The name possibly originates from Comines near Lisle, in northern France and, in the form of ‘Comyn’, Robert de Comyn was granted lands in Roxburghshire in the mid-twelfth century during the reign of King David 1, while the family prospered through gaining high honours and distinction and the acquisition of other territories.
It was in the mid-fifteenth century that the Comyns adopted the form of ‘Cumming’, in an attempt to distance themselves from those Comyns who had fallen victim to bloody power struggles for the very throne itself.
Sir Alexander Cumming of Altyre was created a baronet in 1804, while Sir William Gordon-Cumming, the fourth baronet, served with the Scots Guards during the Zulu War of 1879.
