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Clan Keith

VERITAS VINCIT


The Keiths were historically one of the most powerful clans in Scotland. Clan Keith held the hereditary title of Great Marischal of Scotland until 1715, when the 10th Earl Marischal participated in the Jacobite uprising and the title was subsequently forfeited.

The Keiths feuded for many years with clan Irvine, and fought with the Gunns for many years in land disputes in Caithness.

The Keith clan motto is Veritas vincit (Truth conquers) and the clan crest is a stag's head atop a crown.

Scottish History

of Clan Keith


Three stripes of blood…

For centuries there has been great debate about origin of this distinguished clan.

The initial, and more romantic, version of their rise to eminence traces their history to Germany where they are to be found in the first century AD.

Known as the Chatti, they were a tribe of warriors who lived on the east bank of the Rhine near the Saltus Hercynius, a great forest which acted as a natural barrier against the mighty legions of Rome to the south. The Chatti had repelled all Roman attempts to subdue them, but were eventually overrun in the first century. In typical Roman fashion many men, women and children were slaughtered or enslaved and the once-proud Chatti were reduced to offering a peace deal. The Romans’ response was to burn down Mattium, the Chatti’s capital city. Those who could escaped into the countryside and after time sought sanctuary in Batavia, which is better known as modern-day Holland. They settled there and, thanks to their hard-working nature, were soon thriving. The locals became jealous of their success and demanded they leave. The Chatti couldn’t possibly return to their Roman- controlled homeland and so asked the Batavians to help them cross the sea to a new life. The Batavians were so desperate to rid themselves of this warrior tribe in their midst they agreed to supply them with ships. The Chatti set sail in the direction of England but a huge storm blew many of them off course and they arrived on the wild mainly uninhabited and desolate north coast of Scotland. Through time the area they inhabited became known as Chatti-ness, which eventually evolved into Caithness.

Like the Batavians, the locals feared their new neighbours, even though the two communities shared a common hatred of the Romans. The Chatti were told they would have to leave again. This time, with no obvious options, they insisted on staying put. The Picts tried to remove them by force but were defeated in a small battle. So for a while the Chatti were allowed to live in peace along the north coast. However, the Scots raised another army and this time succeeded in driving the Chatti into the wilderness of what is now Lochaber, where they were left to their own devices. Eventually the Scots grew to befriend them. The two peoples lived side by side but had their own distinct laws and customs. But that changed during the reign of Malcolm II (1005-34).

At roughly this time the Danes conquered England and set their sights on taking Scotland as well. They sent an army north which was heavily defeated at Mortlach, the site of the present-day Dufftown. The Danish monarch, Sueno, vowed revenge and sent a fleet of two major armies, one from Denmark the other from England, to subdue the Scots. Sueno’s most trusted general, Camus, was the commander in chief. Camus was known for his military might and great strength. He landed in Angus and reduced Montrose to rubble. He then headed north, raping and pillaging. King Malcolm, alarmed by the Danish advance, approached the Chatti for help. In return he offered them all the privileges of natural Scots, which would allow the two peoples to marry and live as one nation. The Chatti grasped the opportunity and their leader, Robert, assembled an army. Together with the Scots they attacked the Danes at Barry, which is better known as modern-day Carnoustie. There were many casualties on both sides but when the dust settled the invaders were routed. Camus and a few of his senior commanders were forced to flee for their lives. However they were chased by Robert and his Chatti warriors and were cornered a few miles from the battlefield. Camus and Robert fought a vicious hand-to-hand battle to the death and the Chatti was the victor. The rest of the Danes were also killed. King Malcolm, on hearing the news, rushed to the scene to see for himself the demise of the once-great Camus. On arrival he dipped three fingers into a wound on Camus’s body and painted three stripes of blood on Robert’s shield to commemorate his triumph. This striped design became the Chatti, and then Keith, coat of arms. Robert was knighted by a grateful ruler, who also granted him large tracts of land in East Lothian. In addition, Sir Robert was appointed Great Marischal of Scotland. There is confusion as to what happened next. Sir Robert and his followers became known as Keith. But it is unclear if that evolved from Chatti to Cattus and from there via the Scots dialect to Keth and then Keith. It is equally possible that the land granted to Sir Robert was already known as Keith and he then took his name from it. The other big question mark surrounding Sir Robert is his role as Great Marischal. Some suggest that at that time in history it meant that he was the guardian of the king’s horses and possibly his household. But that would seem a fairly minor task for such a skilled and brave warrior and one he would probably feel would not test him to the limit of his ambitions. There is further conjecture about what happened next. Sir Robert’s followers who survived the battles were also rewarded with land and many returned as heroes to Lochaber, where they prospered and assimilated with the indigenous population, taking on their names such as, Farquharson, Macintosh, Macpherson and Shaw. These were said to have united to become the Clan Chattan Confederation. This was a group of clans who acted together for their own protection and advancement.

