COMYN, Jordan of Inverallochy ¹

   User ID: Z191.

  General Notes:

"Jordan Comyn

TYPE OF TRANSACTION:Gift
FROM SOURCE: 3/12/36 (RMS, ii, no. 1198)
FIRM DATE: 20 July 1277 X 1289
PROBABLE DATE: early
DATING NOTES: Perambulation mentioned in text × death of Earl Alexander Comyn.

Date: 20 Jul. 1277 X 1289
Short Summary: Gift (?) of 'Innyrathy' with loch and fisheries of 'le Sortre de Inrure'
Role: Beneficiary
Witnesses: Alan, son of Uhting, steward of Buchan; Christian, clerk (Buchan); David of Aberdeen, vicar of Ellon; John of the Wardrobe; John, chaplain of Earl Alexander; Thomas Gray; William Ruffus, knight (13C)
Source: 3/12/36 (RMS, ii, no. 1198)"

from People of Medieval Scotland website

"There is a confirmation charter by King James III., quoting the original charter by "Alexander Cumyn'
'Quondam Comitis Buchania factum et concessam quondam Jurdano Cumyn et heridibus suis, de tota terra de Inverallochy'
dated A.D. 1277, which is preserved in the Registrum Mag. Sig, &c. &c. In this charter there is no mention of' 'Jurdano' being the son of William, or brother of Alexander, Earls of Buchan, as some pretend."

from Bruces and Comyns ^{1 2}

  Research Notes:

PARENTAGE

It is unclear who exactly Jardine or Jordan Comyn was.

The general narrative in almost all secondary sources is that he was the son of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, by his first wife, though agreement on the identity of the first wife is itself in doubt. There is also general agreement that he was granted Inverallochy by his father about 1225 when William became Earl of Buchan; that this grant was confirmed by his half-brother Alexander in a charter of 1277; and that Jordan was the ancestor of the Cumyns of Culter and Inverallochy.

The evidence is scant. William was married twice, with named children from both marriages. From the first set of offspring, reliably named as Richard, Walter, William, David and Jean, descended the lords of Badenoch. From the second set, Alexander, William, Fergus, Idonea, Agnes and Elizabeth, descended the lords of Buchan. If evidence of Jordan's sonship were available, one would expect it to be lined up with the evidence of these others.

Jordan Comyn did exist. The People of Medieval Scotland website cites twelve times, between 1213 and 1226, when Jordan was a witness, along with others, of some transaction. He is also cited, assuming that it is the same person being referred to after fifty years, as the beneficiary of a grant of 'Innyrathy', with 'lochs, fisheries and le Sortre of Inrure', in 1277, by Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan.

There are difficulties, however. In the above references, no relationship to other Comyns is noted for Jordan Comyn; no titles for Jordan are mentioned; no qualifying designations of any sort are evident regarding him. There is not even certainty that the witness named between 1213 and 1226 is the same person who is the beneficiary of the 1277 confimation grant: it could, just possibly, be a son, of the same name, of the earlier Jordan.

In the witness citations Jordan Comyn appears with Walter Comyn, son of William, also as witness. Four times Jordan is placed above Walter in the list and five times below him; on two occasions Jordan is named as a witness and Walter is not. By contrast, Walter Comyn, who married the heiress of the Mormaership of Menteith and became Earl, jure uxoris, is cited as a witness ninety eight times between 1212 and 1234; there are ten instances of his relationship to ruling Comyns cited between c1212 and 1264, after his death; and Walter Comyn was involved in thirty one legal transactions from c1212 until his death in 1258, some undated, where Jordan Comyn had a mere one. No wife or children are mentioned with regard to Jordan.

'Jordan', itself, is not as unusual a name as many think. A contemporary of Jordan Comyn was the Dominican Master General, Jordan of Saxony (1190-1237), who succeeded Saint Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, in 1221. Nor were the Comyns exclusively Scottish. Count Robert Comyn, who died in 1069, was, for a short time, Earl of Northumbria. One of his supposed sons,, more probably a grandson, William, who died in the middle of the twelfth century, is reputed to have had a son named Jordan. The Comyns' association with the Norman establishment of the British Isles allowed them also a foothold in Ireland. John Comyn, possibly an Englishman from Warwickshire, was appointed to the see of Dublin in 1181. There was, in fact, an extended network of Comyn families, not one restricted to northern Scotland.

So Jordan Comyn, while clearly resident in Scotland in the 13th century, might well have been a Comyn relative of William Comyn, earl of Buchan. He might have been a younger brother, half-brother, cousin or second cousin, and part of the extended Comyn family in Scotland, but whether he was the Earl of Buchan's son is less clear. That he was part of Comyn life in Scotland during the 12th century is not doubt; lack of evidence of his being the legitimate son of William, Earl of Buchan, cannot be ignored. On balance we must concede that while it is distinctly possible that he had a family link to William Comyn, the exact nature of that link has not yet been established. ^{1 3 4 5}

Jordan married.