Keith
Mowat
Murray
Oliphant
Others
Sutherland Septs & Related Families
Cheyne
Clyne
Duffus
Federith
Gray
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Keith
Mowat
Murray
Oliphant
Others
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The Cheynes came to own about half of Caithness by marriage with an heiress of the old Norse line of Jarls. In 1296, Sir Reginald Cheyne signed the infamous "Ragman's Role" swearing fealty to Edward I of England. His sons were Sir Reginald Cheyne was Lord Chamberlain in Scotland in 1267 and his brother Henry was the Bishop of Aberdeen (1282 - 1328). The second Sir Reginald was one of the signers of the Declaration of Arbroathin 1320, the letter to the pope declaring Scotland's independence. He died about 1345 and had only two daughters, Marjory and Mariota. Mariota first married John Douglas and second John Keith. Marjory married Nicholas Sutherland of Duffus, son of Kenneth the 4th Earl of Sutherland. This couple was the progenitors of the Lairds of Duffus.
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Inverugie Castle near Peterhead, originally a Cheyne seat and later a Keith holding. Pictures courtesy of |
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The word "clyne" is derived from Gaelic "claon"
meaning slope or hillside. As a surname, it comes from the place named Clyne in
Sutherlandshire. Spelling variations include Clyne, Clynde and Cline.
Sir William Clyne is the first recorded chief of the family line in the year
1315. Sir William held the lands of Cathboll in Tarbat of the Bishop of Moray.
In 1456, William of Clyne oversaw the transition of the Earldom of Sutherland to
John, the son and heir of Robert, the 6th Earl of Sutherland. In 1512, William
of Clyne of that ilk witnessed a "seisen" of the Sutherland Earldom in favor of
John, the son and heir of the John, the 8th Earl of Sutherland. In 1518, Earl
Adam Gordon, husband of Countess Elizabeth of Sutherland gave Janet Clyne and
her sister Elizabeth, heiresses of William Clyne of Clyne to John Morray of
Aberscors for ward and marriage to his sons. Morray returned one of them who
then married into the family of the Sutherlands of Berriedale. A line of the
Cline family emerged in Caithness prior to 1561, where they were seated at
Greenland. Another related branch, also of Caithness, the Clynes of Caithness
were notable for their presence at Culloden in 1745.
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The name of Duffus comes from the lands of Duffus in Morayshire and is probably from the Gaelic words, dubh and uisg, meaning "darkwater" or "blackwater". Once the region was below sea level and Loch of Spynie and stagnant pools were a conspicuous feature of the area. What is now Duffus Parish includes the ancient Barony of Duffus and is 9,565 acres. Records of people named Duffus date back to the 13th century. A later instance is recorded in The Kirk Session Records of Cullen from 1641, "James Duffus and George Duffus and Charles Stevinson convict in Break of ye Sabbath for playing at ye golff, efternoone, in time of Sermon, and yrfor ar ordayned evrie ane of them to pay havff a merk, and mak yr repentance ye next Sabbath".
| The family of Sutherlands, Lairds of Duffus descends from Freskin's grandson, Hugh, Lord of Duffus, Hugh's son, William, Lord Duffus and Sutherland, the 1st Earl of Sutherland, and then through Kenneth, 4th Earl. They lived at Duffus by Elgin in Moray and Skelbo by Dornoch in Sutherland, two castles of great antiquity now both ruins. |  Duffus Castle of the Sutherlands of Duffus, near Elgin Picture courtesy of David Duffus |
In 1360, Nicholas, the son of Kenneth, 4th Earl
received Torboll in Sutherland from his brother William, 5th Earl for the
service of one knight. His wife, Mary, daughter and heiress of Reginald le
Cheyne and of Mary, Lady of Duffus, brought with her part of Duffus in Moray and
lands in Caithness. In 1408 he is named as Lord of the Castle of Duffus.
Nicholas's great-great-granddaughter Christina succeeded to Duffus and lands
in Caithness. She married William Oliphant about 1489 and later Sir Thomas
Lundin of Pratis. A dispute between Christina and her uncle William Sutherland
was settled by an appeal to the Pope, about 1507. William Sutherland prevailed
by impeaching the legitimacy of Christina his niece. He died in or before 1514.
