Early Rutherfords

The Early Rutherford Lines

1 - Robert de Rodyrforde

2 - Gregory de Rothirforde

3 - Hugo de Rodirforde

4 - Nicholas de Rothirforde I

5 - Nicholas de Rothirforde II

6 - Aymer de Rotherford

7 - Richard de Rutherfurde I

8 - William de Rutherfurde

9 - Richard Rutherford II

10 - Alan Rutherford

11 - James Rutherford I

12 - James Rutherford II

Workpapers drawn from:

"The Rutherfords in Britain: a history and guide"

by Kenneth Rutherford Davis

Alan Sutton Publishing

Gloucester 1987

And:

"The Rutherfords of Roxburghshire"

Ora Z. Rutherford and Gary Rutherford Harding

privately published 1918 - 2002

Generation 1

- 1. Robertus Dominus de Rodyrforde

bef. 1140

children:

--2. Gregory de Rothirforde

--2. Nichol de Rodyrforde

Robertus dominus de Rodyrforde was a witness to a royal charter in 1140 granted by King David I of Scotland to Gervasius de Rydel, an act which indicated he enjoyed an established position at that time. King David I’s throne was at Roxburgh castle, four miles downstream from the hamlet of Rutherford. (William Anderson "The Scottish Nation; or The Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of The People of Scotland," A. Fullarton & Co London; 1871 – volume 3 – page 390) (Scots Peerage, volume 7, 1910, page 364)

During the tenth and eleventh centuries, knights emerged as a new class of nobility. They were referred to by a variety of names, most notably miles and caballarius. They were either small land owners, with few allods, or else tenant farmers. In Germany, a formal distinction was drawn between the milites, simple soldiers who were free men (Edelfrei), and ministeriales, knights of unfree birth. Knights were given small estates in return for guarding castles, keeping the peace, or accompanying their lords on campaign. When a knight such as Robertus de Rodyrforde was given land they became styled ”dominus” or an owner of an estate. Dominus in Flanders was simply the title given to knights.

Gervasius de Rydel - Even though the family was very prosperous in England some of its members emigrated to Scotland early in the twelfth century with David I, when Prince of Cumberland, who was a great colonizer. Gervasius was the elder, and he was a great favorite of the prince, who appointed him in 1116 High Sheriff of Roxburghshire …… the earliest on record. Gervasius [Gervas] Ridel was a witness to the Inquisitio Davidis, in 1116, and was a frequent witness to the Charters of that Prince after he ascended to the throne He must have been a constant attendant on royalty, for he is a frequent witness to crown charters, and especially to that celebrated commission for enquiring into the revenues of the Church of Glasgow in 1116, one of the most ancient Scotch records. Gervasius married and had family; a son Hugh is supposed to have been the ancestor of the Riddells of Cranston Riddell in Midlothian. His wife, Christiana de Soulis, was a donor to Jedburgh monastery, and Gervasius when advanced in life, assumed the ecclesiastical garb, and died at Jedburgh in the odour of sanctity. This was in accordance with a prevailing custom, namely, that those who had led a secular, and often a licentious and sinful life, sought to atone for the past by dying in a monastery. (History of the Ancient Rydales and their descendants from 860 to 1884 by G.T. Ridlon, Manchester 1884.)

Geraisus [Gervas] de Rydale
Christiana de Soulis

Walter de Rydale (d c1150)
Ethride de Percy - sister of Percy, Lord of Oxenham – Oxnam

"Gaufrid de Perci gave the convent [of Jedburgh Abbey] the church of Oxenham, with two ploughgates, and two oxgangs of land adjacent thereto, and right of pasture and fuel in the common; also Newbigging, with common pasture and fuel, as enjoyed by the other inhabitants of the same village." "Gaufrid, or Geoffrey, de Perci, inherited the lands of Heton and Oxenham from his brother Allan, surnamed " le Meschin," who obtained them from King David, for whom he fought in the battle of the Standard."

III. Sir Auskittel de Ridale (d 1180) in Scotland

Elean de Morville d/o Robert de Morville, Lord of Ridderdale

Walter de Ridale
Guynoldu d/o Earl Gospatrick

"The extent to which the feudal and Norman element had already been introduced into the south of Scotland, while under the rule of earls, by David, will be apparent when we examine the relation between the Norman barons who witness his charters and the land under his sway. The most prominent of those who witness the foundation charter of Selkirk are four Norman barons, who possessed extensive lordships in the north of England. The first was Hugo de Moreville, and we find him in possession of extensive lands in Lauderdale, Lothian, and Cuningham in Ayrshire. The second was Paganus de Braosa. The third Robertus de Brus, who acquired the extensive district of Annandale in Dumfriesshire; and the fourth Robertus de Umfraville, received grants of Kinnaird and Dunipace in Stirlingshire. Of the other Norman Knights who witness this charter, and also the inquisition, Gervasius Ridel, Berengarius Engaine, Robertus Corbet, and Alanus de Perci possess manors in Teviotdale. Walterus de Lindesaya has extensive possessions in Upper Clydesdale, Mid and East Lothian and in the latter districts Robertus de Burneville is also settled. In Scotland proper the character in which David ruled will be best seen by contrasting his charters with those of his predecessors.” -- Celtic Scotland, vol. i., 458-459.

Robertus Dominus de Rodyrforde was among the first of the Rutherford family in Scotland to appear in the official court records.

Generation 2

-- 2. Gregory de Rothirforde

children:

Baron Hugo de Rodirforde,
Richard Rothirforde

Gregory de Rothirforde witnessed two charters of Roger Burnard to thirteen acres of the lands of Fairnington to the monastery of Melrose, during the reign of King William the Lion. Other charters were witnessed by him in the reign of King Alexander II. (Mel I, 75, 76,177, 179,227 , 232). (The Scots Peerage, vol. 7, 1910, page 364)

Richard and Hugh de Rutherford witnessed a charter by Richard Burnard of Farningdon to Melrose Abbey (Mel I, 299). The Church of St. Nicholas, Cheldreton, was given to the Monks of St. Neots (Huntingdon) about 1175 by Roger Burnard, and the grant was confirmed by Pope Alexander III. ("Parish Notes" published in 1889 by Rev. Edwin P. Barrow) By the end of the 12th Century St Neots Priory was a busy, prosperous place partly due to the presence of the Priory and partly due to river and road traffic, especially along the Great North Road between London and central England.

Melrose Abbey

Melrose Abbey is located in in Roxburghshire and was founded in 1136 by King David I who dedicated it to the Virgin Mary. Rutherford lies about equal distance between Roxburgh Castle and Melrose Abbey on the Tweed. It was the earliest Cistercian monastery established in Scotland. Its first community came from Rielvaux, the Yorkshire house colonized from Cîteaux. It stood in a broad glen south of the Tweed, two miles distant from the Celtic monastery of Old Melrose, where St. Cuthbert had lived five centuries before. Melrose Abbey suffered greatly from hostile incursions of more than one English monarch; the soldiers of Edward II desecrated, pillaged, and burned the church; Richard II in 1385 laid waste the surrounding country and set fire to the abbey. Mainly through the generosity of Robert the Bruce, a more stately church was begun in 1326, and scarcely completed by the sixteenth century. Not only the royal founder, but succeeding sovereigns, and countless benefactors, nobles and commoners, so richly endowed Melrose with lands and possessions that its annual revenue is computed at one hundred thousand pounds of present money value.

The Burnetts were originally an Anglo-Saxon family, first recorded in Arseley, Bedfordshire before 1066. The Burnetts (Burnards) first came to Scotland in the 12th century in the train of David I. They first settled in the southern part of the country, having obtained a grant of lands at Faringdoun in the county and parish of Roxburgh, and the family figured during the 13th century as benefactors of Melrose and other religious houses. The family first went to Scotland in the 12th century in the train of David I. They settled in the southern part of the country, having obtained a grant of lands at Faringdoun in the county and parish of Roxburgh. The family figured during the 13th century as benefactors of Melrose and other religious houses. After the mid 13th century, there are few records of the Burnetts (Burnards) of Faringdoun, but most scholars agree that the various branches of the family that developed in the 13th and the 14th centuries were offshoots of this stem.

King David I

known as "the Saint", (1084 - May 24, 1153), king of Scotland, the youngest son of Malcolm Canmore and of Saint Margaret (sister of Edgar Ætheling), was born in 1084. He married in 1113 Matilda, daughter and heiress of Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, and thus gained possession of the earldom of Huntingdon.

On the death of Edgar, king of Scotland, in 1107, the territories of the Scottish crown were divided in accordance with the terms of his will between his two brothers, Alexander and David. Alexander, together with the crown, received Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde, David the southern district with the title of earl of Cumbria. The death of Alexander in 1124 gave David possession of the whole starting on April 27 of that year.

In 1127, in the character of an English baron, he swore fealty to Matilda as heiress to her father Henry I, and when the usurper Stephen ousted her in 1135 David vindicated her cause in arms and invaded England. But Stephen marched north with a great army, whereupon David made peace. The peace, however, was not kept. After threatening an invasion in 1137, David marched into England in 1138, but sustained a crushing defeat on Cutton Moor in the engagement known as the Battle of the Standard.

He returned to Carlisle, and soon afterwards concluded peace. In 1141 he joined Matilda in London and accompanied her to Winchester, but after a narrow escape from capture he returned to Scotland. Henceforth he remained in his own kingdom and devoted himself to its political and ecclesiastical reorganization. A devoted son of the church, he founded five bishoprics and many monasteries. In secular politics he energetically forwarded the process of feudalization which his immediate predecessors had initiated . He died at Carlisle. He had two sons, Malcolm and Henry and two daughters, Claricia and Hodierna.

Generation 3

--- 3. Baron Hugo de Rodirforde

children:

----4. Sir Nichol I de Rothirforde

Hugh de Ruwerfort [de Rodirforde ] witnessed a grant by Philip de Valoniis [de Valognes] of lands at Torpenhow, Cumberland, to Robert de Stuteville. The deed was attested by Ralph, Abbot of Jedburgh from 1192 to 1205 (YAS Extra ser VII, Early Yorkshire charters IX, 125 (1952)).

Philip de Valoniis had served as a hostage in King William the Lion's place and remained two years in England. The family de Valoniis, from whom the noble family of Panmure is maternally descended, came from Normandy with the Conqueror. Philip de Valoniis, grandson of the first, came into Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV., who succeeded his brother Malcolm in the year 1165, was a prisoner in England in 1174, this Philip was one of the hostages for the payment of his ransom at his liberation, for which good service the grateful monarch rewarded him with the manors of Panmure and Benvie about the year 1180. He was one of the witnesses to the charter of erection of the burgh of Ayr by William I, in which the king styles him "my treasurer".

Robert de Stuteville married Sibyl, daughter of Philip de Valoniis, who 1192-1205 gave him and Sibyl and the heirs of their bodies the vill of Torpenhow, Cumberland. In the lifetime of his father he received a knight's fee in Middleton which he was holding early in the thirteenth century. He was benefactor of Rosedale priory. He died v.p.before 27 Nov 1213. Robert de Stuteville was sheriff of Yorkshire in 1170-1171.

Typically, charters were witnessed by members of the lord’s household, and this information confirms the close links between the families. Valoniis, Morville, and Umfraville are very close to each other on the Cotentin peninsula of France. Also Estouteville is quite near to Bray, home of the Riddlisford branch of the Rutherford family. Hugh De Morville was born 1155 in Burgh, Cumberland, England. He was the son of Hugh De Moreville and Beatrice De Beauchamp. Hugh married Helwise De Stuteville was born 1162, and died 1227. She was the daughter of Robert De Stuteville IV Sheriff of York and Sibyl de Valoniis.

Hugh de Morville was among King David's leading vassals in England and Scotland. He in turn chose the King’s knights. The pattern of settlement in Scotland was that of recruitment of individual soldiers or knights from the Cotentin to hold fiefs and perform military service. It was not a movement of people, or of families. The Rutherfords are clearly linked by historic records with the neighboring families of de Morville and Valognes in the Cotentin and Rutherford knights are clearly signing documents for these families in Scotland.

Hugo de Rodirforde and Richard de Rodirforde witnessed a charter of Richard Burnard of Fairnington to the abbey and convent of Melrose in 1252, during the reign of King Alexander III. (Mel I, 299). Neighbor Roger Burnard was established in the lands of Fairnington in the 13th century and made two grants to the monks of Melrose in his lifetime. Patrick Burnard also held lands near Gordon in Berwickshire about 1250. Down to the middle of the 14th century the family owned Fairnington in the county of Roxburgh and continued to figure prominently among the benefactors of Melrose Abbey and in 1296 William de Fairnington of Roxburgh paid homage to Edward I. (The Annals of a Border Club, 1903, page 383) (The Rutherfurds of that ilk and their Cadets, 1884, page 5)

Generation 4

---- 4. Sir Nicholas de Rothirforde I (c.1200-c.1275)

Sir Nicholas de Rothirforde I was granted a charter of the lands of Capehope in 1261 when Alexander III was King. [unconfirmed] He also was a witness to several donations to the church of St. Mary of Melrose Abbey and to the monastery of Kelso. Sir Nicholas witnessed four charters to Melrose Abbey in the latter part of the reign of Alexander II (1214-49) (Mel I, 244, 245, 260, 264), probably three under Alexander III (1249-86) (Ib 295, 301, 310).

