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THE RUTHVENS OF GOWRIE.
INTRODUCTION.
page 146
Suconus, the son of this Thor, who flourished in the reign of William the Lion,
obtained a grant of the manors of Ruthven, Tippermuir, and other lands in
Perthshire, and was also superior of the territory of Crawford, in the Upper
Ward of Lanarkshire, which the progenitors of the great
family of the Lindsays held as vassals under him.
THE HAMILTONS.
INTRODUCTION.
page 209
The surname of the family is supposed to have been originally derived from the
Manor of Hambleden, in Leicestershire, and WALTER DE HAMILTON, the first of the
name who is certainly known to have held estates in Scotland, is alleged to have
been the grandson of Robert de Bellemont, third Earl of Leicester, who died in
1190; but of this there is no evidence whatsoever. The story told by Hector
Boece respecting the first Scottish Hamilton, and faithfully copied not only by
the elder historians of Scotland, like Lesley and Buchanan, but also by modern
peerage writers, that he killed John de Spencer, the King's favourite, and was,
in consequence, obliged to flee from the Court of Edward II., in 1323, is
evidently fabulous. It is said that, being closely pursued in his flight,
Hamilton and his servant changed clothes with two woodcutters who were working
in a sawpit, and, taking their places, were in the act of cutting an oak-tree
when their pursuers came up. The servant, owing to his nervous anxiety, stopped
in his work; but Hamilton cried out to him 'Through' and made him resume his
task. From this incident he took for his crest an oak-tree and a saw cutting it,
with the word 'Through' for the motto. This story, which bears the unmistakable
stamp of Hector Boece's own mint, has evidently been invented for the purpose of
accounting for the Hamilton crest and motto; and it is certain that Walter de
[p.209] Hamilton was settled in Scotland long before the period mentioned in
this legend. He was one of the barons who at first adhered to the English
interest in the War of Independence; and he swore fealty to Edward I., in 1292,
and again in 1296, for his estates in Lanarkshire and
other counties. But after the battle of Bannock-burn he made his peace with
Robert Bruce, and received from that monarch the Barony of Cadzow (the ancient
name of Hamilton), and several other grants of land. Here the family raised
their roof-tree and extended their branches throughout Clydesdale and the
neighbouring districts, where they founded several minor but still influential
houses, some of which remain to the present day.
page 212
Arran's facile character was productive of great injury both to his family and
his country, and his legitimate offspring all bore their father's image. But his
natural son, James Hamilton of Finnart, was a person of remarkable energy, and
was the principal architect in Scotland of his time. He was a great favourite
with James V., who appointed him Cup-bearer and Steward of the Royal Household,
and Master of Works to the King. He superintended the erection of the palaces of
Falkland and Linlithgow; and, under his direction, the castles of Edinburgh,
Stirling, and Blackness, and the palace of Holyrood were enlarged and adorned.
The King, whose fine taste is architecture, sculpture, and painting enabled him
to appreciate Hamilton's merits, bestowed on him several valuable
estates, among others the lands of Draphen in Lanarkshire,
on which Sir James erected the strong and stately castle of Craignethan—the
Tillietudlem of 'Old Mortality.' His character, however, was stained by numerous
acts of cruelty and oppression, into which his fierce and passionate temper
hurried him. He took a prominent part in the sanguinary persecution of the
Protestants at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and no hand was more
deeply stained than his with the blood of his own relative, the saintly Patrick
Hamilton, who suffered martyrdom in 1528. He ultimately fell into disgrace at
Court, was accused of treason and embezzlement, and having been found guilty,
was beheaded in 1540. He was undoubtedly the ablest and most accomplished man
the house of Hamilton has ever produced; and if he had occupied the position of
his feeble father, and still feebler brother, he would have been the supreme
ruler of Scotland during the troubled minority of James V. and his daughter, the
ill-starred Queen Mary.
THE MAXWELLS.
page 2
THE founder of the Maxwell family is said to have been a certain Maccus, the son
of Undwin, a Saxon noble, who at the Norman Conquest took refuge in Scotland. He
was a distinguished person in the reigns of Alexander I. and David I., and
received from the latter a grant of fertile lands on the banks of the Tweed, near
Kelso, which from him received the appellation of Maccuswell, and, abbreviated
into Maxwell, became the designation of his descendants. He witnessed an inquest
which David ordered to be made about the year 1116. A Herbert de Maccuswel, who
died in 1143, made a grant of the Church of Maccuswel to the monastery of Kelso.
A Sir John de Maccuswel was Sheriff of Roxburgh and Teviotdale in 1207, and held
the office of Great Chamberlain from 1231 to 1233. His son, Aymer de Maxwell,
was Sheriff of Dumfriesshire and Chamberlain of Scotland. He obtained also the
office of Justiciary of Galloway. By his marriage with the daughter and heiress
of Roland de Mearns, he obtained the land and baronies of Mearns and
Nether-Pollok in Renfrewshire, and Dryps and Calderwood in Lanarkshire.
