Clan Blackadder
Encyclopedia
Clan Blackadder is a Scottish clan
. The clan historically held lands near the Anglo-Scottish border
.
recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms
, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law
. Clan Blackadder is considered an armigerous clan
, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms
, however no one at present is in possession of such arms. The arms
of Blackadder of that Ilk are blazoned as: Azure
, on a chevron Argent
three roses Gules
.
. The lands, in turn, are named after the Blackadder Water
, a river which is part of the River Tweed
system, and which runs through the Scottish Borders. The name Blackadder is derived from the Old English awedur which means "running water" or "stream". George Fraser Black states that in 1426, Blakadir de Eodem (of that Ilk) held the lands in the earldom of March. Early bearers of the surname are Adam of Blacathathir in 1477, Robert Blackader in the 15th century, and Charles Blakater in 1486.
in Fife
and included Robert Blackadder
, bishop and then in 1492 the first Archbishop of Glasgow
, who added the eponymous crypt and aisle in Glasgow Cathedral
. The archbishop died while on a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land
in 1508. The Fife branch were supporters of Clan Douglas
. In 1471 the archbishop was also made Abbot of Melrose
, not far from the main Blackadder lands.
, involved in the deadly raids and feuds along the Anglo–Scottish border
during the 15th and 16th centuries. Their base by the Blackadder Water
was near Berwick-upon-Tweed
, a town that changed hands 13 times between England and Scotland in the period 1147-1482.
The family gained lands from James II of Scotland
in reward for their deeds in repelling in English raids. In 1518 the family lost their Border lands by the forced marriages of the two heiresses of Robert Blackadder of that Ilk to the neighbouring Clan Home
. This process became known as "the fraud of the Homes". According to the 19th century historian William Anderson
the marriages were achieved in the following way.
This process was challenged by a Blackadder kinsman, Sir John Blackadder who held the lands of Tulliallan
in Fife
. He attempted to gain assistance from the Parliament
, and also attempted to use force to gain the former Blackadder possessions. In March 1531, he was beheaded for the murder of the Abbot of Culross
, in the dispute. Sir John Blackadder was succeeded by his brother Patrick, who also took action to regain the lands from the Homes. Anderson's version of events has Patrick ambushed and murdered by the Homes, while he was attempting to meet them and resolve the dispute.
Subsequently the Blackadders relinquished their claim to the Border lands, and in 1671 Sir John Home was created Baronet of Blackadder
. Some members of the clan continued to farm their lands as tenants
of the Homes, and the last family burials at Edrom
kirk
were made in the 1980s.
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...
. The clan historically held lands near the Anglo-Scottish border
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
.
Clan status
Today Clan Blackadder does not have a chiefScottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...
, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
. Clan Blackadder is considered an armigerous clan
Armigerous clan
An armigerous clan is a Scottish clan, family or name which is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon and once had a chief who bore undifferenced arms, but does not have a chief currently recognized as such by Lyon Court...
, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms
Undifferenced arms
Undifferenced arms are coats of arms which have no marks distinguishing the bearer by birth order or family position. In the Scottish and English heraldic traditions, these plain coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to eldest male heir, and are used only by one person at any...
, however no one at present is in possession of such arms. The arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Blackadder of that Ilk are blazoned as: Azure
Azure
In heraldry, azure is the tincture with the colour blue, and belongs to the class of tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of horizontal lines or else marked with either az. or b. as an abbreviation....
, on a chevron Argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
three roses Gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
.
Name
The clan name is a territorial name derived from the lands of Blackadder in BerwickshireBerwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
. The lands, in turn, are named after the Blackadder Water
Blackadder Water
Blackadder Water is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system.Rising in the Harecleugh Forest plantation just south of the Twin Law cairns, north of the village of Westruther. The headwaters of the Blackadder join with those of the...
, a river which is part of the River Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
system, and which runs through the Scottish Borders. The name Blackadder is derived from the Old English awedur which means "running water" or "stream". George Fraser Black states that in 1426, Blakadir de Eodem (of that Ilk) held the lands in the earldom of March. Early bearers of the surname are Adam of Blacathathir in 1477, Robert Blackader in the 15th century, and Charles Blakater in 1486.
