What is a Family Crest all About?
I know that commercially there are many places that offer some sort of generalized crest for family surnames, as the one I mail ordered from Ireland in the 1980s and shown on the McKee Family Surname Page. I scanned through the internet looking for the best explanations of this phenom- and found what I thought to be the definative answers at The College of Arms. A nutshell explanation is that they were granted to the male heads of families and varied even brother to brother. There is only one grantor in Scotland, and one or two in UK handling the balance. The crest shown on the Kevin McKee Homepage belongs to, and was granted Raymond Walter McKee -by Lord Reay as the two communicated during the period Raymond was writing the Book of McKee. I wouldnt go tossing out all your crests as commercial junk- but only realize the true meaning, heritage and significance that crests or Coat of Arms have in our histories. Please refer to the “College of Arms” website for a more detailed explanation
