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Morris of Balgonie
Arms: Vert, on a chevron Argent between three dirks erect Argent, the handles Or, as many roses Gules, barbed and seeded proper.

SOURCES, NOTES & CREDITS: An illustration for background and the blazon are from “The Armorial Who is Who 1979-80”, PP 287-289, edited by Lt. Col. Robert Gayre of Gayre and Nigg, Edinburgh, 6th Edition, 1980. ( The last such edition published.) From the same source it states that R. S. Morris received a grant of arms from the College of Arms, London on 17 Sep 1959. Morris then matriculated these arms at the Court of the Lord Lyon, Edinburgh, on 4 Apr 1967 except for the badge and standard. (Sir Thomas Innes of Learney was then Lyon.). The same source states that Morris’ wife Margaret received arms in her own right in a grant from the Court of the Lord Lyon on 25 Jan 1978. Most of the biographical information herein is from an obituary of him authored by his friend Gorden Casely written and published in “The Scotsman” on 20 Sep 2022. And for information on his wife Margaret from the “The Scotsman” obituary article on her on 15 Sep 2014.

Raymond Stanley Morris of Balgonie and Eddergoll, FSA Scot was born on 4 Aug 1930, in Walsall, Staffordshire, England. According to his friend Casely, Raymond believed he’d been born in the wrong place. He took first steps to rectify this by enlisting in the Gordon Highlanders for National Service.

Raymond Morris married Margaret Newton Stuart at St. Andrews Church, Dunfermline, Scotland in 1961.They had a son and heir, Stuart, born in 1965.

He became in time not just a walking encyclopedia on heraldry, chivalry and clan matters, but as a craftsman of the first order, Morris had restored a castle, as well as creating and furnishing several homes in the Scots architectural idiom.

In so doing, he discovered that he possessed ownership to two titles. In the Scots tradition, he was Morris of Eddergoll, thanks to his restored mill near Aberfeldy, and when he, his wife Margaret and son Stuart took over the ruinous Balgonie Castle in Fife in 1985, he became Morris of Balgonie.

The move to Balgonie Castle was a bold step, for Raymond knew that the 14th-century keep surrounded by courtyard buildings dating throughout four centuries would never see completion in his lifetime – and indeed remains a work in progress. But he viewed the place as his stewardship, the restoration of an important piece of Scotland’s building heritage.

Margaret predeceased her husband, dying on 1 Aug 2014 at age 76.

Heraldry and chivalry remained mainstays in his life. Having recorded arms at age 29, he embraced his motto “Truth and Chivalry” with a vigorous example.

Raymond Morris of Balgonie and Eddergoll died at Balgonie, Fife, Scotland, on 28 Aug 2022 at age 92, and is survived by his son Stuart, himself an historian and writer, and his daughter-in-law Kelly and several step-grandchildren.

The artwork is an interpretation by John Hamilton Gaylor

2022 0929

dqw266@gmail.com
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