This article seems to have its roots in romanticism rather than history. There is no trace in the Scottish parish records of any of the name MacKuredy and not until the late 17th century do a few McCurdy and McKirdy names appear. It is true that only members of the established church of Scotland appear in these records but the holders of baronies would be expected to appear.As far as can be ascertained the names "Petheric" and "MacKuredy" appear only in this article and the source it came from and not anywhere else on the Web.I am proud to be a McCurdy and have visited Arran, Bute and Kyntyre in search of my forebears and knowhere does this story ring true.As far as I can ascertain the McCurdy family are a sept of the Stewarts of Bute and have a long association with Horses and Blacksmithing as a visit to any of the graveyards in Arran and Bute will confirm. My own family were Blacksmiths and Metalworkers from at least the 18th century till well nto the twentieth century. My part of the McCurdy family remain in Scotland and there seems to be no trace of this story here. It seems to occur only in the United States part of the family.There are many references to Petheric McCurdy both online and in books: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jwroots1/mccbook.html Also the LDS Church records record the marriage of Petheric to Margaret Stewart and their sons emigration to the American Colonies. Petheric and Margaret were married around 1666 in County Antrim Northern Ireland so the records would not appear in Buteshire, Margaret was from the branch of Stewarts known as Stewart of Ballintoy which was the Irish branch of the Stewarts of Bute. The existance of Petheric and his sons is also well known in the Canadian branch of the family and was written about by the author H. Percy Blanchard of Nova Scotia.I have converted a book my dad got ~1985 here is the linkhttp://www.rmccurdy.com/scripts/McCurdy.docImage:Crest new.jpgTHE MC CURDY COAT OF ARMS HEREBY ILLUSTRATED IS OFFICIALLY DOCUMENTED IN BURKE'S GENERAL ARMORY. THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ARMS (SHIELD) IS AS FOLLOWS: "PER FESS OR AND SA. IN CHIEF A MARTLET OF THE SECOND AND IN BASE A FIR TREE GROWING OUT OF A MOUNT, SURMOUNTED OF A SWORD’S BEND, SUPPORTING ON THE POINT AN ANTIQUE CROWN OR." WHEN TRANSLATED THE BLAZON ALSO DESCRIBES THE ORIGINAL COLORS OF THE MC CURDY ARMS AS: "DEVIDED HORIZONTALLY: THE UPPER HALF IS GOLD AND CHARGED IN ITS CHIEF WITH A BLACK MARTLET, THE LOWER HALF IS BLACK WITH A GOLD MOUNT IN ITS BASE, OUT OF WHICP IS GROWING A GOLD FIR TREE, ON WHICH IS SUPERPOSED A GOLD SWORD, IN A RIGHT DIAGONAL POSITION, SUPPORTING AN ANCIENT. GOLD CROWN ON ITS TIP. ABOVE THE SHIELD AND HELMETS IS THE CREST WHICH IS DESCRIBED AS: "A NATURALLY COLORED HALF WYVERN."THE McCURDYS Of LONG CANESVOLUME ONETHE McCURDYS OF LONG CANES A SETTLEMENT OF ULSTER SCOTS VOLUME IIf I were defeated everywhere else, I would make my last stand for liberty amount Ulstermen."General George WashingtonThis book is dedicated to the memory of my mother: Mrs. Thomas Clifton McCurdy, long of Archer City and Denison Texas. Much of the following information came from her records. Also my appreciation to Tom and Lorene Gaines for the information they furnished me.John C. McCurdy 1985 Third EditionThis stream of Celts poured into Asia Minor and even into Greece. So numerous were they that the Greeks called one part of Asia Minor "Golotia" meaning The Country of the Strangers. Stranger being the Celtic word Gall. The shields of these kilt-wearing hunters and herders were brown in color and they became known as Don Galls or brown strangers. Donn was their word for brown. During the time the Celts were in the area between the Black and Caspian Seas, they came in contact with the Semites. There was an interchange of language terms. Many traditions in Scotland that have a biblical background were probably picked up at this time, including the Stone of Scone said to be the rock Jacob used as a pillow when he had his dream. The Celts Were always known as savage fighters. In the transition from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, they were so impressed with their iron weapons that they added iron oxide to their diets to make them stronger. Maybe it did. It is also given credit for many Celts developing red hair. The Celts pushed northwestward to the muddy watery of a river they called Donnab - Brown River. Later given the Latin name Danbuis - now Danube. (The historian Michelot says this took place about 1800 B.C.). After the Danube, the Celts poured over what now France and later reached the Atlantic. Here they built crude boats and crossed into what is now England and Ireland.These Brown Galls or Donn Galls were followed many years later by another Gallic tide - the Alaisdairs or followers of Alexander. Their ancestors had served in the armies of Alexander of Macedon. They were better fighters than the Donn Galls and they forced them westward to the Atlantic shores. (This all took place in what is now the northern part of Ireland. The Mccurdys are descended from the people Fowler calls the "Alaisdars" or "Alexanders." These two groups were known to be closely related and descendants of both were to become Scots.) The Alexander’s named their new land for themselves - Alis- dair. Today, is called Ulster. Over in western Ireland, the Donn Galls were licking their wounds and plotting for revenge. They also named their new land for themselves - Donegal. About 495 A.D., Fergus Mor, Big Fergus of the Alaisdars conquered large areas of what is now Scotland. He drained off much of the population of Ulster in order settle this new land. Over in Donegal, Angus, Chief of the Brown Galls, saw his opportunity and seized it. About 550 A.D., Angus re- conquered Ulster. He then crossed over to Scotland