Sir Nicholas de Rotherford witnessed a quitclaim by Malcolm de Constableton and Alicia, his wife, of a carucate of Edulfistun (now Eddleston) to the Church of Glasgow in 1260 ((Glas. Reg page 176).) Eddleston is a parish in the north of Peeblesshire. It is bounded by Edinburghshire, and by the parishes of Innerleithen, Peebles, Lyne, and Newlands. The church of Innerleithen was dedicated to St Kentigern. Malcolm II bestowed upon it the right of sanctuary because the dead body of his son, who had been accidentally drowned in Tweed, had lain there one night before burial.

Sir Nicholas may have witnessed another charter in 1270 by Henry lord of Haliburton to Kelso Abbey (Cal143). Later attestments probably belong to his successor.

In 1270 and 1272 he was designated as “Nicholaus de Rutherfoord, miles". This title indicated the family had attained an influential position in Roxburgh County, Scotland. Without a doubt, Sir Nichol was one of the gallant company at Jedburgh in 1283 when the marriage of King Alexander was solemnized.

Sir Nicholas Rothirforde’s daughter, Margarette de Rothirforde del Counte de Berwyk, was a personage of such consequence that she was also compelled to sign the Deed of Submission, popularly known as the “Ragman Roll”, swearing fealty to Edward I of England at Berwick on Tweed on August 28th, 1296.

Sir Nicholas I, who probably died some years before 1279, married before c.1226 an Anglo-Flemish heiress, Euphemia daughter of William de L'Isle [de Insula], and through her came into possession of a dispersed estate in Yorkshire: Sutton, Morley, Wheldale, Austhorpe, Beeston, Drighlington and Norton in Wilberfoss (YAS Early Yorkshire charters III, 278-80).

In 1235-6 he held two knight's fees of John de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln [see below], and he had license from Nostell Priory for a chaplain at Morley (Ib). Nostell Priory (A Brief History of the House and Estate, upto the building of the House in 1733) takes its name from 'North Stall'. A 'stall' being a 'hunter's lodge in the woods’. Nostell is found in the Domesday Book, completed 1086, under the name Osele or Osle. Around this time, there existed a Hermitage which was dedicated to St James. There is also a priory at Nostell dedicated to Mary Magdalene de Lunda.

William the Conqueror bestowed the Barony of Pontefract on Ilbert de Lacy who became founder of one of the most powerful families of the north (AD 1092). The de Lacy's founded the religious houses of Nostell, Pontefract and Kirkstall. Ilbert built Pontefract Castle and his son Robert built Nostell Priory which supplied priests to various churches in the area including until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 1540's.

Nostell Priory was founded in 1114, by Ralph Adlave, chaplain and confessor to Henry I. He had fallen ill at Pontefract on the way to a Scottish campaign with the King. Whilst recovering, he hunted in the woods around Nostell where he came across a colony of hermits who had settled by the lake there. The ‘hermits’ were probably monks of a Saxon foundation, and their church was dedicated to St. James. Adlave, impressed by their life, asked the King’s permission to establish them as a regular Augustinian Priory dedicated to St. Oswald, the King of Northumbria killed in battle by Penda in 642. The charter of 1121 licensed the canons of St. Oswald to build a church at Nostell which may have contained a relic of the saint. The Priory held possession of 36 churches and chapels which had been given by its patrons at various times, including Sir Nichol Rothirforde’s chaplainry at Morley. Little is known of the church or monastic buildings during the 12th and early 13th centuries. While it was not enormous as the Cistercian abbeys like Fountains and Rievaulx, it must have been sizeable with its large endowments of land from the Lacy family and royal grant of 12 pence per day from the exchequer at York. The choir was supposed to have been begun by Prior Anketil who died in 1196, and fragments of carving which survive seem to date from the 14th and 15th centuries. At some time between 1177 and 1193 Prior Arkentill of Nostell Priory released the claim on the land to Robert de Lacy. This was during the time of Richard the Lion Heart; a period we popularly associate with the crusades and Robin Hood. Rogerthorpe is situated on the edge of Barnsdale Forest where the Robin Hood had many adventures.

Rutherford land holdings and their locations:

Sutton = West Yorkshire

Morley = West Yorkshire

Wheldale = West Yorkshire

Austhorpe [Aisthorpe] = Lincolnshire [5 miles N of Lincoln]

Beeston = West Yorkshire [3 miles NE of Morley]

Drighlington = West Yorkshire [3 miles W of Morley]

Norton in Wilberfoss = West Yorkshire [8 miles east of York]

Hickleton = South Yorkshire

children:

-----5. Sir Peter de Rotherfeld

Peter de Rotherfield was born circa 1245 at of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. He was the son of Nicholas de Rotherfield , Kt. and Euphemia de L'Isle. Euphemia de L'Isle was also known as Euphemia de Insula. She was born circa 1225 at of North Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of William de L'Isle [de Insula].

Sir Peter de Rotherfeld or Routherfelde, elder son and heir to both his parents (SS 49, 4n quoting Stapleton's Trinity Priory, York, 155) inherited land from his mother and held the West Riding manor of Hickleton (Strafford wapentake) by 1279 when he presented a parson to the church there (SS 114,19). It is unknown how he came into possession of Hickleton which earlier in the century was held by Ranulf de Neufmarche (YAS Early Yorks charters 1,457-8). Peter’s daughter, Dionysia, did marry William Wentworth who secondly married Lucy de Neufmarche [Newmarch]. Hickleton is a parish-town, in the lower-division of Strafforth and Tickhill 6 miles from Doncaster and 9.5 from Barnsley. The church is a perpetual curacy, dedicated to St. Dennis, in the deanry of Doncaster, whose patron is still the Wentworth family.

Kirkby's Quest shows Sir Peter held the manor in 1284-5 as half a knight's fee from John de Baliol lord of Barnard Castle in Durham who had wide estates on both sides of the Border and was made King of Scotland in 1292 by Edward I (SS 49, 4;F A VI, 2). Peter also held in the West Riding 11/2 carucates and five bovates of land at Austhorpe (Skyrack wapentake) from the Earl of Lincoln and owed him military service (SS 49, 36; FA VI, 19), and two carticates at Stitton (Barkeston wapentake) from the earl (SS 49,49; FA VI, 26). In the East Riding he held from the Percys 8 bovates in demesne at Wilberfoss (Harthill wapentake) ten miles east of York (SS 49, 87; FA VI, 48).

Sir Peter witnessed at Lincoln in January 1283/4 (CI1278-88, 286) and acted as justice in 1285 and 1287 (lb-315, 498). At Durham in October 1296 he acknowledged a debt of 20 marks to John de Graham* (Ib 1288-96, 516). Sir John de Graham was best friend and right hand to William Wallace. Sir Peter’s de Rotherford’s father, Sir Nicholas was married to kin of William Wallace’s. Sir John de Graham was also a close friend of Adam FitzHugh who became known as Adam de Glendonwyn in Scotland. Adam de Glendonwyn, through the Black Douglases, was the ancestor of the Hunthill Rutherfords. Lastly, William de Rwyirford [Rotherford] priest, attested a charter of Henry de Grahame c. 1200 was doubtless a younger son of Baron Hugh de Rotherford (Mort II, 3). The oldest historical record regarding Dalkeith is contained in a grant of lands of Balnetuth (Dalkeith) by Peter de Graham described as `Lord of Dalkeith', in favour of the monks of the Cistercian Order. This was in the reign of William the Lion. Peter de Graham's son, Sir Henry de Graham confirmed this grant at some date between 1153 and 1159. These Grahams were the direct ancestors of Sir John de Graham mentioned above.

Sir Peter sided with the Scottish in the revolt of 1296 against Edward's high-handed oppression and stayed for a time north of the Cheviots, for which he temporarily forfeited Hickleton (CDS II N.736). He seems however to have made his peace with Edward and his name is not among those compelled to submit in Scotland - perhaps because he had no property there - and his descendants continued to enjoy his estates. Forced to choose, he was probably content with his own heritage and reluctant to risk all by supporting a brother in an apparently hopeless dream of Scottish independence; long before he must have consented to his brother taking their father's Border lands. Sir Peter was alive in 1297 (SS 49, 4n) but probably dead by 1298 and certainly by 1302 when Albreda who was no doubt his widow held two carticates in Austhorpe, and 15 carticates in Morley and Drighlington that were held of Pontefract Castle and it’s Lord, Henry de Lacy. (Ib 49,227; FA VI, 129).

His children were:

------6. Dionysia de Rotherfield

c 1267, d. 1318

Dionysia de Rotherfield was born circa 1267 at of Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire, England. She was the daughter of Peter de Rotherfield. Dionysia de Rotherfield married William Wentworth, son of William Wentworth and Beatrice de Thakel, in 1288. She died in 1318.

William de Wentworth m. 1st, Dionysia, dau. of Peter de Rotherfield, and 2ndly, Lucy, dau. of Sir Adam Newmarch [Neufmarche], and by the former had two sons, Sir William de Wentworth of Wentworth-Woodhouse his successor married Isabel Pollington; John de Wentworth of North Elmsall m. Alice Bissett in Yorkshire, by whom he acquired that estate, and dying s. p., left it to his nephew, John. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 575, Wentworth, Barons Wentworth, of Wentworth-Woodhouse...]. William de Wentworth was born circa 1267 at of Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire, England. He was the son of William Wentworth and Beatrice de Thakel. (A Genealogical Memoir of the Wentworth Family of England, From Its Saxon Origin in the Eleventh Century to the Emigration of one of its Representatives to New England about the Year 1636, Joseph Lemuel Chester)

------6. William de Rotherford who is said to have succeeded to Hickleton and left four daughters as coheirs; one m. William d 'Eyvile who held the manor in her right, another was the wife of Giles (Egidius) son of the parson of Hickleton (SS 49, 282n). In 1302-3 the manor had descended to William Daniell, Giles de Hickleton, Thomas de Ashbury and Walter de Apperley (FA VI, 131), and in 1314 the lords were Hickleton, Ashbury and Robert Haringell (Ib 199). In 1305 and 1306 the king awarded his nephew two marks annually from Hickleton manor (CI1302-7 , 293; Pat 1301-7, 470).

------6. John de Rotheresfeld held two carticates at Stitton in 1302-3 (SS 49,214,285) and in 1314 five carticates of Henry de Percy at Newton in Wilberfoss (Cal IPM V; 319). He was peremptorily summoned to meet Edward I at York in December 1298 (CI 1296-1302, 291) and as John 'de Derford' was lord of Morley in t316 (FA VI, 200). He may be John de Rotherford who was a man-at-arms in Sir John de Weston's company in Northumberland in 1319 (PSAN 3s 4,20-2 citing KR Accts bdle 15 N.26); did he hope to obtain the family's Scottish estates? But John de Rothresfeld of Yorkshire, called to bear arms in May 1338, who recurs in October that year when John de Rothirfeld and two others of Morley wapentake were told to bring four hoblars and eight archers, might be a son (Rot 1,527 ,549). John de Rotheford, a valettus (esquire) in Derbyshire in January 1334/5, has probably been misread for 'Rocheford' (Ib I, 313).

------6. Robert de Rotherford, valettus of Sir Ebulo de Montibus the Constable, was between November 4, 1310 and May 9, 1311 entrusted with instructions to Sir John de Weston, Chamberlain of Scotland, for the munition of Stirling Castle (CDS III N.210).

------6. Richard de Rotherford was serving in 1311-2 as scutifer (esquire) in the English garrison of Roxburgh Castle in the contingent of lvo de Aldeburgh (Ib IIIN.405). His status is shown by his salary of 12d a day - three times that of a ranker - and the valuation of his horse at £20 at Berwick (Ib).

Without any evidence and in the face of domain of Rotherford traditional lands, KRD states:

“William de Rotherfield, archdeacon of Richmond 1217-38 and treasurer of York Minster who died before April 18, 1242, was probably not a Rutherford but English born (YAS Rec s, York Minster Fasti, ed. C.T. Clay, I, 8). William de Langton alias de Rotherfield who. was dean of York and nearly became archbishop was certainly unrelated to the Yorkshire 'Rotherfelds' (Note on p.14). Sir Adam de Rotherfeld who was buried at Saundby in Nottinghamshire and made his will March 12, 1392/3 (pr Y May 12, 1393) and whose widow Meliora quitclaimed Saundby manor (SS 186, 28-9) is most unlikely to have belonged to the Hickleton family, which cannot be traced beyond the John above.”

