The name Kincaid originated from the lands of that name in Stirlingshire, and it has been conjectured that the Kincaids were descendants of the Earls of Lennox who owned those lands in the 12th century. The earliest dependable record we have is of Robert of Kincade who served on an inquest held at Stirling on 2 October 1425. In 1447, a charter identifies Robert Kyncade de eodem as the son and heir of William Kyncade, and later charters record Robert’s sons Patrick, David and Robert. In addition to the Kincaid lands in Stirlingshire, the Kincaids in the mid-15th century owned lands in Edinburgh, Falkirk and Linlithgow, where, in 1461, John Kincaid was sheriff depute and keeper of the Royal Palace. The first recorded Kincaid arms, those of George Kincaid, acting for the Abbot of Holyrood, date from 1506 and show the arms as they exist today: “A fesse ermine between two stars in chief and a castle triple towered in base”. These arms are the same as those on a seal of Edward Kincaid, Sheriff-Depute of Edinburgh, in 1521. The first arms to be recorded in Lyon Register were those of the great Edinburgh surgeon, Thomas Kincaid, who changed his crest from the traditional hand holding a broadsword to one more suitable for a surgeon – a hand holding a scalpel.