MOTTO 
Bydand
Remaining
The name Gordon is
territorial and the family who took the name are
believed to have been of Anglo-Norman descent,
moving from the Borders to Aberdeenshire. The wild
boar’s head appears on the Gordon arms because,
legend says, the first Gordon saved a Scottish
king from an attacking boar.
The monks of St Mary at
Kelso were given their land by Richard, Baron of
Gordon in 1150 and 1160, the earliest recording of
the name in use.
Sir Adam of Gordon was a
supporter of Robert the Bruce and travelled to
Rome to ask the Pope to reverse Bruce’s
excommunication, served after Bruce killed Comyn
in a church.
The king gave the Earl of
Atholl’s confiscated lands of Strathbogie to
Gordon. The castle there became known as Huntly, a
reminder of the Gordons’ Berwickshire lands. Sir
Alexander Gordon was created Earl of Huntly in
1449.
At this time the king was
at enmity with the powerful Douglases.
The Gordons stood on the
king’s side, and with their men involved in the
south of the country, the Earl of Moray, a
relation and ally of the Douglases, took the
opportunity to sack the Gordon lands, setting
Huntly Castle ablaze. The Gordons returned and
quickly destroyed their enemies.
As the Douglases were
removed from all their positions of power, the
Gordons grew without challenge. Their near-regal
status earned their chiefs the still-used nickname
“Cock ‘o the North”.
During the Reformation,
Gordon power was such that they could disregard it
and choose to remain Catholic. Nonetheless, they
fought with the men of Mary, Queen of Scots,
resulting in Huntly dying in battle and his son
being beheaded before her.
By the time of Montrose
they had become supportive of the Scottish crown.
The followers of the 2nd Marquess of Huntly were
known as the Gordon Horse, and it is believed that
had Huntly’s self-importance not impeded
co-operation with the great Montrose, the war for
Scottish independence may have had a different
ending.
As it was, Huntly was
captured in 1647, then beheaded after two years in
jail.
During the Risings of
1715 and 1745 there were Gordons on both sides.
The 2nd Duke of Gordon followed the Jacobites in
the ‘15, but the 3rd Duke supported the
Hanovarians by the time of the ‘45, while his
brother raised two regiments against him at
Culloden.
The Dukedom became
extinct with its line after the 5th Duke, and the
present Marquess descends from the Earl of Aboyne,
whilst a new Duke of Gordon was created of the
Duke of Richmond in 1876.
Information
of Blankets
Traditional Pure Wool Tartan Blankets
- 5 lb. Blanket
- serged edge
prewashed and preshrunk
Double bed size 62” -70” wide by 90”-100” long
Since we preshrink every blanket and wool is a natural product, every blanket has unique dimensions.
