Clan Urquhart
Urquhart is a Highland Scottish clan. They were a Seafarring tribe.
Origins of the Name
The name Urquhart is believed to be of ancient gaelic origin, and deriviving from "Airchartdan." This has been variously translated as "upon a rowan wood" (copses of rowan trees are common in Glen Urquhart, the place of origin of the Clan according to oral tradition) and the "fort on a knoll," perhaps alluding to Castle Urquhart and/or the ancient neolithic and iron-age forts upon which it was built. Some suggest the Urquhart family derive their name from the district of Urquhart the Black Isle, located on the north side of the Great Glen. Earlier phonetic spellings include "Urchard," as the name, first recorded in the 1200s in a Charter from King Robert the Bruce to William de Urquhart of Cromarty, has been being written down since long before the development of early modern English in the 1500-1600s.
Chief's Motto
The motto of the Chief of Clan Urquhart found on his crest and above the achievement of his coat of arms reads Meane Weil Speak Weil and Doe Weil. Although only an armiger granted the right to use arms by the Lord Lyon is entitled to bear Scottish arms, members of the clan are allowed to wear the Chief's crest as a cap badge as a show of loyalty as a "clansman crest badge," so long as it is encircled by a belt and buckle (the Chief himself wears his crest within a plain circlet rather than the belt and buckle). The Chief's war cry is "Trust and Go Forward."
16th Century & Anglo Scottish Wars
During the Anglo-Scottish Wars the Clan Urquhart fought at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, where nine sons of the Chief died in battle.
17th Century & Civil War
The Clan Urquhart fought at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 where the Chief Sir Thomas Urquhart was taken prisoner. During his captivity at the Tower of London he published several books. In 1662 he returned to Scotland on parole to find that his estate had been ruined and pilaged.
Urquhart Castles
Urquhart Castle sits beside Loch Ness. Another important Urquhart castle is Craigston Castle in Aberdeenshire, and the present-day Cromarty House on the hill above the Black Isle town of Cromarty was built from the stone and timbers of the former Urquhart stronghold of Cromarty Castle. The current seat of the Chief of Clan Urquhart is the ruined Castle Craig, a 15th-century tower originally occupied by the Urquharts of Braelangwell and Newhall that overlooks the Cromarty Firth from the north shore of the Black Isle.
Clan Chief
The 26th and current Clan Chief of Urquhart is Kenneth Trist Urquhart of Urquhart.
Notable Urquharts
Several branches of the clan have emigrated to North America. Some of the clan's more famous members are:
- Sir Thomas Urquhart (1611–1660), Scottish writer and translator of Rabelais.
- John Urquhart of Craigfintry, Tutor of Cromarty
- David Urquhart (1805–1877), British diplomat and writer.
- Thomas Urquhart (1858-1931), mayor of Toronto.
- Roy Urquhart (1901–1988), British military officer who served in World War II.
- Alasdair Urquhart (born 1945), British-born Canadian logician
- Jane Urquhart (born 1949), Canadian writer.
- Feargus Urquhart, computer game developer and CEO of Obsidian Entertainment.
- Emma Maree Urquhart (born 1991), Scottish fantasy writer.
- Dylan Urquhart (born 1990), American Science Fiction Writer.
A fictional Urquhart, Francis, was the protagonist of the House of Cards TV series; another, Ethan, of the science fiction novel Ethan of Athos.