Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
  Skeen Coat of Arms / Skeen Family CrestThe Scottish surname of SKEEN is of territorial origin from the lands of SKENE in Aberdeenshire, which was erected into a barony in the year 1317 in favour of Robert de SKENE. The first of the names appears in 1296 when Johan de SKENE of the county of Edneburk and John de SKENE of Aberdeen were recorded. The family were hereditary possessors of the church of SKENE, a vicarage dependent on the church of Kinkell, and took their name from it. The family enjoyed the estate of SKENE from father to son in nearly uninterrupted succession for more than five hundred years, but in 1828 the last male descendant died. Other spellings of the name include SKIN, SCHENE, SKEENE, SKEYNE, SKINE, SKYNE, SKYEN and SKYNE. The first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great landowners, who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they possessed. Surnames originating in this way are known as territorial. Formerly lords of baronies and regalities and farmers were inclined to magnify their importance and to sign letters and documents with the names of their baronies and farms instead of their Christian names and surnames. The abuse of this style of speech and writing was carried so far that an Act was passed in the Scots parliament in 1672 forbidding the practice and declaring that it was allowed only to noblemen and bishops to subscribe by their titles. A notable member of the name was Sir John SKENE (circa.1543-1617), the Scottish advocate, regent of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. He lived in Scandinavia, was ambassador, lord advocate, lord clerk-register and lord of session. He published the first collection of the old Scots Acts (1597), compiled a Scottish legal dictionary, 'De Verborum Significatione' (1597) and edited and translated a collection of old Scots laws. He was the first Scottish legal antiquary. Throughout all of Europe the wolf was one of the animals most revered in medieval times. Lycanthropy, the transformation of men into wolves, was widely believed in during the middle ages, and was often used in coat armour, as in the arms depicted here. |
Orders over $90 qualify for Free Shipping within the U.S. |
