The History of the Surname Baird
written by Hamish L. M. Baird
"By Strength and Valour" is the motto surrounding a boar's
head on the crest of the Bairds. It was granted to them by King William
the Lion, who in the 13th century, while out hunting, was saved from a
wild boar by one of his followers, to whom he gave the motto Vi et
Virtute,
the Latin form of the motto.
The Bairds are an an ancient Scottish line, prominent at different
times in centres as far apart as Aberdeenshire, Lanarkshire, and
Peebleshire. They are first noted historically in the 12th century, when
the name was spelt Bard or barde, one of the first recorded members of the
family being one Henry de Barde, who in 1178 witnessed a charter of the
lands in Stirling assigned to the Bishop of Glasgow by William the Lion.
In the reign of Alexander III Richard Baird received the lands of
Miekle and Little Kyp in Lanarkshire, and also on record is a charter by
Robert the Bruce to Robert Baird for the Barony of Cambusnethan. It was
from the Cambusnethan branch that one of the members of the family moved
north at the invitation of the Earl of Huntly and was given certain lands
in Aberdeenshire. This was about 1430, and from then onwards the family
became numerous and spread throughout the counties of Banff and Aberdeen.
The most notable of the Bairds in the north-east were the Bairds of
Auchmeddan, in the parish of Aberdour, who retained the lands of
Auchmeddan for upwards of three centuries, from about 1430 to 1750, when
the estate was forfeited because of the involvement of William baird,
Laird of Auchmeddan of the time, on the Jacobite side in the rising of the
1745. William baird had to go into hiding after Culloden, and his Death
ended one of the oldest of the Scottish family lines
Headed by the Auchmeddan family motto Dominus Fecit ("God
Made"), a plaque in the crypt of the old Kirk of New Aberdour
commemorates him:
Erected to the Memory of
William Baird of Auchmeddan Esquire
Chief of that Ancient Name
His participation in the Rising of
1745 occasioned to him and his
descendants the loss of the family
estates. He died at Aberdeen 1777
aged 76. And of his wife Anne Duff,
sister of William, Earl of Fife, who
died 1772 aged 68. And also of
Henrietta Baird, their daughter,
spouse of Francis Fraser Esq. of
Finrack who died 18th July 1801.
When the Bairds were in Possession of Auchmedden it was Thomas the
Ryhmer who prophesied that "as long as eagles nested on the cliffs of
Pennan, there would be Bairds in Auchmedden." The prophecy was
fulfilled right up until 1750, when the estate passed out of the possession
of the family. Up to that time eagles had nested regularly in the Cliffs
of Pennan. They did return to Pennan when lord Haddo, whose family had
obtained the lands, married a Miss Christian baird, but when the estate was
sold later the eagles departed. The old story was revived as recently as
last century, when a member of the Family of Baird of Gartsherrie, the
Lanarkshire coal and iron masters, bought the Auchmedden estates. Once
again the eagles returned, but this time coastguards in the area
repeatedly shot at them, and eventually the eagles deserted Pennan for the
last time.
Nothing visible now remains of the House Auchmedden, but the tutelary
eagle has its place in the Family crest of the Bairds of Auchmedden.
From the Bairds of Auchmedden were descended the Bairds of Newbyth and
Saughton Hall. One of the branch, John Baird of Saughton Hall, was created
Lord of Newbyth. He died in 1698. From him were descended Sir William
Baird, who was created Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1695, and Sir John baird,
also Baronet of Nova Scotia, who died without issue in 1746.
On his death the estate passed to his second cousin, William Baird, the
father of the distinguished soldier, Sir David Baird, Born in 1757, Sir
David Baird was in the command of the 73rd Regiment when it reached Madras
in 1780. He was seriously wounded and captured by Hyder Ali, who had him
chained to a fellow officer. "Goid help the chiel that's chained to
oor Davy" exclaimed his mother when news reached her, knowing only
too well that her son would not take kindly to such captivity.
Nevertheless, Sir David had to endure captivity for four years, but he was
at the capture of Pondicherry in 1793, and six years later he took
Seringapatam. After a career crowned with many homours he died in 1829,
and an exact copy of Cleopatra's Needle stands in the grounds of his home
near Crieff as a memorial.
Another, if lesser known, branch of the Baird family are the Bairds of
Posso, between five and six miles south-weest of Peebles. They are of
ancient lineage, the first on record being Thomas de Bard, who was sheriff
of Peebles in 1296 and whose name, with those of other Bairds, appears on
the Ragman Roll of that date, when the Scottish nobles had to swear fealty
to Edward of England Sir Gilbert baird of Posso fell at Flodden in 1513
and in the absence of male descendants the representation of the family
passed through a grand-daughter to the Naesmiths through whom the line of
Posso is now traced.
Sir William Vietich, in his The Tweed and other Poems wrote of
the Bairds of Posso:
"And there too Posso's Laird---the
Bard of sweet Poetic Name
His song where crags the falcons
guard
And still his line keeps royal ward
Now lost of Fickle fame."
The lines seem to refer to a common belief that the Bairds were
originally minstrels and poets or "bards".
Another famous member of the Baird family was the Rev. George Husband
Baird, who was principal of Edinburgh University. He was a regular
correspondent of Robert Burns and a subscriber to the Kilmarnock edition
of the Poet's works. Born in 1761, he had a brillant academic career, but
his main concern was the improvement of education in the Highlands, a
cause which he championed with vigour and for which few did more useful
work. Dr. Baird died in 1840 at his home near Linlithgow.
The Bairds of Gartsherrie were among the pioneers in the development of
the coal and Iron industries in the 19th century, amassing what even now
would rank as immense fortunes. Alexander Baird, born of very humble
origins in 1765, became one of the wealthiest men in Scotland, and it was
one of his descendants, James Baird of Auchmedden and Knoydart, who
founded the Baird Trust by giving 500,000 pounds to the Church of Scotland
with object of promoting "the mitigation of spiritual destitution
amongst the population of Scotland, securing the Godly upbringing of the
young," etc., etc.
In our own time without question the most famous, internationally known, but sadly neglected genius of the Baird family was, of course, John
Logie baird, the inventor of television, he was born in Helensburgh, s son
of the manse, and educated at Glasgow University, and much of his life
was a continual struggle against indifferent health. As one writer has
put, the nearest comparison with Baird and television would be Bruce and
the spider. Undaunted by setbacks and rejection, he persevered with his
research and experiment, and in 1926, at the age of 38, he gave his
first demonstration of television in an attic. Unlike his name sakes of
Gartsherrie, he did not reap the material benefits of his efforts, yet by
the time he died all but penniless in 1946 much of the world was already,
for good or ill, in his debt. Helensburgh erected a memorial to him in its
public park, but his more pervasive memorial adorns countless millions of
living-rooms all over the globe, and that is surely the fitting tribute to
a great Scot.
(*In 1992 the Desert News of Salt Lake City, Utah, a place that long
claimed native Utahan Filo T. Farnsworth as the first inventor of
Television, honoured John Logie Baird by stating he invented the Colour Television in 1926, years before Filo t. Farnsworth invented the black and
white model.*)
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