It is said that the progenitor of the clan was Fairbairn, an armour bearer to the King of Scots. When his master’s horse was killed beneath him in battle Fairbairn grasped the king by the thigh and lifted him onto his own horse.
A most famous recent Armstrong, Neil, is said to have left a wee bit of his clan tartan on the moon.
In order to produce Scottish clan history pictures we require a genuine tartan and an approved badge. The following Reiver family names meet with this criteria.
ARMSTRONG - BELL - CARLYLE - CRANSTON - DAVISON - DOUGLAS - ELLIOT - GRAHAM - HENDERSON - HUNTER - IRVINE - JARDINE - JOHNSTON(E) - KERR - MAXWELL - MOFFAT - SCOTT - TAYLOR - THOMPSON - TURNBULL
JAMESON(STEWART) - NOBLE (MACINTOSH) - ROBSON (GUNN) - TURNER (LAMONT)
Thereafter he became known as Armstrong and was knighted and given lands in the borders. The Armstrong clan became one of the most powerful of the infamous “Border Reivers”. In those difficult times they regularly led forays well into the English border countryside stealing and plundering until the English Crown in 1603 took their revenge on all the Reiving families. Sixty five Armstrongs were captured and hanged in the course of two years at Naworth Castle, 20 miles from the Scottish border. Part of the old oak hanging tree still stands. The aftermath of these reprisals resulted in many families fleeing to the cities, to Ulster, America and the British Colonies.
An antique reproduction map of 17th century Scotland on which are hand painted the lands said to be in possession of the respective clan in the 1600’s.
We endeavour to be as accurate as possible but as the defined clan areas on individual reference maps differ slightly the respective areas on your map will be approximate.
