The Clan Pollock

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The name Pollock (Pollok) is among the oldest family names recorded in Scotland. Its origin is obscure, but the surname was adopted from the ancient lands of Pollock in Renfrewshire. Records of the 12th. century reveal these lands were held by Fulbert, progenitor of the Pollocks of Scotland. Pollock was first used as a surname by Fulbert's son, Petrus, who inherited the lands of Pollock from his father in 1163. One surviving document charters the lands to Petrus through Walter Fitz-Alan, High Steward of Scotland and the progenitor of the Royal Stewarts line. The lands then passed to Robertus, brother of Petrus, when Petrus had no male heir. The main line of Pollock descent is from Robertus.

The lands were divided into Upper and Lower Pollock. Upper Pollock was retained by the Pollocks while Lower Pollock was chartered to the Maxwells. The Maxwells of Pollock became a prominent branch of that powerful border clan. An enduring common alliance was formed between the Maxwells and the Pollocks. Marriages took place between members of the two families and the alliance remained strong for many centuries. Today Pollocks continue to be recognized as a sept of Clan Maxwell and may correctly wear the Maxwell tartan.

Fourteenth in descent from Fulbert was John Pollock of Pollock. With Lord Maxwell, he fought on the side of Mary, Queen of Scots, at the battle of Langside. The rapid defeat of Mary's forces at Langside, only a few miles from Pollock Castle, ended her reign in Scotland. For his role in her losing cause, John Pollock forfeited his lands. John's son fought at the Battle of Lockerbie in 1593, along with his kinsman, Lord Maxwell. The battle , the result of a long and bitter feud between the Maxwells and the Laird of Johnstone (Clan Johnstone), resulted in a Maxwell defeat. The Maxwell forces suffered severe losses that fateful day.

With the passage of time, changes occurred to the Pollock surname. For some descendants of Scottish Pollocks it became Polk and Pogue, spelled in various ways. Prominent among Anericans decendants are Jame K. Polk, 11th. President of the United States, and General Leonidas Polk of Civil War fame. James Pollock was an early Governor of Pennsylvania. Thomas Pollock, born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1654, died in 1722 while serving as acting Governor of the Colony of North Carolina.

Today there is no Pollock of that Ilk recognized as the hereditary chief of the clan. The last Pollock chief recognized by the Crown was in 1845. the clan badge portrays a boar pierced by an arrow and the motto Audacter et Strenue, Boldy and Strongly. In 1980, Clan Pollock adopted its own tartan and registered it with the Scottish Tartan Society in Scotland. Pollock Castle, in its last configuration, was a magnificent structure. Built in the style of a British manor house, the Castle was demolished shortly after World War II and the lands sold. For the first time in eight centuries the lands of Upper Pollock were no longer Pollock lands.

Nothing of the old Pollock Estate remains except two gate houses, the stable, the gardener's cottage, the stone foundation and a few of the stones that once formed the castle's massive walls. One of those stones, cut and polished, is embedded in the Scottish Memorial Cairn in North Carolina. The cairn was dedicated in 1980 at the site of the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, near Linville, North Carolina.

Information provided by Richard H. Pollock, President, Clan Pollock

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