[1] The surname derives from the region of Lindsey in England (the name of which comes from the Old English for "island of Lincoln"), from where the family originated.

[1] His son, Sir William Lindsay, who sat in Parliament as Baron of Luffness in East Lothian,[1] married Alice de Limesi, and from their younger son Sir William Lindsay, dapifer to the High Steward of Scotland, descends the Earl of Crawford.

[1] In 1390, Sir David Lindsay famously took part in a tournament at London Bridge, in the presence of Richard II of England.

[5] In 1452, Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford, joined in a rebellion against James II of Scotland and fought at the Battle of Brechin where the royal forces were victorious.

The sixth Earl of Crawford was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513,[6] while on close attendance to King James IV.

He later fought for King Charles I during the civil war where he commanded a cavalry regiment at the Battle of Marston Moor.

[1] In 1739, John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford, was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the newly formed 43rd Regiment of Foot ("Black Watch" regiment) that supported the British Government during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and had been formed from the ten Independent Highland Companies of "Black Watch".