Clans of the North-East: Lumsden
October 2008
(Tartan courtesy of Scottish Tartans Authority)
by Gordon Casely
Gillem Lumsden of that Ilk and Blanerne might take anyone’s imagination as the picture of a clan chief. Tall, imposing, wearing his red Lumsden kilt in a large sett, he looks the part. His 21st-century Christian name may be unusual, but it bears long pedigree – his distant kinsman who attested a 12th-century charter of the Priory of Coldingham in Berwickshire was also called Gillem.
The advent of DNA show in tests that the historic branches of the wider Lumsden family are descended from the original people who inhabited Scotland after the Ice Age – and that’s going back a long time. Lumsdens in our part of the world represent cadets of the senior house, Lumsden of Blanerne in Berwickshire from 1329 to 1922. The Berwickshire roots include the placename of Lumsden – first mentioned seven centuries ago in 1098, when King Edgar of Scots refounded the Abbey of Coldingham in Berwickshire on lands which included the village of Lumsdene. This little spot is now Lumsdaine, a geographic forebear of Lumsden, Aberdeenshire.
The surname Lumsden is first mentioned between 1166-82 when Gillem (William) de Lumisden witnessed a charter to the Prior of Coldingham in Lumsdaine.
Over the years, the surname has undergone many changes of spelling, including Alomesden, Lomesdel, Lumeston, Lummisdane, Lummisden, Lummysdane, Lummysden, Lummysdeyn, Lummysdean, Loummysden, Lumbsdene and Lumisdane.
Adame de Lumsiden of that Ilk, the first recorded chief of the name, is held to be the common ancestor of Lumsdens, and he is recorded in the Ragman Roll of 1296. Thomas Lumsden, great-grandson of Adam, is progenitor of the Lumsdens of Cushnie, the principal branch of the family in North-East Scotland, from which stem the cadet houses of Lumsden of Tillycairn and Lumsden of Auchindoir.
Lumsdens appear throughout Scotland’s history as soldiers, scholars and statesmen, as well as merchants, lawyers, surgeons, churchmen and soldiers.
The Lumsdens of Cushnie sat as barons in the Scots Parliament. Sir Andrew Lumsden was Primate of the Episcopal Church in Scotland in 1713. Andrew Lumsden was secretary to Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Rising of 1745. Harry Lumsden of Auchindoir founded the village of Lumsden in Aberdeenshire in 1825. The House of Lumsden Association was formed in 1972, and a Gathering held at Tillycairn Castle in 1988.
Tillycairn restored
Tillycairn was restored by David Lumsden of Cushie, castle expert, staunch Jacobite, personal herald to the Countess of Mar and patron of the Aboyne Gathering. His passing in August occasioned a massive Lumsden turn-out at his funeral in Edinburgh last month (September), including the chief, Gillem Lumsden of the Ilk.
Gillem, who lives in Berkshire, is a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, the body representing chiefs of major houses. Activities of the clan centre around the House of Lumsden Association, with twice-yearly bulletins, and a gathering every three years. The 2009 gathering takes place on 27 July at Huntingtower Hotel near Perth – which by happy chance was a Lumsden house from 1880 to 1970.
Lumsden tartan carries a blue pattern on a red ground with white overstripes. Many coats-of-arms for clansmen carrying the name Lumsden have been recorded down the years, and still are. The coat-of-arms of the chief, recorded 1672, is Azure, on a chevron between three mullets Or, a buckle of the First with Crest Dexter, issuant from a crest coronet Or a naked arm grasping a sword Proper (for Lumsden of that Ilk, the Chief’s motto is Amor Patitur Moras (Love brooks delay).
This is an article from the October 2008 edition of Leopard Magazine. To read much more like this every month, see our subscription details.