Clann BUCHAN

The district of Buchan in Aberdeenshire became a from of identification for inhabitants who lived there.  Others carried the name to the extreme north.  Richard of Buchan was a clerk of the bishopric of Aberdeen in 1207.   Andrew Buchan became the Bishop of Caithness.  Walter Buchan was Canon of St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall in Orkney in 1369.  At an early date, the name was carried to Edinburgh, and to the Barony of Morton.

One of the principle families to emerge in Aberdeenshire was the Buchans of Auchmacoy, which produced an early Jacobite general, Thomas Buchan.  he was the third son of James Buchan of Auchmacoy.  After the death of Bonnie Dundee at Killiecrankie in 1689, General Thomas Buchan became the leader of James VII's forces in Scotland in their opposition to William of Orange's usurpation.  He was defeated and went into exile in 1692.

Since then the name has acquired increasing celebrity in the literary field, culminating in that of the novelist, John Buchan (1878 - 1940).