Recorded usually as Clyne and perhaps Clynter (see below), this is a famous clan Scottish surname. Originating from an estate known as 'The lands of Clyne,' in the parish of Clyne in the county of Sutherland, far away in the north of the country, it has one of the earliest recordings of a Scottish surname. This was William de Clyne also known as William of Clyne, who witnessed various charters between the year 1350 and 1372. Other early recordings include Malcolm de Clyne, given as being the secretary to the bishop of Orkney around the year 1390, and William of Clyne, who was also the first to be known as 'of that Ilk' in 1458. The family of the original nameholders seems to have come to an end in or about the year 1520, when it would seem that the male heirs died out. However this does not seem to have stopped the march of the surname, other branches remaining prominent in Scottish affairs through to the 19th century. It is said that the most recent and well known holder of the name was Norval Clyne, who died in 1899, being famed as a 'man of letters'. The spelling as Clynter is believed to originate not from Clyne, but from a village called Clinter, in Aberdeenshire.

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