The Armstrong Clan Society

Dedicated to the Armstrongs, Crosiers, Fairbairns, Grosiers, Nixons and those interested in these surnames. 

 One Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

The Armstrong Clan Society has been organized to:

1) Seek friendship and unity among Armstrongs and associated families.

2)  Provide for the preservation of Armstrong artifacts unique to the family and to maintain a library.

 3) Serve as a genealogical and historical recorder of the membership,

 4) Provide quarterly news, Armstrong history and genealogy via The Armstrong Chronicles,

 5) Establish geographic membership representation.

Membership

All Armstrongs, Croziers, Fairbairns, Groziers and Nixons, regardless of spelling, and their descendants, are eligible for full membership in The Society. All others interested in furthering the goals of The Society may become associate members. In the United States and Canada, dues are $25 per year, including two adults and all minor children. In all other countries dues are $35 per year, payable in US funds.

You can click here to download a membership application.    Any questions? Email Peter Armstrong at parmstrong2@sc.rr.com or mail  to Peter A. Armstrong 128 Essex Dr Summerville, SC 29485

Lord Lyon, King of Arms, Recognizes an Honorable Company

On September 24, 1984 the Lord Lyon, King of Arms granted warrant to the Lyon clerk to matriculate in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland in the name of Armstrong Clan Society, Inc. "acting world-wide and in particular within the United States of America" to further the interests of the Armstrong family. Matriculated in the 8th day of February 1985 in the 110th page of the 62nd volume of the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland.

Ancient Armstrongs in Eskdale 

By DeWitt Armstrong, 1990 [spelling has not been changed] from The Armstrong Chronicles, Dec, 2005

     In the late 1400s and early 1500s the strong, numerous Armstrong clan spilled westward out of Liddesdale into Eskdale. Soon they held much of the valley's land and had built Langholm Castle where the river Ewes joins the Esk. Just downstream, a century or so later; the town of Langholm grew up, today a charming market town of about 3000 where Scotland's finest tweeds are woven. Few Armstrongs live there today, but in the index to the 922 page history of Langholm and Eskdale you will find many more Armstrongs than people of any other surname. That 1912 history is Langholm As It Was, by John Hyslop and his son Robert. What follows is an extract from the Hyslops' 18 page account of our clan.

     Among the Border clans, none was more powerful, none more famous, than the Armstrongs. During the sixteenth century the clan wielded an immense influence on both sides of the Border, an influence to be reckoned with, by both the Scottish and English Governments. The Armstrongs occupied many of the well-known border towers, around which the different branches of the clan were grouped. Not only in Liddesdale, but also in Ewesdale, Eskdale, Wauchopedale, and Annandale, they formed a considerable portion of the fighting men. It is said that not fewer than 3000 Armstrongs from the Border dales would answer the call of their chief. Their raids and expeditions are matters of history. Wardens corresponded about them, and so did Kings and Queens, but the Armstrongs persisted and succeeded, despite all 'the resources of civilization which were requisitioned for their suppression. The head of the clan was the laird of Mangerton, in Liddesdale, though Johnnie of Gilnockie seems to have been its recognized leader. 

     As early as 1376 there was an Armstrong in Mangerton, and the connection between the family name and the place lasted until well into the seventeenth century. Whithaugh was also a lairdship belonging to the Armstrongs, and its chieftain ranked in importance next to Mangerton. Mr. A. Bruce Armstrong mentions that the original charter of Whithaugh having been lost, Francis, Earl of Bothwell, re-granted the lands in 1586 to Lancelot Armstrong. The main interest in the Armstrong Clan, so far as Eskdale is concerned, centers in Johnnie Armstrong, sometimes called the "Laird of Gilnockie" The coming of the Armstrongs of Liddesdale to Canonby, however, was not their first appearance in Eskdale. As early as 1456 there was a David Armstrong in Sorby in Ewesdale. 

     The Armstrongs continued to possess this lairdship until a comparatively recent date. Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie was a brother of Thomas, Laird of Mangerton, and would appear to have migrated from Liddesdale into Canonby, probably in the latter half of the fifteenth century. We read that in 1501 James IV ordered Bothwell, who was Warden of the west March, to extirpate the Armstrongs, so evidently, even at that early date, the clan had become obnoxious to the ruling powers. When the King in person visited Eskdale in 1504 on his tour of repression, known in history as the Raid of Eskdale, he summoned the Armstrongs to his Court, but it does not appear that they obeyed. They had been declared 'at the horn' in the previous year, and the King now sent one Jame Tailyour to 'fech the Armestrangis to the King,' for which service Jame received the sum of fourteen shillings, and considering the risk he ran the payment does not seem excessive. The King gave himself the satisfaction of hanging several of the Eskdale 'thevis' during this visit, but the Armstrongs, who were probably his principal quarry, seem to have eluded his agents. It must be admitted that during the times of unrest on the Borders, the Armstrongs were not consistent upholders of the Scottish authority. They seem to have been swayed by motives of expediency, and occasionally they even incur the suspicion of double-dealing. Evidence indicates that, whilst they were hunting with Lord Maxwell, they were also running with Lord Dacre. 

     In one of the letters of Dacre to Wolsey dated 1517, whilst yet the English, flushed with their victory at Flodden, were devastating the Borders, Dacre tacitly admits that the Armstrongs are in his service in these raids: 'As for the Armestrangs and oder evill disposed personnes, their adherents, the King's highness shall not be charged with none assistance from them, but only myself.' Some charges against Dacre in respect of his conduct as Warden were made about this time. One charge being that he allowed the Armstrongs to frequent Carlisle market, and another that he had failed to punish them for their offences. Between 1517 and the break up of the clan in 1529, the Armstrongs were, under Lord Maxwell as superior, in possession of very considerable holdings in Eskdale. 

     Johnnie Armstrong, chief of the local branch of the clan, occupied the seat of authority in his tower at the Hollows. His son Christie was at Barngleis. Other members of the clan had lands in Stapelgortoun, Langholm, Shiel, and Dalbeth. Whilst David and Ninian Armstrong were vassals of Lord Home in respect of lands in the Over-parish of Ewes. Thus the clan formed almost a circle around Langholm, a disposition of their forces which must have afforded the Armstrongs a great strategic advantage, both in attack and defense. The repeated raids by the Armstrongs naturally evoked reprisals, and considerable confusion resulted from the fact that neither the English nor the Scottish Wardens were quite sure that the other was not aiding and abetting them. Maxwell was strongly suspected of complicity in their raids into England, and Dacre, as we have remarked, admitted employing them in his secret service. At length, the question became one of serious import to both countries. To solve the problem, it was proposed by the Scottish Council to lay waste the entire Debateable Land, and not only dispossess but slay all its inhabitants. 

     The Government thought to make the borders a desert, and doubtless they would have called it 'Peace!' The plan to be followed was to take from the people, notably the Armstrongs who had caused the commotion, 'all their gudis and possessiones, byrn and destroy the housis, cornys, hay, and fewall, and tak all thar wiffis and barnys and bring them to portis of the sea and send them away in schippis, to be put on land in Irland or uther far partis quhar fra [where from] tha might nevir return haim agane.' This root and branch policy, whether it was meant as anything beyond a humorous suggestion may well be doubted, required a like resolve on the part of the English Government as to the English raiders and the idea came to naught. 

     In 1528 Dr. Magnus, who was the English representative at the Scottish Court, reported that the Armstrongs had destroyed 52 parish churches, a statement which bears upon it the stamp of gross exaggeration. If true, it is remarkable sequel to the Motion of Cursing issued against the Armstrongs and other clans in 1525, by the [Roman Catholic] Archbishop of Glasgow. The same criticism may be made concerning the admission of Sym Armstrong, the laird of Whithaugh, who, when soliciting the protection of the English King, at Alnwick, on the charming plea that justice could not be obtained in Scotland, claimed that he had 'laid waste in the saide realme [60 miles], and laide doune [32] parisshe churches and there was [no one] in the realme of Scotland [who dared try to] remedy the same.' The Armstrongs paid small respect to the commands of either the Scottish or English Warden, but seem, when occasion demanded, to have played off the one against the other, with much advantage to themselves. In 1526-7 the heads of the clan erected a number of strong towers on the Debateable Land contrary to the agreement between Lord Maxwell and the Earl of Cumberland. The principal tower was the Hole-hous, or Hollows, the stronghold of Johnnie Armstrong.

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