The Clan Logan

Clan Chief:            No current chief, considered an Armigerous clan.

Origin of Name:    Placename, Lothians

Gaelic Name:        Loganaich

Clan Crest             A passion-nail piercing a man's heart

Clan Motto:           Hoc Majorum Virtus (This is the valour of my ancestors).

Lands:                    Drumderfit in Easter Ross, Black Isle in Ross-shire.

The Logan name resounds down through the pages of Scotland’s history for over nine hundred years. The first to appear in the old records was Robert Logan who, as a man of some importance, witnessed several documents by King William the Lion between 1196 and 1214. Several other Logans, under duress, signed an oath of fealty to King Edward of England, but then fought against him on the side of William Wallace and later for King Robert Bruce.  King Robert, with the help of the Logans defeated the English forces and, culminating in the Battle of Bannockburn, expelled them from Scotland. During this time, the estate of Restalrig, upon which the town and major port of Leith stands, became the possession of the Logans.

King Robert had wished to visit the Holy Land but died before realising his desire. To achieve this, Sir Robert and Sir Walter Logan accompanied Sir James Douglas (the Black Douglas) and a group of other Scottish knights in an expedition to bury the heart of their King in the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Whilst on passage through Spain, the Spanish king asked for their assistance in a coming battle against the Arabs who were in possession of a large part of Spain. Upon the Plains of Granada, the battle hardened and aggressive Scots led the charge into the larger army of the Arabs and almost caused a rout of the enemy but the rest of the Spanish army held back and would not follow. With the whole of the enemy army now surrounding them, Douglas threw the silver casket containing King Robert the Bruce’s heart far into the enemy. The Logans and the rest of the Scots knights charged into the ring of Moorish spears after their King. The Black Douglas was cut down and Sir Robert and Sir Walter fell beside him. The Crest of the Logan Clan is a human heart pierced with a passion nail and their motto is “Hoc Majorum Virtus”  meaning “This is the valour of my ancestors”. A fitting, emotive Crest and Motto for the Logan Family

One of the great Logans was another Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig, who married the Granddaughter of King Robert Bruce and gave his descendants a direct line back to the greatest of the Royal lines of Scotland. He increased the landholdings by adding estates in Berwickshire, Ayrshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire and Aberdeen. He also held the Barony of Abernethy in Strathspey.

Almost two hundred years later, in 1608, The Laird of Restalrig, another Sir Robert Logan, although dead for two years was accused of plotting against King James the Sixth, found guilty and the Logan lands were seized by the Crown. The name Logan itself was even banned for a time and the family dispersed. Many of the Logan name, of course, again rose to prominence, such as James Logan, who accompanied Penn to Pennsylvania in 1699 and rose to become governor of the Colony.

The Clan Logan crest shows a passion-nail piercing a man's heart and the proud Logan clan motto "Hoc Majorum Virtus" meaning "This is the valour of my ancestors".