Sir Adam de Roderfeld is found at about the same time living with Agnes on the Rotherford lands previously cited at Wheldale in Osgoldcross wapentake:

Yorkshire: Subsidy Rolls (Poll Tax) for the year 1379

Osgoldcross wapentake, Ferry Fryston parish:

Wheldale: Villata de Queldale.

Adam de Roderfeld', Chiualer, & Agnes uxor ejus xx.s.

Robertus Mathewe & Johanna uxor ejus iiij.d.

Johanna filia ejus iiij.d.

Robertus Perkynsoñ & Petronila uxor ejus iiij.d.

Thomas Coyne iiij.d.

Robertus de Carletoñ iiij.d.

Isabella de Carletoñ iiij.d.

Johannes Mahewe iiij.d.

Thomas Shaket' iiij.d.

Robertus de Saxoñ iiij.d.

Summa- xxiij.s.

(Membrane 24, column 1.)

Ferry Fryston, a parish-town in the wapentake of Osgoldcross, liberties of St. Peter, and Pontefract; 1 mile from Ferrybridge, 2 from Pontefract, 15 from Doncaster, 22 from York. Pop. 777. The Church is a vicarage, dedicated to St. Andrew, in the deanry of Pontefract, value ~£5. 19s. 2d. p.r. *£113. 8s. 10d. Patrons, Succentar and Vicars Choral of York.

On the 23rd of March, 1522, a massive and curious piece of antiquity was discovered at Fryston, near Ferrybridge. As two labourers were digging ground for liquorice, in a field called the Paper Mill Field, on the Fryston Hall estate, in the possession of James Brook, they penetrated to a mass of stone, only about eleven inches below the surface, which, on being cleared, proved to be an ancient coffin of undressed stone, without inscription. The lid projected over the sides about two inches, and on being raised in the centre, presented a complete skeleton, of large dimensions, in a high state of preservation. The skull was placed between the thigh bones, and the occupant of this narrow mansion, who had probably, in his day filled a considerable space in society, had evidently suffered decapitation. In the place where the head would have lain in an unmutilated body was a stone. The teeth were all perfect, and the bones that of a strong athletic man, cut off, apparently, in the meridian of life, and when the coffin was opened they were all entire; but immediately on being exposed to the air, the ribs fell in. Nothing remains of the flesh, but some hard white chalky substances. The coffin is of the dimensions of six feet five inches in length, and nineteen inches in width within, with sides about six inches thick; it has been cut out of the solid stone, and is supposed to weigh about a ton and a half. The place where these relics were found, is about a mile and a quarter from Ferrybridge, in a valley near the road leading to Castleford, and the prevailing opinion is, that these are the remains of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, the unfortunate leader of the insurgent barons, in the battle of Boroughbridge, fought in the year 1321, and who was beheaded at Pontefract, by order of his Nephew, Edward II. [Thomas Earl of Lancaster had sided with the Scots] The coffin and remains, which have attracted a great deal of public attention, are now removed to Fryston Hall. --Leeds Mercury."

-----5. Sir Nichol de Rothirforde II

abt 1235/40 at Rutherford, Roxburgh, Scotland
aft. 1274 Roxburgh, Scotland
[1] Marjorie de Lamington

Generation 5

----- 5. Sir Nicholas de Rothirforde II

Roxburgh, Scotland (c.1235/40-c.1300),
[1] Marjorie de Lamington
aft. 1274 Roxburgh, Scotland

Sir Nicholas was the younger son of Nicholas I, witnessed Patrick Corbet lord of Foghou's charter to Kelso Abbey between 1280 and 1295, a resignation by Richard de Rule, and a charter by William de Sprouston (CaI246; Mel 11, 575, 677,683). The first Corbet came from Shropshire and settled in Teviotdale under Earl David in the first quarter of the twelfth century. He is said to have obtained the manor of Foghou which he held as a vassal under the Earls of Dunbar. Robert Corbet appeared in Scotland in about 1116 as one of the retinue of Earl David who later became King David I. (The Surnames of Scotland - George F Black)

Sprouston is a parish in the extreme north-east of Roxburghshire. It is bounded by Berwickshire, by England, and by the parishes of Linton, Eckford, Kelso, and Ednam. "The present parish of Sprouston comprehends the ancient parishes of Sprouston on the north-west, and Lempitlaw on the south-east. The church of Sprouston was given by David I. to the monks of Kelso. Chapels subordinate to it anciently stood at Hadden, and on the manor of Sprouston, and were more or less enthralled to the same monks. The parish of Lempitlaw was at an early period annexed to Sprouston. Its church belonged to the hospital of Soutra." (Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson and published in 1868 volume II, p.734)

Robert Corbet, grandson of Hugh, and his son Walter's seals are attached to charters of Clifton lands granted to the Abbey of Melrose c 1170 and a Patrick Corbet also put his seal to a charter about the same date. “A tree supported on each side by a lion rampant and in the branches two corbeau. – ‘crows’” Walter owned the manor of Malcarveston. Spelt variously Malkarveston, Malcariston, Mackerstoun, Malkariston. Robert was dead by 1159 when 'Sir Walter Corbet' granted the Church of Malcariston to the monks of Kelso. He also witnessed charters between 1179 and 1189.

The name of Rule is of quite ancient origin in the border counties of Scotland and in the north of England. It first appears in the fourth or eight century when St. Regulus or St. Rule arrived on the shores of Scotland at what is now St. Andrews in Fife. He was given extensive grants of lands and property in Scotland and England. There is an area in the south central part of Roxburghshire that is known as the Valley of the Rule. This valley contains a small river called Rule Water, and there are several towns along its course that bear, in part, the name of Rule, such as Bedrule, Abboturle, Hallrule, Town of Rule, etc. Also from this valley comes the branch of the Rule Family whose name is now Turnbull. As the story is told, in the history of Selkirkshire, a William Rule, who was a giant of a man, was on one occasion (about 1315) on a hunting trip with King Robert the Bruce when he, the king, was attacked by a wild bison or bull. Grasping it by its horns, turned its head to one side and killed it. He was given the name of “Turn-E-Bull” by King Robert and from him has descended a quite extensive family – the Turnbulls.

Sir Nicholas de Rothirforde II is the first of the house who is more than a name, because he had the misfortune to be laird when Edward I asserted his harsh mastery over Scotland, resulting in outright rebellion, at first under Sir William Wallace. Before 1296 English and Scots normally lived in amity and freely intermarried; thereafter for 300 years there was hostility, bloodshed and recrimination.

We have seen nothing to doubt that Sir Nicholas II's mother was Euphemia de Lisle. Even with a brother in England and extensive lands there to potentially inherit, his part was that of a Scottish patriot. Moreover his wife Marjorie was a near relation of Marion Braidfoot, heiress of Lamington and Sir William Wallace's wife, for Blind Harry mentions Thomas Halliday's 'twa gud sonnis, Wallas and Rudyrfurd':

Thom Haliday thai men ge gydyt rycht,

Off Anadderdail he had thaim led that nycht,

His twa gud sonnis, Wallas and Rudyrfurd

The natural inference from the phrase is that Rutherford's wife was Halliday's daughter, which cannot however apply literally to Wallace; Halliday was 'sib sister's son' to Wallace, i.e. nephew (IlkM 29n).

This connection allied to patriotism was responsible for Sir Nicholas repudiating the oath of loyalty he was compelled to swear to Edward I at Montrose on July 11, 1296 (CDS II N.774, 823; verbatim in Documents and records illustrating the history of Scotland, ed. Sir F. Palgrave (1837), I, 173). Douglas, citing Prynne's Collectanea III, 651, said he held land in divers counties, and an extent of his lands as a rebel was taken in 1298/9 but has not survived (Cal Cen, 574).

According to Blind Harry's relation Sir Nicholas joined Wallace in Ettrick Forest with 60 followers:

Gud Ruthirfurd, that evir trew has beyn,

In Atryk wode agayn the sotheroun keyn,

Bydyn he had, and done them mikell der,

Saxte he led off nobil men in war

Nicholas met Halliday's band of 300 men from Annandale in time to assist Wallace at the battle of Biggar in 1297 when a larger English force was defeated. Blind Harry depicts him as 'chyftaynlyk' with a lordly air, but his verses composed long after the events show a combination of patriotic fervour and artist's licence. The main facts such as Sir Nicholas' probable presence among the Scots who under Sir William Douglas besieged and slaughtered the garrison of Sanquhar Castle in 1297 may well have lived in common tradition (IlkM 3, 29, 34-5).

Robert Bruce's grant to John de Lindesay of land in Rutherford that belonged to John de Weston above and Adam (Ede) Curlay, two Englishmen, shows that Edward I gave them part of Sir Nicholas' estate (CS I N.16). Robert I granted John son of John son of Nigeland in Newbigging in the constabulary of Lauder that had belonged to Nicholas de Ruthirfurde (CS I N.18).

Marjorie de Lamington was of the house of Lamington. Legend has it that the wife of Sir William Balliol was the illegitimate daughter of Sir William Wallace and Marion Braidfute of Lamington. Marion Braidfute was the 18 year old heiress of Hugh Braidfute of Lamington. They were never married. Marion was murdered shortly after the birth of their daughter. The son of Sir William Balliol was said to be Sir William Baillie of Hoprig who, according to many historians, was the first Baillie whose name appears in known records. He was knighted in 1357 and received a royal charter to the Barony of Lamington.

After Edward I had over-run Scotland, Sir Nichol and Aymer de Rothirforde del Counte de Roxburgh, signed the “Ragman Roll,” swearing fealty to the King of England at Berwick on Tweed on August 28th, 1296. A promise thus extorted by force was not considered binding and Sir Nichol was one of the first Scottish barons who joined Sir William Wallace in fighting for the independence of Scotland. Among the chiefs who remained faithful to Wallace was "gud Rudyrfurd, chyftaynlik” with a lordly air, who with sixty followers held his ground against the English in Ettrick Forest.

Sir Nichol de Rothirforde held considerable land located in several different counties in England. His land of Doddington Mill in Northumberland were seized by the English King in 1296 as Sir Nichol was declared a rebel. In reprisal for Nicholas' rebellion his quarter of two watermills and tofts at Doddington, Northumberland, which Robert de Greystoke granted him before 1288 (CW 1244-1326, 100; NCH XIV, 162-3 citing Assize div cos 16 Edw I) were escheated and given on January 17, 1299 to Ralph de Greystoke (CW I, 101; Pat 1292-J301, 533 gives August 25, 1300).

Sir Nicholas was not the only Rutherford among large numbers of Scottish notables forced to swear allegiance to Edward. The Ragman Roll, as the list of submissions is proudly known, evidences four more contemporary members of his family: his daughter Margarete and three men, Aymer, William and Biner, who owing to the knight's age are more likely to be his sons than brothers.

In 1823, Sir Walter Scott, son of Ann Rutherford, founded the Bannatyne Club for the publication of old Scottish papers, the club being named for George Bannatyne (1545-1608), a collector of Scottish poems. The list of Rutherford names who signed the Ragman Roll is based on those published by the Bannatyne Club in Edinburgh in 1834.

Rotherford, Aymer de (del counte de Rokesburgh)

Rotherford, Margarete la fielle Nicol de (del counte de Berewyk).

Rotherford, Dominus Nicolaus de (miles); (Nicol de Rotherford, chiualer).

Rotherford, William de (perfone del Eglife de Lillefclyue - [Lilliesleaf]).

Nicholas Rotherford’s connection to the lands of his father and mother in Yorkshire is further strengthened by his interactions with Alan de Rokeby.

