Comyn

Comyn, otherwise Cumming or Cumyn, a family that took its name from Comines, a town on the French and Belgian frontier. Its connection with England began with the Conqueror, who in 1069 sent Robert Comyn, afterwards Earl of Northumberland, to bring under his sway the northern provinces. A descendant, John Comyn (Black Comyn), Lord of Badenoch, unsuccessfully competed in 1291 for the Scottish crown. His claim was based on his descent from Donald Bane through the marriage of an ancestor with Hextilda, the Scottish king's granddaughter. His son, John Comyn (the Red Comyn), was one of the three wardens of Scotland, and distinguished himself in the wars with the English, whom in 1302 he defeated at Roslin. In 1304, however, he submitted to Edward I., and, falling under the suspicions of Bruce, was stabbed by the latter, in 1306, before the altar of the Franciscans at Dumfries. To such power did this family at one time attain that in Scotland in the 13th century among its members were four earls, one lord, and thirty-two belted knights.