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Clan Baird:          The chiefly line of Auchmeddan is now extinct

Last Chief           Arms were recorded in Lyon Register for Sir James Baird of

                        Auchmeddan in 1672

Gaelic Name:      Mac a’bhaird word for a poet “de Bard or de Barde”

Origin of name:  Records show that a Le Signeur de Barde’ arrived from France

                        as a follower of William the Conqueror.

Crest Badge        A Gryphon’s head

Clan Motto:        Dominus fecit (The Lord made)

Lands:               Auchmeddan

The powerful Baird Clan (family) has been recorded throughout the history of Scotland since at least 1178 AD, when Henry Barde was witness to a charter by King William the Lion of Scotland. He also saved the same kings life when the King was attacked by a wild boar during a hunt.
The Bairds were not always great friends of the Monarchs and in 1308, Baird of Carnwath was executed and his lands in Lanarkshire forfeited, for leading a conspiracy against King Robert the Bruce. Two years later the Bairds were back in favour and King Robert granted lands to Robert Baird in the Barony of Cambusnethan in Lanarkshire and for centuries, the Bairds were Barons of this area and also acquired lands in Lavoroklaw and Posso in Fife. The family later purchased the lands of Auchmedden near Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire from the Earl of Buchan. Auchmeddon became the seat of the Bairds for more than 200 years from this time on. Although the acquisition took place in 1589, the local churchyard at New Aberdour Bay has a gravestone for a Baird and his wife dated from 1433, so there had been Bairds here for more than one hundred years before the main move. The churchyard is the burial place of the Bairds of Auchmeddon. The area is very scenic and contains the picturesque village of Pennan.
The Lairds of Auchmeddon were destined to be rebellious, and George Baird took part with the Earl of Huntly in the Catholic insurrection at Corrichie. Fortunately, he was pardoned in 1589 by King James the sixth.

Less lucky was the chief, William Baird who joined the Jacobite rebellion of 1744 and was in charge of the bodyguard of Prince Charles Stuart.  He had to go into hiding for a time after the defeat of the rebellion at the Battle of Culloden. His estates were forfeit and sold in 1750 to Lord Haddo.  The Famous Scottish seer, Thomas the Rhymer prophesied that “There would be Bairds at Auchmeddon as long as the eagles nested on the cliffs of Pennan” When the estate passed out of the family in 1750, the eagles disappeared from the Cliffs of Pennan, where they had nested for centuries.

Sir David Baird was one of the most distinguished Generals in Victorian times and took a leading part in the crushing of the Indian Mutiny.
Perhaps one of the best known of the Clan has been John Logie Baird who invented and made the very first television transmission, started the first television station for the BBC and in 1946 took out a patent for the use of fibre optics.

The Baird Clan Crest is a gryphon's head and the proud Baird clan motto "Dominus fecit" which means (The Lord made)

Our Scottish Heritage is the common bond that unites our Baird family name forever.........  

An old Gaelic proverb................‘Remember the men from whence you came’ 

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote....

"The mark of a Scot of all classes is that he remembers and cherishes the memories of his forebears, good or bad, and here burns above in him a sense of identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation."

There are several spelling variations for the Clan Baird surname. Throughout the centuries, surnames have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.