Clan Lindsay
Crest & Motto
The Lindsay crest shows the head, neck and raised wings of a swan issuing from an antique ducal coronet, with the motto Endure Fort, endure bravely. The swan has been the badge of the chiefs of Lindsay for centuries and still appears in the arms of the Earl of Crawford.
History
The Lindsays take their name from Lindsey in Lincolnshire, the old “island of Lincoln”, and reached Scotland in the twelfth century. Baldric de Lindsey is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and his sons Walter and William followed David, Earl of Huntingdon, north when he became King David I in 1124. The family was planted at Crawford in Upper Clydesdale, and Crawford Castle in Lanarkshire remained the early seat of the chiefs.
In 1357 Sir David Lindsay acquired Glenesk and Edzell in Angus by marriage, and Edzell Castle became the chiefly stronghold for the next three and a half centuries. His grandson, another Sir David, won lasting fame in 1390 when he unhorsed the English champion Lord Welles in a tournament on London Bridge before Richard II. He was created Earl of Crawford in 1398, one of the oldest earldoms in Scotland, and later served as Lord High Admiral.
The medieval earls were among the most powerful magnates in the kingdom. The 4th Earl, Alexander, remembered as Earl Beardie or the Tiger Earl, took the Douglas side against James II and was defeated at the Battle of Brechin in 1452. The 5th Earl was made Duke of Montrose by James III in 1488, the first dukedom in Scotland granted outside the royal family, though the title fell with the king that year. A cadet of the house, Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, was Lyon King of Arms to James V and the leading Scots poet of his age, author of Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis.
The Balcarres branch in Fife rose in its own right, created Earls of Balcarres in 1650 for service in the civil wars. The 3rd Earl came out for the Jacobites in 1715, and the Lindsays finally lost Edzell the same year. In 1848 the House of Lords confirmed the Earl of Balcarres as the rightful Earl of Crawford, uniting the two titles, and the family went on to assemble the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, one of the great private libraries of the Victorian age. Balcarres House, near Colinsburgh in Fife, is the seat of the chiefs today.
Clan Chief
The current chief is Anthony Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford and 13th Earl of Balcarres, chief since March 2023 on the death of his father Robert, the 29th Earl. The Earl of Crawford is the premier earl of Scotland on the Union Roll. The family seat is Balcarres House in Fife.
Clan Tartan
Septs and Family Names
Many family names are counted among the septs of Clan Lindsay. If your surname appears here, your family history leads back to this clan: Auchinleck, Buyers, Byers, Cobb, Deuchar, Deuchars, Downie, Fotheringham, Grubb, Leeds, Lindesay, Lindsay, Lindsey, Linsey, Rhind, Rhynd, Summers, Sumner, Waddell.
Unsure how clan names, crests and septs work? Our guide to Scottish clan names explains the rules.
Further reading
Clan Lindsay Society of Australia
Edzell Castle and Garden, Historic Environment Scotland
The Lindsay Crest in 3D
We have modelled the Lindsay crest as a highly detailed 3D file, shown here as a render of the model. Get the Lindsay Crest STL file, or browse the Scottish clan crest collection.
Print the file at home, or upload it to an online 3D printing bureau such as Shapeways and choose your material and finish.
Explore the clans of Scotland on our interactive clan map.
