Burke traces the HERON ancestry in England to a Tihel de HEROUEN, fromCaen, Normandy who accompanied William the Conqueror on his conquest ofEngland. Tihel's descendents (Hairun/Heron) were given lands inNorthumberland, England.
The story goes that about 1307, during the contest for the Scottishthrone between Baliol and Robert the Bruce, Robert the Bruce took refuge,one night, in the cottage on Loch Dee of a poor widow atCraigencallie. Her three sons, (apparently by three different 'husbands')entered Bruce's service and remained faithful to his cause to the end,when Bruce became victorious. The three sons whose surnames were McKie,Murdoch and McLurg received ( through their mother), from Bruce, afterhis establishment on the throne, the thirty-pound lands of 'the wee bithassock of land atween Palnure and Penkiln' to be divided amongstthemselves, in payment for their services. This property would haveincluded Cumloden (which probably went to the Murdochs), Larg (whichprobably went to the McKies), and Kirrouchtrie (which probably went tothe McLurgs), and other property between Palnure and Penkiln burns ( justnorth-east of Newton Stewart.)(Source: McKerlie)

Subsequently, a male HERON (purportedly a knight Gerald from England)married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of the last of the McLURGs (orMcKIEs, depending upon whether a MACLURE or a McKIE is telling thestory), thereby gaining ownership of Kirrouchtrie.

Macfarlane's MS says that it was Captain HERON, the second brother of SirCuthbert HERON of Chipchase, Northumberland who married Margaret McLURG.But McKerlie states that Macfarlane is incorrect and that 'the first ofthe name HERON in Galloway had been there two hundred years beforeCuthbert's time'. It is interesting to note that the stories of bothWilliam WALLACE (1272-1305) and Robert the BRUCE (1274-1329) include anepisode in which they take refuge in the house of an old woman who hadthree sons. If either of these stories are true then it is more likelythat the WALLACE story is correct and that the Robert the BRUCE story wasborrowed from the Wallace episode and it may be that Macfarlane wascorrect afterall.

In any event, McKerlie states that the male HERON and Margaret had ason, John, who succeeded in 1465. This Heron's first name is believed tohave been John because his son's name was John.

'Of Kirrouchtrie' when married. The only child and therefore heiress ofthe last of the McLURGs. It is probable that the origin of the name isM'LARG or LARG. The family name has since become McLEOD and perhapsMcCLURE.