This William Sutherland of Duffus's grandson, also named William, succeeded
in 1527-29 to Quarrelwood in Elgin and Nairn the lands of Brichtmony, Kinstearie
and Auldearn. In 1529 he bought certain lands including Skelbo in the
overlordship of the Earl of Sutherland paying 2300 merks Scots and giving a bond
of manrent (the men whom a lord could call upon in war) as tenant and vassal to
the Earl. In 1530 King James V gave him certain rights in Strathnaver previously
held by Hugh Mackay of Farr. William Sutherland was killed by Clan Gunn at
Thurso in 1530 by instigation of the Bishop of Caithness. His son, another
William Sutherland of Duffus, challenged the Bishop to answer for his father's
death. When the challenge was ignored, the young laird seized the Bishop's
servants, whereupon he and his uncle, the Dean of Caithness, were incarcerated
and by the Privy Council compelled to make peace with the Bishop. In 1542 he
settled a violent dispute with Donald Mackay of Farr over lands granted to his
father in 1530. William died in 1543.
Alexander Sutherland of Duffus succeeded his father before 1544 as a minor.
He was infeft with dispensation from the Earl of Sutherland as overlord in the
lands and castle of Skelbo, in Invershin and other lands. 1562 the Earl of
Sutherland made Skelbo. Invershin, Pronsy, Torboll and all other lands in
Sutherland to be held by Alexander Sutherland of Duffus for 'ward and relief'
and other services into the Barony of Skelbo. Alexander's grandson John was
ancestor to the Sutherlands of Clyne.
Another Alexander Sutherland, great grandson of the one mentioned above,
succeeded his father William when he was five years old. In 1627 he was named
heir to Duffus. In 1641 Alexander accompanied the Earl of Sutherland on his
visit to England attending Parliament at Edinburgh and the arrival of King
Charles I that year. He was knighted before 1643 and served as a Commissioner
for Sutherland in 1646. He traveled in France and Holland returning from the
continent with King Charles II to Scotland in 1650. This first Lord Duffus died
in 1674.
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The name Federith comes from an old barony of the
same name in New Deer, Aberdeenshire. Spelling variations include Federeth,
Federat and Fererate. The family intermarried early with the Cheynes and
Sutherlands of Duffus. William de Fedreth married Christian, a cousin to the 3rd
and 4th Earls of Sutherland and who had inherited lands from her mother.
Christian's sister Mary married Sir Reginald de Chene of Inverugie. In 1286, Sir
Reginald de Chene granted land in Strathnaver to William de Fedreth of Duffus.
The daughters of Ronald Chene inherited lands that they carried to the
Sutherlands and to the Keiths, from whom they passed to the Oliphants and
ultimately became the property of the Sinclair Earls of Caithness.
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The Grays were among those who came with William
the Conqueror and different branches of the family gained prominence through
judicious marriages and service to the crown. It is a common name all over
Scotland and can also be spelled Grey.
In 1445, Sir Andrew Gray of Fowlis was created Lord of Parlaiment. It is said
that in 1465 his son Andrew killed the Constable of Dundee over an insult to his
father and was forced to flee to the north. There he married into a high ranking
branch of the MacKays. Andrew's son Alexander gained prominence within the
church in the area and was instrumental in the grant of several church
properties in Sutherland to his brother John. John himself was Chamberlain to
the Bishop of Caithness. In 1565, John Gray received tracts of land and was made
Hereditary Constable of Skibo Castle. The Grays gained the favor of and
intermarried with family branches of the Gordon Earls of Sutherland.
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Although a clan unto themselves, in the 14th
century the Keiths had a branch that became a sept of Sutherland when John de
Keith, second son of Edward, Earl Marischal of Scotland, married Mariota Cheyne
of Akergill, daughter and heiress of Reginald Cheyne and Lady Joanna of
Strathnaver. Sir Reginald divided his lands between his two daughters, Mariota
and her husband gaining Strathbrock and half of Caithness.
The son of John Keith and Mariota, Andrew of Inverugie and Strabrock had a
daughter who married Kenneth Sutherland, the third son of William the 5th Earl
of Sutherland and the brother of Robert the 6th Earl of Sutherland. This Kenneth
was the ancestor of the Sutherlands of Forse and he obtained a charter of the
Forse lands in 1408 from Mariota. Andrew Keith, the son of John and Mariota,
later confirmed this charter.
John and Mariota's line died out when their great-great-grandson Alexander
died with two daughters as heiresses. Margaret married William Keith, 4th Earl
of Marischal and Janet married Andrew, 2nd Lord Gray. Inverugie Castle (a Cheyne
seat until Mariota's inheritance) was rebuilt by William and Margaret's grandson
George who succeeded his grandfather as the 5th Earl of Marischal. These estates
remained in the family until 1766 when they were sold. Other lands in Caithness
passed into the hands of the Earl of Caithness in the early 17th century.
