Clan Arbuthnott

Clan Arbuthnott
Crest: A peacock's head couped at the neck Proper
Motto	LAUS DEO (Praise [be] to God)
Profile
Region	Lowland
District	Aberdeenshire
Chief
The Rt. Hon Keith Arbuthnott
The 17th Viscount of Arbuthnott
Seat	Arbuthnott House
Clan branches Arbuthnott of Arbuthnott (chiefs) See also: Arbuthnot baronets

Clan Arbuthnott is a Lowland Scottish clan.

The name Arbuthnott is of territorial origin from the lands of the same name in the county of Kincardineshire. Early documents refer to these lands as Aberbothenoth which has been translated as the mouth of the stream below the noble house. The Arbuthnott lands have been in the hands of the same noble family for more than twenty-four generations including the present Viscount of Arbuthnott.

Hugh, who may have been from the Clan Swinton family, may have acquired the lands of Arbuthnott through his marriage to Margaret Olifard, heiress of Arbuthnott, sister of Osbert Olifard, who was known as "The Crusader" who was killed in the First Crusade during the reign of William the Lion. Another Hugh, styled "Le Blond", possibly for his fair hair, was Laird of Arbuthnott in about 1282. This Hugh appears in a charter in the same year bestowing lands upon the Monastery of Arbroath for the safety of his soul. The first of the clan to be described in a charter as dominus ejusdem (of that ilk) was Phillip de Arbuthnott.

The son of Phillip de Arbuthnott was Hugh Arbuthnott of that ilk who was implicated in the murder of John Melville of Glenbervie who was the sheriff of the Mearns in 1420. The traditional story is that sheriff Melville had made himself very unpopular with the local lairds by too strict an adherence to his jurisdiction. The Duke of Albany at the time was also Regent of Scotland while James I of Scotland was in captivity in England. The Duke is alleged to have become tired of endless complaints about Melville and exclaimed "sorrow gin that sheriff were sodden and supped in broo", which was taken by the disgruntled lairds as a signal to kill the sheriff. The Lairds of Arbuthnott, Mathers, Pitarrow and Halkerton invited Melville to a hunting party in the Garvock Forest. However Melville was lured to a prearranged place where he was killed by being thrown into a cauldron of boiling water and each of the murderers took a spoonful of the murderous brew. The Laird of Arbuthnott was pardoned for his involvement in this affair and died peacefully in 1446.