Since Carruthers were first recorded in the 1200’s they have been a well known and respected family, originating in the area of Carruthers in Annandale, Dumfrieshire.
Only the great peers had crests and other external ornament as part of the coats of arms but one suspects that the Carruthers were of more modest means being a medium sized family on one of the hardest fought-over borders in Christendom. The arms devised for the Carruthers by the mediæval heralds bore a striking similarity to the arms of another family of the Southwest, the MacClellans whose shield was also gold but with plain black chevrons.
The blue chevroned armorial was recorded in blazon by William Pont and it was possibly a blazoning error by the author. Due to the lack of heraldic regulation in those days several members of the same family might have borne the same shield which could easily lead to confusion on the battlefield, however one suspects at the time one Carruthers was just as worthy as another Carruthers in the fray, so identity was not a problem.
Five ancient armorials record the arms of Simon Carruthers 10th of Mouswald, two favour gold charges and two favour silver charges. The fifth records a silver chevron with golden fleurs-de-lis. The shield to the left bears the same arms as those of the Brouns of Carsluith the head of which house was the powerful Gilbert Broun, Abbot of Sweetheart Abbey. The heraldic turmoil of some five centuries was brought to order with passing of what is known as the Lyon Act of 1672 which required that the Scottish King of Arms, the Lord Lyon, and his heralds keep a permanent ‘Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland’. The heralds were given a year to record in the new register all arms of those entitled to bear arms and to grant or matriculate new arms to those found “virtuous and well deserving”. John Carruthers 9th of Holmains recorded in the Register these arms which are now the principal and chiefly arms of the name Carruthers.
The Holmains were almost certainly the first Carruthers to have a crest on their arms and were recorded in 1672 with a ‘Seraphim volant Proper’. Seraphim were six winged angels who sat beside God’s throne and acted as His protectors. It is uncertain that heralds and the heraldic painters of the time knew the strange morphology of such heavenly creatures and seemingly drew winged cherub heads as the crest instead. ‘Volant’ means flying, so these ‘angels’ with their six wings are supposedly flying and should therefore have their wings extended as in flight. ‘Proper’ refers to the colouring of said angels which means the colouring is true to life.
We have the prophet Isaiah to thank for his vision of heaven and the seraphim quoted in the Bible; “Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.” Such creatures were certainly painted on the wall of churches throughout the British Isles until the reformation blotted them out and their form was lost to post-reformation painters. It will be noted that seraphim are mostly depicted with pinkish-orange wings with golden halos. However, in modern western society, most all heavenly creatures are depicted in glowing, clean white.
It is doubtful that the Holmain armigers ever used a true Seraphim as a crest. In 1672 in the Register, there were no illustration and the arms are recorded only in blazon but John Carruthers would have been given a ‘receipt’ with an simple drawing on it so those who could not read a blazon could copy it. One suspects the engraver who made John Carruthers’ bookplate was indifferent to the supposed appearance of the seraphim and produced a winged cherub’s head crest, as can be seen on the right.
The male line of the Holmains failed early in the nineteenth century with the death of the twelfth laird leaving the house with several surviving daughters. A younger sister set up a trust in 1836 for the benefit of a list of heirs, namely her nephews, sons by her older sisters, whereby, in order of succession, they could benefit financially from the trust if they would change their surname to Carruthers and matriculate the Holmains arms. The first to take advantage of this in 1854 was Major John Peter Wade of the Honourable East India Company Service. He took the additional surname as Carruthers-Wade and matriculated arms at the Lyon Court quartering Wade arms in the first and fourth quarters and the undifferenced Carruthers of Holmains arms in second and third.
I am not sure that in hindsight that this is what was intended when the trust was set up as it appears the intention was to preserve the chiefship in the immediate family and by retaining the Wade surname the good Major eliminated himself from becoming the chief because he had a different surname. However, on the 19th of August 2019, after deliberation of the evidence presented to him, the Lord Lyon confirmed; Dr S. Peter Carruthers of Holmains, Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers, thus bringing Carruthers from armigerous status to that of a legally recognised ‘ Noble Incorporation’ and thus a recognised clan.
However, Major Carruthers Wade died without issue in 1873 and the line of succession passed to his cousin, the Reverend William Mitchell. He to changed his name by adding Carruthers to become the Reverend William Mitchell-Carruthers. Subsequently he too matriculated but with the Carruthers coat in the first and fourth and a newly devised Mitchell quartering in second and third.
Reverend Mitchell-Carruthers also missed the mark as far as the chiefship would be regarded today but he produced a thriving family with a number of sons who might benefit from the trust. Oddly, the Lyon King of Arms matriculated his arms, registered 30 June 1876, with a differenced Holmains quartering with chevronels rather than chevrons. The chevronel is a lesser chevron thus narrower, which is good for heraldic artists as it allow more space on the shield for bigger fleurs-de-lis but is none the less a difference that the Reverend William did not need to have.
Today, succession to a clan chiefdom through the female line is commonplace but in the nineteenth century it was still a new idea and the rules had not been defined or tested. Several clans had chiefs using double, triple and even quadruple barrelled surnames, the succession having moved several times through female lines. As a result the arms of these multi-surnamed chiefs became extremely complicated; often the represented clan armorial was not even in the principal position. Today chiefs are expected to use only the single surname and to matriculate the plain chiefly coat.