Alan de Rokeby brings a suit against Nicholas the physician of Ireland that a horse was alienated from him by Nicholas. Alan calls to warranty John le Fraunceis, who is in the service of the bishop of Durham. He requests the assistance of the court to secure warranty and this is granted. Therefore [the sheriff] is ordered etc. Alan the complainant finds Henry Maunsel as a surety for prosecuting, and Nicholas, as the owner by warranty, finds as surety Miles [Sir] de Rotherford. John comes and vouches Nicholas to warranty. Therefore Nicholas [is] acquitted. John restores the horse to Alan by license. John [is] in mercy, namely for 12 pence. [amercement 12 pence, paid] (A Plea Roll of Edward I's Army in Scotland, 1296 edited by Cynthia J. Neville “Miscellany of the Scottish History Society”, vol. XI (1990))

KRD missed this citation and it’s a telling piece of information even though not earth shaking upon first reading. Alan de Rokeby believes he was robbed of a horse and enlists “Miles” de Rotherford as his surety. “Miles” in this case is not a Christian name but a title, i.e. “knight”. This would have to be Sir Nicholas de Rotherford II since no other Rotherford was termed “de miles” at the signing of the Ragman Roll in that same year of 1296. The point is this. Alan de Rokeby was a Yorkshire soldier fighting in the army of Edward I. How did he even know such a famous rebel as Sir Nicholas de Rotherford? Simple, Alan de Rokeby and Sir Nicholas were neighbors, not in Roxburghshire but in Yorkshire where Rokeby and Rotherford are but a few miles from each other. Rokeby is a parish in the wapentake of Gilling West, and liberty of Richmondshire; 2.5 miles SE. of Barnard Castle and 1 mile from Gretabridge. Rotherford bridge and the remains of “Rotherford Farm” are in the nearby parish of Barningham; wapentake of Gilling West; 4.5 miles S. of Barnard Castle.

Additionally, the Rokeby arms are almost identical to the common English Rutherford arms in charges and tinctures. “Lord de Rokeby - a black chevron on a silver shield between which are placed three black crows--Roll, temp. ED. III.”

John le Fraunceis on the other hand was, despite the name, a Scot. The surname has strong ties in Roxburghshire as John Fraunceys de Longnewton, Roxburghshire; Aleyn Fraunceis of Roxburghshire and Symund Fraunceis of Roxburghshire all rendered homage in 1296 on the Ragman’s Roll. John Fraunceis de Beneston, Edinburghshire is the only other person of that name who gave homage. The point being that Nicholas de Rotherford had a foot in both worlds in an era when Robert the Bruce was to soon change Scottish law and British history forever by requiring absolute loyalty from his lords. The days of straddling the fence were coming to a close.

------6. Margarete de Rotherford 'la fielle Nicol de Rotherford' submitted at Berwick on August 28, 1296 together with Aymer de Rotherford of the county of Roxburgh (CDS II N.823; Palgrave op. cit. I, 183).

------6. William de Rotherforde

A third Roxburghshire man who did homage at Berwick in August 1296 was William de Rotherforde, parson of the church of Lillesleaf (Lillesclyve) (CDS II N.823).

------6. Biner de Rotherford

A fourth appears from a seal attached to the roll; it bears a legend that has been misread as S'.Bineri de Tochetford, his seal shows an eagle with wings spread (LSS N.861). Although Nicholas' seal has not survived the deed still bears those of Aymer (CDS II N.811) and William the priest (Ib II, 558; LSS N.863), Aymer’s an eagle displayed, the same as Biner's, and the William's a bull's head cabossed with a man's head affronte between its horns. King Robert the Bruce

Within a few years we hear of two ladies, Eva de Rutherford and her sister Marjorie, styled 'heirs of Monsire Nichol de Rotherforde, chivaler descoce', their uncle or grandfather; which is uncertain because the same word served for grandchild and nephew or niece. CW I, 371 translated nepotes as nieces but the editor of Cl assumed the equally possible meaning of grandchildren. In April 1305 both women were admitted to the king's peace and order was made for them to have their lands again (Cl1302-7 , 255), but next year they had to petition Edward I for a writ of restitution ordering the sheriff of Northumberland to give them seizin (sasine in Scotland: a formal deed of possession) of annual rent in Doddington mills of which the knight was seised at the beginning of the war (CDS II N.1879). Yet again in June 1311 they obtained a Chancery writ enquiring why they had not been given seizin of Doddington, but the king immediately commanded that Sir Robert FitzRalph to whom he gave Nicholas' lands in England should not be ousted without due process (CW 1,371). They made a further vain attempt to recover the property in 1312. Baron Robert FitzRalf was born in 1274 in Greystoke, died before 15 April 1317 in Hinderskelf and was buried in Butterwick. He married circa 1288, Elizabeth de Neville of Stainton, Lincolnshire, daughter of Ralph and Isabel de Neville, who was born circa 1274, died on 17 Nov. 1346, and was buried on 25 Nov. 1346 in Parish Church, Butterwick, Yorkshire. (Frederick Lewis Weis, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists", 7th ed., Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1999) Remember from above that “William de Rotherford who is said to have succeeded to Hickleton and left four daughters. as coheirs; one m. William d 'Eyvile who held the manor in her right, another was the wife of Giles (Egidius) son of the parson of Hickleton (SS 49, 282n).” d 'Eyvile is the origin of Neville.

Also, note from above, concerning Nicholas II:

“In reprisal for Nicholas' rebellion his quarter of two watermills and tofts at Doddington, Northumberland, which Robert de Greystoke granted him before 1288 (CW 1244-1326, 100; NCH XIV, 162-3 citing Assize div cos 16 Edw I) were escheated and given on January 17, 1299 to Ralph de Greystoke (CW I, 101; Pat 1292-J301, 533 gives August 25, 1300).” This is exactly the same man from the same Greystoke family, simply styled “of Greystoke” instead of “FitzRalph”. This leaves no doubt that Eva and Marjorie de Rotherford were indeed 'heirs of Monsire Nichol de Rotherforde, chivaler descoce', either his nieces or granddaughters.

The FitzRalphs of Greystoke were also connected to the FitxHughs of Ravensworth from whom rose Adam de FitzHugh “Sir Adam de Glendonwyn” progenitor of the Glendonwyns and Rutherfords of Hunthill. Ravensworth is a short ride from Rotherford castle and Rokeby on the River Greta.

The sisters also at one time held land in Roxburghshire. On June 12, 1325 Robert I gave charter to Roger son of Finlay of all the lands in Clifton, worth £20 annually, that belonged to Eva and Marjorie de Rutherford and came into the king's hands through forfeiture (GS I, App II N.281). Remember from above the Corbet’s association with lands in Clifton. By endeavoring to reclaim their southern inheritance through allegiance to Edward II the ladies had displeased the Scottish king and lost both ways.

------6. Aymer de Rotherford

Generation 6

------6. Aymer de Rotherford

Aymer revolted against Edward (CDS II N.736) with the result that in December 1297 lands he held in Northumberland were seized by the sheriff (Ib II N.963). These perhaps came to him by marriage since he was the second husband of Juliana, a daughter and coheir of Nicholas de Swinburne who died by 1279; she married first, before 1279, Gilbert de Middleton, and having license to remarry in 1292 (Fine 12721307, 302) wedded Aymer that year (NCH X, 328; Assize Roll 653). [see below]

The Scots Peerage assumed Aymer was Nicholas II's brother not his son,

Aymer de Rotherford witnessed a charter by Alexander [Aymer] de Hauden (Mel II, 682). Aymer de Haldane appears in the Ragman Roll among the Scots barons swearing fealty to Edward I of England in 1296. He soon, however, allied his fortunes with those of Robert the Bruce in the struggle for Scottish independence.

On Pentecost 1296 Aymer successfully sued the marshal at Roxburgh Castle for the recovery of two requisitioned horses. “Aymer de Rotherford brings suit against the marshal for two horses, value 10 shillings, attached by the marshal. No one claims them or sues for them. Therefore it is considered that Aymer should recover the horses. He is acquitted.” (CDS, ii, no. 822, p. 189.)

Juliana de Swinburne, married 1stly before 1279 Gilbert de Middleton, she married 2ndly before 1306 Aymer de Rotherford and was a widow again by 1310. Aymer was dead by 1310 (NCH IV, 276-7).

Juliana de Swinburne’s first husband Gilbert de Middleton:

Gilbert de Middleton in the bishopric of Durham, plundered two Cardinals who came to consecrate the Bishop, and seized Louis de Beaumont, Bishop of Durham, and his brother Henry de Beaumont, because the King had caused Gilbert's cousin Adam de Swinburne to be arrested, because he had spoken too frankly to him about the condition of the Marches.

This Gilbert, with adherence of others upon the Marches, rode upon a foray into Cleveland, and committed other great destruction, having the assistance of nearly all Northumberland, except the castles of Bamborough, Alnwick, and Norham, of which the two first named were treating with the enemy, the one by means of hostages, the other by collusion, when the said Gilbert was taken through treachery of his own people in the castle of Mitford by William de Felton, Thomas de Heton, and Robert de Horncliff, and was hanged and drawn in London. [summer and fall of 1317]

On account of all this, the Scots had become so bold that they subdued the Marches of England and cast down the castles of Wark and Harbottle, so that hardly was there an Englishman who dared to withstand them. They had subdued all Northumberland by means of the treachery of the false people of the country. So that scarcely could they [the Scots] find anything to do upon these Marches, except at Norham, where a [certain] knight, Thomas de Gray, was in garrison with his kinsfolk. It would be too lengthy a matter to relate [all] the combats and deeds of arms and evils for default of provender, and sieges which happened to him during the eleven years that he remained [there] during such an evil and disastrous period for the English. It would be wearisome to tell the story of the less [important] of his combats in the said castle. Indeed it was so that, after the town of Berwick was taken out of the hands of the English, the Scots had got so completely the upper hand and were so insolent that they held the English to be of almost no account, who [the English] concerned themselves no more with the war, but allowed it to cease. (Scalacronica: the reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward II, as recorded by Sir Thomas Gray, and now translated by Sir Herbert Maxwell, (Glasgow, 1907))

Later in May of 1318, Mitford Castle was taken and sacked by the Scots, either in a surprise attack or surrendered after negotiation, led by Sir James Douglas “the Black Douglas", fighting for King Robert the Bruce. The village of Mitford was burnt.

First and foremost there were the hostilities with Scotland, an almost continuous problem for the northern shires of England from about 1296 to 1346. While Edward I had carried the war into Scotland, under Edward II England was largely on the defensive and Robert de Bruce was subjecting Northumberland to systematic attacks in order to break the morale of the residents and force Edward to negotiate peace. In such a difficult situation, we can hardly be surprised that some leading men defected to the Scottish side, when they felt they had to do so to protect their property – e.g. the rebellion of Sir Gilbert de Middleton in 1318. Although this offered scope for the entrepreneurial, the risks were high and fortune was fickle. As well, the war countered profitable opportunities with onerous demands on the townsmen, particularly the wealthier. (Commission of enquiry, 16 October 1341)

In the 10th year of Edward II, Lord Beaumont, being then the King's Lieutenant in the north, accompanying thither two Cardinals who had come from Rome, partly to reconcile the King to the Earl of Lancaster, and partly to enthrone his Lordship's brother, Lewis de Beaumont, in the Bishopric of Durham, was attacked near Darlington by a band of robbers, headed by Gilbert de Middleton, and despoiled of all his treasures, horses, and everything else of value. Lord Beaumont was conveyed to the Castle of Mitford, and his brother, the Bishop, to the Castle of Durham, as prisoners, remaining there till ransomed. (Burke's Extinct Peerage) Notwithstanding his quarrel with the King, in 1323, he was shortly afterwards re-stored to the King's favor; and two years subsequently, was constituted one of the plenipotentiaries to treat of peace with France; and also in 1326, was nominated guardian to David de Strathbolgi (son and heir of David de Strathbolgi, Earl of Athol, deceased; and grandson of the Second Red Comyn), in consideration of the sum of one thousand pounds. He shortly after this deserted entirely the cause of the King, and siding with the Queen Consort Isabella, was the very person to deliver him up to his enemies, upon his abortive attempt to flee beyond the seas. The King was committed a close prisoner to Berkeley Castle; and there, as is well known, barbarously murdered. As the reward of his treachery, Lord Beaumont received a grant of the Manor of Loughborough, part of the possessions of Hugh le Despenser, the attainted Earl of Winchester; and was summoned to Parliament on the 22nd January, 1334 (7th Edward the Third), as Earl of Buchan. (A Short Treatise of the Isle of Man by James Chaloner - Volume X of the Manx Society, published in 1868)

William Lord Greystock having been a principal in the seizing of Sir Gilbert de Middleton, in the castle of Mitford, for treason, was soon afterwards poisoned, while at breakfast, through the contrivance of that person.

Aymer de Rotherford was dead by 1310 and his grand nieces [perhaps nieces] became heirs to Nicholas de Rotherford’s estate. Eva de Rutherford and her sister Marjory, styled 'heirs of Monsire Nichol de Rotherforde, chivaler descoce', their uncle or grandfather; which is uncertain because the same word served for grandchild and nephew or niece. CW I, 371 translated nepotes as nieces but the editor of Cl assumed the equally possible meaning of grandchildren. In April 1305 both women were admitted to the king's peace and order was made for them to have their lands again (Cl1302-7 , 255), but next year they had to petition Edward I for a writ of restitution ordering the sheriff of Northumberland to give them seizin (sasine in Scotland: a formal deed of possession) of annual rent in Doddington mills of which the knight was seised at the beginning of the war (CDS II N.1879). Yet again in June 1311 they obtained a Chancery writ enquiring why they had not been given seizin of Doddington, but the king immediately commanded that Sir Robert[Ranaulf?] fitz Ralf to whom he gave Nicholas' lands in England should not be ousted without due process (CW 1,371). They made a further vain attempt to recover the property in 1312.