Rise of the Keiths

There are no written records confirming the above. The Catti originally settled alongside the Picts, who had no written language. The story has been passed down by word of mouth through the centuries and therefore has largely been dismissed by historians.

A more modern version of the Keith’s ascent to one of Scotland’s leading clans begins about 100 years or so after the death of King Malcolm II in 1034. By now his great great grandson, David I was on the Scottish throne. The lands known as Keith in East Lothian were owned by Simon Fraser of Keith. He is the first person to be recorded in writing with the surname Keith. King David encouraged Norman, Saxon, Flemish and Scandinavian knights to settle in Scotland by offering them prime lands. The king was determined to modernise Scotland and this was one of several major steps in the process. Fraser, although without title, is believed to be in this group of foreigners making a new life for themselves north of the Border. He became Sheriff of Tweeddale and witnessed a charter by King David gifting lands and dedicating a church to the Tironensian Brothers who built Kelso Abbey. But he was not the first of what became the Keith clan. That honour befell a Norman baron by the name of Hervellus, otherwise known as Hervie or Harvie. It’s believed he was given the lands of Keith as part of a dowry. The land of Keith was split into two. One was known as Keith Hervei and the other was Keith Hundeby. Hervie’s grandson, Philip, married Eda, the heiress of Simon Fraser who owned Keith Hundeby and by doing so re-united the lands of Keith under one owner.

As was customary in those days, when surnames first appeared, Hervei’s descendants took on the surname Keith from the land they occupied. His son Herveus de Keith became King’s Marischal in the reign of Malcolm IV (1153-1165) and his brother William I who succeeded him as king until 1214. Both were King David’s grandsons. It was from this point on that the Keiths became the hereditary Marischals of Scotland. The office of the Marischal was created for Herveus and was held by a senior member of the Keith family thereafter. His descendant, Sir Robert de Keith became the Great Marischal of Scotland. King Robert the Bruce made that office hereditary to the Keiths in 1324 in recognition of Sir Robert’s bravery as a cavalry commander at the Battle of Bannockburn. The role of the Marischal was to serve as custodian of the Royal Regalia of Scotland, and to protect the king’s person when attending parliament. The separate office of Knight Marischal was first created for the Scottish coronation of Charles I in 1633. The office is not heritable, although it has been held by members of the Keith family. The title of Earl Marischal was created in the mid fifteenth century for Robert’s great grandson, William Keith, who was the Great Marischal of Scotland. The peerage died out when George Keith, the 10th earl, forfeited it by joining the Jacobite rising of 1715. His brother, James Francis Edward Keith, went on to become one of the greatest military commanders in Europe at the time. After the failed 1715 rising he fled to France and studied military tactics. In 1719 he joined the Spanish army as a colonel. However, he left after acknowledging that as a Protestant his further promotion hopes were non-existent. He decided that his talents would be more appreciated by the Russian army and in 1729 arrived at St Petersburg where he was installed as colonel in charge of a new regiment of guards set up by the young Emperor Peter II. Four years later the Russians intervened in a civil war raging in Poland. Their army under General Lacy, another Scot, was victorious. Colonel Keith had a good war and was promoted to lieutenant-general. During the war between Russia and Sweden (1741-43) he became the military ruler of Finland and met the love of his life, Eva Mertens, who was a prisoner of war. They never married but had several children. A few years later Keith was on the move again, this time to Prussia, where Frederick II appointed him fieldmarshall and then governor of Berlin. It was a time of almost constant warring in Europe and Keith distinguished himself in every campaign. He died fighting the Austrians on October 14, 1758. His body was buried with full military honours on the battlefield before being transfrerred to a church in Berlin.

