Clan Home - ClanHume (Home Tartan - Hume Tartan)

1. Clan Home (Hume) History

Clan Home, pronounced and often spelled Hume, dominated the eastern Scottish Border country for much of the Middle Ages, producing eight Wardens of the Eastern March, more than any other family. The clan traces its male line to Cospatric I, Anglo-Celtic Earl of Northumbria, with descendant William of Home adopting the surname after acquiring lands through Ada, daughter of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, in the early 13th century. The name itself comes from Hume Castle in Berwickshire, their principal fortification against England.

2. Clan Home Crest & Motto

The crest, a lion's head on a cap of maintenance, carries the motto "True to the End," with the battle cry "A Home, A Home, A Home!" A Home stronghold fell to Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1650, and the 6th Lord Home was created Earl of Home in the early 17th century.

3. Clan Home and Jacobite History

The 7th Earl was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle for supporting the 1715 Jacobite rising, while the 8th Earl instead fought for the government during the 1745 rising before becoming Governor of Gibraltar. Most remarkably, Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home, renounced his peerage in 1963 to become British Prime Minister, later returning to the House of Lords as Lord Home of the Hirsel.

4. Clan Home Notable Figures

The clan claims philosopher David Hume, one of the great minds of the Scottish Enlightenment, and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume among its notable members. Today's chief is Michael David Alexander Douglas-Home, 16th Earl of Home, with The Hirsel in Coldstream as the family seat.

Crest badge image: Clan member crest badge - Clan Home, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.