Clan Cranstoun: A Legacy of Cranes, Corehouse and Lowland Scottish Watchfulness
Introduction
Clan Cranstoun, also commonly written Cranston, is a historic Lowland Scottish clan rooted in Midlothian, the old lands and barony of Cranstoun, the wider Scottish Borders, and later Corehouse in Lanarkshire.
The clan motto is:
“Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want”
“You shall want before I do.”
The clan crest is:
A crane, proper, dormant, holding a stone in her claw.
Clan Cranstoun’s current chief is recorded as David Alexander Somerville Cranstoun of that Ilk and Corehouse, with Corehouse in Lanarkshire listed as the clan seat. The clan is recognised as a Lowland Scottish clan with a chiefly line.
This article explores the history, people, heritage, tartans, crest, motto, lands, branches and modern legacy of Clan Cranstoun.
Chapter I: Origins of Clan Cranstoun
The name Cranstoun is territorial in origin. It comes from the lands and barony of Cranstoun in Midlothian, near Dalkeith.
The name is often interpreted as meaning the place of the cranes or a settlement associated with cranes. This interpretation fits the clan’s heraldry, because the crane appears on both the shield and crest of Clan Cranstoun. Clan reference material describes the name as coming from the lands and barony of Cranstoun in Midlothian, possibly from an Anglo-Saxon term for a crane place.
Historic spellings include:
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Cranstoun
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Cranston
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Cranstoune
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Cranstone
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Crainstoun
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Granston
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Granstoun
The clan belongs to the Lowland and Borders world of baronies, landed families, heraldry, royal service, borderland authority and estate continuity. It was not a Highland clan of island galleys and mountain warbands. Its identity was shaped by land, office, family branches and the long history of Scotland’s south-east.
Chapter II: Clan Territory and Ancestral Lands
Clan Cranstoun’s historic associations include:
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Midlothian
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Cranstoun
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Cranston Parish
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Dalkeith
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The Scottish Borders
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Roxburghshire
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Lanarkshire
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Corehouse
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New Lanark
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The River Clyde
The original territorial heart of the clan was the barony of Cranstoun in Midlothian.
The modern clan seat is:
Corehouse, Lanarkshire
Corehouse is close to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde. Historic Houses describes Corehouse as a large country house begun in 1824 by the Cranstoun family, heads of Clan Cranstoun, with the estate forming part of the New Lanark World Heritage Site.
This gives Clan Cranstoun two important landscapes:
First, the old Midlothian origin lands of Cranstoun.
Second, the later Lanarkshire seat of Corehouse, where the modern chiefly line is centred.
Chapter III: Important People of Clan Cranstoun
The Early Cranstouns of Midlothian
The earliest Cranstouns took their name from the lands of Cranstoun in Midlothian. Like many Lowland families, their surname began as a territorial identity and became hereditary over time.
This places the clan in the medieval world of baronies, charters, local lordship and regional service.
Sir William Cranstoun, 1st Lord Cranstoun
One of the most important figures in the rise of the family was Sir William Cranstoun, who became 1st Lord Cranstoun. The title Lord Cranstoun gave the family a place among Scotland’s peerage and raised its status beyond local landholding.
The Lords Cranstoun
The Lords Cranstoun became the most prominent noble line of the family.
Their history includes court service, military involvement, estate management and the complicated politics of early modern Scotland. Later members of the line were connected with British imperial, military and colonial history.
William Cranstoun, 3rd Lord Cranstoun
The 3rd Lord Cranstoun fought for the Royalists during the Civil War period and was captured at the Battle of Worcester. While imprisoned in the Tower of London under the Protectorate, much of his property was forfeited.
This places Clan Cranstoun within the great 17th-century struggle between monarchy, parliament, covenant and civil war.
George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse
George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse, was a celebrated Scottish judge and a friend of Sir Walter Scott. Clan references describe him as a respected scholar and associate of Scott, whom he entertained at Corehouse.
He gives the clan an important legal, literary and intellectual dimension.
Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Cranstoun of Corehouse
In 1950, Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Cranstoun of Corehouse was recognised as chief of Clan Cranstoun. He later died in 1990, after which the chiefship passed to the current chief.
His recognition helped secure the modern chiefly identity of the clan.
David Alexander Somerville Cranstoun of that Ilk and Corehouse
The present chief is recorded as:
David Alexander Somerville Cranstoun of that Ilk and Corehouse
He succeeded after the death of his uncle and remains associated with Corehouse.
Chapter IV: Castles, Strongholds and Historic Sites
Cranstoun, Midlothian
The lands of Cranstoun in Midlothian gave the clan its name.
This is the origin landscape of the family and one of the most important places in the clan’s history.
Cranston Parish Church
Cranston Parish Church, built in 1824, is situated in the policies of Oxenfoord Castle, near Dalkeith in Midlothian. It remains one of the key local sites connected with the Cranstoun name and place.
Corehouse
Corehouse in Lanarkshire is the modern seat of the Cranstoun chiefly family.
It stands close to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde, one of Scotland’s most important industrial and natural heritage landscapes. Corehouse was begun in 1824 by the Cranstoun family and is associated with the headship of Clan Cranstoun.
New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde
The proximity of Corehouse to New Lanark gives Clan Cranstoun a distinctive later setting. New Lanark is not an ancient clan battlefield, but a major heritage landscape of industrial Scotland.
This places the clan’s modern seat beside one of Scotland’s most important sites of social, industrial and architectural history.
The Scottish Borders
Although the original lands were in Midlothian, Cranstoun is also frequently treated within the wider Borders and Lowland family tradition. The name belongs to the same broad historical world as many Border and south-east Scottish families whose stories were shaped by land, law, service and frontier politics.
Chapter V: Battles, Wars and Clan Events
Clan Cranstoun is not mainly remembered as a great Highland battlefield clan. Its history is better understood through territorial origin, noble title, civil war loyalty, estate life, law, literature and heraldry.
The Rise from Territorial Lands
The first major “event” in Cranstoun history was the family’s emergence from the lands of Cranstoun in Midlothian.
Like many Lowland clans, the name began with a place, then became a family, then a noble identity.
Creation of the Lordship of Cranstoun
The creation of the title Lord Cranstoun elevated the family into the Scottish peerage. It gave the name a broader political and social standing.
Civil War and the Battle of Worcester
The 3rd Lord Cranstoun fought for the Royalist cause and was captured at the Battle of Worcester. His imprisonment and forfeiture show how heavily Scottish noble families could suffer during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Cromwellian period.
Corehouse and the Legal World
The later association with George Cranstoun, Lord Corehouse, connected the clan to the legal and literary culture of 19th-century Scotland. His friendship with Sir Walter Scott gives the clan an added place in Scotland’s Romantic-era intellectual world.
Recognition of the Chiefship — 1950
The recognition of Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Cranstoun of Corehouse as chief in 1950 was a major moment in the modern history of the clan.
This confirmed the chiefly status of the family in the modern clan system.
Chapter VI: Clan Crest, Motto and Badge
Clan Crest
The Clan Cranstoun crest is:
A crane, proper, dormant, holding a stone in her claw.
This is one of the most symbolic and unusual crests in Scottish clan heraldry.
The sleeping crane holding a stone comes from an old legend. Cranes were believed to post a watcher while the flock slept. The watchful crane held a stone in its claw; if it fell asleep, the stone would drop and wake it. St Kilda Store notes that the crest and motto are recorded in Nisbet’s 1722 System of Heraldry, and explains the crane-and-stone legend as a symbol of watchfulness.
The crane suggests:
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Vigilance
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Watchfulness
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Duty
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Purity
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Honesty
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Readiness even at rest
Clan Motto
The clan motto is:
“Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want”
This is commonly translated as:
“You shall want before I do.”
It is a stern and memorable Border-style motto. Sir Walter Scott reportedly described it as “an emphatic Border motto.”
The motto can sound hard to modern ears, but in the older world of borderland Scotland it expressed confidence, resourcefulness and refusal to be outlasted.
