Clan Wood

Clan Wood Crest badge Crest: A ship under sail Proper. Motto: TUTUS IN UNDIS Profile District Fife

Chief Timothy Michael Herbert Fawcett Wood of Largo Chief of Clan Wood

Clan Wood is a Lowland Scottish clan from North Esk, Largo Bay and Angus in Scotland.

History

The erroneous notion that clans are Highland groups and families are Lowland units is very much a Victorian one. In fact, the terms are interchangeable, and many a Lowland laird has held from the Lyon Court the title Chief of the Name and Arms. This is true of the Woods.^[1]

Origins of the name

The surname Wood is common throughout Britain. There are two possible origins of the name. The most common origin is from a topographic name, used to describe a person who lived in, or worked in a wood or forest. A less common origin of the name is as a nickname for an eccentric, or violent person.^[2][3][4]

Admiral Sir Andrew Wood

Admiral Sir Andrew Wood of Largo, Fife, was born around the middle of the 15th century. Sir Andrew was the eldest son of William Wood, a merchant, who was almost certainly a scion of the prominent Wood families holding lands in Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Perthshire and Angus.^[5] He was famous for inflicting many defeats on foreign pirates and privateers as well as squadrons of ships sent by the English government to harass the Scots. After winning several sea battles in the 1480s against the English, he was made a free Baron, with lands including Largo in Fife. Some records suggest that he was also made a chief of Clan MacDonald for his help in the king's expedition by land and sea after which Domhnall Dubh of the Isles was captured and kept in prison for forty years. Sir Andrew's ruined castle can be found in Upper Largo.^[6]

Sir Andrew's successors built a hospital and a school in Fife for their kinsmen named Wood, and were prominent in Scottish history both politically and militarily. They continued to be a significant influence in British politics and were foremost among the thousands of Scots who contributed enormously to the economic and armed expansion of the British Empire well into the 19th century. The main line of Sir Andrew’s descendants is considered by the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be the chiefly one. The record of succession is complete right down to modern times.^[1]

Clan profile

Timothy Michael Herbert Fawcett Wood, has matriculated the undifferenced Arms and Supporters of the first Chief of Clan Wood in the present line, Admiral Sir Andrew Wood of Largo in Fife, at the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms of Scotland. He is the hereditary Representative of the Ancient Family of Wood of Largo and Chief of the Name. The crest badge that is used by members of the clan comprises the Crest of the Chief's Arms held within a traditional strap and buckle and contains the motto of the Clan's Chiefs, which is TUTUS IN UNDIS (Latin: "Safe on the Waves").^[7]

See also

• Wood (surname)
• Woods (surname)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "A guide to the Clans and Tartans of Scotland: From Scottish Clan Information to Clan Merchandise, Handmade Kilts, Highland Outfits ... everything a true Scot should need and know.". Clan Wood profile. http://www.scotclans.com/clans/Wood/history.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
2. ^ Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?, retrieved 11 December 2010  which cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4  for the surname "Wood".
3. ^ Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 822 
4. ^ Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 3474–3475, ISBN 0-203-99355-1 
5. ^ "Weekly Mailing List Archives 26th January 2007". Admiral Sir Andrew Wood (1st Chief). http://www.electricscotland.com/newsletter/070126.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
6. ^ "The Footsteps of Wood". Wood Family History. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/footstepsofwood/story.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
7. ^ http://www.clan-wood.org.uk/ourchiefs.html

External links

• http://www.scotclans.com/clans/Wood/history.html
• http://www.clan-wood.org.uk/