Clan Muir

Clan Muir
Crest: A savage head couped Proper
Motto	Durum patientia frango
Profile
Region	Lowlands
District	East Ayrshire
Clan Muir has no chief, and is an armigerous clan
Historic seat	Rowallan Castle

Clan Muir is a Scottish clan that is armigerous (it has no chief recognized by the Court of the Lord Lyon). Historically, holders of the surname Muir (also spelt Moir, Moor, Moore, More, and Mure) can be considered septs of Clan Campbell and septs of Clan Gordon in the highlands. The spelling variation More/Moore is a sept of Clan Leslie in Aberdeenshire. Some members of Clan Muir who trace their ancestry to Ayrshire are septs of Clan Boyd. A single family, the Mores of Drumcork, are septs of Clan Grant.

The Scottish surname Muir originated as name denoting someone who lived beside a moor. The name is derived from the Scots form of the Middle English more, meaning "moor" or "fen". Muirs are thought to have descended from the Pictish Celts, of both Ireland and Scotland. The name may alternately derive from the Scottish Gaelic word muir, meaning sea, or mòr meaning of great size, tall and important, as in duine mòr, a great man or considerable personage.

The family is said to have come from Ireland. Polkelly seems to have been the most ancient property held in Scotland by the Mures. An Archibald Mure was slain at Berwick in 1296 when Balliol's army was routed.

The Mures were prominent figures throughout the history of Scotland, from Sir Gilchrist Mure, who married the daughter and sole heir of Sir Walter Comyn with the blessing of King Alexander III, for his part in the battle of Largs. This secured the family seat at Rowallan Castle. Another version states that Gilchrist Mure was dispossessed of the house and living at Rowallan by the strong hand of Sir Walter Cuming, and was compelled to keep close in his castle of Polkelly until Alexander III raised sufficient forces to subdue Cuming and his adherents. The family had held Rowallan, in this version, from unknown antiquity.