The Stodart system of bordures was devised at the turn of the nineteenth century to provide a consistent method of differencing arms within a family where there were many armigers matriculations. However, the system has its drawbacks and can get very complicated ending in some quite unattractive armorials. The Reverend Arthur seems to have got off quite lightly with his border parted per pale Or and Azure and charged with a martlet and crescent.
LIVING CARRUTHERS ARMIGERS
Clan Chief: Dr Peter Carruthers of Holmains
After 12 1/2 years of hard work, research and the gathering of genealogical evidence, the senior member of the Holmains line was found. The documentation was presented as a petition to the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh for analysis and review. After 20 months and two hearings, the latter of which the heir was represented by Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw QC, an interlocutor was published. In August 2019 Dr Simon Peter Carruthers was designated of Holmains and confirmed Chief of the Name and Arms of Carruthers. The Lyon further consulted an the additments which included the clan plant, banner, pinsel and supporters on the arms. In November 2019 a further interlocuter was published and all the additiments were granted. To the left is a representation of the Arms of the Chief of Clan Carruthers,
As members of the Holmains line, the Mitchell-Carruthers are the first cousins of our hereditary Chief, Peter Carruthers of Holmains.
Their arms were registered 30 June 1876, recorded in the Public Register (Volume 10 Folio 15) by the Reverend William Mitchell Carruthers MA (Cantab), who was Rector of Holbrook, Ipswitch, England at the time. This part of the family are continued through Col. Mitchell-Carruthers’ eldest son to his second marriage, Nigel Paul Mitchell-Carruthers, who married Sybil Sholto Douglas, grandaughter of the Marquis of Queensbury, who had issue (1) Bruce Nigel Mitchell-Carruthers, who resides in France and (2) Cecilia Mitchell-Carruthers, who also lives in France and is the Clan Commissioner for Europe.
These arms were painted on the major’s Letters Patent by the great heraldic painter A. G. Law Sampson with probably the first ‘accurate’ depiction of a seraphim crest ever to grace a Carruthers armorial. Dormont retained the original motto as is common in Scottish heraldry. The one thing Major Francis did not do however was to make a claim to the chiefship of the name which suggest he would have known that there were others who had a better claim to be chief. The current Carruthers of Dormont is the 13th of that line.
Mr Gary John Carruthers FSA Scot
Starting March 2019, a petition for arms went before the Lyon Court. On 21 November 2019, Gary John Carruthers of Australia matriculated his arms through the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. Rather than differencing from the Chiefs Arms, he chose to difference from the Cadet House of Dormont, being descended from Francis the 3rd of that House. His primary difference was to put a bell in the base for the Clan Bell ancestry, replacing the fleur d-lis, and retaining the border of Dormont but further differenced and with added cadency marks as brisures to better reflect his genealogy. He again replaced the cvhevrons of Holmains with chevronels. Like all Carruthers arms, the angelic crest was maintained and he chose an angel holding to its breast a golden fleur d-lis and decided to keep the motto of both Holmains and Dormont; Promptus et Fidelis (ready and faithful). Gary is the Clan Commissiomner for Australia.
All recognised Crests of Carruthers Arms
All Carruthers crests have to date been angelic in description and in the latter years, in portrayal. Legend has it that this reflects back to the time that the family had religious links as the keepers of the Trailtrow Preceptory and guardians of the “Old Kirk Ford’ at Hoddom. This is coupled with their alleged involvement with the orders of both the Templars and the Hospitallers who resided in the region at that time. Whatever the rational, angelic crests have become somewhat of a tradition in Carruthers arms, depictions are seen above.
Although seraphim is plural, the chiefly crest conforms to both classic heraldic and religious representations of a seraph. This being an angelic face surrounded by three pairs of wings. The upper and lower pair are crossed (saltire) with the middle pair being extended as if in flight (volent).
Petitioning for Arms
Any Carruthers, Scottish born or resident, may petition for Scottish arms through the Court of the Lord Lyon. Such petitioners should of course be ‘virtuous and well deserving’ and will have to meet certain residency criteria. Carruthers within and outwith Scotland who can prove their descent from one of the armigerous Carruthers families can petition for a matriculation of an ancestor’s arms with ‘congruent differences’ which means they would have a shield with a coloured border or additional or slightly different charges. Those who cannot prove descent from one of the armigerous families can petition for a new grant of arms but, like George above, their new arms would be based on the chiefly arms of Holmains. Acquiring arms through the Court of the Lord Lyon is not hugely expensive and certainly worth the effort of investigation.
Scottish heraldry is not solely for men. Scotland has long granted and matriculated arms for women in their own right. Also an armiger’s wife may display her husband’s arms on a cartouche, an armiger’s daughter is entitled to use her father’s arms on either an oval or lozenge-shaped cartouche throughout her life.
Scots take great pride in their heritage, their history, tartans and heraldry. Recent years have seen a great many folk petitioning for personal arms, and all who are in right of such arms should make opportunities to show, wear and display their ensigns armorial. There is no snobbery in armoury as the socially anxious may fear. Armoury is not about pretence. It is primarily about identity. To the heraldically literate it shows who you are. It shows continuity from the past, from your forebears. It shows belonging, being part of a family and a name and most especially, it is colour. It is a celebration of the individual and the family for all to enjoy.
For information on the armorial process, links to artists or any other advice, please contact the Society Convenor
Anthony G Maxwell, Heraldic Artist
