons were replaced with chevronelles showing two differences from the Holmains chiefly arms as is required in Scottish heraldry. The arms of Dormont were matriculated from the Holmains arms in 1913, as such they and the Lord Lyon of the time must have been aware that the Holmains line was still valid on that date.
Although ancient in their own right William Carruthers, 1st of Dormont was the third son of John Carruthers, 5th of Holmains. He received a charter of lands from his father which in 1552 began the cadet line of Carruthers of Dormont. Holmains themselves, as the senior cadet line of Mouswald, stemmed from John Carruthers who was the progenator of the House of Holmains and was the younger brother of Thomas, 1st of Mouswald. John received a grant of lands from King David I in 1361, which he passed to his son Roger 1st of Mouswald. Holmains became the senior and chiefly line in 1548 after Carruthers of Mouswald became extinct on the death of Sir Simon Carruthers 10th of Mouswald and 5th baron.
As such and working on the premise that at least until the turn of the 20th century, the Holmains line did not in itself become extinct after the death of John 12th of Holmains 8th Baron in 1809 but had rather gone dormant ie no one has stepped up to claim the Carruthers chiefship. The task ahead was to locate the most senior of that line still alive today. During the investigation it became clear that it was important to cross the t’s and dot the i’s as legal status here in Scotland was involved. Therefore, based on advice from experts in their field, we needed to ensure that the facts and lineage were accurate and that proper procedure was followed. This was in order to meet any necessary legal requirements as set by the Lord Lyon, if we as a family were to have any chance of having a Chief confirmed.
This task itself was time consuming enough and led to quite a few dead ends, but what made it even more difficult was the bizarre attempts by a small clandestine group in the US, an LLC based out of Minnesota to be exact, who tried to derail any efforts that were being carried out here in Scotland. Their intervention and badly researched claims, to include the ownership of the Bruce tartan and misuse of the Chief’s arms, caused our family much embarrassment and as such we were being continually tarred with the same brush. Sadly, in the initial stages this seriously diluted any attempts to move forward. Thankfully because of their actions, this group were soon recognised for who and what they were and support for our cause grew dramatically within the international clan society community. This in turn gave us the push we needed and helped us attain a successful outcome for all Carruthers. The old adage of ‘out of every negative comes a positive’ held true.
But why are we going over old ground, well you can’t build a strong house on weak foundations. Once located, Dr Simon Peter Carruthers called Peter, whose lineage was without doubt evidenced back to John 12th of Holmains and beyond, was approached. Compiling his own research in the Carruthers archives, he personally was satisfied that he was entitled to petition the Lord Lyon to bear the chiefly arms. However, the road is never smooth and there was to be a second petitioner, Jamie Carruthers 13th of Dormont whose family still proudly hold Carruthers lands and hearing of Peter’s claim also laid a petition before the Lord Lyon. Because of the robustness of the evidence in his favour and the outcome of two court hearings, it was the Holmains petitioner who was successful.
Peter also retained the territorial designation of ‘Holmains’ and was granted supporters for the Chief’s arms of two fallow bucks rampant following current heraldic trends which reflected his status as Chief of a Scottish clan and family. The end result of this process led to Dr Peter Carruthers 22nd of his line being confirmed by the Lord Lyon to officially and legally become Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers, the first in over 200 years.
Because the Chiefly line of Carruthers remained intact, the proven genealogy precluded the need for a family gathering/derbfine to chose a commander rather than a chief. Any gathering would still come under the supervision of the Lord Lyon and would be held in Scotland.
The confirmation by an individual to bear the Chiefly arms of Carruthers raised and highlighted our name to its rightful place in both Scottish and Border history. Interestingly the Carruthers Arms, which date back to before the Lyons Act of 1672, and borne by the Carruthers of Holmains prior to that, were a conjoining of the ancient Carruthers arms i.e. the two engrailed Chevrons, and the arms of the extinct line of Carruthers of Mouswald, the three fleur de lis, to become the arms we as Carruthers know today. Within these arms is hundred of years of history, and they remain copyrighted to the chief of the family.
NB. Only the Lord Lyon, on behalf of the British Monarch can legally grant permission to an individual to bear arms and especially the chiefly arms of a Scottish name. It is through this matriculation that Carruthers were raised from an armigerous clan/family (no chief) to that of a ‘noble incorporation’ in Scots law. The legality therefore of having an officially recognised Chief in place opens further doors and recognition, but again more on that later.
Although already confirmed as Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers we as a clan/family felt it appropriate that Peter Carruthers of Holmains be fully inaugurated in his role as Chief before his own clansmen and clanswomen. This occurred, as was appropriate, on our ancestral lands in Annandale, Dumfriesshire in 2024 and witnessed by Carruthers from all over the world as well seven other Clan Chiefs.