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The Mowat name is of Norman origin. Hugh
Fitznorman or his brother Ralph built a fortification at Bistre called Le Mont
Haut or 'the high ground'. This was latinised to de Monte Alto, which in turn
was corrupted into Mowat. Spelling variations include Mouat and Mowatt. Members
of the family first migrated to Scotland through David, Earl of Huntingdon, who
was a grandson of David I of Scotland and who died in 1219.
From 1212 to the 1250s, a Robert de Mowat and his brother Michael became
increasingly prominent holding a number of important offices. In 1257, Sir
William Mowat was a signatory to an agreement whereby the William, the 2nd Earl
of Sutherland granted the castle at Skibo to the Bishop of Caithness.
Robert the Bruce (1306-1329) gave the family lands in Losscragy and
Culpedauchis. It was the Mowats of Losscraggy who became established in
Caithness. They were involved with several recorded land transactions during the
15th century. Branches of the Mowat family held lands in Caithness in the 16th
and 17th centuries, and another branch held lands in Clyne. The Mowats were
supporters of the Sutherlands and appear in many records of the Sutherland
family. Return
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Like the Sutherlands, the Murrays or Morays
descend from Freskin de Moravia (fl. 1160) and his son William (fl. 1195), but
then from William's son William instead of William's son Hugh as the Sutherlands
did. As his surname, Hugh's brother, William, took the territorial name of
Murray and he is the ancestor of the many powerful families who bear this name
including the Dukes of Atholl.
At least one branch of the Murrays must have been a sept of Sutherland by
1618 as a letter from 14th Earl of Sutherland to Murray of Dulrossie in that
year instructed Murray "to furl his pennon when the Earl of Sutherland's banner
was displayed and to remove the red and white lines from the plaids of the men,
so as to bring their dress into harmony with that of the other septs." Return
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The Oliphants were originally a Norman family who
held lands in England around Northampton. Spelling variations include Olifant,
Olifard, Olifat Olifarth and Olyfant. In some instances it was softened to
Oliver, possibly due to crusader stories of elephants.
It is said that David de Olifard rescued David, Earl of Huntingdon, later
David I of Scotland at the siege of Worcester Castle in 1141. He followed
northward when the Earl of Huntingdon traveled to Scotland to claim the kingdom.
De Olifard was later granted lands in Roxburghshire and made Justiciar of
Lothian. The Oliphants of the north are descended from William, second son of
the second Lord Oliphant. This William married the only daughter (and heiress)
of Alexander Sutherland of Duffus, Strathbrock, and Berriedale. He took the
designation of "Oliphant of Berriedale". His wife also had inherited one quarter
of Caithness. Their son, Andrew, having no sons to succeed him, resigned his
Caithness estates to Lord Oliphant on condition of him finding suitable matches
for his three daughters. Most of the northern Oliphant lands passed to the
Sinclair Earls of Caithness. The principle seat of the family remains Ardblair
Castle, Blairgowrie in Perthshire, the home of a direct descendant of the first
Lord Oliphant. Return
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There are additional families that are not
actually septs, but come from Sutherlandshire or have been associated with Clan
Sutherland. For example, Norman and O'May are associated with the Clan and
recognized as such by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
The question has been raised about the surname Broom. It is listed as a
"connected family name" in R.R. McIan's 1845 book The Clans of the Scottish
Highlands, although the evidence to support this has not been found. Return
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Kenneth, third Lord Duffus
Kenneth, third Lord Duffus, succeeded his
father in 1705 and was a captain in the Queen Anne's Navy. Although he
voted for the Union of the English and Scottish Parliaments (1707), he
joined the Jacobites in 1715. After the Jacobite defeat, the estate of
Duffus was forfeited and Lord Duffus escaped to Sweden. He planned return
to Britain but was seized in Hamburg, imprisoned in the Tower of London
and freed in 1717. Later he entered the Russian Navy and married the
daughter of a Swedish noble. He died in or before 1734. That year his son
Eric petitioned for a restoration of the title. Eric supported King George
in the Jacobite rising of 1745-46, and the title was finally restored to
Eric's son James by Act of Parliament in 1826. James's death in 1827
marked the end of the Sutherlands of Duffus.
In 1290, Magnus de Federith was among those who
recommended the marriage of the Maid of Norway to Edward, son of England's
King Edward I and grandson of Scotland's King Alexander III. In about
1317, William Fedrey granted lands in Caithness to Ranald Chene and David
II confirmed this. The line ended with an heiress, Helen Fedderesse in the
time of David II.
The ruins of Fedderate Castle of the
Federiths
near New Deer, Aberdeenshire
Dunnottar Castle and Crag
In 1358
the Keiths received the land from the Earl of Sutherland in a land
exchange.
Picture courtesy of Jane Sutherland at JaneSutherlandTours.com 
