Clan Cathcart
Encyclopedia
Origins of the Clan
As well as being a surname CathcartCathcart
Cathcart is an area of Glasgow between Mount Florida, King's Park, Muirend and Newlands. The White Cart Water flows through Cathcart, downstream from Linn Park....
is a Scottish town just south of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. There is some speculation as to the origin of the name Cathcart. Some believe it is ancient Celtic meaning, "Fort on the River Cart", as that river flows right past the ancient castle. Others believe it means, "The straight or confined part of the Cart River". Be that as it may, the name is ancient, but originally spelled Kerkert or Kethkert, probably because of pronunciation. The Peerage refers to the Clan Cathcart. The first known mention of the Kethcarts, is a man named Rainaldus de Kethcart, who witnessed a charter by Walter Fitzalan to the Church of Kethcart for the monastery of Paisley in 1178.
Wars of Scottish Independence
Notable Cathcarts include Sir Alan Cathcart, who was a companion of King Robert IRobert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
when he mounted the Scottish throne in 1307, and was engaged on his side at the Battle of Loudoun Hill
Battle of Loudoun Hill
The Battle of Loudoun Hill was fought in May 1307 between a Scots force led by Robert Bruce and the English commanded by Aymer de Valence. It took place beneath Loudoun Hill, in Ayrshire, and ended in a victory for Bruce...
that same year, when the Scots defeated the English. The following year, he was made one of Edward Bruce's party of 50 horsemen who attacked and dispersed 1,500 cavalry under John de St. John in Galloway. The Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
quotes John Barbour's description of Sir Alan's bravery and good humor in his poem Brus.
Another notable was the first Lord Cathcart, dignified with the honour in 1447 by King James II of Scotland
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
.
16th century and Anglo-Scottish Wars
During the Anglo-Scottish WarsAnglo-Scottish Wars
The Anglo-Scottish Wars were a series of wars fought between England and Scotland during the sixteenth century.After the Wars of Scottish Independence, England and Scotland had fought several times during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In most cases, one country had attempted to...
Alan Cathcart the son of the second Lord Cathcart was killed with his two half brothers Robert and John when the Clan Cathcart fought against the English at the Battle of Flodden Field
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
in 1513. The third Lord Cathcart led the clan at against the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles...
where he was killed in 1547.
Alan Cathcart the fourth Lord Cathcart led the clan at the Battle of Langside
Battle of Langside
The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...
in 1568 on the side of the James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570...
against the army of Mary, Queen of Scots.
During the 16th Century Killochan Castle was built by John Cathcart in 1586.
18th century & Jacobite uprisings
The eighth Lord Cathcart, Charles Cathcart had a distinguished military career rising to the rank of colonel. When the first Jacobite Uprising broke out in 1715 he commanded troops in support of the British government at the Battle of SheriffmuirBattle of Sheriffmuir
The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rebellion in England and Scotland.-History:John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, standard-bearer for the Jacobite cause in Scotland, mustered Highland chiefs, and on 6 September declared James Francis Edward Stuart as King...
.
When the second Jacobite Uprising broke out in 1745 the Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart
Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart
General Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart was a British soldier and diplomat. He was also chief of the Clan Cathcart.The son of Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart and Marion Shaw, he was born on 21 March 1721...
commanded troops in support of the British government at the Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
in 1746 where he was shot in the face and wounded. He commanded the Royal Scots 1st Regiment of Foot which today is called The Royal Scots
The Royal Scots
The Royal Scots , once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest, and therefore most senior, infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland...
.
Napoleonic Wars
William Cathcart, the tenth Lord Cathcart accompanied his father to RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. When he returned to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
he took up legal studies and was called to the Bar in 1776. When he succeeded his fathers title he gave up legal studies and returned to the army. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general and was commander in chief of the forces in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. He was also created a Knight of the Thistle.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1807 as Napoleon's troops were about to take control of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Lord Cathcart and Admiral Gambier successfully besieged Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and captured the Danish fleet of over 60 vessels together with naval stores and munitions. Lord Cathcart was rewarded with the titles Viscount Cathcart and Baron of Greenock. In June 1814 he was made Earl Cathcart.
The second Earl Cathcart also had a distinguished military career and served throughout the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, fighting at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in 1815. He was also the commander of the British Army in Scotland and governor of Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
from 1837 to 1842.
Chief
Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon. Charles Alan Andrew Cathcart of CathcartCharles Cathcart, 7th Earl Cathcart
Charles Alan Andrew Cathcart, the 7th Earl Cathcart is a British peer and member of the House of Lords and Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Cathcart....
, the 7th Earl Cathcart
Earl Cathcart
Earl Cathcart is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1814 for the soldier and diplomat William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart. The Cathcart family descends from Sir Alan Cathcart, who sometime between 1447 and 1460 was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as Lord Cathcart....
, Viscount Cathcart of Cathcart, Lord Cathcart and Baron Greenock of Greenock, Chief of the Name and Arms of Cathcart.