Below left is a .jpeg digital image of the Cairney
coat of arms. These are the arms of Neville
Cairney, a descendant of James Cairney of Upper
Canada (recorded in the Official Register of All
Arms and Bearings in Scotland maintained by the
office of the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the heraldic
authority in Scotland):
'Argent, a rock issuing from the base Sable
charged with nine ears of wheat Or, five and
four, in chief two lions rampant Gules.'
The crest is 'an eagle displayed Gules.'
The colours are black and white.
Motto: 'Noble is the Wrath of the Lion.'
The black rock at the base of the shield is an old heraldic pun on 'Cairney',
which means 'hillock' in the Scots language. This could also symbolize a
rocky island, such as a Hebridean island, and certainly conveys a sense of
solidity and firmness. The wheat is a symbol of fertility, of possessing
offspring, the basis of any clan. The red lion, 'rampant', in a Gaelic or
Scottish context, is the royal lion, and the lions in these arms resemble the
three lions of the O'Beollains of Ross and also of some Sligo-connected
families of the Leyney barony or of the Ui Fiachrach, such as O'Horan,
O'Scanlan, O'Kearney and O'Gara. The arms above right are an example of
Sligo arms, in this case, the arms of O'Kearney of Teffia or of Leyney. More
research here needs to be done into the interesting origin of these arms, in the
Armorial roll of Richard Carney, Ulster King of Arms in 1651, and in the
earlier armorial roll of Roger O’Ferall, Linea Antiqua, held in the National
Library of Ireland in Dublin. The lions symbolize that the Cairneys, one way
or the other, are of the old Celtic stock, either linked with the Kindred of St.
Columba and the holy island of Iona off the west cost of the Isle of Mull, an
island off the west coast of Scotland (in other words, between Ireland and
Scotland) as in the case with the Donegal Cairneys, the Perth Cairneys and the
Clan Leslie (the Abernethy inheritance), or linked with the Ui Fiachrach of
Sligo as in the case of the Sligo Cairneys and the O'Beollains of Ui Fiachrach
or Ui Cairbre.
The chiefs of the Kindred of St. Columba were for many years the O'Donnells,
princes of Donegal, while in the west of Scotland, indeed, at Iona, Dunkeld
and later Abernethy, the lay abbots there, cousins of the O'Donnells, and
heads of the of the Kindred of St. Columba in Scotland, gave rise to Crinan,
Thane of Dunkeld, and MacDuff, Thane of Fife, who inherited the royal line,
and eventually to the families of Robertson, Duncan, Reid, Abernethy, and
MacDuff, as well as others. Lions also appears in the arms of other families
of the Ui Neill, Ui Fiachrach as well as other families.
High quality Cairney Crests in traditional strap-and-buckle format can be order
from M. W. Stevens in Blairgowrie, Scotland. Sheba Imports of Canada can
provide renderings of the Cairney arms hand-embroidered in bullion.
Other Links:
www.sealengraving.com
www.familysealrings.com
www.familycrestsuk.com
www.family-crests.com
