Farson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland

Etymology of Farson

An ancient Scottish people known as the Picts were the forefathers of the Farson family. Farson is a name for a parson. The Gaelic forms of the names are Mac a' Phearsain and Mac a Phearsoin, which mean son of the parson. This was the surname of various ecclesiastical families in Scotland and is descended from a Chief of the great Clan Chattan ('tribe of the cats'), called Gille Chattan. This Chief can, in turn, be traced back to Feachar the Long, King of Lorn who died in 697 AD. The Clan's original territories were in Stratthnairn, Strathdearn and Badenoch from whence they long contested the leadership of the Clan Chattan with the MacKintoshes, who also claimed descent from the Gille Chattan through a female heiress.

Farson Coat of Arms Creation

The Macphersons carry a cat as their crest, and their motto is " Touch not the cat bot (without) a glove."

The story is that young Angus Oig Macdonald went over to Ireland to help an Irish king, and there he got the king's daughter in marriage. While the clansmen after the nuptials were waiting to return to Scotland, there came into the camp an Irish piper, a Macneil, who managed to smuggle himself into one of the boats. A black cat followed, and when a Highlander tried to catch and throw it overboard, he got badly scratched for his pains, and the piper gave him the advice which became the motto of the clan, and the black cat accompanied them to Scotland. This piper when in Scotland took to preaching, married, and settled among the Argyllshire MacDonalds. His sons were known as Mhic a Pharson, and thus the Clan Macpherson originated.

The clan has a galley in its coat of arms, perhaps in memory of the trip to Ireland, or perhaps to their being once driven by stress of weather on to the coast of Caithness. They also carry a dagger, point up, for killing the Cummings, and " a black cat for luck " has been a proverb, for the Macphersons have been lucky since they settled in Scotland. They are a branch of the great Clan Chattan. 1

Early Origins of the Farson family

Early History of the Farson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Farson research. Another 524 words (37 lines of text) covering the years 1490, 1528, 1600, 1645, 1672, 1675, 1688, 1689, 1700, 1715, 1745, 1776, 1783, 1784 and 1932 are included under the topic Early Farson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Farson Spelling Variations

Prior to the invention of the printing press in the last hundred years, documents were basically unique. Names were written according to sound, and often appeared differently each time they were recorded. Spelling variations of the name Farson include MacPherson, McPherson, MacPhersone, Mac a' Phearsoin (Gaelic) and many more.

Early Notables of the Farson family

James MacPherson (1675-1700), the Scottish outlaw, famed for his Lament or Rant supposedly written on the eve of his execution, a version of which was rewritten by Robert Burns; and Colonel Duncan MacPherson, the Clan Chief, who commanded a battalion in North America from 1776 to...
Another 45 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Farson Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Farson family

The freedom of the North American colonies was enticing, and many Scots left to make the great crossing. It was a long and hard journey, but its reward was a place where there was more land than people and tolerance was far easier to come by. Many of these people came together to fight for a new nation in the American War of Independence, while others remained loyal to the old order as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of Scots in North America have recovered much of this heritage in the 20th century through Clan societies and other such organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important and early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Farson: Aeneas MacPherson, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1685; Alexander McPherson, who settled in south Carolina in 1716; along with Angus, Daniel, Donald, Duncan, John.