Clan Cochrane (Cochrane Tartan)

1. About Clan Cochrane

2. Cochrane Clan history

This family's ancestry is said to have started with a Viking warrior who chose to live in Renfrewshire in the ninth century. The origin of the name this Viking's descendants adopted is the subject of several hypotheses.

An early family member was referred to be a "brave fellow" by his master after engaging in such fierce combat. He would have called him "coch ran" in the Gaelic they both spoke. Cochrane originates from yet another Gaelic twisting of the phrases "battle cry" or "the roar of battle."

A Cochrane warrior who killed three wild boars that were terrorizing the region is represented by the three boars that were discovered on the chief's shield.

Auchindoun Castle, Moray, was built by Thomas Cochrane in the mid-15th century

Allan Cochrane of Cochrane obtained his father Robert's resignation of the Cochrane lands in 1456.

After that, James II granted him a charter for the lands. Before he passed away in 1594, William Cochrane of that ilk had the manor house expanded with a tower.

Cochrane Castle was its previous name.

When early 1600s William Cochrane of that ilk having no sons, the chiefship was under risk.

He made sure that whoever married his daughter Elizabeth was legally obligated to take the Cochrane name and coat of arms as their own. William's descendant and heir, the first Earl of Dundonald, assumed office in 1669.

The 'warrior Cochranes,' a family of leaders who continually served their country valiantly on land and at sea, were actually started by Elizabeth's eldest son Alexander, who rose to become a colonel for Charles I.

The most well-known of these was Thomas, the ninth Earl, who in 1801, under the command of a brig and just fifty-four men, boarded and seized a Spanish frigate with thirty-two heavy guns and three hundred and ninety-nine crew.

3. Cochrane Clan Tartans

 The Cochrane tartan is supposed to have originated from a portrait, but in 1974, the 14th Earl of Dundonald modified the pattern to only feature three groups of the four red lines.

The sett was then modified back to the original groupings of four red lines in 1984 by the 15th Earl of Dundonald. The historic Lochaber region, which served as a base for the MacDonald and the Cameron of Erracht, is the inspiration for the tartan sett.

While "modern" refers to deeper colors, "ancient" relates to dye tones, which are typically lighter.

G/68 R8 G6 R4 G8 R4 G6 R8 G34 K34 R4 B34 R8 B8 Y/6 Threadcount

Cochrane Ancient

Cochrane Modern

4. Clan Cochrane Crest & Coats of Arms

4.1 Clan Cochrane Crest

Worn by all of the name and ancestry

Crest Description:

A horse passant, Argent

4.2 Clan Cochrane Coat 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.

COCHRANE (plain)

A chevron in Gules between three erased boar heads in Azure.

William Cochrane's coat of arms in stone. mounted on a contemporary tower close to Johnstone, a town in Renfrewshire. Early in the 1100s, the Cochrane family moved onto their own estates.

a picture of Thomas Cochrane, the 10th Earl of Dundonald,'s tomb marker in Westminster Abbey

USS Cochrane Command Seal

 5. Clan Cochrane Places & People

5.1 Clan Cochrane People

5.1.1 Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone (1767-1833)

While serving as Governor of St. Dominica, Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone committed crimes such as dictatorship, extortion, slave trading, running guns, and pimping before becoming an MP.

After serving in the Parliament, he masterminded a massive stock exchange fraud in 1814.

Just before a "French Royalist" arrived at Dover bearing the wonderful news that Napoleon had died, Cochrane and his criminal associates made large purchases on the Stock Exchange.

Cochrane sold off all of his government stocks at higher prices as they rose in value. The market crashed when the 'French Royalist' disappeared. When Cochrane's involvement in the fraud was discovered, he also disappeared to Europe.

At the time, Captain Lord Thomas Cochrane, his excellent nephew, was accused of conspiring with Cochrane. Despite his blatant innocence, his political adversaries took full advantage of the situation.

5.1.2 Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess do Maranhão, GCB, ODM (Chile) (14 Dec. 1775 – 31 Oct. 1860)

Archibald Cochrane, the 9th Earl of Dundonald, and Anna Gilchrist welcomed Thomas Cochrane into the world in Annsfield, a town close to Hamilton in South Lanarkshire. His early years were largely spent in Culross, a coastal village in Fife.

Thomas was referred to as Lord Cochrane from 1778 until the passing of his father in 1831; following the passing, he was given the title Earl of Dundonald.

Thomas was noted in the novels as having served as a crew man on four Royal Navy ships beginning at the age of five thanks to the influence of his uncle, Alexander Cochrane.

A very illustrious career in the Royal Navy was about to begin at this young age.

Thomas married Katherine Francis Corbet Barnes, an orphan and well-known beauty, in 1812 despite her being more than 20 years his junior.

They had six kids collectively. Cochrane developed a reputation as an aggressive, risk-taking, and effective Captain during the Napoleonic Wars, earning him the nickname "Wolf of the Seas" from the French Navy.

However, Lord Cochrane was expelled from the Royal Navy in 1814 due to allegations of stock exchange fraud.

As a result, he turned to mercenary work and joined the rebel ships of Chile, Brazil, and Greece in their separate independence struggles. The Order of Merit he was awarded came from Chile.

In the Royal Navy once more by 1832, Cochrane had the position of Rear Admiral of the Blue.

Cochrane had numerous promotions over the remainder of his naval career before retiring with the honorary rank of Rear Admiral of the United Kingdom and the rank of Rear Admiral of the Red just a few years before his untimely death.

Thomas Cochrane, the 10th Earl of Dundonald, passed away at the age of 84 on October 31st, 1860, while having surgery for kidney stones.

His career and achievements in the navy served as an influence for nautical fiction written in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly Horatio Hornblower by C.S. Forester and Jack Aubrey by Patrick O'Brian.

5.1.3 Captain John Dundas Cochrane (1793-1825) - main image

The son of Andrew James Cochrane-Johnstone attempted to walk around the world after making contributions during the Napoleonic Wars.

He sought to determine whether there was a land bridge connecting Russia and Alaska and whether there was a North-West passage over America by using a horse-drawn sled as little as possible.

Eighty-three days after leaving Dieppe, he arrived in St. Petersburg having been robbed of everything but two waistcoats.

He finished the final 96 miles in thirty-two hours while traveling to Moscow while wearing one as a kilt.

He spent a 20-night stretch trudging in the snow while in excruciating bodily pain while walking along the Arctic coast, "without even the comfort of a blanket - a great oversight."

He fell in love and wed a 14-year-old Kamchatka girl while attempting to obtain permission to cross the Baring Straight, with half the globe having already walked.

He transported her from St. Petersburg all the way across Russia and back to London by sea. His travels were written about and sold well.

He developed a fever and passed away while visiting his cousin Charles Stuart Cochrane's copper mining enterprise in Columbia.

5.1.4 Captain Charles Stuart Cochrane b.1796

The second son of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, also known as "Senior Jean de Vega, a Spanish minstrel," was born on HMS Thetis, a ship that at the time carried five Cochranes.

Having fought in the Napoleonic Wars, he left the Navy to go copper mining up the Magdalena River into Columbia.

After traveling throughout Europe as a result of the unsuccessful effort, he returned to Britain in 1828.

He spent that year and the following one traveling the nation with a guitar while posing as a Spanish troubadour.

He was referred to be "a little cracked" in Edinburgh, where he eventually made himself known.

When he filed for a patent in France on a device for spinning Cashmere, a wool that was new to the western world, he demonstrated that he was totally able-minded.

To accommodate the demand for spun Tibetan goats' beard, he constructed a mill in Glasgow for his machines.

In "Journal of a Tour Made by Senor Jean de Vega, a Spanish Minstrel of 1828-29 Through Great Britain and Ireland," he chronicled his exploits.

6. Associated Names

'de Coueran' was recognized as the name. Formerly mentioned as a sept of Clan Donalds, Cochrane is no longer.