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English History

of Clan Keith


Anarchy and warfare

Both a given name and a surname and of ancient roots, ‘Marshall’ derives from the Old French ‘maréschal’, meaning ‘horse servant’, indicating someone who worked with or tended horses such as a shoe-smith, or blacksmith.

The Old French ‘maréschal’, meanwhile, derives from the Old High German ‘marah’, meaning ‘horse’, and ‘scale’ or ‘scalc’, meaning ‘servant.’

The name is unusual in that it was not only originally an occupational designation, but also became an actual title – used to denote someone in charge of the horses belonging to the royal household or other members of the nobility.

Through time, it became hereditary and also used to denote someone who held high office and represented royal authority.

In medieval times, the second-highest position of authority next to the monarch was that of ‘Marshall’, or ‘Lord Chief Marshall’, while in Scotland the form of ‘Marischal’ developed as a title for the person charged with the custody of the nation’s Royal Regalia of sceptre, crown and sword, also known as the Honours of Scotland, and for the protection of the monarch in Parliament.

In common with many other names found throughout the British Isles today, it was popularised in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066 – a key event in English history that sounded the death knell of Anglo-Saxon supremacy.

By this date, England had become a nation with several powerful competitors to the throne.

In what were extremely complex family, political and military machinations, the monarch was Harold II, who had succeeded to the throne following the death of Edward the Confessor.

But his right to the throne was contested by two powerful competitors – his brother-in-law King Harold Hardrada of Norway, in alliance with Tostig, Harold II’s brother, and Duke William II of Normandy.

In what has become known as The Year of Three Battles, Hardrada invaded England and gained victory over the English king on September 20 at the battle of Fulford, in Yorkshire.

Five days later, however, Harold II decisively defeated his brother-in-law and brother at the battle of Stamford Bridge.

But he had little time to celebrate his victory, having to immediately march south from Yorkshire to encounter a mighty invasion force, led by Duke William, that had landed at Hastings, in East Sussex.

Harold’s battle-hardened but exhausted force of Anglo-Saxon soldiers confronted the Normans on October 14, drawing up a strong defensive position, at the top of Senlac Hill, building a shield wall to repel William’s cavalry and infantry.

The Normans suffered heavy losses, but through a combination of the deadly skill of their archers and the ferocious determination of their cavalry they eventually won the day.

Anglo-Saxon morale had collapsed on the battlefield as word spread through the ranks that Harold, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, had been killed.

Amidst the carnage of the battlefield, it was difficult to identify him, but some sources assert William ordered his body to be thrown into the sea, while others state it was secretly buried at Waltham Abbey.

What is known with certainty, however, is that William in celebration of his great victory founded Battle Abbey, near the site of the battle, ordering that the altar be sited on the spot where Harold was believed to have fallen.

William was declared King of England on December 25 as William I, and the complete subjugation of his Anglo-Saxon subjects followed.

Those Normans who had fought on his behalf were rewarded with the lands of Anglo-Saxons, many of whom sought exile abroad as mercenaries.

Within an astonishingly short space of time, Norman manners, customs and law were imposed on England – laying the basis for what subsequently became established ‘English’ custom and practice.

Bearers of the Marshall name thrived in the decades following the Conquest.

A Roger Mascherell is recorded in London in 1130, while a Johannes Mareschall is recorded in Yorkshire in 1379 – but it is the present day county of Wiltshire with which early bearers of the name are particularly identified.

The Marshalls, from an early date, came to feature prominently in the high drama that is England’s frequently turbulent history.

Serving as Marshall to Henry I, John FitzGilbert Marshall, born in 1105 and known as John FitzGilbert the Marshall, became embroiled in the bitter civil war, during the period known as The Anarchy, that raged between the supporters of Henry’s successor, Stephen, who was a grandson of William I, and Henry’s daughter the Empress Matilda.

John the Marshall came out in support of Stephen and was duly awarded two militarily strategic castles in Wiltshire – those of Marlborough and Lugershall.

