Believed to descend from Clan Donnachaidh, ‘the children of Duncan’, one source of the Reid name is from the Gaelic ‘ruadh’, indicating someone with red hair.
• On the battlefield, James Reid was the first piper to be tried for high treason.
• Serving as piper to Lord Ogilvy’s (Forfarshire) Regiment during the Rising of 1745, he was left behind as part of the Jacobite garrison that had taken Carlisle.
• Captured when the town surrendered, he argued at his trial that he was a musician, not a soldier – but the court deemed that the pipes were ‘an instrument of war’, and he was accordingly hanged, drawn and quartered.
Kennedy Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
With their main territories in Carrick, in Ayrshire, and further southwest in Galloway, the roots of the ancestors of the Kennedys of today are not known with certainty. • But one theory is that, in...
Carmichael Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
With roots in both the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, the Carmichael name has for centuries figured prominently in the pages of the vibrant drama that is the nation's history. • With sword...
Duncan Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
Tracing a descent from the ninth century King Kenneth MacAlpine, recognised as the founder of what became the Scottish nation, King Duncan I was enthroned in 1034, only to be later slain by the...
Weir Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
A name strongly identified from at least the mid-twelfth century with the Lanarkshire area of Lowland Scotland, ‘Weir’ features prominently in the record of the nation's frequently turbulent history...
Williamson Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
In Gaelic forms that include MacWilliam, the Williamson name has Celtic roots that are deeply embedded in the soil of Scotland. • Although heirs to their own proud tradition, bearers of the name...
Kennedy Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
With their main territories in Carrick, in Ayrshire, and further southwest in Galloway, the roots of…
Carmichael Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
With roots in both the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, the Carmichael name has for centuries…
Duncan Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
Tracing a descent from the ninth century King Kenneth MacAlpine, recognised as the founder of what b…
Weir Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
A name strongly identified from at least the mid-twelfth century with the Lanarkshire area of Lowlan…
Williamson Ancestry Scottish Clan History Booklet, Scottish Gift
In Gaelic forms that include MacWilliam, the Williamson name has Celtic roots that are deeply embedd…