Clan Leslie
| Clan Leslie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac an Fhèisdeir | |||
Crest: A demi griffin Proper, armed, beaked and winged Or
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| Motto | Grip fast | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| District | Aberdeenshire | ||
| Plant badge | Rue | ||
| Chief | |||
 |
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| The Right Honourable James | |||
| Earl of Rothes and Lord of Leslie | |||
| Seat | Whitefield House | ||
| Historic seat | Leslie Castle | ||
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Clan Leslie is a Lowland Scottish clan.
From 1457 the Clan Chief of Clan Leslie also held the position of Earl of Rothes. The Chief is currently the Hon. Alexander Leslie, the brother of James Malcolm David Leslie, 22nd Earl of Rothes (born 1958).
The first Leslie in Aberdeenshire was Alexander who was appointed Constable of The Bass in Inverurie in 1080 on behalf of the king, his brother-in-law.
The progenitor of the Clan Leslie is a man named Bartolf who was a nobleman from Hungary, who came to Scotland in 1067. Bartolf was in the retinue of Edgar the Ætheling, brother of Saint Margaret of Scotland, who was later the queen of Malcolm III of Scotland. Bartholf later married Malcolm III's sister, Princess Beatrix of Scotland.
Bartolf was said to be a man of intellect and bravery and as a result Malcolm III made him governor of the royal Edinburgh Castle and gave him estates in Fife, Angus, Mearns and Aberdeenshire. It is said that Bartolf helped the queen across a dangerous river on a horse and that Bartolf told her to "grip fast", which is where the Leslie family motto originates.
Bartolf established himself in the Garioch district of Aberdeenshire, at a place then known as Lesselyn. At Lesselyn he built a castle and it is from there that the name evolved into Lesley, and the various spelling variations. Bartolf's son was named Malcolm and was made constable of the royal Inverury Castle, which he held for David II of Scotland. His great-grandson was Sir Norman Lesley who acquired the lands of Fythkill in Fife, which were later called Lesley, in about 1282.
The family sided with Robert the Bruce against firstly The Comyn in the Buchan and secondly Edward I and as a result were awarded further tracts of Aberdeenshire. They fought at the Battle of Bannockburn. Sir Andrew de Lesly was one of the signatories of Declaration of Arbroath, was sent to the Pope in 1320 asserting Scotland's independence. His grandson, Walter died at the Battlew of Harlaw in 1411 together with six of his cousins from Balquhain.
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Wikipedia