CUMING, Thomas of Altyr, Sir ²

   Other names for Thomas were CUMMING, Thomas, Sir ³ and CUMYN, Thomas.⁴

   User ID: X879.

  General Notes:

"Ferquhard Cumyn of Altre married Janet, daughter of John Cameron of Lochyell, chief of that clan, by whom he left three sons-1, Alexander, his heir; 2, Thomas; and, 3, John, mentioned in 1422 in a donation to the Abbey of Cambuskenneth."

"Sir Thomas Cumyn, son and heir of Sir Alexander Cumyn of Altyre by Euffame, sister of Sir Thomas Dunbar, Earl of Moray, appears to have married early, Margaret, second daughter of Sir Patrick Gordon of Methlic and Haddo, progenitor of the Earls of Aberdeen, by Marian, daughter of Sir James Ogilvie of Findlater. (See Research Notes on this subject showing that this statement is not borne out by facts)

By this Margaret Gordon Sir Thomas Cumyn had three sons\emdash 1, James, who died s. p., vit. pat; 2, Alexander, his heir; 3, John, progenitor of the Cumyns of Ernside.
His daughter 'Jean,' called, for her great beauty, 'The Fair Maid of Moray,' became the fourth wife of Alexander, 'first Earl of Huntly,' by whom he had two daughters: 1, Lady Janet, married Innes of Innes ; 2, Lady Margaret,
married Hugh Rose of Kilravock."

from Bruces and Cumyns


"Ferquhard Cumming, the eldest son of Sir Richard, was the first of the family designed by the title of Altyre. Sir Thomas Cumming of Altyre, the eldest son of Ferquhard, obtained in 1419, a warrant from the crown to build the castles and fortalices of Dollas and Earnside. His eldest son, James, died without issue, and was succeeded by the second son, Alexander, who died in the reign of James the Third. John, the third son, was progenitor of the Cummings of Earnside. He had also a daughter, Jane, called for her beauty, 'the fair maid of Murray,' the fourth wife of the first earl of Huntly."

from Electric Scotland ^{3 4}

  Research Notes:

TIMELINE: Cumyns and Gordons

Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns states that Thomas was the

"son and heir of Sir Alexander Cumyn of Altyre by Euffame, sister of Sir Thomas Dunbar",
and that he

"appears to have married early, Margaret, second daughter of Sir Patrick Gordon of Methlic and Haddo ... by Marian, daughter of Sir James Ogilvie of Findlater."

If Thomas had been the son of the couple mentioned, he would have been born about 1409, at the earliest. He could, then, (just!) have been the father of Jane, or Jean, 'Fair Maid of Moray' who married Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly. Marion Ogilvie's father died in 1509; Patrick Gordon who was her husband died in 1531. Thus the above statement is incompatible with the other facts the author offers.

It would be more than a stretch for Thomas Gordon's putative Gordon wife to be the daughter of even the first Patrick Gordon of Methlic, who fell in Battle in 1452, and also to be the mother of the 'Fair Maid of Moray'.

Assuming there was a Gordon of Methlic link, it might be suggested that this Gordon wife of Thomas could have been the sister of the James Gordon who was the grandfather of James Gordon, first laird of Haddo..

The earliest part of the 15th century is a very tricky time to find accurate times for Gordon genealogy. Alexander Seton who married the heiress, Elizabeth Gordon, was not born till about 1409 or 1410, so there are challenges in making work chronologically some of the claims made for marriages between these early Cumyns and that branch of the Gordons. The other main lines of Gordon genealogy, descended from 'Jock' and 'Tam' Gordon, look more promising, and have the merit of being linked more with the Moray region, but the details of dates and relationship are not always accurately available. so caution ought to be exercised in any claims made. The Gordon DNA project (http://www.thegordondnaproject.com/gg32.html) lists likely descendants of Sir Adam de Gordon, born in France about 1035; these are not undisputed. Research is still ongoing about many individuals and family lines after the arrival of the Gordons to Scotland, and wholesale agreement has not been reached. As one writer on the same website expresses it:

"If but little is really known about John of Scurdargue, his brother Thomas, commonly called Tam o'Riven, is even more a shadowy figure.."

And further on:

"The only documentary record of Jock that seems to exist is a confirmation in 1423 by James Douglas, Lord of Bercorn, as superior, of a charter granted in 1418 by William Fraser of Philorth of the lands of Ardlach with the mill of Badyehale and multlures in the Barony of Aberdour to 'John of Gordon natural son of the late Johon of Gordon knight lord of the same'..."

Thus establishing who the 'Margaret Gordon' was, who married this Sir Thomas Cumyn, is no mean feat. It may be that she did have a link to what became 'Gordons of Haddo', and so may well have been a sister of James of Methick.

Nor does the dating easily allow Thomas to be a son, rather than a brother of Alexander. Other dates regarding this Cumyn family, deduced from legal charters, point very definitely to Thomas as his brother rather than his son. ^{4 5 6}

Thomas married Margaret GORDON, daughter of John GORDON of Essie, and/or of Scudargue and Elizabeth MAITLAND, by 11 November 1411.¹ (Margaret GORDON was born about 1398.)

  Marriage Notes:

"He (Sir Thomas Cuming) received a charter from the king extending to his wife and heirs. It read in favour of

'Sir Thomas Cuming of Altyr, and Margaret Gordon his spouse, and their heirs male to be procreate betwixt them, of all and hail the lands of Bellanrith, Leonaught, Auchness and Little Thorp lying within the barony of Dollas and shire of Elgin' (dated 11 November 1411)"

from A History of Their Making ¹