Clan Johnstone

also Johnston

The fighting Johnstons of the Western Borders.

Origin: Ayrshire & Galloway, Scotland
Motto: Nunquam non paratus
Famous bearer: Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie (c.1550–1608), victor at Dryfe Sands
Register: Scottish clan

Territory of Johnstone

The seat of Clan Johnstone

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Johnstone community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Clan Johnstone has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Johnstone clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

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Motto

Nunquam non paratus

“Never unprepared”

What does the Johnstone name mean?

Multiple 'John's towns' exist in Scotland, but the surname is first recorded in Annandale, Dumfriesshire, in 1174.

The history of Clan Johnstone

The earliest record of the surname is in 1174, one John of Johnstone in Annandale, Dumfriesshire. In 1296 Sir John of Johnstone of Dumfries pledged allegiance to Edward I of England.

Of the various 'John's towns' across Scotland, it was the fighting Johnstons of the Western Borders who became the most powerful. During the Civil War the clan supported the Royalist cause of Charles I.

In 1633 Charles I rewarded their loyalty by granting the chief a lordship. By the 1700s the Johnstone chief had been raised further, to Earl of Annandale and Secretary of State.

Champions of the Johnstone name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has their own page, biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Tom Johnston
The Kirkintilloch journalist and Labour MP whose tenure as Secretary of State for Scotland in the wartime coalition government of 1941 to 1945 founded the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, the largest single piece of mid-twentieth-century Scottish industrial-developmental legislation, and transformed the Highland economy.

Castles the Johnstone held

Strongholds this name held for a decade or more, look one up, or rebuild it to explore.

Carberry Tower
The Johnstone family were the first owners of Carberry Tower.
Hutton Castle
Seat of the Johnstons of Hilton from c.1620 until the early 19th century.
Auchen Castle
Passed to the Johnstones of Corehead, possibly during James II's campaign against the Douglases.
Auchen Castle Hotel
The Kirkpatrick estates came under Clan Johnstone, Lords of Annandale; General Johnstone built the present house, completed in 1849.

Castles that share the Johnstone name

The same name on the map, look one up, see what it looked like in its prime, and recreate it to explore.

Johnstone CastlePartial ruin · prime 1848

All castles in Scotland → · Strongest castles in Scotland → · Castles of Europe

Play As Your Clan

Explore history as a JohnstoneStart your story →

Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth, the Johnstone country, or a shore no Johnstone ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Notable bearers of the Johnstone name

Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie (c.1550–1608), victor at Dryfe Sands
William Johnstone the Galliard (d. c.1610), brother of Sir James

Stories of Clan Johnstone

The Galliard's stroke
1593
On the wet saltmarsh of Dryfe Sands at the confluence of the Dryfe Water and the Annan, three miles north of Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, on the late afternoon of the sixth of December 1593, Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie, then about forty-three years old, the chief of the Johnstones of Annandale, with about four hundred of his clansmen-and-allies, broke a Maxwell host of about two thousand under John, eighth Lord Maxwell. The Maxwell column had committed to crossing the confluence under tight numerical superiority; the Johnstone horse caught it in column at the ford and rolled it back across the marsh. Maxwell was unhorsed, asked for quarter, and was killed on the wet sand by a single downward sword-stroke delivered across the face by William Johnstone the Galliard, Sir James's younger brother. The stroke is the original of the Dumfriesshire dialect-phrase to lockerbie a man, a downward sword-cut to the head, and the Maxwell power on the Western March was broken in the half-hour that followed. The feud continued in private for the next twenty years and was formally closed only in 1623 by the Privy Council.
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Stories that touch the name Clan Johnstone

Dryfe Sands
1593
On the Clan Maxwell page
The action at Dryfe Sands on the sixth of December 1593, in which the Johnstones of Annandale broke the Maxwell host on the wet saltmarsh and the Galliard delivered the downward sword-stroke that gave the Scots dialect its Lockerbie lick, is the Johnstone family's defining military moment. The story is told from the Maxwell side on the Maxwell page; the Johnstone-side account agrees in all substantive particulars.
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Frequently asked

What does the surname Johnstone mean?

Multiple 'John's towns' exist in Scotland, but the surname is first recorded in Annandale, Dumfriesshire, in 1174. The earliest record of the surname is in 1174, one John of Johnstone in Annandale, Dumfriesshire.

Where does the Johnstone family come from?

The Johnstone family is rooted in Ayrshire & Galloway, in Scotland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Galloway. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Is Johnstone Scottish or Irish?

Johnstone is a Scottish surname; its home on this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated. The same or similar spellings can surface in Irish records, but the lineage documented on this page is the Scottish one.

How old is the Johnstone surname?

The earliest record of the surname is in 1174, one John of Johnstone in Annandale, Dumfriesshire. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Johnstone name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Johnstone family known for?

The fighting Johnstons of the Western Borders. The earliest record of the surname is in 1174, one John of Johnstone in Annandale, Dumfriesshire.

What is the Johnstone motto?

The motto of the Johnstone family is "Nunquam non paratus", which translates as "Never unprepared". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

What does "Nunquam non paratus" mean in English?

"Nunquam non paratus" is the motto of the Johnstone family. In English it means "Never unprepared". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.

Is there a Johnstone family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single coat of arms that belongs to everyone named Johnstone. Heraldic arms were granted to individuals and descend through specific documented lines, so a "family crest" matched to a surname alone is decorative rather than genealogical. In Scots heraldry the convention is different again: clansfolk wear the chief's crest inside a strap-and-buckle badge, the crest stays the chief's property, worn in allegiance rather than owned. The motto associated with the principal line is "Nunquam non paratus".

Who is the most famous Johnstone?

The best-known bearer of the Johnstone name is Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie (c.1550–1608), victor at Dryfe Sands. Other prominent figures of the family include William Johnstone the Galliard (d. c.1610), brother of Sir James.

Who are some famous Johnstones?

Notable bearers of the Johnstone name include Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie (c.1550–1608), victor at Dryfe Sands and William Johnstone the Galliard (d. c.1610), brother of Sir James. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Johnstone family?

The Johnstone family is associated with The Galliard's stroke. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of the Galliard's stroke?

On the wet saltmarsh of Dryfe Sands at the confluence of the Dryfe Water and the Annan, three miles north of Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, on the late afternoon of the sixth of December 1593, Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie, then about forty-three years old, the chief of the Johnstones of Annandale, with about four hundred of his clansmen-and-allies, broke a Maxwell host of about two thousand under John, eighth Lord Maxwell. The Maxwell column had committed to crossing the confluence under tight numerical superiority; the Johnstone horse caught it in column at the ford and rolled it back across the marsh. The event is dated to 1593.

Is Johnston the same family as Johnstone?

Yes. Johnston is a historical spelling variant of the Johnstone name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Johnstone surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Johnstone surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Scotland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Johnstone family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Johnstone family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Scotland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Johnstone family today?

The seat for the head of the Johnstone family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.