Clan Lyon
Encyclopedia
Clan Lyon is a Scottish clan
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...

, but is not associated with the lands of Glen Lyon
Glen Lyon
Glen Lyon may refer to:*Glen Lyon, Scotland , a glen in the Perth and Kinross area of Scotland*Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania, a U.S. village named after the Scottish glen...

 in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

, 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...

.

Origin of the name

  • Leon, Normandy
    Normandy
    Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

    , France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

    .


Although Sir Iain Moncreiffe, perhaps the greatest herald genealogist, believed his family were of Celtic origin and descended from a younger son of the Lamonts
Clan Lamont
Clan Lamont is a Highland Scottish clan. Clan Lamont claim descent from Lauman who lived in Cowal in 1238. Tradition gives this Lauman a descent from an Irish prince of the O'Neill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036...

, the generally accepted view is that they descended from a French family called de Leon, who came north with Edgar, son of Malcolm III, at the end of the eleventh century to fight against his uncle, Donald Bane, the usurper of the throne. Edgar was triumphant, and de Leon received lands in Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

. (These lands should NOT be confused with Glen Lyon. In this context, Lyon is thought to be a corruption of the word "lithe", meaning "flood", to describe the frequent state of the river through the glen. From all available records, there has never been any Lyon as owner or occupier of land in Glen Lyon.) Roger de Leonne witnessed a charter of Edgar to the Abbey at Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...

 in 1105.

14th Century

In 1372 Robert II
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...

 granted to Sir John Lyon (called the White Lyon because of his fair complexion) the thanage
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...

 of Glamis
Glamis
Glamis is a small village in Angus, Scotland, located four miles south of Kirriemuir and five miles southwest of Forfar. It is the location of Glamis Castle, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.-History:...

. Five years later, he became Chamberlain of Scotland, and his prominence was such he was considered fit to marry the king¹s daughter, Princess Joanna, who brought with her not only illustrious lineage, but also the lands of Tannadice on the River Esk. He was later also granted the barony of Kinghorne. He was killed during a quarrel with Sir James Lindsay of Crawford near Menmuir in Angus.

15th Century

The family have descended in a direct line from the White Lion and Princess Joanna to the present day, and their crest alludes to this. His only son, another John, was his successor, and he strengthened the royal ties by marrying a granddaughter of Robert II
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...

. Sir John¹s son, Patrick, was created Lord Glamis in 1445 and thereafter became a Privy Councillor and Master of the Royal Household.

16th Century

John, sixth Lord Glamis, was, according to a tradition, a quarrelsome man with a quick temper. He married Janet Douglas, granddaughter of the famous Earl Angus
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus , was a late medieval Scottish magnate. He became known as "Bell the Cat"...

 (also called Bell the Cat
Bell the cat
Belling the Cat is a fable also known under the titles The Bell and the Cat and The Mice in Council. Although often attributed to Aesop, it was not recorded before the Middle Ages and has been confused with the quite different fable of Classical origin titled The Cat and the Mice. In the...

), and after his death she suffered terribly for the hatred which James V bore all of her name. Lady Glamis was accused on trumped-up charges of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

 and, despite speaking boldly in her own defence, her doom was preordained. She was burned at the stake on the castle hill at Edinburgh on 3 December 1540.

The eighth Lord Glamis renounced his allegiance to Mary, Queen of Scots, and served under the Regents Moray and Lennox. He was made Chancellor of Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal for life, and his son, the ninth Lord, was captain of the Royal Guard and one of James VIs Privy Councillors.

17th Century & Civil War

In 1606 he was created Earl of Kinghorne, Viscount Lyon and Baron Glamis. His son, the second Earl, was a close personal friend of James Graham
Clan Graham
Clan Graham is a Scottish clan who had territories in both the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands.-Origins:Legend has it that the first Graham was one Gramus who forced a breach in the Roman Antonine wall known as Graeme's Dyke in 420 A.D...

 the Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...

 and was with him when he subscribed to the National Covenant in 1638. He accompanied Montrose on his early campaigns in defence of the Covenant
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...

, but despite his great affection for the Marquess, he could not support him when he broke with the Scots Parliament to fight for Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. Lyon almost ruined his estates in supporting the Army of the Covenant against his friend.

In 1677, the third Earl of Kinghorne obtained a new patent of nobility, being styled thereafter Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...

, Viscount Lyon, Baron Glamis, Tannadyce, Sidlaw and Strathdichtie. He paid off the debts he inherited from his father by skillful management of the estates and was later able to alter and enlarge Castle Glamis
Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public....

