More Articles Battle of Flodden Flowers of the Forest

This wreath incorporates the Muirhead Clan Tartan, A Celtic Knotted Thistle artwork by R.L.Morehead with Clan Pewter Badge. The Red Oak Leaves and acorns is the Muirhead Plant Badge.

Dedication as follows:

In Memory of all who gave their lives
for King James IV of Scotland
on 9 September 1513
At the Battle of Flodden

The eldest sons of the ancient family of Muirhead of Lachope were the hereditary chiefs of the Muirhead Clan.

Thus, when John Muirhead of Lachope, with over two hundred of his clansmen, answered the call of his King, James IV, to take the post of honor as the royal bodyguard on the afternoon of September 9, 1513, they sealed their fate - and devotion to king and country - with their lives on Branxton Moor.

The ballad, the "Laird of Muirhead", a fragment of an ancient ballad from the collection of William Monro, was saved from oblivion by James Grosset Muirhead, of Bredisholm [1707-1776], and later included by Sir Walter Scott in his "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'.

The ballad, part of the Herd MS Collection, is displayed in the oldest house in Glasgow, the St Nicholas Hospital, which was built in 1471 by Bishop Andrew Muirhead, the First Provands Lordship of Glasgow.

The Laird of Muirhead
Afore the king in order stude
The stout Laird o’ Muirhead
Wi’ that same twa-handed muckle sword
That Bartram fell’d stark dead.
He sware he widna lose his right
To field in ilka field;
Nor budge him frae his liege’s right
Till his last gasp should yield.
Twa hundred mair o’ his ain name,
Frae Torwood tae the Clyde,
Sware they would ne,er gang go hame
But a’ dee by his syde.
And wondrous sell they kept their troth;
This sturdy royal band
Rush’d doon the brae wi’sic a pith
That nane could them withstand.
Mony a bloody blow they dealt
The like was ne’er seen
And hadna’ that braw leader fall’n
They ne’er had slain the King."

An old Gaelic proverb goes, "Remember the men from whence you came." I would like to update this to," Remember all the men and women from whence you came, for in the remembering they live once again for you and all those that follow".

For Clan and Kindred’s Cause

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