Cuminghame History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland
• Ireland

Etymology of Cuminghame

The ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada is thought to be the home of the ancestors of the Cuminghame family. Their name comes from someone having lived at Cunningham in Ayrshire. However, numerous branches of the Cunningham family spread all over Scotland. Two of the most prominent branches of the Cunningham Clan, the Cunninghams of Corsehill and the Cunninghams of Caprington, trace their ancestry back to the medieval era.

Cuminghame Coat of Arms Creation

The Cuninghames have as their crest a unicorn, and the motto is, " Over fork over."

The unicorn is so named from its having only one horn, which grows out of its forehead. It represents strength, a haughty mind, and one who would rather die than be brought into subjection. The horn was said to possess a powerful antidote against poison, and that other animals were glad to drink of water stirred by the horn.

As to the motto, the story is that Malcolm, the first of the family, assisted Malcolm (afterwards King Malcolm Canmore) to escape when pursued by Macbeth, by forking straw or hay over him. The King afterwards rewarded him by the gift of the Thanedom of Cuninghame, and the figure on the shield like the letter Y represents the shake-fork. The other story is that the motto is derived from the fact that an ancestor had charge of the King's horses, and the shakefork was the instrument by which hay was forked to them. 1

Early Origins of the Cuminghame family

Early History of the Cuminghame family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cuminghame research. Another 118 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1490, 1520, 1548, 1574, 1575, 1578, 1610, 1630, 1664, 1670, 1716 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Cuminghame History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cuminghame Spelling Variations

In the Middle Ages, the translation between Gaelic and English was not a highly developed process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and so, an enormous number of spelling variations appear in records of early Scottish names. Cuminghame has appeared as Cunningham, Cunninghame, Cunyngham, Cunnyngham, Cunnynghame, Cummingham and many more.

Early Notables of the Cuminghame family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Cuthbert Cunningham, 3rd Earl of Glencairn; William Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn (c. 1490-1548), a Scottish nobleman; Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn (died 1574), Scottish nobleman and Protestant reformer; William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn (ca. 1520-1578); James Cunningham, 7th Earl of...
Another 51 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cuminghame Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cuminghame family to Ireland

Some of the Cuminghame family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cuminghame family

Dalriadan families proliferated in North America. Their descendants still populate many communities in the eastern parts of both the United States and Canada. Some settled in Canada as United Empire Loyalists, in the wake of the American War of Independence. Families on both sides of the border have recovered much of their heritage in the 20th century through Clan societies and highland games. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Cuminghame or a variant listed above: John Cunningham, his wife and son, who settled in Barbados in 1679.