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Montgomery

Motto: Dexter, Garde bien (Watch well); sinister, Hazard yet forward

There is some question over the origins of the name Montgomery.  Some refer to a lofty hill called ‘Monte Gomero’ not far from Loretto.  Others point to a territorial origin from the ancient castle of Sainte Foe de Montgomery in the diocese of Lisieux in Normandy.  There is also a Saint-Germain-de Montgomerie in Calvados.  The name clearly means ‘the hill of Gomerie’ but there is doubt as to which hill it is.  The first record of the name in Scotland is of Robert de Mundegumri obtaining a grant of the Manor of Eaglesham in Renfrewshire c.1120.  
 
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Sir John Montgomery, 7th of Eaglesham married Elizabeth, heiress of Eglinton, and thus obtained lands of Eglinton and Ardrossan.  Sir Alexander Montgomery was created Lord Montgomery in 1449.  The 3rd Lord Hugh Montgomery supported Prince James in the rebellion against his father James III and as a result was granted the island of Arran and keepership of Brodick Castle.  These were later taken over by the Hamiltons.  
 
Hugh, 3rd Lord, was made Earl of Eglinton in 1507.  After escaping from the defeat of the Scottish army at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, he participated in the Parliament at Perth; declaring James V king (aged eighteen months).  The 3rd Earl fought for Mary Queen of Scots at the battle of Langside 1568.  The 6th Earl however was a devout Protestant who fought on the side of the Covenanters in the 17th century.  During the 16th century, the then Lady Montgomery of Eglinton introduced woollen and linen manufacture to Ulster.  
 
There are many spellings of this name, including the Gaelic: ‘MacCuimrid’ and ‘Maclomaire’.  It should be understood that the Montgomeries were never a ‘clan’ in the Highland sense of the word, rather they were a powerful Lowland family, whose Chiefs had links by marriage to several Highland Clans.
 
The most commonly seen tartan associated with this name is first recorded in the famous weaving firm of William Wilson & Son of Bannockburn’s Tartan Book No.4., possibly adapted by the Montgomeries of Ayrshire about the time of the Union in 1707.  This would make it one of the earliest Lowland tartans.