Cumming
THE Cumins are said to have come from Normandy, but some deduce them from Northumberland. Their home was Badenoch, in the south-eastern wilds of Inverness. John Cumin was slain with Malcolm III at Alnwick in 1093. Sir John, the Red Cumin (Comyn), first Lord of Badenoch, was ambassador to Louis IX of France in 1240, and his son, John, was a competitor for the Scottish Crown, but Edward I of England chose John Baliol to be King of Scotland. This did not prevent Cumin from swearing fealty to the English King. His son, John, called also the Red Cumin (Comyn), succeeded him as Lord of Badenoch. He fought against England in the War of Independence, but quarrelled with Robert Bruce, who stabbed him in the Church of Dumfries. He was the last Lord of Badenoch who was surnamed Cumin. His lands passed to the Earl of Buchan, descended from another Cumin. In revenge the whole clan rose against Bruce, who defeated them. The Earl was outlawed, and his estates were forfeited. His son and successor had no heirs. His kinsman, Jordanus Cumin, is said to have been the ancestor of the Cumins of Culter. The Cumin race is now represented by the Gordon-Cummings of Altyre and Gordonstoun, Baronets. They have held Altyre in Moray for many generations.
