| Clan Cheyne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto | Patientia Vincit (Patience conquers)[1] | ||
| Profile | |||
| District | Aberdeenshire,Caithness andSutherland | ||
| Clan Cheyne no longer has a chief, and is anarmigerous clan | |||
| Historic seat | Esslemont Castle, Aberdeenshire[1] | ||
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Clan Cheyne is aScottish clan.[2] The clan is officially recognized by theLord Lyon King of Arms; however, as the clan does not currently have a chief recognized by theCourt of the Lord Lyon, it is therefore considered anarmigerous clan.[2] The surname Cheyne is also recognized as asept of theClan Sutherland, and is accepted as such by the Clan Sutherland Society in Scotland.[3]
According to theCollins Scottish Clan & Family Encycleopdia, the surname Cheyne is ofgreat antiquity and is believed to have been of eitherNorman orFrench origin.[2] The name apparently meansOak Plantation.[2] According to the historian George Fraser Black, some early clerics confused the word for "oak" with that of "dog" and in error they styled the nameCanis.[2]
In 1158, Ricardus de Chanai witnessed a gift to the Hospital of St Peter ofYork.[2] However, the earliest record of the name inScotland is that of William de Chense, who witnessed a charter byWilliam the Lion in about 1200.[2] From 1267 to 1269Sir Reginald le Chain wasGreat Chamberlain of Scotland.[2] He held the lands ofInverugie as well as immense estates inCaithness.[2]
In 1320, a laterSir Reginald signed theDeclaration of Arbroath.[2]
HistorianWilliam Anderson stated thatSir Reginald le Chain who died in 1350 (or 1345) was survived by two daughters.[2] However, as he was renowned as a mighty hunter throughout the land, he longed for a male heir to succeed to his estates, but his wife gave birth to two daughters which Reginald had killed, or at least he thought he had killed.[2] The story goes that as the years passed and no male heir was born, that he saw two young ladies at a festival who far outshined the rest in beauty and accomplishment.[2] He expressed admiration for them to his wife and the cruel fate which had caused to him to order the death of his two daughters, which had they lived would have been about the same age as the two beauties.[2] His wife then introduced him to the two girls, confessing her justifiable disobedience that they were actually his own two daughters.[2] Sir Reginald Cheyne then acknowledged them as heirs to his lands of Esslemont, which had become the principal seat of the family through marriage to the heiress of the Marshall of Esslemont.[2]
Marjory, one of the two daughters of Reignald Cheyne marriedNicholas Sutherland, 1st of Duffus, a branch of theClan Sutherland, and as such the surname Cheyne is regarded assept of the Clan Sutherland.[4][5]
The Cheyne'sEsslemont Castle was destroyed in the aftermath of a feud with theClan Hay.[6]
Sir William Cheyne (d.1932) was a distinguished surgeon and bacteriologist who was a pioneer of antiseptic surgical methods in Britain.[2]
Castles that have belonged to the Clan Cheyne have included amongst others:
