The name CUMMINGS is a NORMAN SURNAME

The name appears in Scotland

Ancient manuscripts, in Scotland, established that the first record of the name Cummings was found in Northumberland where they were granted lands, by Duke William of Normandy, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD.

Many alternate spellings of the name are shown in the ancient manuscripts. The name Cummings, occurred in many references, and from time to time, the records included variables such as Cummins, Comines, Cummings, Comine, Cummin, Comyn, Cumming, Cummine, Cuming, Cumine, Cumun, Cummyn, and many others. Scribes recorded and spelled the name as it sounded. Because of this, it was possible that a person would be born with one spelling, married with another, and buried with another.

Although the Normans are commonly believed to be of French origin, they are actually of Viking origin. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland about the year 870 AD. Later, they invaded France about 940 AD. The French King conceded defeat and granted them the northern part of France (hence: Normandy, Normans). Duke William of Normandy was descended from the first Duke, Rollo, of Normandy. Duke William invaded and defeated England in 1066, and Scotland in 1070. King Malcolm Canmore granted many Norman nobles lands in Scotland.

The name Cummings is more properly Cummin, often spelt Comyn. It is a typical Norman nickname, taken from the herb called cumin.

This unpretentious name is in fact the most royal in Scotland of any that failed to attain the crown. The first Cummin to settle in Scotland was a powerful Anglo-Norman churchman, and close confidant of King David I, under whom he became Chancellor of Scotland in 1133. William de Cummin, the Chancellor, received a grant of land in Roxburgh. He also held the position of Bishop of Durham, by force, for three years. After his nephew, William Cummin, was killed in the dispute, he gave up the position as bishop in 1144, in return for the castle and Honor of Northallerton being given to another nephew, Richard Cummin, ancestor of the Scottish Clan.

William, son of Richard, was Justiciary of Scotland, and in 1210 became Earl of Buchan by marriage with Marjory, Countess of Buchan.

William's son, by a previous marriage, became Earl of Menteith and acquired the Lordship of Badenoch by grant from Alexander II. His nephew John, known as the "Red Comyn," was father of the "Black Comyn" who was one of the six guardians of Scotland during the minority of the Maiden of Norway, and later became a competitor for the Crown of Scotland. The "Black Comyn" married Marjory, Sister of John Balliol, and their son John was known, like his grandfather, as the "Red Comyn."

The surname Cummings emerged as a notable Scottish Family name in the County of Northumberland, where William the Conqueror, allocated the Earldom of Northumberland to Robert De Comines.  However, Robert De Comines rule in Northumberland was uneventful, His violence to the local people became intolerable and he was killed in 1069.

When Richard Comyn, his grandson, came to Scotland with King David, he married Hextilda of Tynedale, Granddaughter of King Donald of Scotland. Richard had a son by this marriage, William, who became the Earl of Buchan, but by previous union, William had Richard, who became father of Sir John Comyn, Chief of the Clan. Richard Cummin, lord of Northallerton, married the granddaughter and eventual heiress of King Donald III Ban (Shakespeare's "Donald bane"), the King of Scots who had been deposed and blinded in 1097.

King Donald III's family seems to have been rightfully belonging in Lochaber and Badenoch at the expense of the MacWilliams, whose direct descendant, King Duncan II, had been slain by King Donald. After the overthrow of the MacWilliams in 1230, the Cummins became undisputed Lords Of Badenoch, holding also much of Lochaber and the "Great Glen".

During the thirteenth century, the Cummins became the most powerful and patriotic noble family in all Scotland. At this period, the highest rank in Scotland was that of earl, held only by the mightiest cousins of the king or by the heirs of former local kings. There was only thirteen earldoms altogether. In 1242 Alexander Cummin was Earl of Buchan, Walter Cummin was Earl of Menteith and John Cummin was Earl of Angus, all as the result of further marriages to Celtic dynastic heiresses. So nearly a quarter of the Scottish earls were Cummins. The Cummins themselves had come to have as much Celtic as Norman blood.

From 1270 to 1308 the Cummin endowed the rebuilding of Glasgow Cathedral.

Their chief, "the Black Cummin", was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland in 1291, claiming as heir, of King Donald III. He married the sister of King John Balliol. The abduction of King Balliol, by the English, greatly strengthened the royal claims of his son, "the Red Cummin". These claims led to the downfall of the Cummins.

Edward of England invaded Scotland and deposed King Balliol then embarked on direct rule and defeated the independence movement of William Wallace which was supported by the "Black Comyn". It should be noted that the Bruce's remained loyal English subjects during this period. The removal of the Balliols left the Comyn (Cumming) family the most powerful in Scotland, and the only one with claim to the crown senior to that of the Bruces.

Robert the Bruce, (the 8th Robert Bruce) had claim on the throne and was strongly supported. The other contender, Balliol, supported by Sir John Comyn, the Black Comyn. His son, John Comyn of Badenoch, styled the Red Comyn was a co-leader with Bruce, but they were also competitors. In August 1299, the Red Comyn had almost killed Bruce in a scuffle in Selkirk Forest. In February 1306, Robert the Bruce invited the Red Comyn to a church in Dumfries to discuss terms of agreement. It was here that Bruce and his followers murdered John Comyn at the altar. John Comyn's uncle, Sir Robert, was also killed in the church while trying to save his nephew's life. The present Chief of Clan Cumming is descended from Sir Robert.  In March 1306, Robert the Bruce had himself crowned King of Scotland. This made the Comyn's and Bruce's bitter enemies.

During the long wars that followed, King Robert destroyed the Cummins. The Red Cummins's only son, rightful Lord of Badenoch and chief of the name, was killed in action against his father's slayer on the field of Bannockburn, while fighting with the English. His heiresses went to France with the family claim to the Scottish throne. And, it is ironical to reflect that when the exiled Stuarts (heirs of Bruce) fled to refuge in France, the then heir of Balliol and of the Red Cummin was their host King Louis XIV himself. The junior co-heir of the Red Cummin, curiously enough, is the Premier Baron of England (Lord Mowbray and Stourton), who quarters the Arms of Cummin and has returned to live in Scotland.

The Buchan branch of the Cummins was also destroyed. After ravaging Buchan with fire and sword, Bruce gave the Cummin castle of Slains, and the hereditary office of Constable of Scotland, to his own friend and supporter Hay, Lord of Erroll, whose grandmother had been a Cummin. Today, The Lord High Constable, (the Earl of Erroll), has precedence in Scotland before every other hereditary honor, except the Blood Royal. It is interesting that a similar position is occupied in England by the Earl Marshal, (the Duke of Norfolk), who is heir in the female line of the Cummin Earls of Buchan. Therefore, had Cummin triumphed over Bruce, he would also have been Constable of Scotland.

A remnant of the Cummins of Buchan has survived to modern times.

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