I believe that the men who carried these coats of arms married daughters of the Bruce lords or knights who bore them. The husbands then adopted and modified their father-in-laws' coats of arms, showing their respect and allegiances. They also improved their social standing in the process.

There is a strong case for our early John or Gilbert Johnstoun to have married the only daughter of one of the Comyn lords who had a castle just to the north of Moffat. Our Johnstoun inherited the Comyn land and adopted the coat of arms of his father-in-law. Note that the two coats of arms are identical. Later a descendant of this union was to marry a favored daughter of one of the Robert Bruce of Annandale lords. This resulted in our Johnstoun receiving land almost in the middle of Annandale. He adopted and modified the Bruce coat of arms, making it his own.

The escallop charges (scallop shells) in the Baker and Hume coats of arms indicate a Crusader who made it to the Holy Land. The escallop can be seen on road signs in Spain to this day, marking the trail of ancient pilgrims.

The early coats of arms of Comyn and Johnstoun have 3 garbs, sheaves of cumin. This charge is carried forward in the Lawson coat of arms. It is replaced in the later Comyn coat of arms with three sacks of cumin, bulging to show prosperity.

The Johnstoun and Kirkpatrick coats of arms show a very interesting similarity, saltire and chief with three cushions in the chief. Only the colors differ.