Heraldry is more than decoration. For the McCullochs, it is a visual record of lineage, authority, and the shifting fortunes of a family that once held three baronial caputs in Galloway. From the squirrel seal of 1296 to the chiefly arms confirmed in 1814, the evolution of McCulloch heraldry tells the story of how the family rose, divided, reunited, and ultimately re‑established its chiefly line.

This article presents a chronological explanation of that heraldic journey, grounded in manuscript evidence, legal history, and the genealogical record. Once the heraldry, Y DNA data, and known genealogies are overlayed, the story of Clan McCulloch becomes clearer and coherent. We present this updated information as part of our efforts to correct the history of Clan McCulloch (often misunderstood by antiquarians).

I. The Beginning: The Squirrel (1296)

The earliest known McCulloch emblem is not a fret or a wolf, but a squirrel.

In 1296, Thomas McCulloch affixed a seal depicting a squirrel to the Ragman Roll. This was not yet a hereditary coat of arms—simply a personal device. But it marks the starting point of the family’s heraldic story.

II. The Rise of the Fretty Arms (c. 1300–1395)

By 1372, Mons. Patrick MakColagh d’escocia adopted arms bearing Ermine, fretty gules.

These arms appear in Jenyn’s Ordinary (a roll of English arms) published in 1380. This blazon is identical to the arms of Piers Branche recorded about a century earlier in the Glover Roll. The implication is that Sir Patrick must have married an heiress descendant of Piers Branch, thereby matriculating his arms.

III. The Mcculloch Arms in the Highlands (1398–1450)

By 1398, a McCulloch—almost certainly of the Myretoun line—appears in Highland charters.
By 1431, Alexander McCulloch of Plaiddis, a cadet of Myretoun, used the ermine fretty gules arms in the Highlands.

The de Berry Armorial (c. 1430) also depicts the McCulloch arms in this form.

This confirms that the fretty arms were well established by the early 1400s.

IV. Cardiness Becomes the Chiefly Line (1542)

By 1542, the Lindsay Armorial describes the arms of McCulloch of Cardiness as Ermine, Fretty Gules of Eight Pieces; and on an Escutcheon Azure, three wolves heads Erased Argent, as in Mr. Pont’s Book of Blazons.

By this time:

• The Myretoun male line had ended in an heiress.
• Her daughter married Henry McCulloch of Killasser.
• The Cardiness branch was the senior surviving male line.

These arms should be understood as a chiefly claim with the Cardiness line’s own arms of Azure, three wolves heads erased argent on an escutcheon surtout.

Thus, Cardiness became the chiefly line, bearing the ancient fretty arms.

V. The Wolves’ Heads of Cardoness by way of killasser

After about 1530, Cardiness bore the chiefly arms. The Killasser branch—descended from Cardiness – seems to have adopted the Cardiness arms differenced by tincture.

The Workman Manuscript (1565) records:

Makcullo of Mertoun (i.e., Killasser → Myretoun)
Azure, three wolves’ heads erased argent.

The blazon “Azure, three wolves’ heads erased argent” likely originated with Gilbert McCulloch, valet to King Edward I. Like his cousin Sir Patrick, he was a Balliol loyalist. These arms evoke Lady Dervorguila’s arms as appearing on her seal and on the Balliol College arms. Lady Dervorguila’s arms were on a blue field and featured a lion, rampant. They evoke the earlier Earl of Chester arms with a blue field and a single wolf head. While we do not have a recording of these arms, the context points to Gilbert.

VI. The Union of the Three Caputs (Myretoun, Cardiness, Killasser)

By 1530–1540, a remarkable genealogical convergence occurred:

• Henry of Killasser married the heiress of Myretoun.
• Their son William McCulloch of Myretoun married the heiress of Cardiness.

Thus, in William (d. 1623), the three great McCulloch baronies were united:

1. Myretoun
2. Cardiness
3. Auchowane/Killasser

This union would shape McCulloch heraldry for the next 300 years.

VII. The 1624 Arms: A Claim to Chiefship

In 1624, the arms recorded for William McCulloch of Myretoun were:

Ermine frette gules of eight pieces, and on an escutcheon azure, three wolves heads erased argent. (Nisbet 1.219 quot. Pont.)

This is not an escutcheon of pretence (which would represent an heiress).
It is an escutcheon surtout, used to assert chiefship.

Heraldically, William was declaring:

• Fretty gules → these are the mark of the chief
• Wolves’ heads → Killasser/Cardiness paternal descent
• Escutcheon surtout → Killasser/Cardiness now the senior surviving male line

This is the earliest heraldic claim that Killasser had become the head of the name.

VIII. The Turbulent 1600s: Claims and Counterclaims

1640 – Alexander McCulloch of Myretoun (Balfour)

Balfour records:

Fretty or and vert.

This unusual tincture likely reflects Alexander’s disputed claim to Myretoun after his father William abandoned the estate.
It is a cadet or claimant’s version of the fretty arms.

1672 – Sir Godfrey McCulloch (Lyon Register)

Sir Godfrey matriculates:

Ermine, fretty gules
Crest: a hand throwing a dart
Motto: Vi et Animo

IX. The 1672 Cadets: Pilton, Drummorrell, and Muile

The 1672 Register also records:

• Pilton → ermine with a fret engrailed
• Drummorrell → fretty gules with a bordure engrailed
• Muile → fretty gules with a bordure indented

These are cadet arms, but they show the Killasser → Drummorrell → Muile line rising in prominence.

X. 1814: The Chiefship Confirmed for Barholm

In 1814, the Court of the Lord Lyon declared:

• The Myretoun baronet line was legally extinct.
• John McCulloch of Barholm was the Chief of the Name and Arms of McCulloch.

His arms:

Ermine a fret engrailed gules,
and on an escutcheon surtout azure three wolves’ heads erased argent.
Crest: a hand throwing a dart.
Motto: Vi et Animo.
Supporters: two armed men with spears.

This is the final, formal recognition of what the heraldry had signaled since 1624:

The chiefly line descends from Killasser → Drummorrell → Muile → Barholm.

The wolves’ heads—Killasser’s ancient charge—appear in the position of honor. But note the fretty gules are engrailed indicating descent from Drummorrell (which we know to be factually correct).

XI. What the Heraldry Tells Us

Across five centuries, McCulloch heraldry reveals:

1. The fretty arms (ermine, fretty gules)

→ The ancient chiefly arms of Myretoun.

2. The wolves’ heads

→ The arms of Cardiness.

3. The escutcheon surtout (1624 and 1814)

→ A heraldic declaration that Killasser then Barholm had become the head of the name.

4. The Barholm chiefly arms (1814)

→ The union of the three caputs:

• Myretoun
• Cardiness
• Auchowane/Killasser

5. The continuity of the crest and motto

→ The hand throwing a dart and Vi et Animo link the chiefly line back to the earliest Myretoun tradition.

Conclusion

The heraldry of Clan McCulloch is not a random assortment of symbols.
It is a coherent, chronological record of:

• the rise of the family,
• the extinction of lines,
• the survival of cadets,
• the union of baronies,
• and the eventual recognition of the chiefly line.

From the squirrel of 1296 to the wolves of Killasser and the fretty arms of Cardiness, the story of McCulloch heraldry is the story of the clan itself—resilient, adaptive, and deeply rooted in the history of Galloway.