Clan Turnbull

John Leyden describes the incident as follows: "On Scotia's lord he rushed, with lightning speed, / Bent his strong neck, to toss the startled steed; / His arms robust the hardy hunter flung / Around his bending horns, and upward wrung, / With writhing force his neck retorted round, / And rolled the panting monster on the ground, / Crushed, with enormous strength, his bony skull: / And courtiers hailed the man, who turned the bull.

"[2] Another possibility, [1] Is, that Turnbull is derived from the Old English Trumbald[3] or French Tumbald (meaning "strong and bold"),[1] or that Robertus de Turnbulyes, who swore fealty to King Edward I of England in 1296, could be the family father.

[6][4][5] Major Gordon Turnbull led the vicious counterattack on the French Cavalry by the 2nd Scots Greys at Waterloo.

James Hamilton, overall commander of the Greys and the other Scottish cavalry regiment (who were supposed to form a reserve), ordered a continuation of the charge to the French Grande Batterie.

Though the Greys had neither the time nor means to disable the cannon or carry them off, they put many out of action as the gun crews fled the battlefield.

The most famous being James Youll Turnbull, who single-handedly held a position for 24 hours, against almost a full regiment of Germans, with a machine gun in World War I.

Each time the British tried to send reinforcements, they were wiped out due to the open ground exposing them to deadly crossfire.

He died the next day while leading a Brigade of Highlanders on a grenade attack, which eventually turned the tide of the deadly stalemate where some 50,000 soldiers on both sides became casualties.

Winston Churchill himself wrote on this defense in his book stating: On 1 July 1916 at Leipzig Salient, Authuille, France, Sergeant Turnbull's party captured a post of apparent importance to the enemy who immediately began heavy counter-attacks, which were continued throughout the day.

Although his party was wiped out and replaced several times, Sergeant Turnbull never wavered in his determination to hold the post, the loss of which would have been very serious.

The Germans were said, after seeing the body of Turnbull in his uniform kilt, to call him and all Scots "The Devils in Dress" and "Ladies from Hell!"

[1] John Turnbull, nicknamed "Outwith sword", for his fierce temper, is listed as a Scots prisoner of war in England around 1400.

For example, John Turnbull was born at Roddam in 1789 in the Anglican Parish of Ilderton, but was baptised in the nearby Presbyterian Church at Branton.