The Clan History

Our earliest tangible links with the history of the area are the two pairs of giant antlers which stand in the entrance hall at Arbuthnott House. They were found in a nearby peat-bog. These forebears of the Red Deer must have roamed the oak forests which then covered the lower ground some 6,000 years ago. Humans, if any, would have been nomadic hunters and food-gatherers.

In the Stone Age, men came from the west and started to cultivate the higher ground. They were the first of many migrants who came and settled over the ages.

In about 2000 BC, the Bronze Age 'Beaker Folk' (named after the drinking vessels found in their graves) came from across the North Sea. Their legacy is the standing stones or megaliths to be found in the area.

Later in the Iron Age came the Celtic invaders, bringing their more advanced forms of agriculture. Subsequently, they became dominated by the Pictish culture which gave many local places the names they still have to this day, such as Alpitty and Pitcarles.

Christianity was introduced by missionaries some time after 940 AD when the ancient Kirk of Saint Ternan was founded at Arbuthnott.

The Norman Kings of Scotland were annexing this area in the twelfth century. By this time Arbuthnott had evolved into a Celtic thanage, with its well-sited stronghold and the fertile lands necessary to support it. It was just such a property with which the Normans awarded their followers in return for their loyalty and service. The feudal system had arrived, and with it the founding of the family which was to own, cherish and nurture the land for the next 800 years, and whose descendants were to travel to and settle in many different parts of the world.

Names connected with the clan: ABERBUTHNOCHT ABERBUTHNO ABERBUTHENOTH ABERBOTHENOTH ABIRBUTHENOTT ARBUTHNET ARBUTHNETH ARBUTHNAT ARBUTHNOTH ARBUTHNOTT ARBUTHNOT