His second son, John, was the founder of the Nether-Pollok branch of the family,
on whom a baronetcy was conferred in 1682. Throughout the perilous and trying
times of the War of Independence, the Maxwells, like many other Scottish nobles
of the Saxon and Anglo-Norman race, repeatedly changed sides. In the year
1300, Sir Herbert Maxwell, grandson of Sir John, held the strong castle of
Carlaverock forthe patriotic cause, and was, besieged by a powerful English army
under Edward I., accompanied by his son, afterwards Edward II., then a youth of
seventeen years. Eighty-seven of the most illustrious barons of England were in
this host, including knights of Bretagne and Lorraine. 'Carlaverock was so
strong a castle,' says a contemporary chronicler, 'that it did not fear a siege;
therefore the King came himself because it would not consent to surrender. But
it was always furnished for its defence whenever it was required with men,
engines, and provisions. Its shape was like that of a shield, for it had only
three sides all round, with a tower in each angle, but one of them was a double
one, so high, so long, and so large, that under it was the gate, with a
drawbridge, well-made and strong, and a sufficiency of other defences. It had
good walls, and good ditches filled to the edge with water; and I believe there
never was seen a castle so beautifully situated, for at once could be seen the
Irish Sea towards the west, and to the north a fine country, surrounded by an
arm of the sea, so that no creature born could approach it on two sides without
putting himself in danger of the sea. Towards the south it was not easy, because
there werenumerous dangerous defiles of wood and marshes, and ditches where the
sea is on each side of it, and where the river reaches it; and therefore it was
necessary for the host to approach towards the east, where the hill slopes.'
THE JOHNSTONES OF ANNANDALE.
page 55
THE Johnstones were at one time among the most powerful, as they are one of the
most ancient, of the Border septs. The 'rough-footed clan,' as they were termed,
with the winged spur as their appropriate emblem, and the words 'Aye ready' for
their motto, were originally settled in East Lothian, but for at least four
hundred years they have held extensive possessions on the Western Marches, where
they kept vigilant watch and ward against the English freebooters, carrying on
at the same time sanguinary feuds with their powerful neighbours and rivals, the
Crichtons of Sanquhar and the Maxwells of Nithsdale. Their designation is
territorial, and was derived from the barony and lands of Johnstone in
Annandale, which have been in their possession from a very remote period. The
first of the family on record was Sir John de Johnstone, one of the Scottish
barons who swore fidelity to Edward I. of England, in 1296. His great-grandson,
also a Sir John de Johnstone, was conspicuous for his valour in the defence of
his country in the reigns of David II. and Robert II. In 1370 he defeated an
English invading army, and two years later was appointed one of the guardians of
the Western Marches. His son, who bore the same name, got 300 of the 40,000
francs sent by the King of France, in 1385, to be divided among the Scottish
nobles to induce them to carry on hostilities against their common enemies, the
English. His son, Sir Adam Johnstone, was one of the commanders of the Scottish
army at the battle of Sark, in 1448, in which they gained a signal victory over
the English invaders—an exploit commemorated in glowing terms by Wyntoun in his
'Chronicle.' Sir Adam also took a prominent part on the royal side in the
desperate struggle between James II. and the Douglases, and was very instrumental
in the suppression of the rebellion of that great house against [p.55] the
Crown. He was rewarded by the King with a grant of the lands of Pettinane, in Lanarkshire,
and the Johnstones have ever since borne along with their ancestral arms the
heart and crown of Douglas, as a memorial of the important service rendered to
the royal cause by their ancestor at that critical period. Sir Adam's eldest son
was the progenitor of the Annandale or main branch of the family, while Matthew,
his second son, who married a daughter of the Earl of Angus, chief of the 'Red
Douglases,' was the ancestor of the Westerhall branch.
THE SCOTTS OF BUCCLEUCH.
page 189
The cradle of the Scotts was not in Ettrick Forest, but at Scotstown and Kirkurd,
in the county ofPeebles, which still belong to the Duke of Buccleuch. Several
persons of the name of Scott appear as witnesses to charters during the twelfth
century, but the first, regarding whom there is certain evidence that he was an
ancestor of the Scotts of Buccleuch, is RICHARD SCOTT of Rankleburn and
Murthockstone. His ancestors resided at Scotstown, and, according to Satchells,
the Cross Kirk of Peebles had been the burial-place of the family for several
generations. Richard Scott acquired the lands of Murthockstone (afterwards
Murdieston) in Lanarkshire by his marriage to the
heiress of that estate. Satchell says—
THE HEPBURNS.
page 249
Lord Hales commanded the vanguard of the rebel forces at the battle of
Sauchieburn (June 11, 1488), inwhich King James lost his life. On the surrender
of the castle of Edinburgh a few days after this conflict, the custody of that
important fortress was committed to Lord Hales, with three hundred merks of the
customs of that city. As the government of the country was entirely in the hands
of the victorious party, honours, offices, and estates were showered upon the
person who had contributed so largely to their success. He was appointed
Sheriff-Principal of the county of Edinburgh, Master of the Household, and High
Admiral of Scotland for life. He obtained a charter of the lands of Crichton
Castle and other estates in the counties of Edinburgh and Dumfries, along with
the lordship of Bothwell, in Lanarkshire, of which Sir
John Ramsay, a favourite of the late King, had been deprived. He was also
created (17th October, 1488) Earl of Bothwell, a title which had been borne by
Ramsay. Shortly after he obtained a grant of the office of Steward of
Kirkcudbright, and of the custody of Thrieve Castle, the stronghold of the Black
Douglases, with its feus. On the 29th of May of the following year, his
covetousness being still unsatiated, the Earl and his uncle, John Hepburn, Prior
of St. Andrews, received a lease of the lordship of Orkney and Shetland, and
were made custodians of the castle of Stirling. A few weeks later he was
appointed Warden of the West and Middle Marches. On the slaughter of Spens of
Kilspindie, by Archibald Bell-the-Cat, Earl of Angus, the King compelled Angus,
before he would pardon him for this crime, to exchange the lordship of Liddesdale
and the castle of Hermitage for the barony and castle of Bothwell, which was a
considerable diminution to the greatness and power of the Douglases, and added
not a little to the influence and importance of the Hepburn family. |
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