Craith History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland
• Ireland

Etymology of Craith

To the ancient Scottish name Craith was a nickname for a prosperous person. The Gaelic form of the surname Craith is Mac Rath, which literally means son of grace or son of prosperity.

Craith Coat of Arms Creation

Nearly three centuries ago there was a great bagpipe competition held in Kintail, the home of the Macraes, and pipers from far and near came to compete. The supreme test was to play a particular tune all the way up to the top of a hill in the neighbourhood.

Two of the competitors were nearing the top together, but one of them, a Macrae, was a step or two in front of his rival, who, in his chagrin, pulled out his dagger and pricked the other's bagpipe; but Macrae managed to get his foot on the topmost rock just as the wind failed, and exclaimed " Sguir-oran," which is now the name of this hill and the slogan of the Macraes. From this incident the Macraes then took for their crest a bared right arm with the hand holding a dagger, and the motto " Fortitudine " (with fortitude).

Early Origins of the Craith family

Early History of the Craith family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Craith research. Another 548 words (39 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1425, 1477, 1505, 1539, 1688, 1715, 1745, 1764, 1778 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Craith History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Craith Spelling Variations

The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. Craith has been spelled MacCrae, MacCraith, MacCrath, MacCraw, MacCray, MacCrea, MacCree, MacCreight, MacCrie, MacReagh, MacRae, MacRay, MacRie and many more.

Early Notables of the Craith family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Finghin MacCarthy Reagh (c.1425-1505), the 8th Prince of Carbery from 1477 to 1505, belonged to the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty; the Earl of Seaforth who forfeited his lands in 1715, but in 1764 was allowed to buy the lands back from the Government. In gratitude he offered to raise a regiment to be known as the Seaforth Highlanders (the 78th Regiment). Composed largely of MacKenzies and MacRaes (always loyal supporters of the MacKenzies whose Chief commanded the Regiment), it was embodied at Elgin in May 1778...
Another 92 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Craith Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Craith family to Ireland

Some of the Craith family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 59 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 Craith family

The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Craith: Hugh MacCrae settled in New York in 1774; James, Daniel, Henry, John, Patrick, Robert, William MacCrea all arrived in Philadelphia between 1800 and 1870.