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When
the armiger’s father,
David James McGeachie,
created these arms he
was faced with the
difficulty of a blank
canvas, as no McGeachie
had ever been granted
Arms in either Scotland
or Ireland.
After many hours of
discussion with the
family, it was decided
that the basic layout
for the shield would be
a chevron with three
charges. The reasoning
behind this was that the
armiger’s mother’s
maiden name was Cooper
and they had a rendition
of Cooper arms which has
the same layout (a
chevron with three
charges) which they all
liked.
The
base colours of black
and white were chosen to
signify the armiger’s
father’s thirty years as
a martial artist taking
part in Karate and
Iaido. The charges are;
two gillyflowers and a
chrysanthemum. The
gillyflowers were taken
from the armiger’s
residence in Livingston
and are similar to the
charges used on the
Livingston Development
Corporation arms. The
chrysanthemum is a
reference to the
armiger’s my father’s
love of all things
Japanese, including his
martial arts and a
particular brand of
motorcycle manufacturer
whose bikes he prefers
to ride - their colour
scheme usually being
green, black and white.
The number of petals in
the chrysanthemum is
also significant, as
each petal represents a
generation traced back
so far on the McGeachie
lineage. The green
(Vert) of the charges
are another reference to
the family roots going
back to Ireland.
The fimbriation was
necessary due to the
rules of heraldry,
having to place a metal
between two colours.
The
crest of the leopard and
the ell-measure, is to
represent the McGeachie
family origins as
weavers in Glasgow,
Lanark in the 18th &
19th century and earlier
back to Ireland. The
leopard’s head is a
charge on the
Incorporation of Weavers
arms from Glasgow which
had been in existence
from 1514 – 1905 (again
as above, the same
shield layout of a
chevron and three
charges). The Scottish
ell-measure (usually 37
inches long) was once
used by weavers to
measure cloth in the
marketplace.
The
motto of "Peritia Et
Honore" is another
reference to the
armiger’s father’s
martial arts days and
translates as: By Skill
and Honour.
The
Arms of the armiger's
father are registered
under David
James McGeachie No
106.
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