Tweedie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tweedie is a Scottish clan name. The tweedie clan does not have a chief therefore it is considered an Armigerous clan. The Clan Tweedie is however a sept of the Clan Fraser.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins of the Clan
The Tweedies claim the origins of their name to be that of a water sprite in the River Tweed. There is a story of a husband who went off to fight in the crusades and while he was away his young wife became pregnant and so he returned home to find he had a son. His wife then told him that she had gone down to the banks of the River Tweed and had been accosted by a fairy of the river and become pregnant by him. Her husband, for whatever reason, chose to believe this story but on the condition that the son kept the surname of Tweedie. The name is certainly derived from the lands of Tweedie. They have a history of being a powerful and domineering family, whose principal seat was Drumelzier in Tweeddale in the Scottish Borders.
The first recorded Tweedie is Finlay de Twydyn who appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296 swearing fealty to King Edward I of England.
[edit] 14th to 16th Century
Roger, the son of Finlay of Twydyn, received a charter to the house and lands of Drumelzier around 1320. They held these lands for over 300 years.
The Tweedies of Oliver Castle descend from a younger son of Drumelzier and they obtained their lands from the preceptor of Torphichen in the 14th century.
Thomas Tweedie of Oliver Castle was implicated in the murder of Lord Fleming in 1524, and a bloody feud erupted between the families. In 1531 Thomas was exiled from Scotland for three years.
In 1592 James Tweedie of Drumelzier was accused of the murder of Geddes of Glenhegdon in Edinburgh. The complaint against him states that it was not known how many slaughters had been committed by James Tweedie of Drumelzier and his friends.
[edit] 19th to 21st Century
Captain Michael Tweedie served in the Royal Artillery during the Peninsular War (1808-14).
Major General Michael Tweedie also was in the British Army and served in the Royal Artillery in the 1850s, throughout the Crimean War and during the Indian Mutiny.
Admiral Sir Hugh Tweedie had a distinguished Naval career in the Royal Navy, he was aide de camp to King George V of the United Kingdom in 1925 and retired as an admiral in 1936, but was recalled at the outbreak of the World War II. He was created a Knight of the Bath, in addition to holding the French Legion of Honour and the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun.
Jill Tweedie was a famous author and journalist in the '70s, '80s & '90s.
Darren Tweedie is a European ranked poker player and recently was placed in The European Open.
[edit] Heraldry
- Motto: "Thole and Think" ("Thole" is an old Scottish word meaning "suffer" or "endure").
- Arms: (of Drumelzier) Argent, a saltire engrailed Gules and a chief Azure.
- Crest: A bull’s head.