In 1139, however, amidst the complex loyalties of the time, he switched allegiance to the Empress Matilda.

Fleeing the siege of Winchester in 1142, the beleaguered Matilda found refuge at Lugershall while the Marshall, who had covered her retreat, had to seek refuge from his pursuers in Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire.

His besiegers set fire to the abbey and the Marshall lost an eye to dropping lead from the melting roof.

Managing to escape, he found himself under siege again eleven years later, this time at Newbury Castle, Berkshire.

He had already given his son William as a hostage and, after breaking an agreement to surrender, Stephen threatened to kill the young lad. But, despite the king’s violent reputation, he took pity on him and did not carry out the threat.

John the Marshall died in 1165, while his son – who later inherited the title of Lord Marshall and adopted ‘Marshall’ as his surname – was the celebrated William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

Born in 1146 and recognised by his peers as ‘the greatest knight in Christendom’, he was created 1st Earl of Pembroke in 1199 after marrying Isabel de Clare, sister of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, the warrior knight better known as Strongbow and who led the brutal Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169.

A supporter of King John I, William Marshall was present in 1215 at Runnymede, beside the River Thames, in Surrey, when the monarch signed the famous charter of English civil liberties known as the Magna Carta – Great Charter – an act that had been forced on him by his disaffected and powerful barons.

But civil war again broke out when the king refused to adhere to the charter – which allowed for a new system of taxation, access to justice for all and freedom from illegal imprisonment.

Fighting on John’s behalf during the First Barons’ War, Marshall was later appointed Regent of the kingdom during the minority of John’s successor, Henry III.

Instrumental in helping to revive the Magna Carta and see its implementation, he died in 1219.

His eldest son William Marshall, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, who died in 1231, served as Justiciar in Ireland from 1224 to 1226, while his other son, Richard Marshall, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, rebelled against Henry III.

Declared a traitor, he fled to Ireland, where he was captured by his enemies and later died in prison.

The earldom reverted to the Crown in 1245 following the death of the 6th Earl, Anselm Marshall.

Justice and the sciences

Bearers of the Marshall name have achieved fame and distinction through a wide range of endeavours and pursuits.

In the worlds of politics and the law, John Marshall served as 4th Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835, making him, to date, the longest serving Chief Justice in the history of the United States Supreme Court.

Born in 1755 in Germantown, Virginia, Marshall is recognised as having helped to shape American Constitutional Law and for making the Supreme Court the vital centre of decision-making that it is today; the town of Marshall, in Michigan, is named in his honour.

The grandson of a slave and the son of a railroad porter and a teacher, Thurgood Marshall, born Thoroughgood Marshall in Baltimore in 1908, served from October of 1967 until October of 1991 as the 9th Associate Justice of the American Supreme Court.

The first African-American to serve as a justice on the court, he also served for a time as Solicitor General after being appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1965, and who also appointed him to the Supreme Court; responsible for landmark legislation that led to the desegregation of schools, he died in 1993.

In the world of medicine, Barry Marshall, born in 1951 in Kalgoorie, Western Australia, is the leading international clinical microbiologist who in 2005 shared a Nobel Prize along with his collaborator Robin Warren for research into specific bacteria thought to cause stomach ulcers.

Professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Western Australia, he is also a Companion of the Order of Australia.

In the world of economics, Alfred Marshall, born in London in 1842 and who died in 1924, was the author of the pioneering Principles of Economics, while in the field of sociology, Thomas Humphrey Marshall, better known as T.H. Marshall, was the British sociologist credited with first having introduced the concept of social rights.

The sociologist, who was born in 1893 and died in 1981, was the author of the influential essay collection Citizenship and Social Class.

Recognised as having been one of the world’s leading theoretical atomic physicists, Walter Marshall was the physicist and businessman born in 1932 in Rumney, Cardiff.

A graduate in mathematical physics from Birmingham University and appointed director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) in 1968 and a vociferous advocate of nuclear energy, he was later appointed chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and, in 1983, as chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).

It was in this capacity that he was elevated to the Peerage as Lord Marshall of Goring by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for his role in “keeping the country’s lights on” during the bitter and divisive miners’ strike of 1984 to 1985.

