Clan Cochrane

Clan Cochrane
Crest: A horse passant Argent
Motto	Virtue Et Labore (By valour and exertion)
Profile
Region	Lowlands
District	Renfrewshire
Animal	Boar
Chief
The Rt. Hon. Iain Alexander Douglas Blair Cochrane
The 15th Earl of Dundonald, and 6th Marquess of Maranhão
Seat	Lochnell Castle.
Historic seat	Auchindoun Castle

Clan Cochrane is a Lowland Scottish clan.

Traditionally the original ancestor of the Clan Cochran(e) in Scotland was a Scandinavian Viking who settled in what is now known as Renfrewshire, between the eighth and tenth centuries. It is evident that the name is of territorial origin and that the Cochranes took the name of the lands in the ancient Barony of Cochrane. The origin of the name itself is believed to be derived from two Gaelic words which jointly mean The Roar of the Battle or Battle Cry. The Cochranes took the boar as their heraldic beast, in keeping with the character of their traditional ancestor. The three boar's heads adorning the chief's shield are said to represent the exploits of a warrior who killed three of the beasts who were terrorizing the countryside.

Another traditional origin of the name Cochrane is that it comes from when an early member of the family fought in battle with such bravery that his leader singled him out from the others and clapped him on the shoulder calling him coch ran which means brave fellow.

The Cochran(e)s do not appear on any written record until 1262 when the name of Waldenus de Coveran or Cochran <ref. 'Scot's Peerage')occurs on an ancient charter for a grant of land to Walter Stewart the Earl of Menteith. This is the first certain record of the name.

Other early bearers of the name are William de Coughran in 1296, who signed submission to King Edward the First in the Ragman Roll<Scot's Peerage and Chronicles of the Cochran by Ida Cochran Haughton p. 11>; and Robert de Cochrane in about 1360. The name of 1296 appears in the Ragman Rolls swearing fealty to Edward I of England.

In 1346 John de Coveran appears as a witness in the election of an Abbot of Paisley. Goseline de Cochran appears as a witness to several grants made by Robert the Steward to Paisley Abbey in 1366.

Thomas Cochrane (later to become an Earl of Mar (1458–79) constructed most of what is still standing of Auchindoun Castle. It was passed to the Clan Ogilvy in 1489 and from them to the Clan Gordon in 1535.