Clan Weir Septs
The following names are considered septs or associated names of Clan Weir:
Vair, Veir, Vere, Veyre, Wair, Ware, Wayre, Wear, Weare, Weer, Weir, Weire, Were, Werr, Weyir, Weyr, Whier, Wier, Wir, and Wire
Weir is also considered a sept of Clan Douglas
From The Clan Douglas Society (http://clandouglassociety.org/blackwood/)
The following is attributed to Ray Isbell and is found in most modern discussions of the Weir family.
George Black’s statement that the Weirs are not shown in the records before they obtained the lands of Blackwood, Lanarkshire, is not accepted by the greater authority, Sir Edmund Burke of Burke’s Peerage. Further, the Veres/Weirs were in Lanarkshire as early as 1165, and all of them made donations to the abbots of Kelso as early as 1200s, and it was the abbots of Kelso who later conferred upon them the lands of Blackwood. The Weirs/Veres of Stonebyres and Archtyfardle and Mossmynemion were branches of the Weirs of Blackwood; indeed, Stonebyres estate was once part of the Blackwood estate. In the 1500s a century-old feud between the Weirs of Blackwood and their cousins the Veres of Stonebyres was ended when the Veres swore allegiance to Weir of Blackwood and acknowledged him their chief.
A good reference source for the Weirs is the book THE UPPER WARD OF LANARKSHIRE (1864, Glasgow) by G.V. Irving, 2 volumes.
Based on Maxwell’s A History of the House of Douglas: 1& 2,
Andrew Douglas of Hermiston (or Herdmanston), from whom the Douglases of Dalkeith are descended, was the younger son of Archibald I, Lord of Douglas and brother of William Douglas, the grandfather of William “le Hardi” Douglas. Andrew was succeeded by his son William Douglas of Hermiston, who is listed on the Ragman Roll of 1296. James, the son of William, had two sons: Sir William Douglas, known as the Knight of Liddesdale or the Flower of Chivalry and Sir John Douglas. Sir John Douglas of Hermiston was the father of Sir Henry Douglas, Laird of Lugton & Lochleven. Sir Henry was succeeded by his son Sir William Douglas, Laird of Lochleven, who was succeeded by his son, Henry Douglas, Laird of Lochleven. This Henry Douglas had a daughter, Helen Douglas, who married her cousin Walter Hamilton, Lord of Raploch, the son of Sir John Hamilton, 4th Lord of Cadzow and Janet Douglas, daughter of Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith and Agnes Dunbar, the daughter of Patrick de Dunbar, 8th Earl of Dunbar. The son of Walter Hamilton and Helen Douglas was James Hamilton, Lord of Raploch.
James Hamilton, Lord of Raploch, was succeeded by his son, William Hamilton, Lord of Raploch (b. abt 1450) who married Margaret Baillie, daughter of William VII Baillie, Laird of Lamington and Margaret Seton. William Hamilton was, in turn, succeeded by James Hamilton, Lord of
Raploch (b. abt 1475), who married Isabella Weir, daughter of James Weir, 5th Laird of Blackwood and Emphemia Hamilton. Isabella Weir was born about 1500 in Blackwood, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
A second connection of Weir to Douglas is documented in a 1547 Bond of Manrent between Weir of Blackoud [Blackwood] and Archibald, sixth Earl of Angus. [The Douglas Book: 3, p 241]
201. Bond of Manrent by Thomas Weir of Blackwood to Archibald, SIXTH Earl of Angus. 2d November 1547.
Be it kend til al men be thir presentis lettres, me, Thomas Weir of Blakwod, for me, kyn, frendis and seruandis, and vderis that I can solest, to serff my Lord of Angus at his Lordschip plesour and command, quhen he commandis me, aganis al vder, and tak his afald and faithful part quhen he chargis me, to rid, gang or ony vder seruice that he charge me; and that for his Lordschip supple and help for me, my frendis, seruandis and part takaris, excepand my ourlord allanerlie. In witnes heirof I haif subscribit this vrit wytht my hand at Braxfeld, the secound day of Nouember, in the zer of God ane thousand fyff hundreth xlvii zeris, befoir Richard Watt, James Were and Master Jhone F , vitnes.
THOMASS VEIR of Blakuod.
According to Wikipedia, Manrent …
refers to a Scottish mid 15th century to the early 17th century type of contract, usually military in nature and involving Scottish clans. The bond of manrent was commonly an instrument in which a weaker man or clan pledged to serve, in return for protection, a stronger lord or clan—in effect becoming a vassal that renders service to a superior, often made in the form of a covenant. Manrents were a Promise by one person to serve another, such] that he shall be friend to all his friends, and foe to all his foes.
A third possible connection is through the Arms of Weir of Blackwood. The arms of 1) WEIR OF BLACKWOOD, 2) WEIR OF THAT ILK, and 3) Sir George WEIR OF BLACKWOOD are all described as Argent on a fess Azure three mullets of the first.
SOURCES:
Fraser, William. The Douglas Book: In Four Volumes. Burlington, Ont: TannerRitchie Pub. in collaboration with the Library and Information Services of the University of St. Andrews, 2005. Internet resource. http://www.http://archive.org/details/douglasbook03fras
Irving, George Vere. The Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. T. Murray and son, 1864.
Maxwell, Herbert. A History of the House of Douglas: 1& 2. London: Freemantle, 1902. Print.
Nisbet, Alexander, and Robert Fleming. A System of Heraldry Speculative and Practical: With the True Art of Blazon, According to the Most Approved Heralds in Europe: Illustrated with Suitable Examples of Armorial Figures, and Achievements of the Most Considerable Sirnames and Families in Scotland, &c…. by Alexander Nisbet. Edinburgh: Printed for J. MackEuen. Anno Dom, 1722. Print.
Weirs in Scotland. http://donnagene53.tripod.com/weir/id1.html
The Weir History. http://www.lexter.freeservers.com/weir_genealogy.html
Weir Family Origins: The Ancestors of Alexander Nicholl Weir. http://www.freewebs.com/weirfamilyorigins/”
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