Clan Badge
A widely accepted plant badge for Clan Cranstoun is not consistently recorded.
For accuracy, the strongest Cranstoun symbols are:
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The crane crest
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The stone held in the claw
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The motto “Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want”
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The Cranstoun / Cranston tartans
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The lands of Cranstoun
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The modern seat of Corehouse
Chapter VII: Clan Tartans
Clan Cranstoun has recorded tartans under the common spelling Cranston.
Cranston Tartan
The Cranston tartan is recorded by the Scottish Register of Tartans under reference 795.
This is the principal tartan associated with the Cranstoun/Cranston name.
Cranston Dress Tartan
The Cranston Dress tartan is also recorded by the Scottish Register of Tartans under reference 794.
Dress tartans are often lighter and are commonly used for formal events, sashes, Highland dancing and ceremonial wear.
Vestiarium Scoticum Connection
Tartan Shop notes that the Cranston tartan is based on, or published from, an illustration in the Vestiarium Scoticum of 1842. It also notes that the sett unusually includes two shades of green, described in the Vestiarium as the colour of a tender ash leaf and the colour of grass.
The Meaning of Cranstoun Tartan Today
For modern Cranstoun and Cranston descendants, the tartan represents:
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Midlothian roots
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Lowland Scottish heritage
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The crane crest
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The motto “Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want”
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Corehouse and the chiefly line
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Family pride and diaspora identity
The tartan gives a historic Lowland name a clear and wearable Scottish identity.
Chapter VIII: Heritage, Identity and Clan Traditions
Clan Cranstoun represents a proud Lowland Scottish identity built on land, watchfulness, service and continuity.
Its story includes:
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Territorial origins in Midlothian
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The lands and barony of Cranstoun
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Crane symbolism
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The motto “Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want”
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The Lords Cranstoun
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Corehouse in Lanarkshire
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Royalist service in the Civil War
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Legal and literary connections through Lord Corehouse
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Recorded Cranston tartans
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A recognised modern chief
Associated spellings and names include:
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Cranstoun
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Cranston
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Cranstone
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Cranstoune
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Crainstoun
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Granston
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Granstoun
Some clan references list Cranstoun, Cranston, Granston and Granstoun as sept or spelling forms connected with the clan.
Chapter IX: Clan Cranstoun Today
Today, Clan Cranstoun remains a recognised Scottish clan with a living chiefly line.
The current chief is:
David Alexander Somerville Cranstoun of that Ilk and Corehouse
The clan seat is:
Corehouse, Lanarkshire
Modern Clan Cranstoun identity can be found through:
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Family history research
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Tartan wearing
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Scottish heritage events
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Interest in Midlothian and the Borders
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Study of Corehouse and New Lanark
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Genealogy projects
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Diaspora communities across the world
The clan stands today as a symbol of watchfulness, Lowland heritage, resilience, family continuity and Scottish pride.
Chapter X: Legacy of Clan Cranstoun
The story of Clan Cranstoun begins with a place: the lands of Cranstoun in Midlothian.
From that land came a name, a family, a noble title, a crest, a tartan and a continuing chiefly line.
Its crest, the crane holding a stone, is a symbol of vigilance — even while resting, it remains ready.
Its motto gives the clan its stern voice:
Thou Shalt Want Ere I Want.
That phrase captures the Cranstoun spirit: watchful, determined, prepared and difficult to outlast.
From Midlothian to Corehouse, from Lowland baronies to descendants across the world, Clan Cranstoun continues to carry its history forward.
Its legacy is written in tartan, crane symbolism, old lands, peerage history, estate records and the pride of those who still honour the name.
Tartan Time Machine Closing Paragraph
At Tartan Time Machine, we bring Scotland’s past into the present by exploring the clans, castles, battles, kirkyards, legends and forgotten stories that shaped the nation.
Clan Cranstoun is one chapter in that greater story — a story of Midlothian roots, crane crests, watchful stones, Corehouse, tartans, Lowland honour and the stern endurance of a family that would not easily want.
Discover more Scottish history, clan stories, castle features and heritage content at:
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