With no newspapers covering the beginning of our clan, during the troubles between King Duncan and King Macbeth, for a very long time we were left to guess where our name came from.

In the earliest attempts to decipher the meaning behind the name, most historians looked at the structure behind the two most distinct names that appeared at the beginning of our clan. These were the names Frisken and Warnebald, and because of their structure, most assumed the earliest ancestors of Clan Cunningham were Flemish.

However, this theory does not match the most common translations of the name Cunningham, with many believing Cunnigham was a simple combination of the word “King” and “House”.

Nor did it adequately explain the other “accepted” theory, which is the name must mean the home of the rabbits, a translation that used to appeared plausible, as two hares or rabbits appear prominently as supporters in our coat of arms.

However, the more obvious problem is if Frisken and Warnebald were from a powerful Flemish family, why did they not bring their own family name with them to Scotland?

Thankfully, research by Derek Cunningham has finally peeled back many of the layers that used to cover the trails that our ancestors left behind; and with Derek Cunningham also finally recovering the long lost notes of the 17^th century historian, Frederic van Bossen, we now have a much clearer, understanding of how Clan Cunningham actually began.

According to the notes of Frederic van Bossen, Frisken the first, was born in the 10^th century, and he was  named Malcolm at birth. He also records that it was only later, presumably when he became an adult, that he took the name Frisken, a name that is the Latin translation of the old Swedish name Freystein.

The notes also claim that this Firsken the First was not the ancestor of the Cunninghams. Instead (it is claimed) that Clan Cunningham descends from his brother Kenneth, and the first Lord “Frisken” was the ancestor of the de Middletons and the de Innes (Inges) families.

What is known, is the lack of a link to Frisken the First is supported by the lack of any substantial link between the known start of the earliest recorded de Cunningham lines and the land records that surround the earliest known members of the de Freschenes family. Thus this part of the notes of Frederic van Bossen does appear to be valid. But, as yet the claimed link between Frisken the First and the de Middleton and Innes families has not been substantially researched, and this has still not been confirmed.

Thus, contrary to centuries of misinformation, Frederic van Bossen did not claim Clan Cunningham began in the mid 12th century, after the death of Macbeth, but instead in the 10^th century, with these two brothers, two brother who directly descend (it is claimed) from the Kings of Strathclyde (see Scotland & Shakespeare’s Third Prophecy for more details.

But what does the de Cunningham name mean?

After analysing the many different languages in 11^th century Scotland, and taking into account Frederic van Bossen’s claim that Malcolm took the Swedish name Freystein (Frisken is the Latin for Freystein) it was found that this history did actually produce a very simple translation for the name Cunningham, with the translation being either King’s Island or King Inge’s Island.

This translation is supported by the two earliest known versions of the Cunningham name, which appeared in land records between 1130 to 1175. These are Cuningishow and Cunningesholme, where “Hou” is a Norman word and it means “a small island “, and Hølme is an Old-Swedish word and it also means “a small island”.

Thus these early entries are consistent and the name Cunningham appears to mean King’s Island, a name that is consistent with the claims that Clan Cunningham descend directly from the Kings of Strathclyde, the kings who ruled the southwest of Scotland and large parts of Cumbria from a small castle that was placed on a small rocky island, a castle that can still be seen today, on the shore of the River Clyde.

With the 10^th century Malcolm taking the Old-Swedish name Freystein (Frisken), and the old Swedish Viking word Hølme pronounced Halme (the letter ø has an “a” type pronunciation), these new discoveries also explains why our name took the ham (and not the Home) pronunciation, and more importantly these early records also permit many elements of our ancient story to now fit seamlessly together.

These early records now confirm that the name Cunningham (as a family name) only began in the mid 1170s, with the appearance of Petro de Guningham in Sempringham Priory records. Prior to this date our ancestors and close relative in the 1060s took two different names the de Freschenes name, which is still being researched, and the de Percy name which was the primary branch after the time of Macbeth, but the de Percy line failed to produce a male heir in the 1170s. A date that overlaps with the appearance of a Gilbert de Cunningesholme who was born in the 1170s, and Petro de Guningam in Sempringham records.

It was also after the end of the primary line of the de Percys that land from the de Percys was transferred to various secondary families (such as the de Morevilles) through marriage, and it was because of these land transfers that many later historians incorrectly assumed the ancestors of Clan Cunningham were perhaps the vassals of the de Moreville family. That myths can now finally be laid to rest.

However, no clan story can escape the links to legends; and though most are false, in the case of Clan Cunningham some are actually based on true stories; but then they are the darker stories. These are the stories that eventually became hidden, perhaps with the intent to hide the true history that surrounded the Clan Cunningham Coat of Arms.

As this is only an introduction, for that story it would be best to read the history of Robert de Cunningham de Somercotes, whose died on the day he became Pope-elect. This can be found in our Clan Communiques.

For those who are interested, the Cunningham Bishop Pall Y (which slightly differs from the Shakefork Y in whether the Y touches the edge of the shield) still exists at some early historical sites. For example it can be found on a pane glass window in Stirling Castle, and in the walls and furniture of various old church buildings, but because the use of the undivided Bishop Pall Y, which also appears in the coat of arms of the Archdeaconry for Canterbury Cathedral, is supposed to be reserved to just one family or for one specific authority (in this case the undivided Bishop Pall Y is the property of the Church) the decision was made to change both the coat of arms from the Bishop Pall Y to the Shakefork Y and thus the story surrounding it also changed, and in the place of the sad story surrounding a Pope-elect, we today have the story of rescuing Prince Malcolm from the hands of the evil Macbeth. History is full of legends and myths, and the deliberate attempts to hide and change history.

For more, all these new discoveries and much more can be found in our published articles and Clan Communiques.