Clan Boswell (Boswell Tartan)

1. About Clan Boswell (Boswell Tartan)

2. Clan Boswell History (Boswell Tartan)

derives from a French placename and is also spelled Boswall.

Robert de Boseuille was the first of the name in Scotland. He is supposed to have owned land in Berwickshire and was present at several of William the Lion's charters.

Before 1200, Paganus de Bosseuilla donated the Abbey of Kelso a bovate of land in Edenham.

Around 1225, Henry de Boysuill attested to Norman, son of Malcolm, receiving a charter from John, Earl of Huntingdon.

At the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, Walter de Boseville was captured, and the following year, William de Boseville of Roxburghshire and William de Boseville of Berwickshire paid homage.

In 1329, William de Boswill received payment for Sir Alexander de Seton, and between 1368 and 1369, Roger de Bosseuyll served as custodian and burgess of Edinburgh.

Around the middle of the fourteenth century, Roger de Boswell, the first member of the family to settle in Fife, married Mariota, the daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Lochore of that ilk.

The Boswells married into the Auchinleck family in the seventeenth century, after which they came to own the Auchinleck holdings.

In 1760, the Auchinleck House near Ayr was constructed by Alexander, 8th Laird of Auchinleck. James Boswell, the well-known biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson, was his son and the ninth Laird.

Ayrshire's East, Auchinleck House. The Auchinleck estate, which once belonged to a family with the same name, featured a castle built in the thirteenth century.

After the male Auchinleck line died out, James IV awarded the lands and associated claim to a Thomas Boswell, who later married Sir John Auchinleck's daughter.

The Boswell family owned the existing Auchinleck House from its construction in the 1700s until 1986.

3. Clan Boswell Tartans

The Boswell tartan colors are taken from the coat of arms of Colonel W. P. Boswell of Toberchurn.

To weave this tartan, authorization would be required as it is a restricted tartan. Due of this, Boswells may also don the Tweedside, Ayrshire, or Fife District tartans, which are representative of the clan's origins.

Boswell tartan

Tweedside District

Ayrshire District

Fife District

4. Clan Boswell Crest & Coats of Arms

4.1 Clan Boswell Crest

Worn by all of the name and ancestry

A falcon Proper, hooded Gules, jessed and belled, Or

4.2 Clan Boswell Coats of Arms

Note on Coats of Arms: A coat of arms is given to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist.

With the exclusions listed above, the weapons depicted below are personal weapons. The only person authorized to use these weapons is the grantee.

5. Clan Boswell Places & People

5.1 Clan Boswell Places

Balmuto Castle

In the 1400s, a tower was initially constructed as Balmuto Castle in Fife. In the early half of the 15th century, the Boswell family married into the Glen family and gained a portion of the holdings at Balmuto. James II reaffirmed this in 1439 or 1440, depending on the source.

Over the decades, the castle underwent numerous alterations and expansions that transformed it into a home.

After spending much of the 20th century in a state of partial ruin, American Harry Boswell purchased Balmuto in the 1960s and directed its restoration from 1974 to 1984. It is presently a private property.

5.2 Clan Boswell People

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (29 October 1740 – 19 May 1795)

The Life of Samuel Johnson, a 1791 biography of the famous English author Samuel Johnson, is possibly James Boswell's best-known work as a writer, lawyer, and diarist.