Clan Bissett

Motto

Abscissa Virescit (That torn down re-grows)^[1]

Clan Bissett has no chief, and is an armigerous clan

Historic seat

Clan branches
Bisset of Aboyne (historic chiefs)^[3] Bisset of Lessendrum (senior cadets)^[3] Mac Eoin Bissett family (Ireland)

Rival clans
Earls of Atholl (13th century)

This article is about the Scottish clan, for the related Irish clan of the same name see: Mac Eoin Bissett family.

Clan Bissett (Bisey, Byset, Bisset or Bissert) is a Scottish clan. The clan is recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms but does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, therefore the clan has no standing under Scots Law.^[3] Clan Bissett is considered an armigerous clan, meaning that it is considered to have had at one time a chief who possessed the chiefly arms; however, no one at present is in possession of such arms. The surname Bissett is also considered a sept of the Clan Fraser of Lovat.

History

Origins of the clan

The surname Bisset is believed to be of Norman origin and was brought to Scotland when William the Lion returned from captivity in England, accompanied by the Biseys.^[3] The Bysets settled in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in England.^[4] They appear with other Norman families to have successfully established themselves and gained land in Morayshire, Scotland.^[3] The power of the family spread and persons bearing the surname witnessed several charters in the 13th and 14th centuries.^[3] A charter of Alexander III of Scotland to Paisley Abbey was witnessed by Thomas de Bissat.^[3]

The rising fortunes of the family were eclipsed however by a feud with the Earl of Atholl.^[3] In 1242 at a tournament held at Haddington, Walter Byset, Lord of Aboyne was defeated by the youthful Earl of Atholl (possibly Padraig, Earl of Atholl).^[3] Allegedly, Byset, in a fit of anger murdered the earl while he slept and then set fire to his house to conceal the crime.^[3] Walter Byset and his nephew John then fled to Ireland and then to England.^[3] The feud followed the two fugitives as a pardon was later granted to the son of the Earl of Atholl for killing some Bysets in Ireland.^[3]

Habakkuk Bisset was a lawyer and Writer to the Signet during the reign of James IV of Scotland.^[3]

20th and 21st centuries

The principal line of the clan is now that of Bisset of Lessendrum, who are among the oldest families in Aberdeenshire.^[3]

Clan profile

Motto: (Latin: Abscissa Virescit - English That torn down re-grows)
Crest: The trunk of an oak tree sprouting a fresh Proper.

Castles

Aboyne Castle, just north of Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, is a tall seventeenth century tower house but there was an earlier stronghold there that was held by the Bissets.^[2]
Maryculter House, seven miles to the south west of Aberdeen was held by the Bissets and Walter Bisset of Aboyne established a preceptory of the Knights Templar at Maryculter in 1225.^[2]
Redcastle, Black Isle, was originally a property of the Bissets that dates from the twelfth century.^[2] It was later held by the Clan Fraser of Lovat and then the Clan Mackenzie.^[2]
Beaufort Castle, Beauly was originally held by the Bissets but passed by marriage to the Frasers of Lovat in the thirteenth century.^[2]
Kilravock Castle, six miles west of Nairn was also originally a strong hold of the Clan Bisset but passed by marriage to the Clan Rose in the thirteenth century.^[2]
Lessendrum, three and a half miles north east of Huntly was the seat of the longest lasting branch of the clan, the Bissets of Lessendrum.^[2]
Glenarm Castle, Glenarm, Northern Ireland
Red Bay Castle, Glenariff, Northern Ireland

Peerages

References

↑ Clan Bisset Profile scotclans.com. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Coventry, Martin. (2008). Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans. pp. 44 - 45. ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). pp. 362.
↑ "Battle Abbey Roll - Byseg". 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-16.

