Hail to the Chief of Clan Scott

[JonathanB]

The kilt relevance of the following question about Scottish history is that I’ve just ordered a kilt in Scott tartan. And a lovely tartan it looks too.

As well as the attractiveness of the tartan, I’ve become interested in Clan Scot, partly through having read a lot of Sir Walter Scott recently, including his first success, the poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel which tells of the feud between the Scotts and a neighbouring family.

Looking up the list of clan chiefs in the invaluable Whittaker’s Almanack, I see the head of Clan Scott is his Grace, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury. But at the head of the page it states “Under decision (Campbell-Gray 1950) that a bearer of a “double or tripled barrelled” surname cannot be held chief of a part of such...”

His Grace’s surname is Montague Douglas Scott. Looks triple barrelled to me

So what’s he doing being a clan chief with a triple barrelled surname?

[cessna152towser]

His Grace Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry was recognised as Chief of Clan Scott in 1975 after dropping the hyphens in the surname Montagu-Douglas-Scott (see Lyon Register, volume 60, folios 7 & 8.)
On his death in 2007 he was succeeeded by his son Richard Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott.

[McClef]

There is a Clan Douglas to which the actual heir is the Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton who is Chief of Clan Hamilton and is not allowed to be the actual Douglas Chief since the Lord Lyon King of Arms requires him to assume the single name Douglas. I assume that if he were to do so then his Chieftainship of Clan Hamilton would be then affected.

[EagleJCS]

Which Scott tartan did you choose Jonathan: Red (seen in my avatar), Green or Hunting (brown)?

Alex has it mostly right. Based on what I've read in the Clan Scott newsletter, the 9th Duke chose to revert to the Scott surname instead of the three-part unhyphenated surname that had been passed down from the early 1800's. The family name was originally Scott, then when some Montagu lands passed into the family through marriage it became the unhyphenated Montagu Scott, then in the same generation with some Douglas lands (and the Duke of Queensberry title, which was separated from the Marquessate), the Douglas name was added, again unhyphenated. According to what I've read, this was to honor those prominent families and perpetuate the name and association with those properties.

Anyhow, the family has continued with the 9th Duke's decision and have used Scott as the family surname exclusively. (I don't know for certain, but I think the current Duke's children may still retain the M D S name on their official paperwork - birth certificates, passports, etc.)

[McClef]

Interestingly I am struggling to find references to the hyphenated name Montagu-Douglas-Scott on the net.

Even references to the late Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the Queen's Aunt, (from this very family and who holds the record for the longest lived British Royal) are not hyphenated.

[JonathanB]

I notice the lack of hyphens. I thought that may be the explanation.

Incidentally, haven't the Scott and Buccleuch titles passed through the female line, Ann(e?) Scott being the sole heiress and being married off to James, son of Charles II and Lucy Walters, who adopted the name of James Scott?

Whittakers has a list of family names of peers with the relevant title, and the Duke appears under M for MDS, not S.

[EagleJCS]

I notice the lack of hyphens. I thought that may be the explanation.

Incidentally, haven't the Scott and Buccleuch titles passed through the female line, Ann(e?) Scott being the sole heiress and being married off to James, son of Charles II and Lucy Walters, who adopted the name of James Scott?

Whittakers has a list of family names of peers with the relevant title, and the Duke appears under M for MDS, not S.

Yes, Anne Scott (maybe Anna) succeeded to the title Countess of Buccleuch on her sister's death in 1661. When she married James, Duke of Monmouth (a.k.a. James Crofts or James Fitzroy, illegitimate but recognized son of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walters) in 1663, they were created the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. He took the surname Scott when they married. She was created Duchess in her own right (largely due to her wealth and property holdings), and was thus unaffected by James' attainder in 1685.

From what I understand of titles, etc., Buccleuch is a "Scott title", as you put it. 'Buccleuch' is simply the way one refers to a Duke (by his title), just as one would refer to 'Montrose' or 'Argyll'. It's not the family name (though some members of Clan Scott do have the surname Buccleuch or variants - Buckalew, etc.).

'Scott of Buccleuch' is the senior line of Clan Scott. The cadet branches are (from the Clan Scott Society FAQ): 'Scotts of Harden, Scotts of Balwearie, Scotts of Raeburn, Scotts of Thirlestane, Scotts of Tynedale, Scotts of Ancrum, Scotts of Synton, and Scotts of Scotstarvet, Goudilands, Gala, Melby, Malleny, Dunninald, and many more'. BTW, Lord Polwarth is a Scott of Harden, so not all "Scott titles" belong to Scott of Buccleuch.

Again, from what I've read in the Clan Scott Society newsletter, the late 9th Duke preferred the surname Scott to the full 'MDS', and that is what the family now use, though on their legal paperwork they may still have the 'MDS' name.

[JonathanB]

Which Scott tartan did you choose Jonathan: Red (seen in my avatar), Green or Hunting (brown)?

The red. I have a Hunting tartan (Cornish) and a Black Watch, and I thought I wanted a change from tasteful green. So I looked at reds, for which my friendly kilt maker had samples, and it was down to Scott (modern) and Robertson.

I like the white stripe in Scott so I went for that. I've read most of Sir Walter's novels, and intend to read the rest in the next few months, plus The Lady of the Lake and The Lay of the Last Minstrel, so I hope any Scott will not be offended by my choice of their tartan, given my devotion to their most famous literary member.

[JonathanB]

From Walter Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel:

"The way was long, the wind was cold,
The Minstrel was infirm and old;
His wither'd cheek, and tresses gray,
Seem'd to have known a better day;

...The Duchess * marked his weary pace,
His timid mien, and reverend face,
And bade her page the menials tell,
That they should tend the old man well:
For she had known adversity,
Though born in such a high degree;
In pride of power, in beauty's bloom,
Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb!"

And the minstrel sings his song:

Nine-and-twenty knights of fame
Hung their shields in Branksome-Hall,
Nine-and-twenty squires of name
Brought them their steeds to bower from stall;
Nine-and-twenty yeomen tall
Waited, duteous, on them all;
They were all knights of mettle true,
Kinsmen to the bold Buccleuch.

* ie the widowed Anne Scot.

[IsaacW]

This is an interesting thread as when I as a student in Scotland, I stayed in the Duke's old Buccleuch estate of Dalkeith House. On Sundays I went to the old family Kirk, St. Nicolas Buccleuch.