Clan Ferguson

SCOTTISH CLANS - FERGUSON


MOTTO SWEET AFTER DIFFICULTIES	CLAN TARTAN FERGUSON TARTAN

The name Ferguson comes from the gaelic ‘Macfhearghus’, meaning son of Fergus. There are four branches of this clan spread throughout Scotland in Ayrshire, Argyll, Fife, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. Those in the Highlands were hereditary sheriffs at Strachur. The lands were sold at the beginning of the 19th century to pay off debts and the direct line is now extinct.

The Perthshire Fergusons were belligerent like many of the tribes in that area, especially their neighbours, the MacGregors. However this same branch supported the Stewart cause and fought under Montrose and Bonnie Dundee and were at Culloden. Some of the clan from Argyll, Aberdeenshire and the lowlands supported the Hanoverian cause. The Fergusons of Kilkerran, a lowland branch, from the 18th century onwards began to be regarded as the senior branch of the clan and today the chief of the clan is from that branch. They are considered to have held land in that area since the 12th century. The first written record however dates back to 1464.

There is a list of noble Ferguson soldiers recorded throughout British military history. However perhaps one of the better known Fergusons is Robert Ferguson who died at the age of 23 in an Edinburgh asylum and was buried in an unmarked grave. A poet, rather than a warrior, he was thought highly of, by Robert Burns who had held him as an inspiration for a body of work which he had produced in a few, short years. Burns was granted permission to erect a statue to the memory of the young poet.