Clan Farquharson

History

The Farquharsons are a Deeside clan whose story begins in the Braes of Mar. Tradition derives the name from Farquhar, a fourth son of Alexander Cier, a Shaw of Rothiemurchus. His son Donald is said to have married Isobel Stewart, heiress of Invercauld, and so brought the family to the upper Dee. As with many Highland pedigrees, the early generations rest on clan tradition rather than documents.

The first Farquharson to stand clearly in the record is Finla Mor, whose name gives the chief's Gaelic patronymic, Mac Mhic Fhionnlaigh. He was a large man, remembered for his strength. In 1547 he rode south with the Earl of Huntly and bore the royal standard at Pinkie, where the clan society says a cannon ball killed him at about sixty. His descendants held Invercauld for centuries.

The Farquharsons belonged to the Clan Chattan confederation, whose emblem is the wild cat. That is one reason the red whortleberry is sometimes given as a Farquharson badge: the Clan Chattan Association names it as the badge of the whole confederation, while the Farquharson society gives Scots fir as the chief's own.

Conflict came to the Dee in the seventeenth century. John Farquharson of Inverey, called the Black Colonel for his dark hair and complexion, fought for Viscount Dundee in the rising of 1689 and carried on a guerrilla campaign after the defeat at Cromdale. He is said to have burned Braemar Castle, which then stood ruined for years, and stories tell of him hiding for months in a gorge in Glen Ey still known as the Colonel's Bed. The castle's own account says John Farquharson, 9th laird of Invercauld, bought it in 1731, though other sources give 1732.

The clan came out again in 1745. According to the clan society, the men rose under Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie, the senior cadet, remembered as the Baron Ban. It places about three hundred Farquharsons in the centre of the front line at Culloden in April 1746, where losses were heavy, and says Monaltrie House was burned afterwards. Braemar Castle became a government garrison. Anne Mackintosh, born a Farquharson, raised men for the Prince in the same rising and became known as Colonel Anne.

Invercauld is still the heart of the name. Philip Farquharson, 17th of Invercauld, took the chiefship from his great-uncle Captain Alwyne Farquharson MC in 2021, and in August 2025 he welcomed King Charles to Ballater to see the clan's new banner. Braemar Castle is now leased to a local charity and run as a visitor attraction.