Blair Castle Piper
The Murrays trace their heritage back to the second quarter of the 12th century and probably take their name from the great province of Moray, once a Pictish kingdom. During this time, Freskin son of Ollec was one of the Flemish knights sent to Moray by King David I to establish order in the wild area. Freskin and his sons intermarried with the house of Moray. The senior line of the house of Moray took the surname of Sutherland and became Earls of Sutherland by 1235. The chiefship of the Murrays went several directions through scattered branches of the family until the 16th century when the Murrays of Tullibardine in Strathearn had assumed leadership of the clan. The Murrays first acquired the lands of Tullibardine when Sir William de Moravia, married Ada, daughter of Malise, Earl or Seneschal of Strathearn. Balquhidder was part of the ancient princedom of Strathearn and the heraldic device associated with the district is the mermaid.
In order to understand the relationship between the Dukes of Atholl and the above, note that the present Duke of Atholl also holds the following hereditary titles : Marquess of Atholl (c. 1676); Marquess of Tullibardine (c. 1703); Earl of Atholl (c. 1629); Earl of Tullibardine (c. 1629 and 1676); Earl of Strathtay and Strathardle (c. 1703); Viscount of Balquhidder (c. 1676); Lord Murray of Tullibardine (c. 1604); and Lord Murray, Balvenie and Gask (c. 1676). Also, there are several spellings of the name 'Murray', including 'de Moravia', and 'Moray'.
In 1606, Sir John Murray became the 1st Earl of Tullibardine. His son, the 2nd Earl of Tullibardine married Lady Dorothea Stewart. Because her father, Sir John Stewart 5 Earl of Atholl had died without a male heir, the earldom reverted to the crown. William the 2nd Earl successfully petitioned the king to grant the title of Earl of Atholl to their son John 1st Earl of Atholl. The 1st Earl's son became the 2nd Earl of Atholl as well as the 5th Earl of Tullibardine. The 2nd Earl of Atholl's son became the 1st Duke of Atholl. Thus was established the Murrays as the Dukes of Atholl. The Murrays continue to be the Dukes of Atholl to this day. The seat of the Murray Dukes of Atholl is Blair Castle. For a time the Murray chiefs were also Sovereign Lords of the Isle of Man, with their own coinage and parliament.
The present Duke and chief of the Murrays is John Murray the 11th Duke of Atholl. . He became the 11th duke of Atholl upon the death of his cousin George Iain Murray, the 10th Duke of Atholl in 1996 and was confirmed by the Lord Lyon in 2000. John Murray the 11th Duke of Atholl was born and raised in rural South Africa and still resides there. Although he had only visited Scotland once before becoming Duke, he now makes yearly visits to Blair Castle in order to take the chief's salute at the annual Atholl Highlanders parade. The Duke of Atholl maintains the 100 member force consisting of infantry and a celebrated pipe band. In 1845, Queen Victoria presented a pair of colors to Atholl Highlanders making them the only remaining private army in Europe. The principal duty of the Atholl Highlanders is to furnish sentries and Guards of Honor for royal visitors to Blair Castle. Officers of the Atholl highlanders come from the chieftans and lairds of Perthshire (where Blair Castle is located).
The most famous Murrays were Sir Andrew Murray and Lord George Murray. Sir Andrew Murray was the brilliant strategist who was probably the true hero in the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 where he shared joint command of the Scottish forces with William Wallace. Unfortunately, William Wallace received most of the credit for this victory. Sir Andrew later died of wounds sustained during the battle. Lord George Murray was Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite general during the Scottish invasion of England and defeated the English at the Battle of Falkirk in July of 1298.
The following is reprinted from the the summer 2007 edition of the Murray Clan newsletter - the Aitionn.
Magazine Article Review
Fighting For The Lion, The Life of Andrew Murray. By James G. Taylor. History Scotland. Vol.5 No.5 September/October 2005.
Doug Piper
Taylor’s main premise is that Andrew Murray was at least as important as William Wallace in the Scottish resistance to English King Edward I although his contribution is not recognized.
His family was was one of Scotland’s most important families with connections to the most powerful Scottish families compared to William Wallaces’ less brilliant origins. Andrew would have been educated in military matters in his preparation for the knighthood. Wallace apparently had little of no training for a knighthood. One question is why Andrew Murray chose to forgo his comfortable future and eventually join with Wallace.
In April 1296, Andrew Murray was part of the Scottish army defeated by Edward I’s forces near Dunbar. After the battle Sir Andrew Murray, Andrew’s father, among others was incarnated in The Tower of London. Rather than holding Andrew captive in London, he was held captive at Chester Castle from which he escaped. Apparently he wasn’t considered to be as important as his father and, thus, wasn’t held in the tower of London.
After his escape, he returned to Avoch, his father’s castle, overlooking the Firth of Moray where he built forces in opposition to Edward I. Under the familiar 3 six-pointed stars on a blue field Murray banner he attacked many of the main castles in Moray including laying siege to Urquhart Castle. With the exception of the attack on Urquhart most of these battles were undocumented. Although Murray was probably not very successful in these attacks, his actions certainly worried Edward I.
In, perhaps, the only documented incident, Andrew attacked Sir William fitz Warin, constable of Urquhart Castle as he was returning from a meeting with Sir Reginald Cheyne – Edward’s main supporter in Moray – and killed several of his men. After the attack on Sir William fitz Warin, Edward I directed several Scottish notables, including John Comyn the Earl of Buchan, to deal with Andrew Murray – Andrew was the stepson of Euphemia Comyn. When Edward’s men met with Andrew, he managed to ‘escape’ to the wilds of Moray. Edward’s men decided not to pursue him in this area with which they all had intimate knowledge and used the terrain as an excuse for inaction. Taylor says that it appears Scottish nobility tacitly supported Andrew and supplied him with cash, weapons, and horses.
During the autumn of 1297, Murray and Wallace joined their 2 armies and then won the battle of Stirling. Andrew’s was one of the few deaths from the Wallace/Murray army. Many say that Andrew was merely wounded because 2 letters were sent bearing both his seal and Wallace’s seal after the battle of Stirling. Taylor concludes that Wallace controlled Andrew Murray’s seal and used Murray’s seal on the 2 letters because he felt insecure in his power until the time when he had become the Guardian of Realm.
Edward I was still worried enough about Murray that he had Murray’s posthumous son kidnapped and kept in England until his release after Bannockburn.
Taylor suggests that one reason that Wallace became the hero was that it made a better story. “The acknowledgement of Murray’s deeds means Wallace is no longer able to dominate the narrative and he is forced to share centre-stage with a man whose deeds also mark him as a patriot of heroic stature.”a lion-hearted man, who fought with courage and unselfishness in defence of the kingdom of Scotland ; he deserves a better fate than to languish in virtual obscurity amongst the footnotes of Scottish history.”
The history of the Abercairny branch of the Murrays can be found at (click the icon below to go to the site):
Wm. S. H. Drummond Moray of Abercairny is a Patron of the Murray Clan Society of North America.
There is also an excellent article on the Dukes and Earls of Atholl which can be found in the 1911 Encyclopedia.
Douglas Murray has produced a tri-fold pamphlet on the Murray Clan History in PDF format which can be downloaded here
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