Cunningham
Our Scottish Heritage:
| According to The Armigerous Clans and Families of Scotland:
"[Cunningham] is a territorial name found in Ayershire. It is likely that it
derives from 'cunineag' meaning 'milk pail' and the Saxon 'ham', meaning
'village'. The first to take the name was Warnebald or perhaps his son,
Robertus, who received a grant of the land of Cunningham, somewhere between 1160
and 1180. A story also states that Malcom, son of Friskin, obtained the lands of
Cunningham from Malcom III by sheltering him in a barn and covering him with
hay. This is said to give rise to the shake-fork in the family arms and the
motto, 'Over Fork Over'. This is a charming legend, but Sir George Mackenzie
states that the arms are an allusion to the office of the master of the King's
Stables. Another explanation runs that the Cunninghams were great allies of the
Comyns, whose shield bore sheaves of corn. When that great dynasty was
overthrown by the Bruces, the Cunninghams adopted the shake-fork used to 'fork
over' sheaves of corn, as an ingenious reference to their former allies." There is also speculation that the Y shaped symbol on the shield might be a "bishop's yoke" - worn by clergy with the top over the shoulders and the tail hanging down the back. It is meant to represent the cross.
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