26/06/2023
Clan Appreciation Day!
Comment below the Clan you belong to and which part of the world you live in now... 🌏
Book your walking tour here- www.murdoch-tours.com
There are a couple of theories as to the origin of this name; one is from the Anglo-Saxon ‘lisse’ which means ‘happy’, another is that it comes from the Norse for ‘stirring fellow’, and yet another recent suggestion has been that it comes from Liscus, chief of the Haedui, a tribe of Gauls described by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars. Also, the Castle of Boulogne, once the possession of Charlemagne, at one time belonged to a family called de Lesque.
William de Laskereske’s signature appears on the Ragman Roll in 1296 and later in 1345 William Leask was granted lands of Leskgoroune by David II, the son of Robert the Bruce.
The second chief was baillie of the barony of Findon. He inherited lands from Henry de Brogan, Lord of Achlowne, in 1390, later in the 1400’s another branch of the family sprung up on Orkney after Jamis of Lask, younger son of Thomas de Lask of that Ilk settled there.
In 1513 the Line of Leask Chiefs suffered a double tragedy when both William Lask of that Ilk, 5th Chief, and his son, Alexander Lask of that Ilk, Younger, dsp, were both killed at the Battle of Flodden; the latter’s younger brother, William Lask, Burgess of Aberdeen, then became the 6th Leask Chief.
William Lesk of that Ilk, the seventh chief supported the infant James VI in opposition to his mother Mary Queen of Scots after the murder of Lord Darnley and her scandalous marriage to Bothwell.
If you don't belong to a Clan don't worry, there is plenty of room in Clan Murdoch and you are all welcome!
