|
HOME CLAN HISTORIES SCOTTISH CASTLES SCOTTISH WEDDINGS ROBERT BURNS CONTACT |
 GLORY IS THE REWARD OF VALOUR Clan Crest © Art Pewter Silver Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland |
 |
|
The Robertsons claim descent from the old Celtic Earls of Atholl. From the Earls, there began the Royal house of Duncan I, King of Scotland. Their name founder was Donnchadh or Duncan Reamhar, who fought for Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. In 1451, the lands of their fourth Chief Robert Riach, ‘Grizzled Robert’, were erected into the Barony of Struan by King James II. This was as a reward for “the capture of that vile traitor the late Robert of Graham”, who was the killer of King James I, an episode commemorated in Struan’s coat of arms. The clan crest represents a hand holding an imperial royal crown and beneath this a man in chains, representing the regicide.About a century later, the Robertsons lost their family lands of Struan to the Earl of Atholl but regained them in the early years of the 17th century. In 1688 young Robertson of Struan, as a boy joined ‘Bonnie Dundee’. In 1715 he brought 500 of his clan out for James and was taken prisoner at Sherriffmuir, but escaped to France. In 1745 he brought the Robertsons out for Prince Charles but was by then too old to do much fighting. He returned home after the Battle of Prestonpans in General Wade’s coach, wearing his fur-lined nightshirt.To this day, the chief of the clan has the privilege of being buried in the family burial ground at Struan. |