Fife branch
A junior branch moved to Tulliallan CastleTulliallan Castle
Tulliallan Castle is a large house in Kincardine, Fife, Scotland.It is the second structure to have the name , and is a mixture of Gothic and Italian style architecture set amid some of parkland just north of where the Kincardine Bridge spans the Firth of Forth...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
and included Robert Blackadder
Robert Blackadder
Robert Blackadder was a medieval Scottish cleric, diplomat and politician, who was abbot of Melrose, bishop-elect of Aberdeen and bishop of Glasgow; when the last was elevated to archiepiscopal status in 1492, he became the first ever archbishop of Glasgow...
, bishop and then in 1492 the first Archbishop of Glasgow
Archbishop of Glasgow
The Bishop of Glasgow, from 1492 Archbishop of Glasgow, was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Glasgow and then, as Archbishop of Glasgow, the Archdiocese of Glasgow...
, who added the eponymous crypt and aisle in Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral
The church commonly known as Glasgow Cathedral is the Church of Scotland High Kirk of Glasgow otherwise known as St. Mungo's Cathedral.The other cathedrals in Glasgow are:* The Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew...
. The archbishop died while on a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
in 1508. The Fife branch were supporters of Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...
. In 1471 the archbishop was also made Abbot of Melrose
Abbot of Melrose
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1136 on the patronage of David I , King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire...
, not far from the main Blackadder lands.
Main branch
The Blackadders of that Ilk were Border ReiversBorder Reivers
Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality...
, involved in the deadly raids and feuds along the Anglo–Scottish border
Anglo–Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
during the 15th and 16th centuries. Their base by the Blackadder Water
Blackadder Water
Blackadder Water is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system.Rising in the Harecleugh Forest plantation just south of the Twin Law cairns, north of the village of Westruther. The headwaters of the Blackadder join with those of the...
was near Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
, a town that changed hands 13 times between England and Scotland in the period 1147-1482.
The family gained lands from James II of Scotland
James II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
in reward for their deeds in repelling in English raids. In 1518 the family lost their Border lands by the forced marriages of the two heiresses of Robert Blackadder of that Ilk to the neighbouring Clan Home
Clan Home
The Homes are a Scottish family. They were a powerful force in medieval Lothian and the Borders. The chief of the name is David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home.-Origins of the clan:...
. This process became known as "the fraud of the Homes". According to the 19th century historian William Anderson
William Anderson (Scottish writer)
-Biography:Anderson was born in Edinburgh 10 December 1805. His father was supervisor of excise at Oban, and his mother the daughter of John Williams, author of the ‘Natural History of the Mineral Kingdom.’ He was thus a younger brother of John Anderson , the historian of the house of Hamilton...
the marriages were achieved in the following way.
Tulliallan Castle
Tulliallan Castle is a large house in Kincardine, Fife, Scotland.It is the second structure to have the name , and is a mixture of Gothic and Italian style architecture set amid some of parkland just north of where the Kincardine Bridge spans the Firth of Forth...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. He attempted to gain assistance from the Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, and also attempted to use force to gain the former Blackadder possessions. In March 1531, he was beheaded for the murder of the Abbot of Culross
Abbot of Culross
The Abbot and then Commendator of Culross was the head of the monastic community of Culross Abbey, Fife, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1218 on the patronage of Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife by Cistercian monks from Kinloss Abbey, Moray. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century...
, in the dispute. Sir John Blackadder was succeeded by his brother Patrick, who also took action to regain the lands from the Homes. Anderson's version of events has Patrick ambushed and murdered by the Homes, while he was attempting to meet them and resolve the dispute.
Subsequently the Blackadders relinquished their claim to the Border lands, and in 1671 Sir John Home was created Baronet of Blackadder
Home Baronets
There have been six Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Home , five in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Only one creation is extant as of 2008....
. Some members of the clan continued to farm their lands as tenants
Tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers contribute their labor along with at times varying...
of the Homes, and the last family burials at Edrom
Edrom
Edrom is a small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland....
kirk
Kirk
Kirk can mean "church" in general or the Church of Scotland in particular. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.-Basic meaning and etymology:...
were made in the 1980s.