The clan territory of the Cumins was Badenoch, and the chiefs were known as Lords of Badenoch. It is recorded that they came from England following the Norman Conquest, but it is to be remembered that there was a Cumin, Abbot of Iona, in the 7th century, and it is strange that an alien family should become so powerful as the Cumins were in Badenoch in so short a time.

William de Comyn received a grant of land in Roxburgh, and in 1133 he was appointed Chancellor of Scotland by David I. His nephew Richard had great authority in Scotland, and William, son of Richard, was Justiciary of Scotland, and in 1210 became Earl of Buchan by marriage with Marjory, Countess of Buchan, only child of Fergus, 1st Earl. William’s son by a previous marriage became Earl of Menteith and acquired the Lordship of Badenoch by grant from Alexander II. His nephew John, known as “Red Comyn”, was the father of the “Black Comyn” who was one of the six guardians of Scotland during the minority of the Maiden of Norway, and later became a competitor for the Crown of Scotland. The “Black Comyn” married Marjory, sister of John Baliol, and their son John was known, like his grandfather, as the “Red Comyn”.

Like so many nobles at that time his vacillating policy depended on self-interest. He fought alternately for and against Scotland, until he was stabbed by Bruce, and finally killed by Bruce’s followers, Lindsay and Kirkpatrick, at Dumfries in 1306. This was the occasion when Kirkpatrick is alleged to have said “I’ll mak siccar”. The Comyns were finally defeated at Inverury in 1308, and John, the only son of the “Red Comyn” died in 1325, without issue, thus terminating the direct line of the principal branch of the family.