Clans of the North-East: Arbuthnott
December 2008
John Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount of Arbuthnott, the Arbuthnott tartan and coat of arms. (Tartan courtesy of Scottish Tartans Authority)
by Gordon Casely
Few families have survived for over 800 years in the same place. The lairds of Arbuthnott prove an exception to the rule. John Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount of Arbuthnott, lives at Arbuthnott House in Kincardineshire, the 33rd laird to do so in an unbroken male line stretching back before 1200ad. His surname and title devolve from his territory.
For a family whose personal fortunes have been so closely interwoven with Scotland’s history in eight centuries, the Arbuthnotts have been level-headed enough to have suffered neither loss of estates nor the gaining of vast fortunes, but simply to ensure that their legacy continues down the generations for the benefit of their families and the community in which they live.
Progenitor of the family is Hugh of Swinton, probably from the village of the same name in Berwickshire. Hugh was a member of an Anglo-Saxon family able to cast its ancestry back to Edulf, first lord of Bamburgh in Northumberland, who died in 912ad. Hugh settled in the spot termed Aberbothenoth, meaning at the mouth of a river of healing power.
Lord Arbuthnott, now 84, has spent a lifetime building and developing his family home and creating contact with Arbuthnotts throughout the world. In 1977, he and his wife Mary, Lady Arbuthnott, established the Arbuthnott Family Association, now a flourishing organisation whose activities this past summer included a clan trip to Paisley for a private viewing of the Arbuthnott Missal and Psalter, property of the Arbuthnott family until 1897 and written for use in the parish church of Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire, in the late 15th century. The Missal is one of Scotland’s rarest medieval manuscripts, the only complete service book of its kind to have survived the Reformation in Scotland, a large, beautifully preserved volume of 246 pages, lavishly decorated with border illuminations and illustrations.
A veteran of wartime service in the Fleet Air Arm decorated for gallantry with the Distinguished Service Cross, the present viscount is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s premier scientific body. He has been involved in church activities from eldership in Arbuthnott Kirk to Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. His service to Scotland was recognised when he was made a Knight of the Thistle, Scotland’s greatest order of chivalry, and whose numbers at any one time are limited to just 16. He bears more letters after his name than some of us have in our names.
A proud chieftain of Drumtochty Games
Locally Lord Arbuthnott was appointed chieftain at the inaugural Drumtochty Games, with organiser Jim Brown inviting him back to preside once more as chieftain at the 25th games. The establishment of the Grassic Gibbon Centre nearby has been a considerable source of pride to him. The complete Kincardineshire man, Lord Arbuthnott also served for many years as Lord Lieutenant for his county.
Arbuthnotts worldwide can be grateful that Mrs Christy Bing, sister of Lord Arbuthnott, is the family historian, and her book The Lairds of Arbuthnott (1993) remains the pre-eminent work for anyone of the surname or with connections in the area.
The family gained a tartan as recently as 1962, a classically simple design employing blue, black, white and green (colours which appear in several other North-East setts). Lord Arbuthnott’s coat-of-arms dates from 1673, but there is ample evidence to suggest that it was in use before then. His arms include the most unusual aspect of employing dragons as supporters (the heraldic beasties holding up the shield), dragons being a relative rarity in Scots heraldry.
Any Arbuthnott may use the chief’s crest of a peacock’s head, provided the crest is surrounded by a belt and buckle.The chief’s motto Laus Deo (Praise Be To God) was adopted with permission when Kincardine County Council gained a coat of arms in 1927.
Gordon Casely recalls that one of his 17th-century ancestors, Jock Stewart, was a tenant of the Arbuthnotts, and is grateful that the existence of Arbuthnott estate records has allowed him to trace him.
This is an article from the December 2008 edition of Leopard Magazine. To read much more like this every month, see our subscription details.