St Kilda Kilts & Scottish Gifts

Although this Borders kindred is somewhat coy in pronouncing all the letters of their name, instead usually going for ‘Co-burn’, in contrast for their crest they lean right into the meaning.

The surname Cockburn refers to the placename in Berwickshire, where a tower of the same name, the ancestral home of the family once stood. The second element of the name, burn, simply means river. The first comes from the ‘cok’, a Scots word for Cock, ie a domesticated fowl. So in theory this was the river where fowl were located. Incidentally, early forms of the name are rendered ‘Cokburn’ indicating the medieval ancestors of this family pronounced the hard k sound in the spelling. We can probably understand why later generations of the family decided to be a bit more modest and go with ‘co-burn’.

The heraldry meanwhile makes no fuss with depicting a literal cockerel, and the motto ‘Accendit Cantu’ he rouses us with song, i.e. the cockerel’s crow wakes us up.

Interestingly, the heraldry of the Cockburns has always used this motif: the seal of Alexander de Cokburn used in 1340 shows a buckle between three cocks. Today, the full chiefly coat of arms consists of four cockerels in total (three on the shield and one on the crest). The supporters are two lions: perhaps it would be unwise in letting them prowl around near the chicken coup.

The Carrick Celtic version of the Clan Crest

MKP 30 June 2023