CREST: A right arm issuing from a shoulder emerging from a cloud, holding in the hand a triumphal crown
MOTTO: Virtutis Regia Merces: A Palace the Reward of Bravery
SEPTS: Skeen, Skean, Skeene, Skain, and other variations; Cariston, Carney, Carnie, Curriehill, Die, Diss, Dyas, Dyce, Dyer, Dyess, Hall, Halliard, Halyard, Hilliard, MacGalliard, MacHalliard, Newtyle, Norrie, Pinkieslaw, Ranny, Rennie, Rubislaw, Skains, and Yell and names of these ilks
Skene is a name from the Northeast of Scotland. Most who carry the name probably share a common ancestry, but the name may have passed in early days to others associated with Skene leaders or landlords. “Skene”, often spelled in different ways, is the same word as “sgian”, the Gaelic word for a dagger or knife. Similarities can be seen in the Arabic translation, “sikina”, and in the Hebrew translation, “sakeen”. So, why is the family called “dagger”? The place called Skene, still a parish today, probably carried the name before there were people “de skene” which means “of Skene”. The dagger may have symbolized the dedication of the church to John the Baptist, whose head was cut off with one
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