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Clan Colquhoun

SI JE PUIS


Clan Colquhoun likely take their name from the lands of Colquhoun in Dumbartonshire in the west of Scotland.

Clan chief Sir Robert Kirkpatrick of Colquhoun inherited the lands of Luss in the 14th century when he married the daughter of the laird of Luss. Since then the chief has been described as the "Chief of Colquhoun and Luss".

As the Colquhoun lands were in a strategic location, they were the target of attacking Highland clans on several occasions. In the early 17th century Alasdair MacGregor marched on Colquhoun territory with several hundred clansmen and forced the Colquhouns into peat land, where they suffered heavy losses. The battle led to the banning of the MacGregor name until the 18th century, when the chiefs of Colquhoun and MacGregor shook hands on the site of the battle at Glen Fruin.

In Sweden, names such such as Cahun, Caun and Kharun can be found, and these derive from a Colquhoun emigrant who founded a cannon making factory in the 16th century.

The Colquhoun clan motto is "Si je puis" (If I Can) and the clan crest is a hart's head.

Scottish History

of Clan Colquhoun


Sons of the fair maid

The Colquhoun family came into being when Umfridus (Humphrey) de Kilpatrick was given the lands and barony of Colquhoun in Dunbartonshire by the Earl of Lennox around 1241. Humphrey took the place-name as his own name, and the clan was born.

His grandson, Ingelram, lived in the reign of Alexander III and Ingleram’s son, Humphrey de Colquhoun, witnessed a charter of Malcolm, fifth Earl of Lennox, between the years 1292-1333.

It was Humphrey’s own son, Sir Robert de Colquhoun, who truly brought the dynasty into being when in 1368 he married the Fair Maid of Luss – the daughter and heiress of Godfry, Lord of Luss, on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Sir Robert was in due course named Lord of Colquhoun and Luss in a charter dated 1368, and ever since then the family has borne the title Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss.

A grand title – but perhaps with a humble meaning. William Tytler, the eighteenth century historian and antiquarian, described Colquhoun as “an obscure word, which occurs nowhere else – conjectured by a learned friend to be ‘keepers of the dogs’, from the Gaelic root Gillen-au-con – abbreviated, Gillecon, Culquhoun.”

Bandit country

As essentially lowland landowners on the fringe of the Highlands, the Colquhouns had to contend with wild neighbours to the north and west.

Sir John Colquhoun was appointed governor of Dumbarton Castle by King James I, and soon made it his business to make life difficult for raiders from the Highlands and Islands who descended on the Dunbartonshire lowlands to plunder and destroy.

They in turn plotted revenge against him. Successfully, as it turned out. In 1439, Sir John was invited to parley with their chiefs on the Loch Lomond island of Inchmurrin.

Naively accepting their overtures in good faith, he went to meet them with only a few companions instead of the large armed company which the occasion might have been thought to require.

He paid the price, being immediately attacked and murdered by a gang led by two notorious robber chiefs, Murdoch Gibson and Lachlan Maclean of Duart.

It was not the first such encounter between ‘Heilanman’ and Lowlander – nor would it be the last or most notorious.

In 1592, a raiding party of Macgregors and Macfarlanes was chased back over the Highland Line by Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, leading a force of clansmen and neighbouring lairds.

Coming off second best in the ensuing battle, the Lowlanders retreated to the Colquhoun castle of Bannachra where they were beseiged by the lawless reivers.

Sir Humphrey should have been safe in his stronghold – but treachery would be the undoing of a Colquhoun once more.

One of his servants – himself a Colquhoun – shone a light on his master as he led him past a loophole on the winding stair leading to his room. A single arrow fired from the darkness outside went straight through Humphrey’s heart.

Another version of the tale shows all participants in the incident in an even worse light. It is said that Sir Humphrey was beseiged by Macfarlanes because of a love affair with the wife of their chief, and that the fatal arrow was shot by his brother, Iain, who hoped to speed up his succession as head of the family.

In the event, Iain was executed in Edinburgh for the crime. One chronicler recounts that the amorous Sir Humphrey’s body was mutilated “in a peculiarly revolting though appropriate manner”, and served up as a dish for his lover, Lady Macfarlane.

Moreover: “So little regard did these savage freebooters pay to the laws of chivalry that they brutally violated the person of Jean Colquhoun, the fair and helpless daughter of Sir Humphrey.”

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Family History Mini Book


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121 Clan Colquhoun

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The Crests

of Clan Colquhoun

Clan Colquhoun
Clan Colquhoun
Clan Colquhoun
Clan Colquhoun

69 Clan Colquhoun

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Divisions

of Colquhoun

Ingram
Kirkpatrick
Laing
MacLinden
MacLintock
MacManus

Historically Related Septs

of Clan Colquhoun

Spellings

of Colquhoun

Culchone
Culchonecowan
Cahun
Calwhone
Cahoun
Cahune
Cahoon
Cahund
Cachoune
Calquhoun
Calhoon
Calquhoune
Calhoun
Cahoune
Choquoyn
Colquhoune
Colquhowne
Colquhone
Colechon
Cohune
Colquhyn
Colqhoun
Colqwhone
Colwhone
Colqhuen
Colfune
Colhoun
Colwhoun
Collquhone
Colchoun
Colhoune
Culchoun
Culquhoun
Culqwon
Culquhoune
Culwone
Culqwhone
Culqwone
Culquhone
Culchon
Cowquhowne
Gahn
Kelquon
Kilwhone
Kulwoon
Kulwoun
Kylkone
Qulchom
Qulchone
Quohon
Qulwone

188 Clan Colquhoun

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