| Clan Strange | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Dexter Dulce Quod Utile - 'That Which Is Useful Is Sweet[1] |
| Chief | |
| Major Timothy Strange of Balcaskie[1] | |
| Baron of Balcaskie[2] | |
Clan Strange,[3] also known asClan Strang,[4] is a LowlandScottish clan.
The surname Strange is more often found asStrang.[3] It is probably derived from theNorman orFrench wordetrange, which meansforeign.[3] TheStrang rendering is believed to derive from the Scots dialect for the wordstrong.[3]
In around 1255 Home le Estraunge was in the service of the Scottish king.[3] In around 1340 Thomas de Strang held land aroundAberdeen.[3] In about 1362 John Strang married Cecilia, sister of RichardAnstruther of that Ilk and as part of the marriage settlement, Strang received some of the lands ofBalcaskie.[3]
William Strang of Balcaskie is mentioned in around 1466 in deeds.[3] In 1482 John Strang of Balcaskie received a charter of confirmation for the lands of Ewingston.[3]
John Strang of Balcaskie was killed at theBattle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547.[3]
In 1615 John Strang of Balcaskie sold the estate and became a colonel inCochrane's Scots Regiment.[3]Sir Robert Strange was descended from a younger son of the house of Balcaskie whose family had settled inOrkney at the time of theScottish Reformation.[3] Strange was intended for a career in the law, but instead took ship on a man-of-war heading for the Mediterranean.[3] When he returned he took up the art of engraving.[3]
The same Sir Robert Strange was appointed toCharles Edward Stuart's Life Guard when Stuart's army enteredEdinburgh in 1745.[3] Strange served in the Life Guard during theJacobite rising of 1745 until after the defeat at theBattle of Culloden in 1746.[3] After which he managed to escape for several months remaining as a fugitive in theScottish Highlands.[3] He later returned to Edinburgh in obscurity.[3] He moved toLondon in 1751 where he began to receive critical acclaim for engraving several important historical prints.[3] He left to tourItaly in 1760 and died in 1792, being considered the father of the art of engraving historical prints.[3]
In February 1995 Major Timothy Strange of Balcaskie,Baron of Balcaskie was confirmed byLord Lyon as Chief of the Clan Strange.[2]
Balcaskie inFife was seat of John Strang who died at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, the property then passed to the Moncreiffs in 1615, then to Sir William Bruce in 1665 and then to the Anstruthers in 1698. Much of Strang's original interior of the building survives but it has since been altered and extended.[4]
