A fetterlock with the motto ‘Hoc Securicor’. This crest was registered in the 1680s by Grierson of Lag in Nithsdale. Fetter means chain, so these were locks designed for holding people. Fetterlocks are essentially hand or leg cuffs. Hoc Securicor just means ‘more secure with this’, so is just reinforcing the lock imagery.


The Grierson seal in 1418 was a crowned lion. By the middle of the sixteenth century Grierson of Lag had adopted on his shield an unusual hour-glass shaped lock with three keyholes on it. (See Stoddart, Scottish Arms being a Collection of Armorial Bearings 1370-1678). The Foreman manuscript of 1563 shows the shield with some odd locks.


The Grierson of Lag Shield from the Foreman Manuscript.


Although locks in one way or another representing the Griersons has a long pedigree, exactly why is something of a mystery. This may be a simple representation of a role the lairds of Grierson once held – perhaps gaolers. Sir William Grierson of Lag (1550-1629) served as Sheriff of Dumfries, and a connection to that role over the centuries, or as sheriff depute, may explain the unusual symbolism of the Grierson heraldry. 


MKP 23 September 2025