Scottish Clan Profile

Clan Leslie

“territorial, from Leslie in the Garioch, Aberdeenshire”
“Grip fast”
Indicative sett, woven in CSS, not a licensed tartan image
Historic titleEarl of Rothes
HeartlandThe Garioch, Aberdeenshire & Fife
Plant badgeRue
RegionNortheast

The Leslies trace themselves to Bartolf, who came to Scotland in 1067 with Edgar the Aetheling and St Margaret and is recorded by the clan's own society as Hungarian. Alexander Leslie went on to command the Covenanting armies.

Ancestral seats

  • Leslie Castle, Aberdeenshire
  • Balgonie Castle, Fife

Where to walk in their footsteps

Access, opening hours and admission change. We confirm every site before it goes into an itinerary.

Rothes Castle, Moray

Free, always-accessible ruin off the High Street; the Leslie holding that gave the earldom its name.

Leslie Castle, near Insch

Restored 17th-century Leslie tower house, now a guest house with tours by prior arrangement.

Also recorded as

LesleyLeslyLessley

Travelling to Leslie country

Cashel Travel has arranged clan gatherings and heritage tours across Scotland and Ireland since the 1990s, including full gatherings for Clan Gordon, Hay, Keith, Lindsay, Hunter, Dunbar, Graham, Sutherland and MacLaren. We research the family history, build the itinerary around it, and arrange access to places that are not normally open to the public.

Plan a heritage tour