St Kilda Kilts & Scottish Gifts

Bruce. A proud lion has obvious connotations to Scottish royalty. The Latin motto ‘Fuimus’, meaning ‘we have been’ is a little more cryptic, although is usually taken to mean something like ‘we Bruces were once kings’. Our lion here, rendered by the heraldic artist Romilly Squire, is appropriately proud (and fluffy).

This is the crest of the Earls of Elgin, who descend from the Bruces of Clackmannan, in turn from Thomas de Bruys, a kinsman of the famous king. The Fuimus motto appears on the memorial of Sir Edward Bruce of Kinloss, who died in 1610 (Arthur Collins, Peerage of England, 1735, vol.2. pt.1, p. 321), one of their number.

The lion is on the crest as it is now is ‘azure’ which means blue. Sir George MacKenzie’s 1680s Families of Scotland Manuscript describes the crest as a ‘lyon passant gules’ (meaning red). Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry, mentions a lion rampant as the crest, with no note of the colour, although this is presumably a mistake. We have the blue passant lion by 1735 at least (Collins).  

A blue lion has long been a feature of the shield of the Bruces. It was apparently their armorial symbol from the mid-eleventh century and displayed their connection with their Flemish origins as much as their aspirations to Scottish royalty.

Our older Carrick range of Clan Crests version of the Bruce Crest

MKP 25 August 2023