A Charter of 1353 exists which refers to “carucate of land called Buchquhaane”. Help was given to the French King after his defeat at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and it is still claimed that Sir Alexander Buchanan killed the English Duke of Clarence at the Battle of Baugé in 1421. It is because of this act that the Buchanan crest shows a right hand and arm holding aloft a Ducal cap. The Chief of the Buchanan Clan, and many Clansmen, died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, when King James IV was killed. George Buchanan, the famous Latin Scholar, Humanist and Reformer, was born near Killearn in 1506. He was a student of the University of St Andrews from 1524 until 1525 and then at Paris, France. He was imprisoned by Cardinal Beaton, but escaped to France. He was tutor to Mary Queen of Scots between 1536 and 1538, and to her son King James VI of Scotland, who later became James I of England in 1603 following the Union of the Crowns and authorised the translation of the Holy Bible into English. The Clan took part in the Battle of Pinkie in 1547 and the Battle of Langside in 1568. There exists a long Family Tree, dated 1602, where the surnames are written as Boquhannane.
The succession from Anselan was uninterrupted to John Buchanan, the 22nd Laird, who married Mary, daughter of Lord Cardross, and who died in 1681, leaving two daughters and many debts. The Estates were latterly purchased by the Duke of Montrose, who built Buchanan Castle, which has thus no connection with our History. The Title “of that Ilk” expired with the 22nd Laird’s death in 1681 and, although a claim was laid in 1878 for Chiefship, the applicant’s grandson died without issue in 1919. Since then the Chiefship has been dormant.
Ten years after the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 the Buchanan Society was formed. In the same year, 1725, General Wade was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Highlands and started his remarkable road building scheme. During the Second Jacobite Rebellion in 1745-1746 (Bonnie Prince Charlie) the Clan remained loyal to the Crown. Throughout this long number of years the Members of the Buchanan Clan, together with its Septs, have given honour to their Clan and have served their country as well as the countries of their adoption throughout the world.