Scottish clans

List of tartans

Clans with chiefs	Agnew Anstruther Arbuthnott Arthur Bannerman Barclay Borthwick Boyd Boyle Brodie Broun Bruce Buchan Burnett Cameron Campbell Carmichael Carnegie Cathcart Charteris Chattan Chisholm Cochrane Colquhoun Colville Cranstoun Crichton Cumming (Comyn) Cunningham Darroch Davidson Dewar Drummond Dunbar Dundas Durie Elliot Elphinstone Erskine Farquharson Fergusson Forbes Forsyth Fraser Fraser of Lovat Gordon Graham Grant Gregor Grierson Gunn Guthrie Haig Haldane Hamilton Hannay Hay Henderson Home Hope Hunter Irvine Jardine Johnstone Keith Kennedy Kerr Kincaid Lamont Leask Lennox Leslie Lindsay Lockhart Lumsden Lyon MacAlister MacBean MacDonald Macdonald of Clanranald MacDonald of Keppoch Macdonald of Sleat MacDonell of Glengarry MacDougall Macdowall MacIntyre Mackay Mackenzie Mackinnon Mackintosh Maclachlan Maclaine of Lochbuie MacLaren MacLea (Livingstone) Maclean MacLennan MacLeod MacLeod of Lewis MacMillan Macnab Macnaghten MacNeacail MacNeil Macpherson MacTavish MacThomas Maitland Makgill Malcolm (MacCallum) Mar Marjoribanks Matheson Menzies Moffat Moncreiffe Montgomery Morrison Munro Murray Napier Nesbitt Nicolson Ogilvy Oliphant Primrose Ramsay Rattray Riddell Robertson Rollo Rose Ross Ruthven Sandilands Scott Scrymgeour Sempill Shaw Sinclair Skene Stirling Strange Stuart of Bute Sutherland Swinton Trotter Urquhart Wallace Wedderburn Wemyss Wood

Armigerous clans	Abercromby Abernethy Adair Adam Aikenhead Ainslie Aiton Allardice Anderson Armstrong Arnott Auchinleck Baillie Baird Balfour Bannatyne Baxter Bell Belshes Bethune Beveridge Binning Bissett Blackadder Blackstock Blair Blane Blyth Boswell Brisbane Buchanan Butter Byres Cairns Calder Caldwell Callender Campbell of Breadalbane Campbell of Cawdor Carruthers Cheyne Chalmers Clelland Clephane Cockburn Congilton Craig Crawford Crosbie Dalmahoy Dalrymple Dalzell Dennistoun Don Douglas Duncan Dunlop Edmonstone Fairlie Falconer Fenton Fleming Fletcher Forrester Fotheringham Fullarton Galbraith Galloway Gardyne Gartshore Gayre Ged Gibsone Gladstains Glas Glen Glendinning Gray Haliburton Halkerston Halket Hepburn Heron Herries Hogg Hopkirk Horsburgh Houston Hutton Inglis Innes Kelly Kinloch Kinnaird Kinnear Kinninmont Kirkcaldy Kirkpatrick Laing Lammie Langlands Learmonth Little Logan Logie Lundin Lyle MacAulay Macbrayne MacDuff MacEwen MacFarlane Macfie MacGillivray MacInnes MacIver Mackie MacLellan Macquarrie Macqueen Macrae Masterton Maule Maxton Maxwell McCorquodale McCulloch McKerrell Meldrum Melville Mercer Middleton Moncur Monteith Monypenny Mouat Moubray Mow Muir Nairn Nevoy Newlands Newton Norvel Ochterlony Orrock Paisley Paterson Pennycook Pentland Peter Pitblado Pitcairn Pollock Polwarth Porterfield Preston Pringle Purves Rait Ralston Renton Roberton Rossie Russell Rutherford Schaw Seton Skirving Somerville Spalding Spens Spottiswood Stewart Stewart of Appin Stirling Strachan Straiton Sydserf Symmers Tailyour Tait Tennant Troup Turnbull Tweedie Udny Vans Walkinshaw Wardlaw Watson Wauchope Weir Whitefoord Whitelaw Wishart Young

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