The Balnagown Rosses
Hugh of Rarichies was the son of the 4th Earl of Ross by his second marriage to Margaret Graham. He obtained the lands of Rarichies from his father and later those of Westray, Easter Allan and Balnagown from his half brother, William, 5th Earl of Ross. Succession to the Earldom would probably have come to him but for William's indiscretions towards King David II viz. murdering one of his chieftains, failing to support him in a campaign against the English and refusing to contribute towards his ransom while he was incarcerated in the Tower of London. (This last indiscretion was shared by Hugh himself.)
 After his release from the Tower, David II drew up a charter creating a new line of succession for the Earldom of Ross via William's daughter Euphemia and her husband Sir Walter Leslie. So, instead of becoming Earl of Ross, Hugh assumed the name of Ross and founded a line which continued in direct descent down to David, XIII of Balnagown, the last of the old family.
Meanwhile, several cadet branches were established. These were the families descended from the second or subsequent sons of the original Balnagown families. Most of these have ceased to exist through lack of male heirs and in others the line of descent is unknown or obscure.
After David XIII, things become more complicated. No children resulted from his marriage with Lady Anne Stewart and David had been forced into various mortgage arrangements because of accumulated debts. A long period of disputes and machinations followed his death. Prior to this, Lady Anne's family had acquired the Balnagown Estates on her brother Francis's behalf and he was to assume the surname Ross and adopt the heraldic arms of the Clan Ross.  However, due to his own debts together with those accruing to the Balnagown Estates, Francis sold out to Lord Ross of Halkhead whose seat was near Paisley in Renfrewshire. Lord Ross had been, for some time, desirous of obtaining the estates, title, and arms of the Chief of the Clan Ross, although he had no connection with the original line of Balnagown Rosses.
Having succeeded in gaining this prize, however, after 4 years nominal possession only, Lord Ross sold the estates to his brother, Lieutenant-General Charles Ross who was invested in 1713. As he had no family, he passed the property to the children of his sister, the Hon. Grizel Ross, wife of Sir James Lockhart of Carstairs, Lanarkshire, and so began the line of Lockhart-Rosses of Balnagown, culminating in Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart-Ross who died in 1942. In spite of their back door entry into Balnagown, this family are generally reckoned to have administered the estates ably, and came to gain the respect of most of the members of the clan.
 The nearest relative of David XIII of Balnagown had been Malcolm Ross of Pitcalnie. He, however, did not have the money to redeem the mortgages and was unable to retain the ancestral home for descendents of Hugh of Rarichies. Although those in possession of Balnagown were, at the time, widely recognised as chiefs of the Clan Ross, the Pitcalnie Rosses still regarded themselves as the true hereditary chiefs.
In 1903, the original line of succession was re-established. Miss Ethel Frances Williamson Ross of Pitcalnie presented her claim to the Lord Lyon. It was upheld and she became the officially recognised Chief of Clan Ross. She in turn was succeeded by her sister, Miss Rosa Ross Williamson Ross, in 1957. When Miss Rosa died in 1968, the chiefship and armorial dignities were transferred to the house of Shandwick, to David Campbell Ross (David Ross of Ross), the current Chief of Clan Ross.
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