The Veitch Historical Society submitted a formal application to the Lord Lyon of Arms of Edinburgh in November 1981. When members of the Society were in Scotland in 1983, the Society was presented with its own official coat-of-arms by Malcolm Rognvald Innes of Edingight, Baron of Yeochrie, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Writer of Her Majesty’s Signet, Lord Lyon King of Arms.

The Veitches were Lowland Scots, many of whom belonged to noble and important families, even though they did not have clans, the tartans, and the Gaelic of their better known countrymen in the Scottish Highlands. The Veitch (Vache, Vetch, Veatch, Veech) family of French origin and is very ancient, dating back to at least 900 A.D., possibly as far back as 700 A.D. Its earliest known members lived in Duchy of Orleans, also of Anjou, but chiefly of Normandy.

According to Dr. Arthur Clifford Veatch, the first known spelling of the Veitch family name is found in the signature of “William le Vache del Comte de Peebles” in Peeblesshire, Scotland, to the Ragman Rolls in 1296. William le Vache was undoubtedly the first Laird of Dawyck. From that time on the name appears in various charters, gradually changing from Vache to Veitche and finally to Veitch. Dr. Arthur Clifford Veatch notes that Vache is the French word for “cow.” Three cow’s heads adorned the Veitches’ coat-of-arms, and cows played an intriguing role in family legend.

According to an old family tradition, a brave ancestor performed a great service for King Robert the Bruce of Banneckburn in 1314. He was driving a herd of cattle through the English Army lines to feed the King’s Army when the animals panicked and stampeded, creating havoc among the English soldiers. For this extraordinary (and unusual) service Robert the Bruce is said to have rewarded the enterprising vacher with the gift of the land of Dawyck on the Tweed in Peebleshire, whereupon he took the name of Vache and a coat-of-arms with bovine symbols to match the name. According to Dr. Arthur Clifford Veatch, however, the story of the British soldiery routed by William’s stampeding cattle is only an interesting legend: a William Vache was already the owner of Dawyck long before the time fixed for the imaginary episode. According to another source, Colonel Strome Galloway, Editor of Heraldry in Canada (cited in the February 1980 issue of The Veitch Chronicle) William Le Vache had moved to Peebleshire by 1296 and in fifteenth century some of his descendants were running the place from their estate of Dawyck. They took a coat-of-arms bearing three cow’s heads on a silver-and-black shield, a crest-cow’s head full and the motto Famam extendimus factis semper (“We extend our fame by our deeds”).

The Scottish descendants of William Le Vache gradually changed their name, roughly in historical order, to Vaiche, Veatche, Veitche, down to James’ Grandfather, who was John Veitch, Baron of Dawyck, and James’ father, Malcolm Veitch, James Veitch, the first member of the Veitch family to emigrate to America, maintained the Veitch form of spelling in his signature throughout his life, with few exceptions in the printed recording of it obviously due to clerical error. James’ sons, however, as noted in the final chapter of this book*, adopted such American variants of the family name as Veatch, Veach, and Veech.

*Partially from “The Life and Times of Sheriffe James Veitch of Calvert County”, by Lou Rose. Published by the Calvert County Historical Society.