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- Arms: Argent, three sheaves of holly two and one Vert, each consisting
of as many leaves slipped and banded Gules.
- Tartan:Irvine
- Crest: A sheaf of holly consisting of nine leaves Vert slipped and banded
Gules.
- Motto: Sub sole sub umbra virens (Flourishing both in sunshine and in
shade).
The name Irvine appears to have originated in Dumfriesshire sometime between
1124 and 1165. Duncan, the eldest son of Crinan Eryvine, later became king and it
is around his murder that Shakespeare's play Macbeth based. As a reward of 20 years
of service to the Bruces, William de Irwin was granted the royal forest of Drum in
Aberdeenshire. This later became the location of beautiful Drum castle, which became
the chief seat of the family and was occupied by them for some time. For twelve generations,
starting with the third Laird of Drum, there was a successive line of Irvines all
bearing the name Alexander. The fourth and sixth Laird were mostly known as peace
makers. The fourth was knighted for his role in securing the ransom of James I from
England. James V rewarded the sixth Laird of Drum in 1547 for his peace making efforts.
The offer of royal peerage was made to the eleventh Laird, but was turned down because
the king wouldn't pay to repair damage caused to Drum Castle while the family had
supported the king. After the fourteenth Laird (A Jacobite) was killed at the Battle
of Sheriffmuir in 1715, the estate passed eventually to John Irvine of Crimond. After
this, the Irvines continued to fight for the Jacobite cause and because of this,
the Laird spend seven years in exile in France after the defeat of Prince Charlie
at Culloden. Other notable Irvines include the twenty-second Laird, who fought with
the Grenadier Guards in WWI, Colonel John Irving who in 1867 fought in the Abyssian
Campaign, and his son Robert, who was the captain of the Queen Mary and commodore
of the Cunard Line.
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