and sons of Big Fergus. In the next five years, he battled the so conquered great areas the Highland Country, which was populated by other Celts and also by a strange race of people who painted their bodies green and called themselves, Picts.CHAPTER II A Synopsis of The Ancestral McCurdys"The Scots (or Scoti which meant wanderers) came to Ireland from the south sometime during the 6th Century B.C. An interesting point here is that the queen and wife of King Heremon, probably the first Scoti king to rule in Ireland, was Tea Tephi, youngest of the three escaped daughters of Zedekiah, last reigning king of Judah. This takes the Royal Scot line back to the house of David. This ancestry line hangs in the Hall of Windsor Castle. By about 575 B.C., the Scoti had conquered all of what now the north part of Ireland - then known as Scotia. Descendants the Senti still live in the north - the Protestant Scot-lrish. In 258 A.D., the fourth son of the king Ireland, Conar MacMogalainea, established the first Scottish settlement what is the Scotland of today. His name was Prince Reuda. They landed on the Island of Arran and later settled on the Island of Bute and then the Argyle (Kintyre) Peninsula. Prince Reuda's descendants, the MacReuda clan, increased to thousands during the next 250 years. This was the Mccurdy elan and Prince Reuda was the founder. He was a Christian, and a strong Christian heritage was within the clan for hundreds of years. Mc or Mac means son” and anytime we introduce ourselves as McCurdy, we are telling that person the we are the sons and daughters of that ancient Scottish prince who was the son of the king of Ireland. About 503 A.D. three princely brothers the same as Prince Reuda) came over from Ireland - Lorn, Fergus, and Angus. Fergus was later crowned King of the Scots and this was the start of the royal line of Scotland. By 880 A.D.: the Norsemen had begun to overrun the north of Scotland. In 1156, they got title to Arran and Bute by military conquest. The MacReuda clan now lived under Viking rule. In 1263, the Norsemen Were defeated by the Scots under Alexander 111. In 1265, the Norsemen ceded all the islands back to Scotland. The MacReuda clan were now seasoned fighters. There is more than one coat of arms of the Mccurdys. One was the royal coat of arms with an antique crown of gold, which represented Prince Reuda's father, the Scoti King of Ireland. Perhaps only the chief of the clan could use it. Another was a shield that showed a man standing in a field of wheat shooting an arrow. Just as the arrow left the bow, it pierced two crows. The crows, or ravens, represent two Danish pirate chiefs who were killed in single battle while raiding a Mccurdy farm along the coast.The modern day clan, or family, probably should start with Chief Gilcrist MaKurerdy Many of the American Mccurdys can trace their line back to him . If you are a McCurdy you are kin to this man whether you can trace back to him or not He was born about 1425 and was chief of the clan when official land grants were issued to the Makurerdys by King James IV of Scotland. These grants were on traditional Mccurdy land on the Island of Bute. They can be seen today at the Register Office in Edinburg Scotland. In the early l600's, James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne and became James I. He set in motion efforts unite the English Church and Presbyterian Church Scotland. There was little difference in creed or beliefs. There was a big difference how they were governed It seemed that the Scottish clans could not agree on anything. War broke out between the clans. King Charles 1, successor to James was executed. King Charles 11 came to power and the clan wars got worse. Hundreds of Scots were killed by Scots. (It is said that as late as World War I the British kept the Scottish Highlander Regiments separated for fear they would attack each other.) The Mccurdy clan grew smaller, but it was still strong. In the fall of 1666, Charles II sent the Royal troops (the English army) against the McCurdys In the bloody battles that followed, virtually every Mccurdy was slain. Many other Presbyterians also suffered the same fate. A few Mccurdys escaped back into mainland Scotland. Their descendants spell their names McKirdy, MacKirdy and maybe Maccurdy. Most of the Scot-lrish spelled their names Mccurdy. The stage was now set for the most dramatic epoch ever recorded about the clan. Five Mccurdy brothers - Petheric. (Patrick) David, William, Johh, and Daniel - their clan defeated and the soldiers in hot pursuit, seized a convenient boat and without pause pushed away from shore.It was a bitter cold day the latter part of November of 1666. A driving snow storm hid them from their pursuers, but it also carried them out to sea--no time to obtain provisions and in an open boat. For two days and two nights, the "refugees" were driven before a freezing easterly gale. They had to row and row hard to keep from being dashed against the rugged shore of Arron Island. They rounded the Argle (Kintyre) Peninsula and headed directly for Ireland. This was not to be, as the gale and the high seas carried them northwestward toward the open Atlantic. It was all they could do to keep the wind and high waves from swamping their tiny boat. The tide kept driving them on to the northwest and they needed to go southwest. Closer and closer they came to the Atlantic. They pulled at the oars, but the tempest pushed them closer and closer to the open Atlantic. With the ocean spray and the freezing temperature, the pain must have been almost unbearable. The distant hills of Ireland could be seen to their left and the dark Atlantic to their right, and they were moving to the right. Al1 looked lost. Then the Island of Rathlin loomed through the mist, but) they were missing it. With a last desperate effort, they p