Clan Moffat is a Border

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 ...

of ancient origin. The clan was leaderless and obscure from the mid 16th century until 1983, when Francis Moffat of that Ilk was recognised as the hereditary chief of the clan by

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 274 - 275.

History

Origins of the clan

The Clan Moffat are a family from the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

who were powerful and influential as far back as the time of William Wallace.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 274 - 275. It is likely that the ancestor of the Moffats gave their name to the town of

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

. The name Moffat may be of Norse origin. William de Movat Alto, progenitor of the Movats, married the youngest daughter of Andlaw, who came from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the tenth century. Over the years the name became Montealt, then Movat, then Movest then eventually Moffat in its modern form. By the twelfth century the family were recorded as "de Moffet" which showed that they were considered to be principal lairds or land owners. Nicholas de Moffat was

Bishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pope ...

in 1286 and the armorial bearings of each branch of the clan indicates a connection with the church.

Wars of Scottish Independence

In 1300 the Moffats were granted four charters of land in the barony of Westerkirk from

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 ...

who was then Lord of Annandale. One of these charters was granted to Adam Moffat of Knock. He and his brother both fought at the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( or ) was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Ro ...

in 1314, along with many of the Moffat clansmen during the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1336 the king of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

granted safe conduct to William de Moffete and others, described as ''coming as ambassadors to David de Brus'' (

David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, be ...

). Walter de Moffat who was Archdeacon of Lothian was appointed ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1337. Although there were Moffats in

before 1300, their names are not known. In 1342 they were granted the feu of Granton and Reddings by Sir John Douglas, Lord of Annandale. These lands remained the principal holdings of the clan until they were passed over to the Johnstones because of overwhelming debt in 1628.

16th century and clan conflicts

The Clan Moffat like most other Border clans were raiders and

Border Reivers Border Reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality.Hay, D. "E ...

, and had many feuds with other clans. Their most notable enemies was the powerful Clan Johnstone. There are accusations that the Johnstones murdered Robert Moffat, who was possibly the clan chief, in 1557. A pardon was granted to Gavin, John, and Robert Johnston "for assent, art, and part in the murder of Robert Moffat (not a fortnight before) during service in the Church of Moffat." However, the speed of the pardon and the temperament of Moffat for being a brawler, suggests that the Edinburgh Court gave this pardon because "there were extenuating circumstances." It is also claimed that members of the Clan Johnstone burned a church in which a number of Moffats had gathered, slaughtering those who tried to escape, but the source of this information has no primary source cited and appears to have no substantiated evidence. It is likely that the story is conflated with events leading up to the Battle of Dryfe Sands, wherein the Johnstons burned a church where members of Clan Maxwell sought shelter. Regardless, from that date the Clan Moffat was considered a leaderless clan until 1983 when the

recognised Francis Moffat as chief after many years of research.

The modern clan

From at least the mid sixteenth century the clan was without a chief, until 1983 when after many years of research, Francis Moffat was granted the

undifferenced Arms In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way to distinguish Coat of arms, arms displayed by Lineal descendant, descendants of the holder of a coat of arms when those family members have not been granted arms in their own right. Cadency is necessa ...

of Moffat of that Ilk, and recognised as the hereditary chief of the clan by

.Clan History
Retrieved on 2007-11-18 In April 1992, the chiefship passed to his daughter, Jean Moffat of that Ilk.

Clan profile

Origin of the name

The

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

''Moffat''/''Moffatt'' is a territorial name of Norman origin with Gaelic Anglicization, given to the town of

.Moffatt Name Meaning and Origin
Retrieved on 2007-11-18 This quasi- place-name has been theorized to be translated as "the long plain," which possibly could be derived from two elements: ''magh'' ("plain") and ''fada'' ("long"). The area of Moffat does not resemble a "long plain" at all, so it is thought that "Moffat" was the locals' attempt at saying "Mowat" as the Mowats, Moffats, and Montaltos all share a common progenitor and at one time bore identical arms (Major Francis Moffat of that Ilk, "The Moffats"). Records as far back as the 1300s show an individual named "Monte Alto, pronounced 'Mowat.'" This is an example of the Anglicization of a Norman name. A good example of this is Belvoir Castle which is pronounced "Beaver Castle." The castle in no way resembles a furry aquatic mammal, but to the locals it was easier to say. Similarly, the name Monte Alto (pronounced "Mowat") was written as Movvat, and from there "very easily corruptible to Moffat" (Major Francis Moffat of that Ilk, "The Moffats").

Clan chief, crest and motto

*Clan chief: Jean Moffat of that Ilk, Chief of the Name and Arms of Moffat. *Clansman's Badge: A member of the Clan may wear a Badge consisting of the Crest from the Chief's Arms encircled by a strap and buckl

The Moffat Chief's arms has "a crest coronet and issuing there from a cross crosslet fitchee Sable surmounted of a saltire Argent". *Clan motto: Spero meliora (translation from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''I hope for better things.)

Clan tartan

The Moffat family

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

is a very modern tartan, created by Major Francis Moffat of that Ilk, after being recognised as the chief of the clan in 1983. The tartan is heavily based upon the Clan Douglas tartan.Moffat Family Tartan WR1129
Retrieved on 2007-11-18 According to Major Francis Moffat of that Ilk, in his book, "The Moffats," the colors he selected for the modern tartan (black, silver, and a very small amount of red) were taken from the most ancient arms coats associated with the Moffats, a black rampant lion on a silver field, with red teeth and claws.

Notes

External links

Clan Moffat SocietyClan Moffat UK
{{Scottish clans Gaelic families of Norse descent