Kincaid Clan

Kincaid Crest: A triple towered castle Argent, masoned Sable, and issuing from the centre tower a dexter arm from the shoulder embowed, vested in the Kincaid tartan, grasping a sword, all Proper.

Kincaid Clan Motto: This I'll Defend.

Kincaid Clan History: The surname is taken from the lands of Kincaid in Stirlingshire, and the family is thought to  have a close connection with the earldom of Lennox.  In 1238, Alexander II granted the lands of Kincade to Maldwin, Earl of Lennox, who in turn granted them to Sir William Galbraith. From the Galbraiths the land passed to a family of Logans, who took the Kincaid name. In 1296, a Kincaid appears as Constable of Edinburgh Castle, an office which he held until 1314.

Patrick de Kynkad and George de Kynkad were witnesses of Charters in 1457 and, by the 16th century, the family had become established at Craiglockhart and Warriston in Edinburgh; Bantaskin, near Falkirk, and Blackness Castle at Linlithgow.  In this period, Malcolm Kincaid became embroiled in a feud with the Lennoxes of Woodhead, and was killed in 1581. John Kincaid of Warriston was murdered in 1600 by one of his grooms.

In the 17th century, the Kincaids supported the Royalist Cause and, as a result, several emigrated to North America.  Following the Jacobite Uprising of 1715, David Kincaid was forced into exile, ultimately settling in Virginia.  In 1746, four sons of Alexander Kincaid, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, fought a rearguard action after the Battle of Culloden and were captured. They too escaped and headed for Virginia, where the Clan Kincaid organisation was founded in the 20th century. 

Towards the end of the 18th century, the senior line of the Kincaids married into the Lennox family, thus bringing together old adversaries. In 2001, Madame Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid became Chief of the Name. 

Surname distribution in Scotland: The Kincaid name is most common in Perth and Kinross (Perthshire and Kinross-shire), Renfrewshire and Argyll and Bute.

Places of Interest: The family seat remains the Tower of Kincaid at Milton of Campsie in Stirlingshire.  In 1883, John Lennox Kincaid, son of John Kincaid of Kincaid and Cecile Lennox, built Lennox Castle. He commissioned the building of the castle while at the same time seeking to claim the lapsed earldom of Lennox. His claim was unsuccessful. In the 20th century, Lennox Castle became a hospital.

Clan Kincaid membership certificates.