Clan kerr

Most historians believe that the name of the clan comes from the old Norwegian word kjrr , which means a resident of the swamps. In addition, there are Celtic versions, according to which the name could come from the Welsh Caer (fortress) or from the Gaelic Céarr (left-handed).

According to the Norman version ^[2] , the clan's ancestors had previously lived in southern Norway , and in 866 , together with the famous Viking Rollon Pedestrian , arrived in French Neustria , which became the duchy of Normandy . By 911, their diasporas settled in Brittany and on the Cherbourg Peninsula , and in 1066 Kerrs went as part of the army of William the Conqueror to England - in the retinue of Robert de Bruce Sr. (Robert de Brus ^[3] ), an ancestor of the noble family Bruce .

After the conquest of England, Robert Bruce Sr. allocated Kerram a small land plot from among his territories in Lancashire . For four generations, Kerrs served as Bruce rangers , including John Kerr from Stobo, nicknamed Hunter from Swinhope - his name is found in historical documents of 1190 . This is the first written mention of the Kerr clan. Subsequently, the Kerrs moved from Lancashire to the Scottish Selkirkshire . The name of Nicholas Kerr is mentioned in the Ragman Scrolls of 1296 - a document in which the Scottish nobles brought homage to the King of England Edward the Longfoot .

The descendants of Nicholas Kerr are the brothers Ralph and Robert (sometimes called John) Kerr, who settled around 1330 in the Scottish Borderland, in Roxbroshire ^[4] . The branch of Kerrs of Ferniehurst (Kerrs of Ferniehurst ^[5] ) originates from Ralph, and from Kerrs of Sissford (Robert (John) - Kerrs of Cessford). Although the two families were constantly in conflict, the descendants of both houses were appointed Heads of the Middle Marks (Sir Andrew Fernihurst in 1502 , and Sir Andrew Sissford after the Battle of Flodden). In the XIV - XV centuries, the clan’s power and well-being gradually increased (in full accordance with the motto “Not immediately, but seriously”), and after the Douglas clan was expelled in 1455, Kerrs became one of the most influential vassals of the crown. In 1451, Andrew Kerr of Sissford received the title of Baron Roxbrough, and in 1457 he was appointed Warden of the Marches . In 1493, the barony and ownership of Sissford Castle were confirmed by royal decree.

Both Kerr families continued to oppose each other in the 16th century , and after the death of Jacob IV , when his widow Margarita Tudor remarried Archibald Douglas , Earl of Angus, the Kerrs of Sissford supported the English Queen Mother, and the Kerah of Fernierhurst supported the young king Jacob V. As a result, when Angus was in exile, Sissford was forced to flee to England, and returned only after the death of Jacob V in 1542 , when Sir John Kerr of Fernierhurst lost his castle, which was captured by the British. The castle was returned in 1549, and the British from its garrison, who repeatedly raped the women of Kerr, were captured and brutally tortured. The confrontation continued when Sir Thomas Fernierhurst fought on the side of Mary I Stewart at Langside , and Sir Walter Sissford on the side of James VI . In the end, the feud was ended at the political level, after the conclusion of the “Crown Union” in 1603 , and at the personal level, after the marriage of Anne Kerr of Sissford and William Kerr of Fernihurst, from whom the earls and marquises of Lothian come from.

In 1606, Mark Kerr became the 1st Earl of Lothian Earl of Lothian.

Sir Robert Kerr of Sissford, son of Sir Walter, mentioned above, in 1637 became Lord of the Roxborough. Marrying the heiress of Earl of Roxborough, Sir William Drummond became the 2nd Earl of Roxborough and adopted the name Kerr. His descendant, John, the 5th Earl, became the Duke of Roxborough. After cutting the line with the death of John, 3rd Duke of Roxborough, this title passed to Sir James Innes of Innes, who was the 25th chief of the Innes and adopted the name Kerr. The chief of the Kerr clan bears the titles of the Marquis of Lothian and the Duke of Roxborough and is also the leader of the Innes.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Kerr and priest Edward Bannerman Ramsay (better known as Dean Ramsay) published the monumental work, Reminiscences of Scottish life & character. Edinburgh, 1908.

• Kar (noble family)

1. ↑ Laulender clan. The division of the Scots into highlanders (Highlanders) and Laulenders is essentially purely geographical, not related to the Celtic or Norman origin of the clans of the North and South of Scotland.
2. ↑ In the English language there is no analogue to the Russian word "Norman." The inhabitants of Norway and the northern islands, the British call "norse men" or "North Men". And the citizens of Normandy - "Normans." In the historiography of the Rollo clan , the norseman or norman construct is often used.
3. ↑ In Normandy, there were two transcriptions of this surname - “de Brus” and “de Bruis”.
4. ↑ The capital of Roxbroshire is the city of Roxburgh .
5. ↑ Literally: Kerrs from Fernhirst. The English (more precisely: English-speaking British) prefix of , literally meaning " from ", corresponds to the French prefix de and the German prefix von . The Russian language is most often translated by the word "from", which creates an unfortunate legal confusion.

About the clan at Electricscotland.com