. John, his son, although a member of the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

, opposed the Treaty of Union of 1707
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...

.

18th Century & Jacobite Uprisings

His son was a Jacobite who fought in the rising of 1715 at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in Tullibardine¹s regiment. He died defending his regiment¹s colours. In 1716 James, the Old Pretender. son of James VII, was entertained at Glamis. Thirty years later another king¹s son, but a much less welcome one, the Duke of Cumberland, stopped at the castle on his march north to Culloden. It is said that after he left the bed which he had used was dismantled.

Among the Jacobite relics now preserved at Glamis are a sword and watch belonging to James VIII, the Old Pretender, and an intriguing tartan coat worn by him. The youngest daughter of the fourteenth Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...

.

Likely came from the LYON charge from the coat-of-arms of Sir John de Lyon (Argent, Lion Rampant Azure, Riband Gules).

Clan Chiefs

Current Chief - Rt Hon Michael Fergus Bowes-Lyon, DL, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1972-1987 - Rt Hon Fergus Michael Claude Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1949-1972 - Rt Hon Timothy Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1944-1949 - Rt Hon Patrick Bowes-Lyon
Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was an uncle of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.-Biography:...

, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1904-1944 - Rt Hon Claude George Bowes-Lyon, KG, KT, GCVO, TD, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1865-1904 - Claude Bowes-Lyon
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne , styled The Honourable from 1847 to 1865, was a British peer. He was the 13th holder of the Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne....

, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1846-1865 - Thomas Lyon-Bowes
Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 12th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 12th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was the eldest surviving son of Thomas George Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis and his wife Charlotte Grimstead....

, 12th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1820-1846 - Thomas Lyon-Bowes
Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was the third son of John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne...

, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1776-1820 - John Lyon-Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1753-1776 - John Bowes
John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
John Bowes , born John Lyon, was the 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and one of the ancestors of the Queen Mother. His father was Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and his mother was the former Jean Nicholsen.In 1767 he married Mary Eleanor Bowes, and upon the request of the...

, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1735-1753 - Thomas Lyon
Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore was the son of John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope.On 20 July 1736, he married Jean Nicholsen, at Houghton-le-Spring. They had seven children:...

, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1728-1735 - James Lyon
James Lyon, 7th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
James Lyon, 7th Earl of Strathmore was a Scottish peer and freemason.He was the son of John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Lady Elizabeth Stanhope....

, 7th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1695-1712 - Charles Lyon
Charles Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Charles Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was a Scottish peer and the son of John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore. His exact date of birth is unknown but he was baptised on 12 July 1699....

, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1712-1715 - John Lyon
John Lyon, 5th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
John Lyon, 5th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was a Scottish peer and the son of John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He died fighting with the Jacobites in The Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715...

, 5th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1695-1712 - John Lyon
John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
John Lyon, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was a Scottish peer and the son of Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. He was succeeded by his son, John as Earl....

, 4th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1646-1695 - Patrick Lyon
Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was a Scottish peer and the son of John Lyon, 2nd Earl of Kinghorne....

, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1615-1646 - John Lyon, 2nd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...



1606-1615 - Patrick Lyon, 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...


Clan Castle

The seat of the Chief of Clan Lyon is at Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public....

 in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...

, 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...

.

Clan Arms

Quarterly, 1st & 4th, argent, a lion rampant azure, armed and langued gules, within a double tressure flory counterflory of the Second (Lyon); 2nd & 3rd, ermine, three bows stringed paleways Proper (Bowes); en surtout an inescutcheon azure, thereon a rose argent, barbed vert and seeded or, ensigned with the Imperial Crown Proper, within a double tressure flory counterflory of the Second, the said inescutcheon ensigned with an Earl’s coronet Proper (the said honourable augmentation being limited to the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and to the heirs succeeding him in his said Earldom).

(For an explanation of the terms, see heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

.)

There is a widespread misconception that a family or a clan can have a family or clan Coat of Arms. Many heraldic and clan web sites and other media suggest that a person has the right to use the family or clan Arms. This is completely incorrect.

The origin of the Coat of Arms was a jacket or tabard worn by a mediaeval Knight over his armour in order to identify himself. Nowadays the expression "Coat of Arms" is generally applied to what is officially called an "Achievement", which consists of various parts: a shield, helmet, mantling, wreath, crest, motto and sometimes supporters and decorations.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK