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Ancient manuscripts, in
Scotland, established that the first record of the name Cummings was found
in Northumberland where they were granted lands, by Duke William of
Normandy, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in
1066 AD.
Many alternate spellings of the name are shown in the ancient manuscripts.
The name Cummings, occurred in many references, and from time to time, the
records included variables such as Cummins, Comines, Cummings, Comine,
Cummin, Comyn, Cumming, Cummine, Cuming, Cumine, Cumun, Cummyn, and many
others. Scribes recorded and spelled the name as it sounded. Because of
this, it was possible that a person would be born with one spelling,
married with another, and buried with another.
Although the Normans are commonly believed to be of French origin, they
are actually of Viking origin. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and
Northern Scotland about the year 870 AD. Later, they invaded France about
940 AD. The French King conceded defeat and granted them the northern part
of France (hence: Normandy, Normans). Duke William of Normandy was
descended from the first Duke, Rollo, of Normandy. Duke William invaded
and defeated England in 1066, and Scotland in 1070. King Malcom Canmore
granted many Norman nobles lands in Scotland.
The name Cummings is more properly Cummin, often spelt Comyn. It is a
typical Norman nickname, taken from the herb called cumin.
This unpretentious name is in fact the most royal in Scotland of any that
failed to attain the crown. The first Cummin to settle in Scotland was a
powerful Anglo-Norman churchman, and close confidant of King David I,
under whom he became Chancellor of Scotland in 1133. William de Cummin,
the Chancellor, received a grant of land in Roxburgh. He also held the
position of Bishop of Durham, by force, for three years. After his nephew,
William Cummin, was killed in the dispute, he gave up the position as
bishop in 1144, in return for the castle and Honor of Northallerton being
given to another nephew, Richard Cummin, ancestor of the Scottish Clan.
William, son of Richard, was Justiciary of Scotland, and in 1210 became
Earl of Buchan by marriage with Marjory, Countess of Buchan.
William's son, by a previous marriage, became Earl of Menteith and
acquired the Lordship of Badenoch by grant from Alexander II. His nephew
John, known as the "Red Comyn," was father of the "Black Comyn" who was
one of the six guardians of Scotland during the minority of the Maiden of
Norway, and later became a competitor for the Crown of Scotland. The
"Black Comyn" married Marjory, Sister of John Balliol, and their son John
was known, like his grandfather, as the "Red Comyn."
The surname Cummings emerged as a notable Scottish Family name in the
County of Northumberland, where William the Conqueror, allocated the
Earldom of Northumberland to Robert De Comines. However, Robert De Comines rule in Northumberland was
uneventful, His violence to the local people became intolerable and he was
killed in 1069.
When Richard Comyn, his grandson, came to Scotland with King David, he
married Hextilda of Tynedale, Granddaughter of King Donald of Scotland.
Richard had a son by this marriage, William, who became the Earl of
Buchan, but by previous union, William had Richard, who became father of
Sir John Comyn, Chief of the Clan. Richard Cummin, lord of Northallerton,
married the granddaughter and eventual heiress of King Donald III Ban
(Shakespeare's "Donaldbane"), the King of Scots who had been deposed and
blinded in 1097.
King Donald III's family seems to have been rightfully belonging in
Lochaber and Badenoch at the expense of the MacWilliams, whose direct
decendant, King Duncan II, had been slain by King Donald. After the
overthrow of the MacWilliams in 1230, the Cummins became undisputed Lords
Of Badenoch, holding also much of Lochaber and the "Great Glen".
During the thirteenth century, the Cummins became the most powerful and
patriotic noble family in all Scotland. At this period, the highest rank
in Scotland was that of earl, held only by the mightiest cousins of the
king or by the heirs of former local kings. There was only thirteen
earldoms altogether. In 1242 Alexander Cummin was Earl of Buchan, Walter
Cummin was Earl of Menteith and John Cummin was Earl of Angus, all as the
result of further marriages to Celtic dynastic heiresses. So nearly a
quarter of the Scottish earls were Cummins. The Cummins themselves had
come to have as much Celtic as Norman blood.
From 1270 to 1308 the Cummin endowed the rebuilding of Glasgow Cathedral.
Their chief, "the Black Cummin", was one of the Competitors for the Crown
of Scotland in 1291, claiming as heir, of King Donald III. He married the
sister of King John Balliol. The abduction of King Balliol, by the
English, greatly strengthened the royal claims of his son, "the Red Cummin".
These claims led to the downfall of the Cummins.
Edward of England invaded Scotland and deposed King Balliol then embarked
on direct rule and defeated the independence movement of William Wallace.
The Bruces remained loyal English subjects. The removal of the Balliols
left the Comyn (Cumming) family the most powerful in Scotland, and the
only one with claim to the crown senior to that of the Bruces.
Robert the Bruce, (the 8th Robert Bruce) had claim on the throne and was
strongly supported. The other contender, Baliol, supported by Sir John
Comyn, the Black Comyn. His son, John Comyn of Badenock, styled the Red
Comyn was a co-leader with Bruce, but they were also competitors. In
August 1299, the Red Comyn had almost killed Bruce in a scuffle in Selkirk
Forest. In February 1306, Robert the Bruce invited the Red Comyn to a
church in Dumfries to discuss terms of agreement. It was here that Bruce
and his followers murdered John Comyn at the altar. John Comyn's uncle,
Sir Robert, was also killed in the church while trying to save his
nephew's life. In March 1306, Robert the Bruce had himself crowned King of
Scotland. This made the Comyn's and Bruce's bitter enemies.
During the long wars that followed, King Robert destroyed the Cummins. The
Red Cummins's only son, rightful Lord of Badenoch and chief of the name,
was killed in action against his father's slayer on the field of
Bannockburn, while fighting with the English. His heiresses went to France
with the family claim to the Scottish throne. And, it is ironical to
reflect that when the exiled Stuarts (heirs of Bruce) fled to refuge in
France, the then heir of Balliol and of the Red Cummin was their host King
Louis XIV himself. The junior co-heir of the Red Cummin, curiously enough,
is the Premier Baron of England (Lord Mowbray and Stourton), who quarters
the Arms of Cummin and has returned to live in Scotland.
The Buchan branch of the Cummins was also destroyed. After ravaging Buchan
with fire and sword, Bruce gave the Cummin castle of Slains, and the
hereditary office of Constable of Scotland, to his own friend and
supporter Hay, Lord of Erroll, whose grandmother had been a Cummin. Today,
The Lord High Constable, (the Earl of Erroll), has precedence in Scotland
before every other hereditary honor, except the Blood Royal. It is
interesting that a similar position is occupied in England by the Earl
Marshal, (the Duke of Norfolk), who is heir in the female line of the
Cummin Earls of Buchan. Therefore, had Cummin triumphed over Bruce, he
would also have been Constable of Scotland.
A remnant of the Cummins of Buchan has survived to modern times.
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