Strange

This name is often found more commonly as Strang, and is probably derived from the Norman or French word ‘étrange’, meaning ‘foreign’. When rendered as ‘Strang’, its etymology was believed in the past to derive from the Scots dialect word for ‘strong’. Home le Estraunge was in the service of the Scottish king around 1255. Thomas de Strang held land around Aberdeen in 1340. John Strang married, sometime around 1362, Cecilia, sister of Richard Anstruther of that Ilk, and received as part of the marriage settlement some of the lands of Balcaskie. William Strang of Balcaskie is mentioned in deeds around 1466. John Strang of Balcaskie acquired the ands of Ewingston and received a charter of confirmation in 1482. John Strang of Balcaskie was slain at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. John Strang of Balcaskie sold the estate in 1615 and became a colonel in Cochrane’s Scots Regiment. Sir Robert Strange was descended from a younger son of the house of Balcaskie whose family had settled in Orkney at the time of the Reformation. He was intended for a career in the law, but instead took ship on a man-of-war heading for the Mediterranean. On his return he took up the art of engraving. When the army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart entered Edinburgh in September 1745, Sir Robert was appointed to the Prince’s Life Guard, where he served until after the defeat at Culloden in 1746. He managed to escape after several months as a fugitive in the Highlands and returned to obscurity in Edinburgh. In 1751 he moved to London, where he engraved several important historical prints and began to receive critical acclaim. In 1760 he left to tour Italy and produced some outstanding engravings. He died in 1792, and is generally considered the father of the art of engraving historical prints. In February 1995 Major Timothy Strange of Balcaskie was confirmed by Lord Lyon as Chief.