Endure Fort!

The Clan Lindsay motto is "Endure Fort" or "Endure with Strength... the clan crest is worn on brooches, patches, jewelry and more.

Clan plants were worn on men's bonnets as a means of identity. In a heated battle, you had to know at a glance whether a man was friend or foe. So the Highlanders began wearing sprigs of local plants to identify themselves. Everyone came to know who wore which plant. Many of the Scots opted for sprigs from trees like oak, Scots pine, or hazel. Juniper, rowan, and birch were also popular plants. Others chose among Scottish wildflowers for their plant badges.

The Clan Lindsay plant is a sprig from a lime tree.

More Scottish Wedding Flowers

The Groom’s Boutonniere

The groom often selected a flower for his buttonhole from the bride’s bouquet. This harkens back to Medieval times when a Knight would wear his Lady’s colors to display his love… another of the Scottish wedding day customs.

Scottish Thistle

The thistle has been a symbol of Scotland since the 1500s. There are two stories about how the Scots came to revere the thistle.

One version is that during the Viking invasions, an attacker stepped on a thistle and cried out, thus awakening the Scots and saving the day.

The second version tells of the English army advancing upon a Scottish castle at night. Unknowingly, the soldiers took a route through a stand of dried thistle. The rattling of the dried heads and leaves alerted the castle…

The Scottish King Kenneth III gratefully adopted the thistle as his nation’s emblem.

The Legend of the White Heather

White Heather is the traditional symbol of good luck in Scotland and it is considered good luck for the bride and groom to wear or carry the White Heather.

Most Heather is purple in color, but there is also rare white heather. Rumored to grow over the final resting places of faeries and only where no blood has been shed, the plant is said to be extremely lucky.

Queen Victoria introduced carrying white heather at weddings for luck. Some Clans have attributed victory to wearing white heather sprigs, or evading capture by hiding in patches of white heather.

According to myth, the Celtic Bard Ossian's beautiful daughter, Malvina, was betrothed to a gallant warrior named Oscar. One day, Malvina was awaiting Oscar's return from war, when she was approached by a messenger. Oscar had died in battle and sent the messenger with a spray of heather to give to Malvina as a final token of his love.

Malvina began to cry and her tears fell on the heather, which immediately turned white. She wandered the moors sobbing, her tears turning every heather plant they touched to white. She said "although it is the symbol of my sorrow, may the white heather bring good fortune to all who find it."

And so, in Scotland, to this very day, white heather continues to be a token of good luck.

The Saltire or St. Andrew's Flag

Legend has it that Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, refused to be crucified on a cross like Jesus, feeling he was not worthy to receive the same treatment as his Lord. So he was crucified upside down on an 'X' cross.

In 370 AD some of Andrew's remains were stolen from Constantinople by St. Rule and taken to the "ends of the earth" for safekeeping. He buried them in a Pictish settlement on the east coast of Scotland. This settlement became known as St. Andrews.

In 832 AD, the Picts, under Angus MacFergus, were fighting the Northumbrians of England. Legend says an "X" cross appeared in the sky, encouraging the Picts and scaring the Northumbrians away.

On the Saltire flag, the field is blue with a white "X" cross. The azure blue symbolizes the sky; the white is St. Andrew's cross. The King, Angus MacFergus, adopted this symbol as a national emblem.

From that time onward, the Saltire, or St. Andrew's flag, has been the national flag of the Scots. It was also worn on the tunics and bonnets of Scottish soldiers as a way to identify one another on the battlefield.

Today the Saltire is believed to be the oldest national flag still in use.

Best Foot Forward

The bride, when she leaves home for the last time as a single girl, should step out of the house with her right foot for luck...
...this tradition comes from the Scottish... as does the saying "Putting your best foot forward."

I ordered the shoes I wanted to wear in my Highland Wedding from the Las Vegas Dance Company... Ghillie Dance Shoes... I love them... they don't have a very thick sole but are extremely comfortable. I wanted to "put my best foot forward" at my wedding!

Silver Wedding Rings

We chose sterling silver wedding rings decorated with Celtic knots, purchased at All Things Scottish in Linville, NC... silver instead of gold because historically gold jewelry wasn't common in the Scottish Highland, but silver was.

The Celtic race is known for their symbolism and the beauty of their Celtic knots. They abound in everyday life, in their art, and on their clothing accessories. Naturally, many of these have become traditional Scottish wedding symbols. The interlaced lines symbolize no beginning, no end, and everlasting love with a binding, or intertwining together of two souls.

The Trinity Knot is the simplest of the Celtic knots, symbolizing a triune Godhead. For the Celts, all important things come in threes, which in Christianity is symbolized by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

As Scottish wedding symbols, all aspects of the knots were given meaning. The crossing of the strands represented the way in which the lives of the bride and groom were to be intertwined. The repetitious knots, with each knot connecting to the next was like an unbroken chain of generations. The interlaces also represented intertwined hearts which, of course, represent love.

Tracing Lineage to Scotland

As we planned our Highland wedding, we traced Hugh's lineage to Scotland, allowing us to join Clan Lindsay officially...

Hugh's mother...
Catherine Lindsay was born in Anderson, South Carolina and married his father Hugh Staples Sr.

Catherine Lindsay's father was John Neely Lindsay- married to Etta Mae Henderson

John Neely Lindsay's father was Robert Burns Lindsay- married to Fannie Pricilla Neely

Robert Burns Lindsay's father was William Lawrence Lindsay- married to Mary Elizabeth Young...

In our research we found that William Lawrence Lindsay, a tailor by trade, immigrated to the United States from Dundee, Scotland in the mid-1700s... he married Mary and had children... the records we were able to locate showed two children, born in Laurens County, South Carolina... son, Robert Burns Lindsay, aged 3, and daughter Helen, aged 12... William listed relatives back in Scotland... in Dundee, Kinrosshire, and Linburgh

We were officially members of the Lindsay Clan!

Clan Lindsay

A bit of history on the Clan Lindsay...


Between the 6th and 9th centuries, Danes lived in one of the little kingdoms of Lincolnshire in England to which, after the Norman Conquest, Baldric of Lindsay came to be tenant of the manors under the Earl of Chester.

The Lindsay name was already well known across England at this time. In 1120 Sir Walter Lindsay was a member of the council of David, Earl of Huntingdon in England, who became King of Scots in 1124. Sir Walter’s successor, either his son or brother William, came to Scotland with the new King.

William Lindsay acquired Crawford in Lanarkshire and gave some of his Ayrshire land to Dryburgh Abbey.

In the following century Sir David Lindsay of Crawford and the Byres supported St Louis, King of France, on a crusade. He died in Egypt. By then the family had expanded prosperously on both sides of the border and the war of independence brought them great dilemmas.

One of the Crusader’s sons, Sir Alexander, was a Knight of Edward I of England. Nonetheless, his Scottish patriotism made him a supporter of Bruce and friend of Wallace. His English property was forfeited and his sons were imprisoned. The eldest of these sons, Sir David, was later among the signatories of the ‘Declaration Of Arbroath’, the 1320 assertion of Scottish independence.

A loss of Lindsay land in Scotland resulted from long time feuding with theOgilvies when the 4th Earl of Crawford, Alexander, known both as the ‘Tiger Earl’ and ‘Earl Beardie’ was badly defeated at Brechin in 1452.

Another Alexander, son of the 8th Earl, was known as ‘The Wicked Master’ and had his land, position and inheritance removed after being convicted of trying to murder his father.

In the numerous struggles to retain a Scottish Crown the Lindsays have been active all through British history. 

from scotclans.com