The sisters also at one time held land in Roxburghshire. On June 12, 1325 Robert I gave charter to Roger son of Finlay of all the lands in Clifton, worth £20 annually, that belonged to Eva and Marjorie de Rutherford and came into the king's hands through forfeiture (GS I, App II N.281). By endeavouring to reclaim their southern inheritance through allegiance to Edward II the ladies had displeased the Scottish king and lost both ways.

In a charter of King Robert I in 1325, Roger Finlay was granted the lands of Clifton in Roxburgh, Scotland, forfeited by Eva de Rutherford and her sister, Marjorie de Rutherford. Clifton is near Morebattle at the foot of the Cheviot hills, and watered by the rivulets Bowmont and Kail, both of which fall into the Tweed. Nearby are the remains of several encampments, and the ruins of Corbet House and Whitton Castle still show they have been places of great extent and strength. There were anciently two chapels in the parish, - the one at Clifton on Bowmont-water, the other at Whitton, now called Nether-Whitton. (Gazetteer of Scotland published 1806, Edinburgh.)

Although Edward I's successes crumbled away and Bruce secured almost undisputed mastery English projects for reconquering Scotland were occasionally resumed; unwilling as the English baronage was to pay for war, confession of defeat by a smaller and weaker country was more than martial pride could bear. Nor with Bruce on the throne as Robert I was Scottish patriotism fully fledged; not all were of his party, and as in later times self-preservation, besides the prospect of land and power at an invader's disposal, induced men into what today would appear treasonable conduct. Recalling that during part of the fourteenth century much of Roxburghshire was under English occupation, we need not be surprised to find Rutherfords serving in the English armies mustered there.

children:

-------7. Sir Richard de Rutherfurde I c. 1290

-------7. Nicholas de Rothirford III

A contemporary omitted in previous accounts was a third Nicholas de Rothirford or Rotherforthe who occurs three times between 1357 and 1361 as juror at Roxburgh inquests: concerning the barony of Caverton in September 1357. At Caverton there was a Chapel which is first mentioned in records of 1116, which place it within the care and control of Glasgow Cathedral. It also had a graveyard which was last used about 1860. Unfortunately the site of the chapel and the graveyard has been cleared and ploughed, and nothing remains of either. The old village of Caverton, likewise, has completely disappeared.

“On the 15th June 1361, there is an inquisition taken at Roxburgh before Robert of Tugghalle, the English Chamberlain of Berwick of Tweed by William of Roule, Nicolas of Rothersford III, David of Quitton, and nine other jurors, who say that Sir Edward Balliol, formerly king of Scotland, gave by charter to Sir Alexander of Mowbray and his heirs before the battle of Halydoun Hille six messuages and three carucates of land in the town of Malcarstone in the country of Roxburgh, which were Sir Patrick Charters’s and Thomas Charters’, Scots enemies, forfeited by their rebellion.” (The Roules of Roulewater by Andrew Ross at the Hawick Archaeological Society on 20 March 1906.)

About the end of the 13th century, those lands [Caverton and Auldtownburn] were possessed by Alexander Molle, and in the beginning of the next century by John Molle. Before 1357 the lands seem to have been in the keeping of John de Copeland, probably Edwards, sheriff of the county, and about that date all the lands and tenements in Auldtownburn, with their pertinents, which formerly belonged to Adam of Roule, were resigned by Copeland in favour of John Ker of the forest of Selkirk.” (Ref. the history and antiquities of Roxburghshire by Alexander Jeffrey. p. 276 - 279 Lib. de Cal p. 136, 458)

John Ker of the Forest Selkirk obtained from John de Copeland, an English warden all the lands and tenement of Auldtounburn in 1357 with their pertainments which formerly belonged to Adam de Roule and the next year received from William of Blackdeane part of the lands of Mow and Auldtunburn, being the territory which is now represented in the name of Mowbough extending to the English border at the summit of the Chevoits. This John Ker of Selkirk Forest, living in 1357 was father of Henry, sheriff of Roxburgh, whose son Robert was father of Andrew of Auldbounburn. This Andrew Kerr had three sons. From the youngest came the Kers, of Gateshaw and from the second came the Kers of Linton. The eldest was father of Walter of Cessford who had two sons. From the youngest descended the Kers of Delphinstoun, Littledean and Morrison. The eldest Sir. Robert of Caverton, died in his father's lifetime, leaving two sons, George of Faldonside and Sir Andrew, who succeeded to his grandfather in Cessford.

A century later, James Rutherford I died between 1453 and July 15, 1455 in some obscure fight with the English. This led to an accusation of complicity against Andrew Ker of Auldtounburn being tried by an assize 'of the cuntre' at Selkirk on April 14, 1456. It hardly fits modern conceptions of justice to find the victim's son James and two kinsmen on the jury, but mediaeval principles required jurors acquainted with the persons and circumstances concerned. The defendant was acquitted but old scores still burned, for Andrew Ker of Cessford was cleared by another trial at Edinburgh in March 1470/1. Ironically, George Ker of Faldonside and Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford were the sons of Christian Rutherfurd and Sir Robert Ker of Caverton. Christian Rutherford was James Rutherford I’s granddaughter.

Generation 7

-------7. Sir Richard de Rutherfurde c. 1290

Richard's birth date would be c.1290 which means that he was probably a grandson of Nicholas II or at least of that generation. He very possibly was a son of Aymer who married in 1292.

Sir Richard de Rutherfurde, lord of Rutherford, witnessed with Sir Henry de Baliol 1320-6 a charter by Walter the Steward to John St Clair of the lands of Maxton (SHS 3s 21, 8). Walter the Steward was married to Marjorie Bruce daughter of Robert the Bruce. Through this marriage the Stewarts became the royal line of Scotland later of all Britain. This is a group of extremely important characters in Scottish history of that period. Sir Henry de Baliol of Cavers was Chamberlain of Scotland. John Sinclair [St. Clair] fell at the Battle of Teba on 8th September, Squire John St. Clair (c1300-25 August 1330) died at the battle of Teba in Andalusia, Spain, fighting as a squire for his brother, Sir William St. Clair, attempting to carry the Heart of Bruce to the Holy Land.

Hugh Douglas was called Hugh 'The Dull' who resigned as Lord Douglas in 1342. He became a canon of the Cathedral Church of Glasgow. Hugh was the son of William "le Hardi" and Eleanor de Louvaine a prominent baron at the time of William Wallace. William "le Hardi" is most notable for being the first Lord to join Wallace in his revolt against England. Hugh De Douglas’ half brother was The Good Sir James who died at Teba, Spain taking the heart of Robert to the Bruce to the Holy Lands.

Sir Richard de Rutherfurde also held lands in the barony of Crawford Lindsay, Lanarkshire, which his son forfeited.

“Richard of Rutherfurde witnessed a charter by Cyril Saddleler in 1330, (Liber de Calchou, 381), a deed of gift by Thomas Vigurus, burgess of Roxburgh, to Sir William de Felton, and another by the latter to the monastery of Dryburgh, circa 1338. (Liber de Dryburgh,261-262)” The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood’s Edition of Sir Robert Douglas’s Peerage of Scotland, Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom, edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, LL.D., Vol. VII, David Douglas, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1910., p.366. Edinburgh Library, Edinburgh, Scotland.)

He is witness in a Charter granted to the Abbacy of Coupar, and is designed Ricardus dominus de Rutherford anno 1328. (Chartulary Dryburgh) In a donation to the Monastery of Dryburgh, by William de Felton, Ricardus de Rutherford dominus ejusd. William de Boville, Robert de Colville are witnesses anno 1338.

Robert de Colville was born about 1320 at Oxenham [Oxnam] and Ochiltree, Roxburghshire, Scotland and died after 1397.

Before 1353 Richard of Rutherfurde was succeeded by his son William who somehow forfeited his father's Lanarkshire lands which David II gave on April 12, 1358 to John de Allincrum (GS I N.662 conf. 1377).

As lord of Rutherford about 1335 he witnessed Roger de Aulton's charter founding the chantry of St James at Roxburgh (conf. April 1, 1354, Reg. regum Scott. VI N.130; conf. 1368, Cal 387; Glas 259). During the border wars, which long spread desolation and misery over the country, Kelso was three times burnt down by the English. The parish, which formerly contained 3 parishes, viz. Kelso, Maxwell and St James', is of an irregular triangular fiture, each side of which is 4 1/2 miles in length

Richard of Rutherfurde attested in 1354 Adam of Roule’s charter of his lands of Altonburn to John of Coupland (MS 14, App III, 8), who in 1357 conveyed them to John Kerr, the witnesses to this latter deed including William of Gledstones and William de Roule.” (Roules of Roule water by Andrew Ross at the Hawick Archaeological Society on 20 March 1906) (SHS 3s 21, 23).

At the battle of Neville's Cross, the Scottish army was overwhelmed by English cavalry under Edward Baliol, and Kind David was captured by a Nothumbrian esquire named John de Coupland, supposedly under Aldin Grange bridge (over the River Browney, about a mile from Neville's Cross); tradition says that Coupland lost two teeth to King David's gauntlet. King David was ransomed the following year, for 100,000 marks, though the ransom was never paid. In 1354 a "son and heir" of Robert Erskine [Thomas Erskine and wife Mary Douglas] was proposed as a hostage for the return of King David II and upon the king's release he was again a hostage and was under the care of John de Coupland on 2 Oct. 1357 (Nicolson and Burn, Vol. 1) The `treaty' setting out the terms of David II's release in October 1357 makes no mention of ransoms other than that of the King himself, and it is likely that any other ransoms were now regarded as subsumed within David's 100,000 marks. David's captor, John de Coupland, was granted the far from negligible sum of 500 [pounds sterling] a year by his grateful king in January 1347, as well as receiving promotion to the rank of banneret. Assuming that he continued to take this until his death (which occurred in 1363), he would have received some 8,000 [pounds sterling] from the English exchequer. Mention of John de Coupland is also a reminder that lesser mortals than kings naturally had very different priorities from Edward. These priorities were recognized by the King, and, as we have seen, he paid the captors of the prisoners for the service they had done him. But it was not for his own financial gain that he bought them. Uppermost in Edward's mind was the need to settle `the Scottish question'.

Richard of Rutherfurde’s last record is October 6, 1361 as a juror at an inquest at Roxburgh about land in Nether Crailing (CDS IV N.62). By November 1363 Richard of Rutherfurde was dead.

-------- 8. William de Ruthirfurde I

Roxburgh, Scotland

--------8. Sir Richard Rutherford II (c.1345-1424/5)

Since Sir Richard II was the grandfather of James Rutherford I of that Ilk who was born c.1395, we can judge that he was born by c.1345 and was therefore not William's son, but probably his slightly younger brother or perhaps a son of the neglected Nicholas.

Generation 8

-------- 8. William de Ruthirfurde I

Roxburgh, Scotland

William de Ruthirfurde was designed “Willielmus de Rutherfoord dominus ejufd” in his donation to the monastery of Kelso in 1354. William forfeited part of his lands as appears from a charter of King David II under the great seal granting to John de Allintum, clerico Regis, all the lands which belonged to Sir Richard de Ruthirfurde in the barony of Crawfurd Lyndesay, April 12, 1357. Written clearly indicating he was Richard’s son, "omnes terras quae fuerunt quondam Ricardi de Rutherford, infra exicomitatum de Lanark, quoe nos contigunt rationoe foria facturaeoe Willielmi de Rutherford, filii et Roeridis quondam Ricardi, contrau pacem et fidem nostram existentis". (Charters in Public Archives). The Charter is dated 1357 and the confirmation 1377.

William's death led to a minority. On November 6, 1363 Edward III of England gave John Ker the custody of the Teviotdale lands of William de Rotherford II, son and heir of the late William, until his majority, and the right to arrange his marriage (Ib IV N.89). These lands, held in chief of the king, were said not to exceed £10 yearly value, but the family evidently held other lands from a mesne lord, probably a Douglas. Of young William we hear no more; most likely he died before long.

---------9. William Rutherford II

William Rutherford I's death led to a minority. On November 6, 1363 Edward III of England gave John Ker the custody of the Tevydale lands of William de Rotherford II, son and heir of the late William, until his majority, and the right to arrange his marriage (Ib IV N.89). These lands, held in chief of the king, were said not to exceed £10 yearly value, but the family evidently held other lands from a mesne lord, probably a Douglas. Of young William we hear no more; most likely he died before long.

