Clan Keith

Motto:

Quae Amissa Salva

Amongst the most romantic names in Scottish history is that of Keith, Marischal of Scotland, and a Celtic ancestry is claimed for the race. The first authentic ancestor is Hervey Keith, who held the office of Marischal under Malcolm IV. His descendant succeeded to the office of Marischal in 1294, was imprisoned by the English until 1304, and in 1305 was one of King Edward's four Deputy Wardens of Scotland, but at Christmas 1308 he joined the cause of Robert the Bruce and was rewarded with a grant of the Royal Forest of Kintore. As Commander of the Scots cavalry at Bannockburn, his attack materially contributed to the annihilation of the English army, for which he was rewarded with many of the forfeited Comyn estates in Buchan. He signed the letter to the Pope in 1320. His great-grandson, Sir William, founded the tower of Dunnottar Castle. His son, Sir Robert, was elevated to the peerage as Lord Keith. William, 2nd Lord, was created Earl Marischal in 1458, and a mistake in the Scots Perage has involved the mis-numbering of the of the successive earls. William, 2nd Earl, fought at Flodden, and his standard is preserved in the Advocates' Library.

The 3rd Earl, "William of the Tower," a distinguished statesman, lived long in seclusion at Dunnottar. His estates lay in so many counties that he could travel from Berwick to John o' Groats eating every meal and sleeping every night on his own lands. His grandson, George, 4th Earl, Ambassador Extraordinary to Denmark, in 1593 founded Marischal College, Aberdeen. William, 5th Earl, was created Admiral of Scotland, but "my Lord would never boate." He appeared as Marischal of the Coronation of Charles I.

William, 6th Earl, was a Covenanter, but in 1651 rescued the Regalia and carried it to Dunnottar. His brother, George, 7th Earl, was a Royalist whose grandson George, 9th and last Earl Marischal, joined the Earl of Mar in 1715, and with his celebrated brother, Field-Marshal James Keith, retired to the Continent where their exploits rendered the name of Keith famous throughout the world. The Earl was Frederick the Great's closest friend, and the Field-Marshal, who fell at Hochkirsch 1758, his greatest General. On the Earl's death in 1778, the chiefship was understood to have passed to Keith of Ravelston, who acted as Knight Marischal to George IV. Since the expiry of this line the Earls of Kintore represent the third son of Keith Marischal, and descend from Sir John Keith, third son of the 5th Earl, who helped to save the "Honours of Scotland" from falling into Cromwell's hands, and was consequently created in 1677, Earl of Kintore, with the motto: Quae Amissa Salva.

William, 2nd Earl, fought with Dundee, and in the Rising of 1715. On the death of William, 4th Earl, the dignity and representation passed to the grandson of his sister, Lady Catherine Keith, Antony Adrian, 5th Earl and 8th Lord Falconer of Halkerton. The 9th Earl of Kintore, Governor General of South Australia from 1889 to 1895, decimated the Kintore estates. The 12th Earl was instrumental in promoting the Clan internationally and appointed a hereditary sennachie to preserve the Keith genealogy. Michael Keith, 13th Earl of Kintore, is now chief of the Name of Keith, has his seat on the grounds of Keith Hall in Inverurie.