It is written that in 838 A.D., that while serving as a Knight to Kenneth McAlpine, Scotland's first King, Birnie and his two sons were captured by the Picts. Birnie as a descendent of the Dalradians, was facing an automatic death penalty. The three escaped the stocks by cutting off their legs. As a reward for bravery in the war that united Scotland, Birnie was bestowed the title of Baron and the lands south of Elgin. Artistically, poetic license has created a few Scottish legends (McBeth to Hollywood’ s Rob Roy)! And although the story supporting the Claim to title of Lord Hamilton may be bit creative, it may contain, surprisingly, a tiny grain of truth. Read the fascinating story as recorded by John Birnie (Lord Hamilton).

There are many historic variations on the origin of our name. And naturally, the name spellings often changed during the lifetime of an individual. However, it is classed as a  Place Name derived from a small area located on the Lossie River, just south of Elgin in Morayshire. The original settlers were of mixed local tribes (i.e. Celts, Picts, Scots, and Nordic) who evolved from the traditional hunter gatherers to basic farming and the trading of artisan goods.

Geographically, the area was named as a moist, oozy place that had abundant hazel nut trees. (Birnie, before 1200 was "Brennach", simply G. Broanach, a moist place. The dative-locative is "braonaigh", which becomes "birnie" in Scots by the usual metathesis (from History of Celtic Name places in Scotland by W.J. Watson, 1926). Early parish maps (c. 1700) included a Plan for the Barony of Birnie (National Archives, 1859), and the parish is basically unchanged today. Use Google Map to view Parish locations.

As farming land opened up, and roadways and harbours improved, individuals who migrated from the Lossie area adopted the place name as a simple method of identification. Then “ Johne from Broanach” evolved to be John Birnie, and today, we are attempting to re-link these ancestral roots to our now global family.

Historically, the primary mail garment used by a knight was a simple shirt, called a byrnie or birnie. The flexible short sleeved, waist length shirt was made of interlocking metal rings that protected from slashing attacks, and was the precursor to the haubererk. The haubererk was often rather long, falling well past the waist and sometimes as far as the knees. In old Irish “ birnie” was defined as the knight in shinning armour. (see Nordic Origins ?).