Later chairman of National Power, a division of the CEGB, a Fellow of the scientific think-tank the Royal Society and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, he died in 1996.

On the battlefield, General George Catlett Marshall – a descendant of John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the United States, was the famed American soldier who made a significant contribution to Allied victory in the Second World War.

Born in 1880 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and described by the British wartime leader Winston Churchill as the “organiser of victory”, he served as U.S. Chief of Army Staff throughout the war and as chief military adviser to American President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Graduating from the Virginia Military Academy in 1901 and serving with distinction on the Western Front during the First World War, his skills came particularly to the fore in the Second World War when he played a vital role in preparing both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force for the invasion of Hitler’s Festung Europa – Fortress Europe – in the summer of 1944.

The recipient of a host of honours that include two Distinguished Service Medals and a Silver Star, he also served as Secretary of State under President Harry S. Truman from 1947 to 1949 and Secretary of Defense under the same president from 1950 to 1951.

He was also the first American general to be promoted, in December of 1944, to the five star rank of General of the Army.

The originator of the Marshall Plan to restore a devastated Europe after the war, he was accordingly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953; the general, who died in 1959, is buried in Washington’s Arlington National Cemetery.

Also on the battlefield, James Marshall was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the face of enemy action for British and Commonwealth forces.

Born in 1887, he had been serving during the First World War with the Irish Guards, attached to the Lancashire Fusiliers, when he was killed only days before the end of the conflict in November 1918.

This was while rallying his comrades to repair a vital bridge crossing near Catillon, in France.

One particularly colourful bearer of the Marshall name was James Howard Marshall II, born into a Quaker family in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1905. Although he was not only a leading academic, lawyer, federal government official and oil tycoon, these accomplishments became largely overshadowed by something else he is best known for today.

This was, to the shock of his family and friends, his marriage in 1994, at the age of 89, to a 26-year-old model, Anna Nicole Smith.

The marriage lasted only 14 months, until his death at the age of 90 in Houston, Texas.

A graduate of the prestigious Yale Law School, where he was also a talented tennis and soccer player, he served for a period as Dean of the law school, producing studies such as Legal Planning of Petroleum Production, into what was then the largely unregulated oil industry.

Later assistant director at the Department of the Interior, he was the instigator of special legislation on fair competition in the oil industry – while in 1935, in what could perhaps be viewed as an example of ‘gamekeeper turned poacher’, he embarked on a new career that accrued him vast wealth.

This was as a special counsel to Standard Oil of California – now Chevron – and, after serving during the Second World War in posts that included solicitor for the Petroleum Administration for War – as vice chairman and president of the Ashland Oil and Refining Company. In 1984 he founded Marshall Petroleum.

It was following his death that family from his first marriage, in 1931, became embroiled in a lengthy and complex legal battle along with his widow Anna Nicole Smith over the terms of his will.

Anna, after being awarded $474m by the courts, later reduced to $88m, died in 2007, while the legal wrangling over his wealth continues to this day.

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Family History Mini Book


We hope you enjoyed reading this excerpt from this mini book on the English history of the Keith family.

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113 Clan Keith

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The Crests

of Clan Keith

Clan Keith
Clan Keith (Lord Altrie)
Clan Keith (Kincardine)
Clan Keith (Balmakellie)
Clan Keith (Fife)
Clan Keith (Forfar)
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith (2)
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith
Clan Keith (Cork)
Clan Keith (1647)
Clan Keith
Clan Keith (Denbighshire)
Clan Keith (Earls of Pembrokeshire)
Clan Falconer
Clan Falconer
Marshall family
Marshall family
Marshall family
Marshall family
Austin family
Austin family
Kite family
Aston family
Aston family
Aston family
Aston family
Austen family

69 Clan Keith

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Divisions

of Keith

Harvey
Haxton
Hurrie
Lumgair

Historically Related Septs

of Clan Keith

Spellings

of Keith

Kayt
Keathe
Keht
Ket
Keth
Kethe
Keyth
Keythe
Keytht
Kite
Keath
Keech
Keeth

180 Clan Keith

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