Clan Cathcart is a Lowland

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

History

Origins of the Clan

The lands of Cathcart are named after the River Cart in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

. ''Caeth-cart'' means the ''strait of Cart''. Rainaldus de Kethcart appears to have been the progenitor of the family. In 1178 he was witness to a charter of the king's steward to

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

. His son was William de Kethcart who was a witness to a charter in about 1200, exchanging the lands of Knoc near Walkinshaw with the Abbey of Paisley. In 1234 a charter of resignation of the lands of Culbeth to the Abbot of Paisley was sealed by Alan de Cathcart.

Wars of Scottish Independence

Alan de Cathcart's son, William de Cathcart, was one of the Scottish barons who submitted to

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

and is listed on the

Ragman Rolls The Ragman Rolls are the collection of instruments by which the nobility and gentry of Scotland subscribed allegiance to King Edward I of England, during the time between the Conference of Norham in May 1291 and the final award in favour of Ball ...

of 1296. William was succeeded by Alan de Cathcart who was a staunch supporter of king

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

in cause of Scottish independence. He followed the king's brother,

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick (Norman French: ; ; Modern Scottish Gaelic: or ; 1280 – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 struggle for the Scottish cro ...

and was among a party of just fifty knights who surprised a much superior English force under Lord St John in

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

and routed them. Alan survived the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotla ...

and is recorded in a deed making a gift to the Dominican Friars of Glasgow in 1336. In the deed he is designated as ''Dominus Ejusdem'' which is translated as ''of that Ilk''. Alan was related to the Bruces through his wife who was the sister of Sir Duncan Wallace of Sundram, husband of Elanor Bruce, the Countess of Carrick.

15th and 16th centuries

Sir Alan de Cathcart obtained several estates in Carrick. He was raised to the peerage with the title Lord Cathcart in 1447. He also obtained lands in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

including the estate of Auchencruive which was the family seat until 1718. Alan became constable of the royal Dundonald Castle. In 1485 he was appointed as ''Master of the Artillery''. Alan Cathcart, son of the second Lord Cathcart was killed along with his two half-brothers, Robert and John, in 1513 at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

. The third Lord Cathcart was killed at the

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk, Lothian, River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the U ...

in 1547. Alan Cathcart the fourth Lord Cathcart was a Protestant and a promoter of the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

. He and his men fought for the Regent Moray at the

Battle of Langside The Battle of Langside was fought on 13 May 1568 between forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, and forces acting in the name of her infant son James VI. Mary’s short period of personal rule ended in 1567 in recrimination, intrigue, and disast ...

in 1568 against the army of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

. The ancient Cathcart Castle has a view point and is near the battlefield, from which the queen is said to have awaited the outcome of the battle.

18th century

Jacobite rising of 1715

Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart (1686 – 20 December 1740) was a British Army officer and peer. Family He was the second son of Alan Cathcart, 7th Lord Cathcart by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair. Hi ...

was born in about 1686 and had a distinguished military career. He became a major on the Scots Grays in 1709. During the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Francis Edward Stuart, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland ...

the eighth Lord Cathcart commanded a detachment of dragoons and it was Cathcart's troops that outflanked the Jacobite forces at

Battle of Sheriffmuir The Battle of Sheriffmuir (, ) was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising of 1715, Jacobite rising in Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Histor ...

. Cathcart had also previously defeated the Jacobites at the Skirmish of Dunfermline in October 1715.Szechi, Danie. (2006).
1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion
'. Yale University Press. pp. 144–145.

Jacobite rising of 1745

Charles Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart was an aide-de-camp to the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...

and fought for the government at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in 1746 where he was wounded. In 1768 he was appointed ambassador at

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and he was well received by

Empress Catherine Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

. He wore a patch on his cheek which was apparently to hide a wound that was received at the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

Napoleonic Wars

William Cathcart, the tenth Lord Cathcart accompanied his father to Russia. When he returned to Scotland he took up legal studies and was called to the Bar in 1776. When he succeeded his fathers title he gave up legal studies and returned to the army. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general and was commander in chief of the forces in Ireland. He was also created a

Knight of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

. During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

in 1807 as Napoleon's troops were about to take control of Denmark, Lord Cathcart and Admiral Gambier successfully besieged Copenhagen and captured the Danish fleet of over 60 vessels together with naval stores and munitions. Lord Cathcart was rewarded with the titles Viscount Cathcart and Baron of Greenock. In June 1814 he was made Earl Cathcart. The second Earl Cathcart also had a distinguished military career and served throughout the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, fighting at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

in 1815. He was also the commander of the British Army in Scotland and governor of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

from 1837 to 1842.

Chief

Clan Chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard ci ...

: The Rt. Hon. Charles Alan Andrew Cathcart of Cathcart, the 7th Earl Cathcart, Viscount Cathcart of Cathcart, Lord Cathcart and Baron Greenock of Greenock, Chief of the Name and Arms of Cathcart.burkes-peerage.net
/ref>

Castles

* Cathcart Castle was the seat of the Earl Cathcart, chief of Clan Cathcart. * Carleton Castle