Clan Keith

Origins of the clan The place-name Keith comes from a Cumbric or Pictish form of the Modern Welsh coed ("wood"). A warrior of the Chatti tribe is said to have killed the Danish General, Camus, at the Battle of Barrie in 1010. Sir William Keith the Marischal who died in 1407 married the heiress of Sir Alexander Fraser and in doing so added great estates in Buchan, Kincardine and Lothian to his existing patrimony. They later fought another battle against the Gunns, known as the Battle of Champions (probably 1478). This battle was fought between twelve men of the Clan Gunn and twenty four men of the Clan Keith. Most of the Gunns, including the chief of the clan, were killed. However, Keith of Ackergill was soon after killed by the Gunns in a revenge attack. 16th and 17th centuries , a seat of the chiefs of Clan Keith William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal, along with the Earl of Glencairn invited John Knox the religious reformer back to Scotland in 1559. He also served as ambassador for James VI to various countries. He was an important intermediary between George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and the king, the king and courtiers, and the king and foreign governments. After Charles II of England was crowned in 1651, William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal, was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. In 2002, the 13th Earl of Kintore, who was the previous Chief of Clan Keith, entered into a peace treaty the previous chief of Clan Irvine, with at an elaborate ceremony on the banks of the River Dee to end their 600-year feud. ==Chief==

The current Chief of Clan Keith is Sir James William Falconer Keith of Urie, 14th Earl of Kintore, 14th Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall, 4th Viscount Stonehaven, 4th Baron Stonehaven, 5th Baronet, 6th of Ury (b. 15 April 1976). ==Clan tartan, crest and motto==

The Keith clan tartan is registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans (SRT) with a date of 1 January 1838. The Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) and Scottish Tartans World Register (STWR) reference numbers are both 253. The designer is not specified and the tartan was registered prior to the establishment of the SRT. Registration notes: The clan crest and motto The clan crest is a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) also known as the western or European roe. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The Clan Keith motto is translated as 'Truth conquers'. ==Castles==

• Keith Marischal House, three miles south of Pencaitland, East Lothian, is an L-plan tower house that dates from the sixteenth century. It is on the site of an earlier castle that was built by the Keiths from the fourteenth century. • Dunnottar Castle stands on a cliff-girt promontory above the sea a couple of miles south of Stonehaven, Kincardineshire. There has been a strong-hold there since the twelfth century, although it was held by the Keiths from 1382 after they exchanged their property of Struthers with the Clan Lindsay for Dunnottar. The present ruins at Dunnottar include a tower, courtyard, chapel and the entrance to the castle that is up a steep ascent through a tunnel. Donald, King of Scots was killed there in 900 and William Wallace captured the castle from the English in 1297. Mary, Queen of Scots stayed at the castle in 1562 and James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose unsuccessfully laid siege to the castle in 1645. William Keith, 9th Earl Marischal entertained Charles II of England at the castle in 1650 and the Scottish regalia were kept there when Oliver Cromwell invaded in 1651. Cromwell besieged the castle in 1652 and it only capitulated after eight months by starvation and mutiny. The castle garrison had then been commanded by Sir Robert Keith, fourth son of the 6th Earl Marischal. The castle was held for William of Orange in 1689 and many Jacobites were imprisoned in it. The Duke of Argyll partly slighted the castle after George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal had supported the Jacobite rising of 1715. • Keith Hall in Aberdeenshire, once known as Caskieben, is the current seat of the chief of Clan Keith. It is a Z-plan tower house dating from the sixteenth century. • Fetteresso Castle passed from the Clan Strachan to the Clan Keith chief, Earl Marischal during the early 14th century. • Ackergill Tower, a couple of miles north of Wick, Caithness is a tower and mansion that dates from the fifteenth century. It rises to five storeys and was originally held by the Cheynes but passed to the Keith Earls Marischal in about 1350. The Keiths who inhabited Caithness had a long and bitter feud with the Clan Gunn. In 1556 the Keiths were besieged in the castle by the Clan Sinclair before eventually selling it to them in 1612. Sir Robert Keith of Benholm had also once attacked the castle during a family dispute. • Clackriach Castle, a 16th century tower house near Maud in Aberdeenshire. ==Notes and references==