Clan Brodie

The Clan Brodie

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Badge: A dexter hand holding a sheaf of arrows, all proper
Motto: Unite
Tartan: Brodie
Gaelic Name: Brothaigh
Plant Badge: Periwinkle

The Brodies are one of the original Pictish tribes of Moray, and the clan has always been associated with that area. King Malcolm IV confirmed land on the Brodies of Moray in the 12th century and Michael, Thane of Brodie, received a charter from King Robert Bruce shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn.

Factual history on the clan is scarce since in 1645 all records were destroyed when Brodie Castle, near Forres was burned by Lord Lewis Gordon in the Covenanting conflict. Despite this the family have always been prominent in both local and national affairs. Alexander Brodie of Brodie was appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms in 1727 and throughout the long history of the family there has been connections through marriage with many of Scotland's greatest families.

Brodie Castle, now restored, is the seat of the clan chief. One member of the family who is famed for his notorious and evil character is Deacon William Brodie who lived in Edinburgh in the 18th century, and was respectable by day, but by night, a thief, in the end he was hanged by a mechanism of his own devising in 1788.