Moncreiffe

This name is derived from the feudal barony of Moncreiffe in Perthshire. The lands themselves take their name from the Gaelic, ‘Monadh craoibhe’, ‘Hill of the sacred bough’. The plant badge of the clan is the oak, presumably the sacred tree. Moncreiffe Hill, which dominates the southeast Perth valley, was a stronghold of the Pictish kings, thereby connecting the clan with the lands of Atholl and Dundas, both held by branches of the Picto–Scottish royal house. The late Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Albany Herald and chief of the clan, asserted that the coat of arms of the red royal lion on a silver shield, were the colours of the house of Maldred, Regent of Cumbria and brother of Duncan I. This indicates that they were early cadets of Maldred’s line, who was himself of the ancient royal house of Ireland, a descendent of King Niall of the Nine Hostages. The three main lines of the family descend from the eighth Laird of Moncreiffe, who died around 1496, and are distinguished by the spelling of the name. The Moncreiffes of Moncreiffe are the chiefly line, while the principal cadets are the Lords Moncreiff of Tulliebole and Moncreiff of Bandirran, from whom the Scott-Moncreiffs and the Moncreiffs of Kinmonth descend. In the sixteenth century one family joined the famous Scots Guard of Archers of the kings of France and established no less than three noble French families. The Marquis de Moncrif was one of the unhappy French nobility who met his end on the guillotine during the French Revolution.

In a charter of Alexander II in 1248, Sir Matthew de Muncrephe received lands in Perthshire. Among the many Scottish noblemen who pledged loyalty to Edward I of England in 1296 were Sir John de Moncref and William de Monncrefe. Malcolm Moncreiffe of that Ilk, the sixth Laird, was a member of the council of James II, and received a new charter incorporating his Highland and Lowland estates into the barony of Moncreiffe. He died around 1465, when he was succeeded by his son, the seventh Laird, chamberlain and shield bearer to James III. He married Beatrix, daughter of James Dundas of that Ilk, and died sometime prior to 1475, murdered by Flemish pirates. His grandson, Sir John Moncreiffe, was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 along with his cousin, John, Baron of Easter Moncreiffe. He was succeeded by his son, William, the tenth Laird, who supported the Douglas Earls of Angus and was fined for refusing to attend the Court in 1532 that condemned the beautiful and talented Lady Glamis to be burned as a witch, when her sole crime was to be a Douglas by birth. William was captured at the rout of Solway Moss in 1542, and was imprisoned for a time in the Tower of London. On his release, he embraced the Protestant religion, being one of the barons who subscribed to the Articles in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1567.

The twelfth Laird, Sir John Moncreiffe, was sheriff of Perthshire, and in April 1626 he was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia. The title included a nominal grant of 1,600 acres in Canada, to be called New Moncreiffe, but the grant was never taken up. John was, however, unable to support the king’s religious policies, and he signed the National Covenant in 1638. His son, John, personally raised a company of the King’s Scots Guards by warrant of Charles II in 1674. He was heavily in debt, and in 1667 he secured a Crown charter confirming a family arrangement whereby the barony of Moncreiffe was sold to his kinsman, Thomas, a descendent of the eighth Laird. Thomas succeeded in 1683 to the chiefship of the name, while the baronetcy passed to Sir John’s brother. In 1685 a second Moncreiffe baronetcy was created when Thomas, now the fourteenth Laird, was created a baronet by James VII, as Moncreiffe of that Ilk. He became Clerk of the Exchequer, treasurer in Scotland and later baillie of the Regality of St Andrews. He commissioned a new seat at Moncreiffe, the first major country house completed by Sir William Bruce in 1679. It was the family seat until it was destroyed by fire in November 1957, claiming the life of Sir David Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Baronet, the twenty-third Laird. This tragedy led to the chiefship of the great Scottish herald and historian Sir Iain Moncreiffe. Sir David’s sister, Miss Elizabeth Moncreiffe of Moncreiffe, was his heir, but declared that it was her wish that he be succeeded by her cousin, Sir Iain, the Baron of Easter Moncreiffe, while she retained the feudal barony of Moncreiffe. She built a modern country house on the site of the old seat which incorporates the doorway reclaimed from the ashes of the burned house. Sir Iain died in 1985 and the chiefship reverted to Miss Moncreiffe. On her death, the chiefship passed to Sir Iain’s younger son, the Hon. Peregrine Moncreiffe of Easter Moncreiffe.