Clan Leask
| Clan Leask | |||
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Crest: A crescent Argent
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| Motto | Virtute Cresco (Lat. I grow by virtue) | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| Chief | |||
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| Jonathan Leask of that Ilk | |||
| Chief of the Name and Arms of Leask | |||
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Clan Leask is a Lowland Scottish clan.
There are several possible origins of the surname Leask. One possibility is that it is a diminutive of the Anglo-Saxon word lisse, which means happy. In the Norse language it means a stirring fellow. Professor Leask of Aberdeen believed that the ancestor of the Leaks was Liscus who was chief of the Haedui, a tribe of Gauls who were described by Julius Caesar during his Gallic Wars. One of the greatest fortresses in France was the Castle of Boulogne, a possession of Charlemagne which at one time belonged to a family called de Lesque. An early reference to the name is that of Erik Leask who was reputedly chamberlain to the king of Denmark.
In 1296 William de Laskereske appears on the Ragman Rolls submitting to Edward I of England. In about 1345 William Leask received a charter of confirmation to his lands of Leskgoroune or Leskgaranne from David II of Scotland, son of Robert the Bruce. He might be the same William Leysk who was recorded in the parish records of the church at Ellon, Aberdeenshire as: William de Laysk, the elder, Lord of that Ilk, bequeathed a pound of wax yearly to the alter of the Holyrood in the church of St Mary of Ellon.
In 1390 the second known chief of Clan Leask who was ballie of the barony of Findon, inherited half of the lands of Henry de Brogan, Lord of Achlowne. He also appears as a witness to a charter by the Earl of Orkney in 1391.
In the middle of the 15th century a younger son of Leask went to Orkney at the request of the earl, who had formed a court at Kirkwall Palace. There a branch of the Clan Leask was formed which still shows the longest unbroken male lines of the clan.
The third chief of Clan Leask, Wilfred, signed a bond of Manrent in favour of William Hay, Earl of Erroll in 1456 and also resigned his lands in favour of his son and heir. From this point onwards the connection with the Clan Hay appears to have remained strong. When the Cheynes of Esslemont allied themselves with the Hays their bond was signed at the Chapel of Laske in 1499.
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Wikipedia