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| CLAN BRODIE ~ CREST and TARTAN |
UNITE
Clan Crest © Art Pewter Silver Ltd,
East Kilbride, Scotland |
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| CLAN BRODIE ~ BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTES |
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One of the most ancient tribes of Morayshire, being Pictish in origin, the Brodies take their name from the town of Brodie, near Forres, and have always been associated with this region of Scotland. King Malcolm IV confirmed land on the Brodies of Moray in the 12th century and Michael, Thane of Brodie, received a Charter from Robert the Bruce in about 1311, shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn. Historical records of Clan Brodie were destroyed in 1645 when Lord Lewis Gordon set fire to Brodie Castle.
In 1466, under the control of John Brodie of Brodie were amongst those who assisted the Mackenzies in their defeat of Alexander Macdonald of Lochalsh and in 1550 Alexander Brodie with a hundred others were denounced rebels for attacking Cumming of Altyre.
Alexander Brodie, who was born in 1617, was an enthusiastic supporter of reformed religion. In 1640 he destroyed the carvings and paintings in Elgin Cathedral as he considered them to be adulterous. Ten years later was one of the Commissioners sent to persuade Charles II to sign the National Covenant and resume the Scottish Crown. Another Alexander became Lord Lyon at Arms and attended on the Duke of Cumberland throughout the campaign of 1746.
One more recent, and somewhat infamous member of the family is Deacon William Brodie who lived in Edinburgh in the 18th century. He was a well respected member of Edinburgh Society but by night he was a thief. In the end he was hanged, actually using a mechanism of his own devising, in 1788. It was his notorious exploits that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Doctor Jeckyll and Mr Hyde!
Throughout the long history of the family there has been connections through marriage with many of Scotland’s greatest families. Brodie Castle, now restored, is the seat of the clan chief.
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