John Ker of the Forest of Selkirk, 1st of Auldtounburn [Altonburn] (a 1358) and his wife Mariota were the ancestors of the Kers of Cessford and Auldtounburn. Before 1357, the lands of Auldtownburn seem to have been in the hands of John de Copeland, who was probably a sheriff of the county, because we know that he resigned all the lands which had formerly belonged to Adam of Roule to John Ker of the forest of Selkirk. In 1358, John Ker, on the resignation of William of Blackdeane, of part of the lands of Mow and Auldtownburn (Attonburn), obtained a charter in favour of himself and his wife, Mariota, of the said lands and others.

Tait mentioned “Sir James of Augurstane” (Edgerston) as among the Scots killed at Otterburn in 1388 but his source is untraced (llkT 7).

In Sir Richard's time, towards the end of the fourteenth century, the house of Rutherford was evidently well placed. Its fortunes reflect the prosperity of the Douglases, then climbing to an envied and dangerous position, with whom the Rutherfords were long associated. Not only was Roxburghshire within the Douglas sphere of influence, but the adherence of the lairds to them seems to go back to the war of independence, and at this time there is evidence of a marital as well as a feudal tie between them.

---------9. Sir Richard Rutherford II (c.1345-1424/5)

Since Sir Richard II was the grandfather of James Rutherford I of that Ilk who was born c.1395, we can judge that he was born by c.1345 and was therefore not William II's son, but probably his slightly younger brother or perhaps a son of the neglected Nicholas.

Generation 9

---------9. Sir Richard Rutherford II (c.1345-1424/5)

Since Sir Richard was the grandfather of James Rutherford I of that Ilk who was born c.1395, we can judge that he was born by c.1345 and was therefore not William Rutherford I's son, but probably his slightly younger brother or perhaps a son of the neglected Nicholas.

In fact of all the branches supposed to stem from Sir Richard only the senior line 'of that Ilk' can reliably claim that descent. In the absence of evidence guesswork fathered all the leading Rutherford lines on Richard, to the improbable exclusion of others. Some of the 'sons' attributed to him may have been collaterals descended from the Nicholas just mentioned or from unrecorded cadet lines. The number of separate families known before 1500, not only on the Borders but as far away as Perthshire, Aberdeen and even southern England, and the likelihood that others left no traces, suggests that the main stem soon began to ramify widely.

Sir Richard de Ruthirfurde of that ilk, in possession of all the estates and dignities of the family, was a person of great interest and activity on the Borders around 1390, and was a mighty favorite of King Robert III of Scotland. He was appointed one of the ambassadors extraordinary to the Court of England in 1398, and managed negotiations with dexterity and prudence. (A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 2, 1882, P. 1694)

Sir Richard de Ruthirfurde, as one of the principal persons on the Borders, was bound as Warden of the Marches, and with his five sons performed signal service for Scotland in repelling the insurrections on the Borders through 1400. He and his sons were eventually taken prisoners, along with Sir John Turnbull, called “out with the sword,” and were deemed men of such mark that Henry IV, King of England, issued an order October 30, 1400 to the Earl of Northumberland to keep in safe custody Richard de Ruthirfurde, knight, and his five sons, lately taken in war. They were not to be ransomed or set free under pain of highest forfeiture. (Douglas’s Peerage of Scotland, Vol.. 2, 1813, p. 461)

Sir Richard de Ruthirfurde was the progenitor or direct ancestor of the Rutherfurds of Edgerston, Hunthill, Hundalee, Fairnington and Fairnilee.

Sir Richard is first mentioned as a knight witnessing a charter of Little Newton, Berwickshire dated between 1384 and 1388, by James 2nd Earl of Douglas to Alexander de Newton (DB III, 399). James, 2nd Earl of Douglas, was born in 1358 and succeeded his father at a time of much border warfare between Scotland and England. Due to the old age of King Robert II, the Douglases were left in charge of the defense of the kingdom. In 1388 the 2nd Earl led a plundering sweep into England in retaliation for the devastation caused by King Richard's army three years earlier. While on this raid, Douglas met and defeated the renown English knight Henry "Hotspur" Percy in personal combat. Percy pursued and engaged Douglas at the Battle of Otterburn. James, although mortally wounded in the battle, directed his captains to carry his standard, sound his battle cry and rally his troops. James left one illegitimate son, William, 1st Lord of Drumlanrig. As no legitimate heir was left, the earldom passed to the son of Sir James "The Good"…….. Archibald "The Grim", 3rd Earl of Douglas.

As lord of Rutherford he attested John Turnbull's charter to a nephew of the King at Minto December 8, 1390 (GS I N.814). Between 1370 and 1390 John Turnbull was in possession of the lands of Minto, and in 1390 he granted the lordship and lands to his nephew, Sir William Stewart of Jedworth, to be held in chief of the King and in heirs in free barony, and this grant was confirmed by King Robert III in the year 1391. Sir Richard Rutherford of that Ilk made a great figure in the reign of King Robert III. with whom he was a mighty favorite. In a Confirmation of that Prince, of a Charter of William Turnbull of Minto, Willielmo Stewart nepoti suo, Ricardus de Rutherford, dominus ejusd. is a Witness anno 1390 Sir William Stewart died 2/12/ 1429 at the siege of Orléans, France – fighting for Joan of Arc.

Sir Richard Rutherford probably fought as Douglas' liege at Otterburn in August 1388 when the earl was among many Scots slain after a pursuit by Hotspur on their return from a raid beyond Newcastle. Sir Richard's standing is shown by his being a borowe or pledge for the earl's bounds on the Middle March in October 1398 (CDS IV N.510). James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Earl of Mar (c.1358 – 1388) inherited the Earldoms of Douglas and Mar from his father (1384). Douglas plotted against King David II (1324 - 71), who confronted him at Lanark. He went on to make a tentative bid for the Crown on David's death in 1371. He married Isabel, the daughter of King Robert II (1316 - 90), however, he fell at the Battle of Otterburn (also known as the Battle of Chevy Chase) leaving no children. When mortally wounded he gave instructions that his body should be hidden in a bracken bush so that his opponent, Henry Percy of Northumberland (Shakespeare's Hotspur) would not take advantage from his death. Douglas left one illegitimate son, William, 1st Lord of Drumlanrig, who gave rise to the Queensberry Douglases.

Shortly afterwards warfare with England was resumed, and while on a raid the knight and some of his kinsmen were captured by Sir Robert [Ralph] Umfraville at Foulhope Law near Elsdon, Northumberland (PSAN 3s 5, 91). At first they were kept in custody in Northumberland, where Henry IV sent instructions on October 30, 1400 (not 1399 as SP) to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, forbidding his captors to liberate or ransom Sir Richard and his sons (Cl1399-1402, 220; CDS IV N.565). Writers embroidered the tale by saying five sons were taken, but documents mention only three.

Full advantage was taken of important hostages, and to prevent escape or rescue the prisoners were brought south. A Westminster writ of December 2,1400 summoned John Mosdale, sergeant at arms, to receive from the sheriff of Northumberland Sir Richard de Rotherfurth, John de Rotherfurth, Gilbert de Rotherfurth and Alan de Rotherfurth, and bring them speedily to the king's person (Cl1399-1402, 226). Soon they were lodged in the Tower of London. Sir Richard's freedom, however, was equally important to the Scots.

On March 24,1400/1 the Earl of Northumberland wrote to the Privy Council at London saying that Sir Richard's release had been requested by David the young Duke of Rothesay (d.1402), elder brother of the future King James I and then heir to the Scottish throne, who had married in February Marjory daughter of Archibald third Earl of Douglas: “Le dit Duc moy ad requis de moy hastier ales marches pur avoir et tenir le tretee de pees le xxv jour susdit moy priant de faire et eider que Richard de Rotherford chivaler purra estree demesnez easement” (Nic II, 54).

A few days before, on March 18,1400/1, orders were given for John and Alan de Rutherford to be released from the Tower and sent to Robert Umfreville in Northumberland (Cl1399-1402, 260). But the Duke's plea was not heeded; the principal hostage would be freed only when he yielded what Henry IV demanded and at length obtained, for on November 9, 1402 a writ was addressed to the Constable of the Tower 'to deliver to Henry Earl of Northumberland Sir Richard de Ruthirforde of Scotland, knight, and Gilbert his son, in custody in the Tower by command of the king, to be kept in safe custody in the earl's presence until they shall do their homage; as they have offered to become the king's true lieges' (Cl1402-5, 2).

All the prisoners evidently returned home as they do not further appear in English records, and if the object was to ensure at least their neutrality this seems to have been achieved, because for long there is no sign of Rutherfords being embroiled in Border strife. Although the price of an easily broken oath of loyalty in exchange for freedom may seem cheap, besides liberty there was evidently a substantial inducement, for over the next few years we find two members of Sir Richard's family - probably sons or nephews marrying English heiresses. From these alliances, of Robert Rutherford to Joan daughter of Sir Henry de Heton of Chillingham, and of William Rutherford to Margaret sister of Robert de Rudchester IV, respectively descended the Northumberland Rutherfords of Middleton Hall near Wooler and of Rudchester near Newcastle upon Tyne, from whom many English Rutherfords probably descend. Providing English lands for Sir Richard's kin at no cost to the crown was a clever scheme for preventing his family from causing trouble that would jeopardize their new possessions. The early fifteenth century Gilbert Rutherford of Coquetdale may be a third Scot thus persuaded to become an Englishman.

The key to Sir Richard's important position on the Border evidently lay not only in his strategically placed lands but in a marriage alliance with the Douglases. There is no reason to doubt Douglas' Peerage's statement that his wife was Jean Douglas; beside his witnessing a deed of the second earl and being a surety for the third earl's part of the Marches, it is much more telling that his release was sought by the latter's royal son-in-law. tIis relationship to the earls may have been close, but no Jean Douglas of the right generation among daughters of the first or third earls - happens to be known; the second earl, son of the first, was succeeded by a collateral. Our knowledge is incomplete, and the lady may have been a daughter, legitimate or not, of either earl.

Until 1424 no more is heard of Sir Richard. On June 27 that year he and Nicholas de Rutherford were jurors at an inquest held at Hawick concerning lands belonging to the Lauder family in the barony of Hownam and Swinside; his heir had married a Lauder not long before (MS 12, AppVIII, 78,120). Very soon Sir Richard, who must have been about eighty and outlived his eldest son, died, for by 16 November 1425 James Rutherford I was in possession of his estate.

Previous writers credited Sir Richard with five sons although only three appear in record. To disentangle errors in earlier stories these five men are listed in the order given in SP:

----------10. James Rutherford I of that Ilk as shown below was not a son but evidently a grandson who directly succeeded.

----------10. Robert Rutherford, founder of the Chatto-Hunthill branches

----------10. William Rutherford of Eckford, sometimes called Gilbert, slain by Walter Scott of Kirkurd in 1436. In fact two distinct individuals were confused:

Gilbert Rutherford, a prisoner in the Tower with Sir Richard and expressly called his son in November 1402, is said to have been a noted reiver whose lands were forfeited; for capturing him and his gang King James I gave Sir Walter Scott a charter of the Mains of Eckford May 3,1439 (GS II N.201, IX N.711). It is very unlikely this was Gilbert Rotherford of Coquetdale c.1430 who perhaps left descendants in Northumberland.

William Rutherford founder of the Rudchester line near Newcastle married Margaret heiress of the Rudchesters and was dead by 1428. The only other William in Scottish records about that time was William de Ruderfurde, on a retour at Jedburgh in January 1429/30, who is likely to be his English-born son.

----------10. John Rutherford whose release from the Tower was approved in March 1400/1. Hood said Sir John fought at Beauge against the English in 1421 and was killed at the battle of Crevant in France in 1423 (IlkH lx; IlkM 6).

----------10. Nicholas Rutherford, a fellow juror with Sir Richard in 1424, ancestor of the Hundalee branch which however descended in the male line not from his son John but from another John who married Nicholas' daughter. Dates show that Nicholas would be a grandson, not a son, of Sir Richard.

In addition to the reputed five sons we must notice:

----------10. Alan Rutherford, ignored by previous writers, a son who was taken prisoner with the knight and freed with John. His name is not further recorded.

Generation 10

----------10. Alan Rutherford, ignored by previous writers, a son who was taken prisoner with the knight and freed with John. His name is not further recorded. Christian names tend to recur among descendants, a later Alan is found associated with James Rutherford I of that Ilk.

Ample evidence disproves SP's careless statement that Sir Richard was the laird killed 'in or before 1455 in defense of the realm' and had an eldest son James Rutherford I who was followed at an unspecified date by his own son James who died, it said, in 1493. The laird who perished shortly before 1455 was the elder James, frequently designated as the head until 1453, whose son James was born c.1420.

