Clan Bell (Bell Tartan)

2. Clan Bell History (Bell Tartan)

Families with this name are almost exclusively found in the Borders, particularly Dumfriesshire, and the name bell may have French origins (Bel or Belle).

Several different spellings of the name have been noted, including Bel, Bellis, Belle, Beal, and Bale.

Around the eleventh century, the Bells established in Middlebie Parish in Dumfriesshire, and by the seventeenth century, there were 31 families residing there.

One of the oldest mentions is to Gilbert Le Fitzbel, who had land in Dumfries. It is thought that they are descended from a Norman David I supporter.

The Bells turned to traveling to make a living at this time, like many other families in the Borders.

The activities of the ruling families had grown problematic during the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the overpopulation in the area, and many of them had received letters of caution from the Crown in 1517 to maintain peace.

The Act of 1587, which was established "for the quieting and keeping in obedience of the disorderit and subjectis inhabitants of the Borders, Highlands, and Isles," suggests that things did not significantly improve.

Thereafter, a list of clans "that hes Captaines and Chieftaines" is given, which the Bells are among. Numerous families moved to the Ulster Plantation in the early 17th century, and the surname Bell is still used in Ireland today.

After William Bell received holdings at Kirkconnel in Annandale in 1424 from Archibald, Earl of Douglas, the Bells became strong associates of the Douglases. There, William erected a fortified tower bearing the current Bell clan crest.

William Bell, sometimes known as Redcloak, was the clan's final chief until his death in 1628. Blackethouse in Annandale was once his home, but it was destroyed by an English attack in 1547.

As a result, William moved to another residence close to Kelso while keeping the Blackethouse name. The clan has been recognized by the Lord Lyon after nearly 400 years of slumber, and it has been given authority to find a new Chief.

The family moved to numerous locations after the 17th century, including America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

There is a Bell Sept of the MacMillan clan that is distinct from the Border Bells. Their original home was in Glen Shira, close to Loch Fyne's head.

One Bell served as a Surgeon Extraordinary to the Sovereign, two Bells served as presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons, some Bells became sheriffs, and many Bells were men and women of letters.

General Sir John Bell, a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars and a close friend of the Duke of Wellington, George Joseph Bell, a well-known lawyer who wrote "Principles of the Law of Scotland," Dr. Joseph Bell, a renowned surgeon who served as the model for the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and last but not least, Alexander Graham Bell, who is credited with creating the first usable telephone, are all well-known Bells.

3. Clan Bell Tartans

Col. Bell kept the Bell of the Borders tartan secret for a while before permitting it to be revealed. The color stands for

Black is for the Border and in honor of our fallen soldiers.

The oceans and skies above us as we fled are both blue.

Green represents the color of the border and the promise of nature's plan.

Red symbolizes our sacrificed blood, courage, and tribe.

The sunburst color is yellow.

Y/6 LB8 Y/8 LB76 K8 LB8 K32 G8 R/12 Threadcount

Bell of the Borders

4. Clan Bell Crest & Coats of Arms

4.1 Clan Bell Crest

Worn by all of the name and ancestry

Crest Description:

A hand holding a dagger, paleways, Proper

4.2 Clan Bell Coat of Arms

Note on Coats of Arms: A coat of arms is given to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist.

With the exclusions listed above, the weapons depicted below are personal weapons. The only person authorized to use these weapons is the grantee.

BELL of Blackethouse

Azure, three bells, Or

An Elizabethan oak over-mantel carved with the coat of arms of Sir Robert Bell

5. Clan Bell Places & People

5.1 Clan Bell Places

The Bell Clan's ancestral home. A destroyed tower in Middlebie parish, Dumfriesshire, with the year 1404 and the initials W[illiam] B[ell] above its exterior doorway is known as Blacket-House, sometimes known as Blackwood House.

Bell is alleged to have killed "fair Helen of Kirkconnel Lea" at his residence.

According to historical documents, John Bell of Blackwoodhouse settled close to Middlebie at some point in the 15th century.

The Tower is believed to have been built in the second part of the sixteenth century.

5.2 Clan Bell People

Alexander Graham Bell

Bell, who was born on March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, is most remembered for creating the telephone, but he was also a wonderful man and a great inventor who developed a number of other innovations, including an air-cooling system, a method of desalinating sea water, and a sorting device for punch-coded census cards.

In order to teach communication to the deaf, his father, Alexander Melville Bell, created Visible communication. Alexander continued this work and instructed the young Helen Keller.

Bell improved on previous innovations to the traditional telegraph, the "harmonic telegraph," which could send many messages at once over a single telegraph cable.

Many other innovators had been working on the idea of sending human speech via wire. Bell came to the conclusion that an adaption of this concept might allow for the capture of all human voice sounds.

His telephone was granted a patent on March 7, 1876, and the first audible speech transmission occurred in 1875.