Carnegie family motto: "Dred God"
Coat of Arms: "Argent, an eagle displayed Azure, armed, beaked and membered Gules, on its breast a covered cup Or"
Clansman's badge "A thunderbolt Proper, winged Or"
John de Carnegie is noted as having been born in 1348. No other records of him have been found so it is assumed that he died in infancy. All of his fathers lands and titles passed to his younger brother, Duthac de Carnegie, who was born in 13??. It is on this John de Carnegie that the following, fictional, character is based….
Sir John de Carnegie
John de Carnegie was born in 1348 to John de Carnegie Snr, a nobleman in Kinnaird, Angus Scotland. At 8 yrs old he was sent to train under John Macdonald of Islay, the first "Lord of the Isles". He did well in his training and at 13yrs old became squire to Macdonald
1385 saw him taking part in the Scottish/French invasion of northern England under the command of Alan Steuart. After the Battle of Moranside he was knighted under the King's banner for "service to King and country".
In April 1388 he upset King Robert and his court by saying that he didn't trust the French and that they would invade Scotland after defeating the English. Later that year he was again part of the Scottish army that invaded and attacked the English forces in Northern England, serving under the command of James 2nd Earl of Douglas. In August 1388 he took part in the Battle of Otterburn, a small town in Northumberland, 31 miles north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. The night before the battle he was overheard telling fellow knights that he would rather die fighting for the English than let a single Frenchman set foot on Scottish soil. He knew this would soon reach the ear of the king and he was in enough trouble for his anti-French ramblings already! He quickly hatched a plan. In the confusion of battle, along with several other disillusioned knights, he stole the money chest belonging to the Scottish paymaster and made off with it. Escape was made all the easier as the battle was fought through the night, with frequent pauses when the clouds covered the moon.
The small Scottish party headed south, robbing, pillaging and looting as they went. This was all in a good cause of course, themselves! Knightly virtues came second to money. Anyone deemed worthy was robbed ("worthy" in this case meaning having something they wanted). Even they dead weren't safe and graves were frequently robbed. Nothing was sacred to this band of rouges, there was even claims of rape, to which the reply was "It's only rape if they say 'no', how can it be so when the dead can't speak?".
Early one morning in September 1390 they hatched a plan to kidnap Maria, the only daughter of John de Filton the High Sheriff of Northumberland. During the botched kidnapping most of the Scottish party were either killed or captured, Sir John, however, had managed to grab Maria and had rode off with her. He soon found himself alone, deep in England. He now had a price on his head in both Scotland and England so had to keep on the move. He found the company of Maria quite pleasing and they soon became friends, then lovers. Out of Maria's earshot he tells how her father refused to pay the ransom because of her constant talking and that he's stuck with her. Of course he would never say or admit it when she's around.
The couple kept heading south, living off the land and avoiding major towns and roads. Eventually they came to a small valley in Wales where they befriended a band of local knights, and joined their forces. Sir John struggles with the Welsh language, the only phrase he has mastered so far is "Of course I'll respect you in the morning". translating into Welsh as "Baaaa Baaaaaah".