A Westminster writ of December 2, 1400 summoned John Mosdale, sergeant at arms, to receive from the sheriff of Northumberland Sir Richard de Rotherfurth, John de Rotherfurth, Gilbert de Rotherfurth and Alan de Rotherfurth, and bring them speedily to the king's person (Cl1399-1402, 226). John Mosdale was governor of Scarborough Castle in North Yorkshire. He was a sergeant at arms and was made governor for life. John Mosdale rebuilt the King's Chambers and so it is called Mosdale Hall. He also served as a member of Parliament for Scarborough.

Soon they were lodged in the Tower of London. A few days before, on March 18,1400/1, orders were given for John and Alan de Rutherford to be released from the Tower and sent to Robert de Umfreville in Northumberland (Cl1399-1402, 260). Sir Robert de Umfreville had a castle at Harbottle and a manor at Otterbourne. Lord Umfreville was a Knight of the Garter, fought at the battle of Homildon Hill and was a captain at Roxburgh Castle.

The plea of David, the young Duke of Rothesay, for his release was not heeded. The principal hostage would be freed only when he yielded what Henry IV demanded and at length obtained, for on November 9, 1402 a writ was addressed to the Constable of the Tower 'to deliver to Henry Percy “Hotspur” Earl of Northumberland Sir Richard de Ruthirforde of Scotland, knight, and Gilbert his son, in custody in the Tower by command of the king, to be kept in safe custody in the earl's presence until they shall do their homage; as they have offered to become the king's true lieges' (Cl1402-5, 2).

Sir Henry Percy, 1366–1403, was called Hotspur or Henry Hotspur. In 1388 he participated in the famous Scottish victory at the battle of Otterburn, or Chevy Chase. He was captured after hand to hand combat with Sir John Montgomery but later ransomed, and he returned to his post as warden of Carlisle and the West Marches. He helped to win (1402) a notable victory over the Scots at Homildon Hill, capturing the Scottish leader, Archibald Douglas, 4th earl of Douglas. A bitter quarrel between Hotspur and Henry IV ensued when Hotspur refused to turn Douglas over to the king except in exchange for the ransom of Sir Edmund de Mortimer, Hotspur's brother-in-law. In 1403, Hotspur and his father planned with Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester, Owen Glendower, and Sir Edmund de Mortimer to dethrone Henry and crown Edmund Mortimer, 5th earl of March, the nephew of Hotspur's wife. Henry anticipated the move, and in a battle near Shrewsbury (1403) the king was victorious and Hotspur was slain. Hotspur was an important character in Shakespeare's Henry IV.

These facts plainly show that the elder James was not Sir Richard's son but a grandson who predeceased his father and perhaps died at a comparatively early age, which might explain why no apparent record of his identity survived - unless he was one of the sons imprisoned in the Tower. The remarks above eliminate all the knight's kinsmen except John and Alan. These are the only known candidates for the father of James I of that Ilk, and the likelier is Alan whose name recurs; but an unrecorded brother is possible.

----------11. James Rutherford I (c.1395-?1454),

in battle bef. 15th July 1455 in Roxburgh, Scotland
[1] Christian Lauder

Generation 11

----------11. James Rutherford I (c.1395-?1454),

in battle bef. 15th July 1455 in Roxburgh, Scotland
[1] Christian Lauder

On his death late in 1424 or in 1425 Sir Richard was followed by his grandson James I of that Ilk first recorded November 16, 1425 when 'James Rutherfuird of Rutherfuird' and John adjudicated over a boundary dispute between Ridpath and Bemersyde (GS II N.106). His appellation shows he succeeded some time after June of the preceding year.

On January 17, 1429/30 he and William were jurors at a Jedburgh inquest on the lands of Caverton (MS 14, App III, 13) and he witnessed at Edinburgh November 20, 1430 a charter of Primside by Andrew Roule to Andrew Ker of Altonburn (Ib 22), confirmation of which by Archibald Earl of Douglas he attested August 6, 1432 at 'Ethebredscheillis' (DB III, 419), on both occasions called de eodem 'of the same', of that Ilk.

Roxburgh - “On 6th August 1430, Andrew Roule, lord of Primsyde with consent of George his son and heir sold to Andrew Ker of Altonburn, his ten husbandlands of mains, witness Archibald of Douglas, Lord of Cavers, James Rutherfurde of that ilk, Thomas of Crenneston of that ilk, William of Liberton, Provost of Edinburgh, and Alexander Napar, John Bercare and Henry Dempster Bailies of that city. (Ref. the Roules of Roule water by Andrew Ross at the Hawick Archaeological Society on 20 March 1906.)

Sir Alexander Napier, 2nd of Merchiston (d before 15.02.1475-9, Lord Provost of Edinburgh) m. Elizabeth Lauder (dau of William Lauder of Haltoun)

Sir Alexander Home married Marion Lauder daughter of John Lauder, granddaughter of Sir Robert de Lauder. Along with her sisters; Mariota, Beatrice and Christian each of the 4 [and their husbands] received 1/4th of the Crailing, Hownam and Swinside estates. On December 11, 1436 Lord James Rutherford and Lord Alexander Home held sasine at Linlinthgow. Swinside remained a Rutherford holding because Lord James Rutherford married one of the Lauder sisters; Christian. ("Historical Manuscripts Commission", 12th report, App VII, 78-79, 109, 120-121)

Both James were jurors in July 1439 at 'Richermuderake in Foresta de Jedworth' on the retour of George Douglas in Bonjedworth (Ib III, 68) and next February the elder James witnessed at Edinburgh a charter of Primside by William Douglas, Earl of Angus, to Andrew Ker (Ib III, 373; MS 14, App Ill, 22).

James next occurs as witness to a charter at Aberdeen in January 1440/1 by Robert, Earl of Mar, to Andrew de Culane, burgess there, of Knavane in the barony of Kelly, Aberdeenshire. [Forfarshire?] (GS II N.279). It is unlikely that his visit implies a close connection with the Aberdeen Rutherfords who were established there by 1343.

A reminder of the family's original home is a deed about the tithes of Lessuden [St. Boswells] that James attested in November 1444 in the chapel of St Mary Magdalene at Rutherford (Mel II, 575).

When father and son were jurors at a retour at Newark in March 1446/7 the document bore the seals of both, showing an orle and in chief three martlets (DE III, 429; MS 14, App III, 23).

The Exchequer Rolls (ER IX, 660) reveal that James had sasine in 1448 of Edgerston which remained with his descendants until the twentieth century, and was indeed the only property of the senior line that was not filched away by the marriage of a pretended heiress early in the sixteenth century.

In 1449, 1450 and 1451 James was one of the Scottish conservators of truce with England (CDS IV N.1239; Rot II, 341, 353; Rymer XI, 254), and in 1453 he had sasine of the lands and fishery of Maxton (ER IX, 662), a grant leading to much dispute. For faithful service he acquired by royal charter in March 1451/2 Lethbert, Lethbertshiels and Eremis, Stirls., rendering a silver penny (GS II N.530, 552).

He received the patronage of Bedrule from William, Earl of Douglas, at an unknown date and in January 1451/2 with ALAN and WILLIAM witnessed Patrick M'Dowel's charter of Makerstoun to George Ormiston (Ib II N.554). The same month he attested the Earl of Douglas' charter to Robert Vaus of land in thc barony of Carnismule, Wigtons. (SHS 3s 51, 163).

James Rutherford I died between 1453 and July 15, 1455 when his heir was allowed compensation for the losses he suffered 'on the occasion of his father's death in defence of the realm': "occasione necis patris sui in defensione regni" (ER VI, 97). Whatever the fray alluded to, whether the battle of Arkinholm in 1454 [Langholm] or, as the Historical Manuscripts Commission thought (MS 14, App Ill, 3), some obscure fight with the English, it led to an accusation of complicity against Andrew Ker of Altonburn being tried by an assize 'of the cuntre' at Selkirk on April 14, 1456 (Ib 10-11). It hardly fits modern conceptions of justice to find the victim's son James and two kinsmen on the jury, but mediaeval principles required jurors acquainted with the persons and circumstances concerned. The defendant was acquitted but old scores still burned, for Andrew Ker of Cessford [see below] was cleared by another trial at Edinburgh in March 1470/1 (Ib 27).

children:

------------12. James Rutherfurd II of that Ilk and of Edgerston

abt 1424
in 1498
[1] Lady Margaret Erskine

Only one child of James I is certainly known: 1. James II of that Ilk, his heir, below; but there is reason to suspect that other sons were: 2. Alan who witnessed the M'Dowel charter in 1451/2 and whose name recalls the prisoner in the tower . 3. ARCHIBALD* mentioned below.

James Rutherford II (c.1420-1498), whose mother was a daughter of John Lauder, before July 15, 1455 succeeded his father with whom he is found in deeds between 1437 and 1447.

Generation 12

------------12. James Rutherfurd II of that Ilk and of Edgerston

abt 1424
in 1498
[1] Lady Margaret Erskine

James Rutherford II (c.1420-1498), whose mother was a daughter of John Lauder, before July 15, 1455 succeeded his father with whom he is found in deeds between 1437 and 1447.

The Senior Line from 1425 to the Loss of their Estates

On his death late in 1424 or in 1425 Sir Richard was followed by his grandson JAMES I of that Ilk (c.1395-?1454), first recorded November 16, 1425 when 'James Rutherfuird of Rutherfuird' and JOHN adjudicated over a boundary dispute between Ridpath and Bemersyde (GS II N.106). His appellation shows he succeeded some time after June of the preceding year.

On January 17, 1429/30 he and WILLIAM were jurors at a Jedburgh inquest on the lands of Caverton (MS 14, App III, 13) and he witnessed at Edinburgh November 20, 1430 a charter of Primside by Andrew Roule to Andrew Ker of Altonburn (Ib 22), confirmation of which by Archibald Earl of Douglas he attested August 6, 1432 at 'Ethebredscheillis' (DB III, 419), on both occasions called de eodem 'of the same', of that Ilk.

1430 [Roxburgh] - “On 6th August 1430, Andrew Roule, lord of Primsyde with consent of George his son and heir sold to Andrew Ker of Altonburn, his ten husbandlands of mains, witness Archibald of Douglas, Lord of Cavers, James Rutherfurde of that ilk, Thomas of Crenneston of that ilk, William of Liberton, Provost of Edinburgh, and Alexander Napar, John Bercare and Henry Dempster Bailies of that city. In 1432 Andrew Roule designed of Prymside in the barony of Sprouston and sheriffdom of Roxburgh, the same person as the preceeding, resigned his lands of Prymsyde in favour of George of Roule his son and heir, and Margaret Ker daughter of a prudent squire, Andrew Ker of Altonburn, wife of George, infeftment being given by John Turnbull of the Fulton, Bailie of the regality of Sprouston. In 1454 Andrew Ker of Altonburn acquired the lands of Prenderlath in the barony therof from the four heiresses of Andrew Roule of Prymside, Marjorie, Isabella, Janey and Ellen.” - Ref. the Roules of Roule water by Andrew Ross at the Hawick Archaeological Society on 20 March 1906. - Ref. the Roules of Roule water by Andrew Ross at the Hawick Archaeological Society on 20 March 1906.

Alexander Napier, 1st of Merchiston (d 1454, Lord Provost of Edinburgh)

Sir Alexander Napier, 2nd of Merchiston (d before 15.02.1475-9, Lord Provost of Edinburgh) m. Elizabeth Lauder (dau of William Lauder of Haltoun)

1 - Sir George Lauder of Haltoun, (d.c1425),m: Helen, daughter of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas (d.1424, France) from whom descend the Lauders of Haltoun and ultimately, through the female line in 1652, the Earls of Lauderdale. Sir George commenced the use of the Lauder of Haltoun arms which were the same as those of the ancient family with the difference being that the griffin held in its right paw a sword with a saracen’s head upon it (d. Verneuil 17.08.1424)

m1. Helen Douglas (dau of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas)

Sir George de Lawedre who established a separate family branch as laird of Haltoun in Edinburghshire. His wife is described simply as the sister of Lord Douglas but it is their son with whom we concern ourselves: Sir Alexander de Lawedre. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Forrester of Corstorphine and he in turn was married to Lady Helen, daughter of Archibald 4th Earl of Douglas. Sir Alexander de Lawedre of Haltoun, Earl Douglas and Sir John Forrester all fell at the Battle of Verneuil in Normandy on 17th August 1424 fighting alongside the French against the English forces under the Duke of Bedford.

