St Kilda Kilts & Scottish Gifts

The crest of the Lairds of Auchmacoy.

Here we have a sunflower enjoying the sun. This is a very rare symbol in Scottish heraldry, although was quite popular in France. It can be read as a sign of devotion. The sun probably represents either God or, more likely the Kings of Scots, from which the flourishing flower derives its strength. This may be a reference to the family’s loyalty to the Stuarts.

The Latin motto Non Inferiora Secutus, translated roughly as ‘having not pursued the inferior’ or ‘shunning inferior things’ (ie shunning things inferior to the Sun). This phrase is taken from no less than book 6 (line 170) of the Roman author Virgil’s Aeneid, written c.29-19BC. The original line refers to the famous Achilles ‘following no lesser’ person than Aeneas himself. By using such a quotation, the Laird of Buchan was portraying himself as brave Achilles, and the King as Aeneas, the founder of Rome.

The origins of this crest are unclear. Sir Thomas de Buchan (spelled at the time ‘Boghan’) sealed the Ragman Roll with a flower-like ornament of eight petals (or rays if it depicts the sun) in 1296. This may have informed the crest in later centuries – in form it looks like the sort of emblem popular in the early seventeenth century (which is also when the Aeneid was very popular) and the time of the reign of James VI.

Arms of the chief in the 1850s.

Some versions of the crest place the sunflower on top of a chapeau, a cap of maintenance. This was something added in the twentieth century, possibly when David Innes adopted the name Buchan to become chief in 1949. That version can be seen on the mid-20th century Carrick crest, below.

The older Carrick version of this crest.

MKP revised 19 July 2022