This set of arms was discovered on a shield found at a battlefield. Written descriptions of the seals of the early Lords of the Isles are recorded and I will detail them later. The above shield bears an early version of Clan Donald arms, and has been dated from around 1623.
This crest is currently being used by Clan Donald of Skye and we, as members of that family, are allowed to wear and display it. It is not an actual Coat of Arms, but rather a general symbol of membership in Clan Donald. The motto, "Per Mare, Per Terras" means "By Sea, By Land" and refers to the domination of the Sea Kingdom by Clan Donald.
This Coat of Arms is said to come from Burke's General Armory, which is the official authority on Arms in Great Britain. This would seem to be the most official set of arms and we need to further research what records Burke's has on the family. Members of the family have already downloaded many pages from Burke's records, but this is one area we need to yet uncover, to a greater degree.
This set of arms came from The Historical Research Center, Inc.
Along with this coat of arms, I also purchased a short history of our name. It agrees totally with the origination from Hugh of Sleat. It mentions his son, John, and our connection with the McHutcheon name in all it's forms. It also mentions John and Isabel Crelon, the parents of the immigrants who came to America in 1735, from whom a good share of us descend. It gives a motto for the clan of "Mindful of Knowledge and Labor". It reads, "Scientiae laborisque memor." which to me translated as "Science, labor, remember".
Where this motto came from, I don't know, unless it refers to the industry with which the McUisdean name is associated.
The history goes on to say that Hugh means "heart, mind or spirit" which I have read elswhere. It gives Clann Uisdein and Clann Uisdeann as spellings.
The Historical Research Center may not, in fact, be qualified to determine an official set of arms, but they did seem to have quite a bit of our story correct.
There have been variations to these devices shown and as we made our attempt to design our own Clan Uisdean, USA, Inc. shield, we took into consideration many sources of information. Shirts, caps and lapel pins are available to Clan Uisdean, USA, Inc. members.
Arms are an art unto themselves, as we found out along the way. In our own family we happen to have a heraldry lawyer who has advised us on cost and the particulars of registering an official clan coat of arms. It is expensive and restrictive, including no usage of the American flag. Even though we have our Americanized shield for Clan Uisdean, USA members to use, we will not abandon the search for other devices used to represent our family along the way.