McTurk or MacTurk (in earlier times, alternatively spelt M'Turk, Makturk, MakTurck, or Macturcke) is an ancient Galloway surname. The earliest record of the family that I have traced is that the McTurks were members of a Pictish race who occupied lands in Glenkens, Dumfries. They reputedly welcomed the Barbours who were granted the land by Robert the Bruce after the Battle of Raploch. McTurk is held to be a sept of the McKinnon clan, but I have heard dissenting opinions; others believing that the McTurk name is related to the McLeod or MacLean of Duart families.

The authorities I have consulted give two competing derivations for the meaning of McTurk. They are, in order of likelihood:

• MacTurc from the Scots Gaelic "mac torc" (or MacTuirc from the Irish Gaelic, "mac toirc"), both translated as "son of the boar". [The English name Turkington is thought to originate from the MacTuircs of County Armagh.]; or
  
• McTurk or mac toirc, possibly a Gaelicisation of an English form containing the element "Turk" whose original meaning is lost.

The earlier McTurks were located in the counties of Ayrshire, Dumfries, the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and in Wigtonshire. The 17th to 19th centuries saw the name spreading intro neighbouring counties and elsewhere in Scotland. There were also movements between Scotland and Ireland, with the establishment of several McTurk families in Co Antrim. During the mid 19th century there was considerable movement as families followed the work found by men in the new industries of iron, coal, steel and ship-building. In the late 19th century they were concentrated in Ayrshire, Dumfries, Lanark and Renfrew in Scotland and in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Essex, Sussex and Leicestershire in England.

Substantial numbers of McTurks have also settled in Lincolnshire, Lancashire, East Anglia, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset; in Brecon and Anglesey in Wales; and in the Isle of Man. A number of McTurk families have emigrated to Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Guyana. I am also aware of individuals resident in Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia, but they have not responded to my letters.

The blazon of McTurk arms, awarded it is thought to John McTurk, Burgess of Glasgow in 1629, is described as:

ARMS: Argent, a chevron azure, between two hunting horns vert, garnished and stringed gules, in chief, and in base a burning mount proper.

CREST: A ram's head cabossed d'or.

MOTTO: Pace vel bello [Trans: In peace or war].

Other Crests. The crest of McTURK of Stenhouse, Dumfries is described, in Fairbairn's Book of Crests, as a ram's head cabossed d'or. Robert McTURK of Cnewr (#523) 1871 - 1942, High Sheriff of Breconshire in Wales in 1926, had a similar crest to that shown above, the banner of which is still held by the family at Cnewr.

Legend of the McTurk Crest. It is reputed that a McTurk Laird in Wigtonshire aided Robert the Bruce who was hiding from his English pursuers in local caves. The laird made his way to the caves and gave the Bruce a lambskin coat and a cloth cap made entirely from the wool of a sheep. The Bruce responded by pledging that if he gained his birthright and was crowned King of Scotland, the McTurk Laird would have as a crest a ram's head.