Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Scottish_Clans Muir
Scotland Project > Scottish Clans > Clan Muir
Contents |
Welcome to Clan Muir
Clan Muir Team | ||
---|---|---|
Team Leader | ||
Team Members | C Moore | |
- Clan Chief:
- Crest: "A savage head couped Proper".
- Motto: Durum Patientia Frango (By patience I break what is hard).
- Slogan/War Cry: None.
- Region: Southwest Scotland.
- Historic Seat: Rowallan Castle, East Ayrshire.
- Plant badge: Rowan/European Mountain Ash (unsourced fact).
- Pipe music: None.
- Gaelic name: None Known.
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 Muir together with members bearing the name Muir, the related families and those recognised as septs of Clan Muir.
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 Muir on Wikitree.
- ensuring entries appearing on Wikitree are as accurate as possible, correcting mistakes once spotted.
- encouraging interest in and study of Clan Muir.
- Idealy another linked FSP should be created for the Mures of Rowallan text.
Septs
Clan History
Clan Muir is a Scottish clan that is armigerous (it has no chief recognized by the Court of the Lord Lyon.
Clan Branches
Other Names Associated with the Clan
Historically, the surnames Muir, Mure, and Moore can be considered septs of Clan Campbell and septs of Clan Gordon in the highlands. The spelling variation More/Moore is a sept of Clan Leslie in Aberdeenshire. Some members of Clan Muir who trace their ancestry to Ayrshire are septs of Clan Boyd. A single family, the Mores of Drumcork, are septs of Clan Grant.
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.
Mures of Rowallan:
The family is said to have come from Ireland. Polkelly seems to have been the most ancient property held in Scotland by the Mures. An Archibald Mure was slain at Berwick in 1298 when Baliol's army was routed.
The Mures were prominent figures throughout the history of Scotland, from Sir Gilchrist Mure, who married the daughter and sole heir of Sir Walter Comyn with the blessing of King Alexander III, for his part in the battle of Largs. This secured the family seat at Rowallan Castle. Another version states that Gilchrist Mure was dispossessed of the house and living at Rowallan by the strong hand of Sir Walter Cuming, and was compelled to keep close in his castle of Polkelly until the King Alexander III raised sufficient forces to subdue Cuming and his adherents. The family had held Rowallan, in this version, from unknown antiquity.
The conjoined arms of the first Muir of Rowallan were visible on the oldest part of the castle up until the 18th century. Elizabeth Mure, daughter of Sir Adam Mure of Rowallan and Jannet Mure, was mistress to Robert Stewart (who later became Robert II of Scotland in 1371). Later on November 22, 1347 she married him by Papal dispensation to legitimize their previously born children. After their legal marriage, Elizabeth Mure was styled Countess of Atholl, and her surname became Stewart. Elizabeth died sometime before 1355.
Sir Gilchrist Muir built two chapels, one at the Well named for Saint Laurence and the other at Banked named for Saint Michael. The vestiges of these were still visible in 1876. He also built the chapel of Kilmarnock, commonly called Muir's Isle (sic).
One of the Sir Robert Mures was slain at the Battle of Sark. His namesake was called the Rud of Rowallane, being large in stature, very strong and prone to pugilism; these characteristics neatly define the meaning of this archaic Scots word. He wasted his inheritance and during his lifetime a protracted feud took place with the house of Ardoch (Craufurdland) which resulted in much bloodshed. The 'Rud' resigned his lands in favour of his son John, who married a mistress of James IV.
- Login to request to the join the Trusted List so that you can edit and add images.
- Private Messages: Send a private message to the Profile Manager. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
- Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)
- Public Q&A: These will appear above and in the Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum. (Best for anything directed to the wider genealogy community.)
Also, see the Group 57 series on this chart:
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Moore?iframe=ycolorized
edited by Robert Moore II
Are there any male Muirs in your mother's line for whom you can sponsor a Y DNA test? I'm the administrator of Family Tree DNA Moore Y DNA pages, and we've successfully identified a specific haplotree for all Muir/Moore lines from Ayrshire. Given the identification to Kilmarnock, it's highly probable your mother's Muir family is part of it.
edited by Robert Moore II
It would have to be a male Muir in your mother's immediate line, so a brother would be perfect. Further, it would be a test of Y DNA as opposed to autosomal DNA. The kits common to 23andMe, Ancestry, etc., are autosomal. Y DNA, on the other hand, is passed specifically from father to son, and would be specific to the Muir line. You can purchase a Y DNA test through Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), and they are on sale right now. The best kit to purchase is the Big Y-700 test. It's expensive, but it provides precise details on how your line aligns with the rest of the test-takers who know exactly which branch of the Muir tree they belong to (there are currently eight identified branches/subclades of BY3374, which emerged ca 1150 CE... at the start of using surnames in SW Scotland). Y-37 and Y-67 tests are a start, and Y-111 is good, but you'll eventually need to upgrade to Big Y-700 for the best possible results. Your overall savings is better by going directly to Big Y-700, especially during sales season.
Please feel free to ask if you have any further questions!
I also recommend the Scotland's People Site (it's free) for records. It's an excellent resource.