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| The Clan Irving |
| Arms: |
| Argent, three sheaves of holly two and one vert, each consisting of as many leaves slipped and banded Gules. |
| Motto: |
| Sub sole sub umbra virens (Flourishing both in sunshine and in shade.) |
| "Eriwine" and "Erwinne are old English first names, derived from the Brittonic "ir afon" meaning "green water". It became the name of a parish in Annandale in Dumfries-shire and also in Ayrshire (where the town of Irvine has prospered). The first recorded reference in Scotland is Gilchirst, son of Eruini, who witnesssed a charter in Galloway in the 12th century. However, family tradition claims that the chiefly branch originated through the lay Abbots of Dunkeld from the High King of Ireland. For twelve generations, starting with the third Laird of Drum, there was a successive line of Irvines all bearing the name Alexander. Duncan, the eldest son of Crinan Eryvine, later became King and it is around his murder that Shapespear's play "Macbeth" is based. |
| William de Irwin was a neighbour of the Bruce family and he became an armour-bearer and then secretary to Robert the Bruce. His reward for 20 years of service was the royal forest of Drum, near Banchory, and Aberdeenshire. This then became the seat of the family. De Irwyne, the 3rd Laird of Drum accompanied the Earl of Mar in the French wars and fought at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. The 4th Laird was heavily involved in the negotiations which ransomed King James I from the English. James knighted de Irwne. |
| The Irvine Lairds fought on the side of the Jacobites in both the 1717 and 1745 uprisings. A number of Irvines emigrated to Ireland - there is and Irvine castle in Fermanage whis was built by a Scottish Irvine. In more recent times, the 22nd Laird fought in the First World War in the Grenadier Guards. Colonel John Irving who in 1867 fought in the Aybssian Campaign, his son Sir Robert Irvine, from Dumfries line, was captain of the "Queen Mary", Sir James Irvine (from Ayrshire) was a noted Chemist and principal of St Andrews University until 1952. |
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| The 10th Laird of Drum staunchly supported King Charles I but, during the fighting, Drum castle was attacked and looted. An offer of a peerage was made to the 11th Laird but he declined it when he found the king unwilling to recompense him for the destruction of the Drum estates. Drum castle in Aberdeenshire is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is regarded as one of the finest castles in Scotland. The keep is one of the three oldest surviving tower houses in the county. |
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| Irvine Tartan |
| Drum Castle |
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