The event was supervised by myself as Shennachie, with a senior member of the Lyon Court, Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, LVO, KC, FRGS, Albany Herald Extraordinary, at the event, who presented the Chief with his Letters Patent on behalf of the Lord Lyon.
So, getting to the crux of the matter, where are we now?
- We have a legitimate and recognised Chief in place, with heirs ensuring the longevity of the line.
- We have an appointed High Council made up of the Chief, his household and other senior clan members representing Carruthers worldwide.
- The Chief’s Inaguration took place in Annan, Dumfriesshire 2024
- We have an official Carruthers clan/family tartan registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans and woven by the House of Edgar here in Scotland, which is available to kilt makers worldwide.
- Our Society (Clan Carruthers Socioety (International) is accepted as the only legitimate representatives and the official home of Carruthers internationally.
- Our Chief holds a hereditary seat and is a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, which is by invite only to those who are legitimately recognised as such.
- We have a clan headquarters, owned by the Convenor, Capt Michael Carruthers based in Annan, Dumfriesshire.
- All living Carruthers Armigers have been located
- We have had Invitations to the Stirling Perambulations.
- An Invitation to the Bond of Friendship at Hunterston Castle
- Invitations to walk in the Edinburgh Tartan Parade.
- Increased involvment and acceptance in local Annandale festivals
- The only Carruthers society with full membership of Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (USA), Clans and Scottish Scocities of Canada, now Scots of Canada, and the Scottish-Australian Heritage Society (Australia)
- And now…………………
Another brick in the wall
And now, in the premier genealogical text of all principal Scottish clans and families by Gordon McGregor: The Red Book of Scotland, covering 18 volumes, and the 6th edition, published on the 1st of September 2026, sees Carruthers included.
This edition covers, for the first time, both Carruthers of Mouswald and Carruthers of Holmains. The forward of the current edition is written by Dr Joseph J Morrow CVO, CBE, KC, FRSE, The Rt Hon Lord Lyon King of Arms and to reflect its importance, the full set of volumes are held in the National Records of Scotland as well as university libraries throughout Scotland. To be included in this publication recognises the history and heritage of our family and like our other achievements since the journey began, cements our place as an important name in Border and Scottish life, both past and present and for future generations to come
Summary
There can be no doubt that the hard work of the past has borne fruit, thus ensuring that our Name is being recognised amongst all the other principal and historical families of Scotland. I cannot emphasise how important each step has been to us, and the inclusion in The Red Book of Scotland has only added positively to our family’s profile in Scottish society, history and culture.
In order to recognise how far we have come, once again I have to thank Dana Caruthers Norton FSA Scot, from Kansas, who was my rock in the early days and in dealing with the turbulence that was the LLC. She was also responsible for setting up a branch of the Society in the US. I further need to highlight that although not on her own in the slanderous and personal attacks by the rogue group, which were totally unacceptable and grossly unwarranted thankfully she remained stalwart throughout and played a major role in where we are today.
The next person who must be thanked has sadly passed. Our heraldist and advisor, the world-renowned heraldic artist, Mr Antony Maxwell. His investigative work helped without any doubt and although I had traced the line to France where the Chief’s first cousin resides, he assisted us in knocking on the door of who was to become our current chief. His support and input was invaluable.
Of course, one cannot forget Mrs Elizabeth Roads LVO CStJ, who was Lyon Clerk at the time for her excellent advice and support. Her shared knowledge was invaluable to me in keeping within the lines and went a long way in reaching our goals. Our thanks to this fine lady go without saying.
Ww cannot offer thanks without mentioning our hard working Convener Capt. Michael Carruthers, FSA Scot whom, after I retired from the post and took up the reigns as Shennachie, has done a stalwart job in raising clan awareness and driving our name forward, and most certainly within the Borders themselves.
And finally to all our Commissioners and their teams in Africa (Ian Leslie Hewett Carruthers), Australasia (Craig Carrothers Monument FSA Scot and his wife Lizzie Monument FSA Scot and his predecessor Gary John Carruthers FSA Scot), Canada (Laurie Carruthers Caron FSA Scot), Europe (Cecilia Mitchell Carruthers), the UK (Greg Carruthers) and in the USA (Mark Carruthers Dunning) and their team who keep our flag flying high. Lets not forget our DNA Research Director Mr Steve Colburn, FSA Scot for his tenacity and hard work on our behalf.
However, any achievments are for all Carruthers to bask in and again to all of you from wherever you may hail, without your continued support we are simply a name. Your pride in your Scottish roots and culture allows us never to forget who we are today and what our ancestors were yesteday, a proud border Reiver riding family from the West March of Scotland who were there and definately made a difference.
Promptus et Fidelis
Non Sto Solus.
