# Non Dormit Qui Custodit



## trekkgirl

please tell me what this says. it is on my family crest. "Non Dormit Qui Custodit"


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## winnie

trekkgirl said:
			
		

> please tell me what this says. it is on my family crest. "Non Dormit Qui Custodit"


 
welcome trekkgirl! 

it's Latin, a rough translation is "who guards doesn't sleep"

HTH


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## Alfry

winnie said:
			
		

> welcome trekkgirl!
> 
> it's Latin, a rough translation is "who guards doesn't sleep"
> 
> HTH


 
it's not that rough, it's really accurate. 

I'd use an "he" at the beginning.


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## Silvia

Hi trekkgirl,

welcome to the WR Forums 

I'm moving this thread to the Other Languages Forum.


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## Outsider

"The watcher never sleeps."


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## tinsonant

I dont suppose your family crest has this saying in a circle with an owl above it does it?


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## Tabac

trekkgirl said:
			
		

> please tell me what this says. it is on my family crest. "Non Dormit Qui Custodit"


My guess is that it is an abridged form of a line from the 21st Psalm:  "He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps".


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## Brioche

Tabac said:
			
		

> My guess is that it is an abridged form of a line from the 21st Psalm: "He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps".


 
It's Psalm 121 in King James
_Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep._
_The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand_

or Psalm 120 in the Latin Vulgate.
_ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet qui custodiet Israhel_
_Dominus custodiet te Dominus protectio tua super manum__ dexteram tuam_ 

and since the Lord is the keeper here, I'd look elsewhere for the origin of the quote.


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## Tabac

Brioche said:
			
		

> It's Psalm 121 in King James
> _Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep._
> _The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand_
> 
> or Psalm 120 in the Latin Vulgate.
> _ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet qui custodiet Israhel_
> _Dominus custodiet te Dominus protectio tua super manum__ dexteram tuam_
> 
> and since the Lord is the keeper here, I'd look elsewhere for the origin of the quote.


Typo of omission: *1*21st Psalm is correct....good catch.  I don't where else to get the exact quote, but I think it's a good take.


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## xav

I think there's no other origin - as Tabac says, it was abridged.

In Hebrew, it's
Hinné lo yanoom, velo yishan, shomer Isra'El


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## Hansen of Denmark

Only few survived the masaacre of the Macillop Clan at the hands of English redcoats in 1745 in Scotland. As the Macillop Clan were the kings "watchers", therefore the "Non Dormit Qui Custodit" on your family tree


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## Niall McKillop

Hansen of Denmark said:


> Only few survived the masaacre of the Macillop Clan at the hands of English redcoats in 1745 in Scotland. As the Macillop Clan were the kings "watchers", therefore the "Non Dormit Qui Custodit" on your family tree



I am a McKillop, and though I know the motto Non Dormit etc to be correct, I have no recollection of very few of us being left after a massacre in 1745. That would, actually, have been after the battle of Culloden which took place 16th April 1746, which was when all the serious killing began. As to the McKillops being the kings watchers, Im not too sure about that one either. We were certainly pipers to the house of stewart, but if you have any other info, Id be really pleased to see it.


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## MariaCottrell

It is actually Latin for "He who guards does not sleep" thankyou very much.


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## CRGH

This emblem appears in 'Devises et Emblemes Anciennes & Modernes' (1699), which can be found online, on a site hosted by the University of Illinois. It may or may not helpful to know that it appears there with a French translation: 'Qui le gouverne, ne dort pas.'


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## Yulan

Hello everybody 

I must be astray, but could "Qui custodit" be translated as "Guardian" or "Sentinel"? 

"The guardian/sentinel does not sleep" ?


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## Cagey

"Qui custodit" is a relative clause, meaning "who guards". 

Your translation catches the sense of the Latin, but not the syntax.  It misses the relative clause.


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## vilothian

trekkgirl said:


> please tell me what this says. it is on my family crest. "Non Dormit Qui Custodit"




My family crest also has this


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