Clan Colquhoun
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Clan Colquhoun is a Highland Scottish clan.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins of the Clan
In 1241, the time of Alexander II, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, granted the lands of Colquhoun in Dunbartonshire to Humphrey of Kilpatrick. Humphrey’s son Ingram is the first person recorded as taking Colquhoun for his surname. Around 1368, Luss, on Loch Lomond, was acquired by Sir Robert Colquhoun through marriage. From then on the chiefship has been described as of Colquhoun and Luss. His grandson Iain Colquhoun of Luss married Margaret, the daughter of the Earl of Lennox. When James I returned from English imprisonment a few years later in 1424, one of the people he took his vengeance upon was the unsupportive Lennox. The position of Lennox was decimated and Iain of Luss took advantage of this to win the King’s favour by capturing Dumbarton Castle from Lennox. By 1427 he was Sheriff of Dumbarton and by 1439 he was dead, like his King, killed by those he had treated so badly. By way of compensation, James II made Luss a free barony for Colquhoun’s grandson Sir Iain. It remained this way until the Rising of 1745.
[edit] Clan Conflicts
In 1424 the Clan Lennox was decimated and Iain Colqhoun of Luss took advatage of this to win the King's favour by capturing Dumbarton Castle from Lennox.
Luss was raided by the thieving Clan MacGregor in 1603, leading to a bloody battle and defeat of five hundred Colquhoun men, three hundred of whom were on horseback, by four hundred MacGregor men at Glen Fruin. Over two hundred of the Colquhoun men were lost when the MacGregors, who had split into two parties, attacked from front and rear and forced the horsemen onto the soft ground of the Moss of Auchingaich. It meant the proscription of the Clan MacGregor. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that the enmity between the clans was laid to rest when, at Glen Fruin on the site of the massacre, the chiefs of the Clan MacGregor and Colquhoun met and shook hands.
The Clan Colquhoun were among the clans who fought against the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, where the Colquhoun Chief was killed. Clan chiefs from Clan Hunter, Clan Macfarlane and Clan Farquharson also died at this battle. A good clan chief was expected to lead by example, this meant being first into battle at the head of the clan. For this reason many clan chiefs died during battle. Because of the awful number of Scottish lives lost at the Battle of Pinkie the 10th of September is known in Scotland as 'Black Saturday'.
[edit] 17th Century
The 11th Laird of Luss, Sir John Colquhoun, became a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1625. Seven years later, however, he vanished along with Lady Catherine Graham, his wife’s sister. He was accused of using Witchcraft and sorcery to woo her and so, wisely, never returned to clear his name.
[edit] Clan Colquhoun Today
Today the family is seated in the great mansion of Rossdhu.
