Clan Little

Clan Little
Crest: A demi lion Sable powdered with saltires Argent, armed Gules, in dexter paw a cutlass Proper and in sinister a saltire Argent
Motto	Concedo nulli or Fidei coticula crux
Profile
Region	Borders
Clan Little has no chief, and is an armigerous clan
Historic seat	Meikledale
Last Chief	Little of Meikledale

Clan Little is a Scottish clan of the Borders. The clan does not currently have a chief and is therefore considered an armigerous clan. The Clan Little Society had a Guardian in place of a clan chief but, since his death in 2007, no suitable successor has appeared.

According to Black, Little is a descriptive name and was originally written in Latin documents as parvus meaning little or small. Given that the name is descriptive it is impossible to find any clear origin of the Little name in Scotland.

In the 12th century David I King of Scots appointed Walter fitz Alan, an Anglo-Norman from Shropshire, as High Steward of Scotland. In his capacity as Steward, Walter granted lands at Cairntable, Ayrshire to Alan Little, a former neighbour on the Shropshire-Cheshire border. By 1300 the Littles had settled in Dumfriesshire where Nicol Little was recorded as Conservator of the Peace for Lochmabenston in the Scottish West March of the Anglo-Scottish border.

Sometime before 1426, Simon Lytil was granted tenure of Meikledale, Sorbie and Kirktoun in Ewesdale, Dumfriesshire by the then regent, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany. The grant was confirmed in 1426 shortly after James I returned from his captivity in England. Simon Little, 1st Laird of Meikledale, is therefore considered to be the first chief of the name.

About the time of Alan Little's grant of land at Cairntable, Walter the Steward granted lands near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire to Richard le Waleys, also of Shropshire. This Richard was the g-g-grandfather of Sir William Wallace, one of the main leaders in the early Wars of Scottish Independence. Sir William's sister may have married a Little and had a son named Edward, who became a trusted lieutenant. We believe this because Blind Harry the Minstrel mentioned such a person in his poem The Wallace: "And Edward Littil his sisters sone so der / Full wel graithit in till thar armour cler".