Clan Wemyss

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Scottish_Clans Wemyss

Scotland Project > Scottish Clans > Clan Wemyss

Contents 1 Welcome to Clan Wemyss 2 Clan Team 2.1 Team Goals 2.2 Team To Do List 3 Septs 4 Clan History 5 Clan Branches 5.1 Other Names Associated with the Clan 6 Allied Clans 6.1 Rival Clans 7 Clan Research and Free Space Pages 7.1 Source Material 7.2 Image Credits and Acknowledgements

Welcome to Clan Wemyss

Clan Wemyss Team
Team Leader
Team Members	Smitty Smith

Clan Chief:

Crest:

Motto:

Slogan/War Cry:

Region:

Historic Seat:

Plant badge:

Pipe music:

Gaelic name:

Clan Team

Team Goals

The focus of this team's work is to identify, improve and maintain profiles associated with the Lairds and Chiefs of Clan Wemyss together with members bearing the name Wemyss, the related families and those recognised as septs of Clan Wemyss.

Team To Do List

This list will be developed by the Team. If you are working on a specific task, please list it here:

• promoting the entries of those bearing the name Wemyss on Wikitree.
• ensuring entries appearing on Wikitree are as accurate as possible, correcting mistakes once spotted.
• encouraging interest in and study of Clan Wemyss

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Septs

Clan History

Clan Branches

Other Names Associated with the Clan

Allied Clans

Rival Clans

Clan Research and Free Space Pages

Source Material

Image Credits and Acknowledgements

Information below this line should be summarized and incorporated into this Team page. Detailed information should be moved to additional Clan pages.

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Origins of the Clan

The name “Wemyss” is derived from the Gaelic word ‘uaimh’, meaning ‘cave’, and is believed to be taken from the caves and cliffs of the Firth of Forth in that part of Fife where the family of Wemyss made its home. Wemyss in Fife has been the seat of the chiefs since the twelfth century. They are one of the few Lowland families directly descended from the Celtic nobility through the Macduff Earls of Fife. In 1290, Sir Michael Wemyss and his brother, Sir David, were sent with Scott of Balwearie to Norway to bring back the infant Queen Margaret, the ‘Maid of Norway’.

The family initially ensured their prosperity by supporting the cause of Robert the Bruce, and thereafter the name multiplied into many branches. The family seat, Wemyss Castle was built early in the thirteenth century and has the distinction of being the setting for the first meeting of Mary, Queen of Scots and her future husband, Henry. Lord Darnley.

By the eighteenth century the Wemyss family were recognised as the senior representatives of the ancient earldom of Fife.

add a story here, find one here [1] or here [2]

Clan Chief: Michael Wemyss of Wemyss, Chief of Clan Wemyss. Succeeded in 2011.

Crest: A Swan Proper

Motto: Je pense (I think)

Slogan:

Region: Lowlands

District: Fife

Plant badge:

Pipe music:

Gaelic name: Uaimh (Caves)

Septs:

Spelling variations and septs of the Clan Wemyss include: Elcho Vemis Vemys Vemyss Veymis Weemes Weems Weemyss Weimes Weimis Weims Weimys Wemes Wemeth Wemis Wemise Wems Wemyes Wemys Wemyss Wemysse Weymes Weymis Weyms Whymes Whyms Wymes Wymess Whims

Names associated with the clan:

See Also:

Wemyss Tartan:

Castles

Wemyss Castle:

Wemyss Castle in Fife is still the principal seat of the chief of Clan Wemyss. Situated on the cliffs between the villages of East Wemyss and West Wemyss in Fife, Scotland. Accounts date the construction of the castle to the year 1421 when Sir John Wemyss decided to build a fortified castle to replace one destroyed by the Duke of Rothesay at Kilconquhar in 1402. The castle is thus the ancient seat of the Earls of Wemyss and their families. Historically, the castle is perhaps best known as the location where Mary, Queen of Scots, met her future husband Lord Darnley in 1565.

Elcho Castle

is owned by the Wemyss Lord Elcho. Located a short distance above the south bank of the River Tay approximately four miles south-east of Perth, Scotland. It consists of a Z-plan tower house, with fragments of a surrounding wall with corner towers. The Castle was built on the site of an older structure about 1560, and is one of the best surviving examples of its date in Scotland. A large portion of the Castle is accessible, although floors in some rooms have fallen, and much of the building can be walked through. The wall-walk is accessible at two points.

The property is still owned by the family of the original builders, the Wemyss family (the style of the heir to the Earl of Wemyss is Lord Elcho), though it has not been inhabited for some 200 years. It has nevertheless been kept in good repair - one of the earliest examples in Scotland of a building being preserved purely for its historical interest. It is managed by Historic Scotland and is open to visitors throughout the summer.

Clan Name	James 5th Earl of Wemyss	Crest Badge	Earl of Wemyss and March	Lands	Tartan	Tartan
CLAN WEMYSS