2 - William Lauder of Haltoun (d c1442)

3 - Alexander Lauder of Haltoun (d before 1451)

4 - William Lauder of Haltoun (d before 1507)

5 - Elizabeth Lauder (dau of William Lauder of Haltoun)

- - -

1 - Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas ("the Grim", d 24.12.1400)

Johanna Moray (d c1407, dau (or possibly widow) of Thomas Moray, Lord of Bothwell)

2 - Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Tourraine (b c1372, d Verneuil 17.08.1424) m. Margaret Stewart (dau of John Stewart, King Robert III of Scots)

3 - Archibald Douglas, Earl of Wigtown, 5th Earl of Douglas, 2nd Duke of Tourraine, 1st Count of Longueville (b c1390, d 26.06.1438)

m1.Matilda Lindsay (dau of David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford)

m2. (c1424) Euphemia Graham (d c10.1468, dau of Sir Patrick Graham of Strathearn)

4 - William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Duke of Tourraine, 2nd Count of Longueville (b c1425, dsp 24.11.1440)

(before 1440) Jean (or Janet) Lindsay (dau of David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford)

4 - David Douglas (d 24.11.1440)

4 - Margaret Douglas ("the Fair Maid of Galloway")

m1. William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (d 1451)

m2. (divorced 1459) James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas (d 15.04.1488) -

m3. (1460) Sir John Stewart of Balveny, 1st Earl of Atholl (b c1440, d 19.09.1512)

3 - Sir James Douglas (d Verneuil 17.08.1424)

3 - Mary Douglas (b c1390)

(1406-7) Sir Simon Glendonwyn of Glendonwyn (b c1378, d 1437)

3 - Elizabeth Douglas (d c1451)

m1. (1413) John Stewart, Earl of Buchan (Constable of France)

m2. Thomas Stewart, younger of Mar and Garioch (dvpsp by 1435)

m3. William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney, Earl of Caithness, Chancellor (d before 03.1482)

3 - Helen Douglas

George Lauder, 2nd of Haltoun

In July 1436 he witnessed sasine to David de Home (MS, Col. D.M. Home,20). Sir Richard was last mentioned in connexion with land held by the Lauders.

Sir David Home 1st Baron of Wedderburn

(d after 28.02.1452-3, before 1469) m. Alicia Douglas

George Rutherfurd of Chatto was a witness to a charter by Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas, to David Hume of the lands of Wedderburn in 1413.

"He got from Archibald, Earl of Douglas, a grant of barony of Wedderburn, county Berwick, in 1413, which received a royal confirmation 19th April 1430. He was knighted by King James II in 1443. He and his wife, Alice, had an additional charter from the superior, Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, confirmed by royal charter, dated at Stirling, 16th May 1450."

[The Scottish Nation, by William Anderson on page 483.] "El origen y la historia" page 11 indicates Sir David Hume born 1413 and died 1469.

Sir David [Home] of Wedderburn got from his father the lands of Thurrston, and from Archibald Earl of Douglas, a grant of the Barony of Wedderburn in the County of Berwick, and a confirmation of it by the King, in 1413, for his military services, and who also appointed him his scutifer. He was Knighted by King James II in 1448, and appointed one of the Commissioners to treat with the English in 1449. He was Knight of the Golden Order. MSS. Hist. Died 1469. [From History of Dunbar Hume and Dundas from Drummond's Noble British Families, William Pickering, London 1846] David married Alicia Douglas. (Alicia Douglas was born in Berwickshire, Scotland and died in Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland.)

Alicia Douglas

father: Archibald "Tyneman" 4th Earl of Douglas

born 1382 Thurstan, East Lothian, Scotland

died before May 1469

children: Sir David Home (Hume)

born about 1407 Wedderburn, Berwickshire, Scotland

died before 16 May 1450

On the death of Bruce in 1329, Sir James Douglas was entrusted with the Monarch's heart in order to carry it on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. "The Good Sir James" was a lifelong friend and supporter of the Bruce and died in Spain carrying the Bruce's heart to the Holy Land. Sir James had joined with the King of Castille in his crusade against the Moors and was killed leading a charge against an enemy force that far outnumbered his own. The Bruce's heart was recovered from the battlefield and returned to Scotland. Sir James "The Good" was killed in 1330. Sir James' body and Bruce's heart were returned to Scotland and laid to rest at St. Bride's Church and Melrose Abbey, respectively.

Sir James Douglas' son, Archibald the Grim, 3rd Earl of Douglas, consolidated the family's position of power and helped defend Edinburgh castle from Henry IV in 1400. He later became Lieutenant General of Scotland. Archibald and his sons were both killed fighting the English in France.

Archibald "The Grim" Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas

name: Archibald Douglas

titles: 3rd Earl of Douglas in 1388 and Lord of Galloway

born abt 1328

died 1400

age at Death: 72

place of Death: Theave Castle

father: Sir James "The Good" Douglas, Lord of Douglas

emblem - The bleeding heart of Douglas

wife: Joan Moray [Joanna Murray]

children with Joan:

1 - Jean Douglas de Rutherfurde??

2 - Marjory Douglas

3 - Archibald Tyneman, 4th Earl of Douglas - 1370

4 - James "The Gross" Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas

5 - Mary Douglas - m. David Stewart, Duke of Rothsay

possible child:

6 - William Douglas, Lord of Galloway & Nithsdale

Residence: Threave Castle

life Events:

- Called the most able statesman and soldier of his time.

- Responsible for the construction of Theave Castle, a Black Douglas stronghold.

- in 1384 he defeated the English at Lochmaben Castle and in doing so removed the last of the English Army at Annandale

Archibald "The Grim", 3rd Earl of Douglas

Sir James' son, Archibald has been called the most able statesman and soldier of his time. Under his leadership the Douglases gained the Lordship of Galloway and, through marriage to Joanna Murray, the family possessions of the Murrays of Bothwell. Archibald's daughter, Mary, married the David Stewart, Duke of Rothsay, Prince of Scotland, [1378–1402]. David was a Scottish prince; son and heir apparent of Robert III. On his father's accession (1390) to the throne, David became Earl of Carrick and in 1398 Duke of Rothesay. In 1399 he was made lieutenant of the kingdom by his invalid father and given sovereign powers for a three-year term. In 1402, at the end of Rothesay's tenure of office, Albany and Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas [his brother-in-law], had him arrested and imprisoned. He died, under questionable circumstances, in their custody.

On December 11, 1436 James Rutherford laird of that Ilk had sasine at Linlithgow, with Alexander Home of that Ilk, of the late Sir Robert de Lauder's lands at Aldcathy, Linlithgow, after the service of Mariota, Beatrice and Christian daughters of John Lauder (d.1421) and his wife Katherine as granddaughters and heirs of Sir Robert (MS 12, App VIII, 78-9, 109, 120-1). James had evidently married one of the young ladies [Christian]. Each of them, and Marion Lauder who married Sir Alexander Home, succeeded to a quarter of Crailing, Hownam and Swinside.

Sir Robert Lawedre of Bass who was alive before 1364 and, in 1370, witnessed a charter granted by his father. By 1384 he is mentioned in a charter as Lord Justice of Scotland, and Froissart mentions him as "a renowned hero" being present at the battle of Otterburn on the 19th August 1388. He received payments from the customs of North Berwick in 1413-15 and 1420. This Sir Robert also took part in the battle of Nesbit Moor in 1402 where he was taken prisoner by the English. He does not appear to have had that status for long as he had a charter confirmed to him in May 1411 and on 15th June that year he had a safe-conduct from King Henry IV to pass into England. In 1406 King Robert III sent his young prince, later James 1st, with the Duke of Albany to the safety of Sir Robert Lauder’s castle on the Bass from where that prince later left for France. In 1424 Sir Robert had a safe-conduct as a hostage for James 1st at Durham and upon James’ return to Scotland he consigned his traitorous cousin Murdoc, eldest son of the Duke of Albany, to the Castle of the Bass, payments for his keep being made to Sir Robert Lawedre. Tytler states that Sir Robert was a firm friend of the King and that he was one of the few people whom James 1st admitted to his confidence. It is thought that the Lauder of Bass arms, which differ in colour from the original Lauder arms, and which also carry a double tressure, commenced with this Sir Robert. He died before December 1425 leaving:

John Lauder, younger of Bass

d.1421

m: Katherine Landells

with issue four daughters of whom:

Mariotta married before 1426 Sir Alexander Home of that Ilk

1st Lord Home, ancestor of the Earls of Home;

Christian, married about 1424 James Rutherfurd of that Ilk I

ancestor of the Lords Rutherfurd

James, his eldest son James, and three kinsmen were jurors in November 1437 at the retour of Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig as heir in Hawick (DB III, 371).

William, 2nd Lord of Drumlanrig succeeded his father in 1421, was married to Janet Maxwell, daughter of Sir Herbert Maxwell of Caerlavorock. He died circa 1444.

Douglas, William, Earl of Angus 2nd

Born: ABT 1398

Acceded: 1402

Died: OCT 1437

Notes: The Complete Peerage vol.I,p.155.

Father: Douglas, George, Earl of Angus 1st, b. 1378

Mother: Stuart, Mary, Lady

d/o Stuart, Robert III (John) of Scotland, King of Scotland, b. 1337

and Drummond, Annabella, b. CIR 1350

Married 3 DEC 1414 to Hay, Margaret

Child 1: Douglas, James of Angus, Earl of Angus 3rd

Child 2: Douglas, George, Earl of Angus 4th

Child 3: Douglas, William

Child 4: Douglas, Hugh, Rector of St. Andrews

Child 5: Douglas, Helen

James next occurs as witness to a charter at Aberdeen in January 1440/1 by Robert, Earl of Mar, to Andrew de Culane, burgess there, of Knavane in the barony of Kelly, Aberds. [Forfarshire?] (GS II N.279). It is unlikely that his visit implies a close connexion with the Aberdeen Rutherfords who were established there by 1343.

THE Gordons of METHLIC AND HADDO, now ennobled under the title of Earl of Aberdeen, trace their pedigree to SIR WILLIAM GORDON of Coldingknows, in Berwickshire, younger son of Sir Thomas de Gordon, grandson of the founder of the family in Scotland. The Gordons of Huntly, as we have seen, represent the house through an heir female, Elizabeth Gordon, who, in 1449, married Alexander de Seton, while the Aberdeen branch have preserved an unbroken male descent. Owing, however, to the loss of many of the family papers when Kelly, their residence, was taken and plundered by the Marquis of Argyll, in 1644, and at a later period, when the house in which the Earl lived in Aberdeen was burned, their descent from Sir William Gordon cannot be traced with certainty. Sir William’s son is said to have accompanied his cousin, Sir Adam Gordon, to the north, in the time of King Robert Bruce, and to have married the heiress of Methlic. His descendant, PATRICK GORDON of Methlic, was killed at the battle of Brechin (May 18th, 1452), in which the Tiger Earl of Crawford was defeated by the Earl of Huntly. JAMES GORDON, Sir Patrick’s son, received from the King a gift of the barony of Kelly, a part of Crawford’s forfeited estate.

ROBERT ERSKINE; s. and h. of Sir Thomas E. of that ilk [i.e. Erskine, on the Clyde] (d. between Martinmas [11 Nov.] 1403 and Whitsunday [18 May] 1404), by Janet,1widow of Sir David Barclay, of Brechin, and probably dau. and h. of Sir Edward Keith, of Syntoun; knighted before 20 Dec.1400; was taken prisoner at the battle of Homildon, 14 Sep. 1402; was one of the hostages for the ransom of King James in 1424, when his revenue was estimated at 1,ooo marks, being set at liberty 19 June 1425. He was made a Lord of Parl.,2 as LORD ERSKINE in or shortly before 1433.3 Soon after the death (1435) of Alexander, husband of Isabel,Countess of Mar (to which Alexander and his heirs by her that Earldom 4 had been resigned), Lord Erskine was served h. to the said Countess Isabel, and having had seizin 21 Nov. 1438, assumed the title of EARL OF MAR. He m., soon after 20 Dec. 1400,5 Elizabeth, dau. of David (LINDSAY), 1st EARL OF CRAWFORD, by Elizabeth, dau. of ROBERT II. He d. between 7 Sept. 1451 and 6 Nov. 1452.

ROBERT (ERSKINE), EARL OF MAR, cousin and heir ex parte materna of Isabel, suo jure COUNTESS OF MAR, being s. and h. of Sir Thomas ERSKINE of Alloa and Dun, by his 2nd wife, Janet, both abovenamed, suc. his father between Martinmas 1403 and Whitsuntide 1404. On the death, 1435, of Alexander, Earl of Mar, Erskine sought to be retoured heir to the Countess Isabel of half the lands, and was so retoured 22 Apr. and 16 Oct. 1438.28 A writ of saisine issued and he was infeoffed thereunder 21 Nov. 1438. As representative of the elder coheir to the lands the chief messuage, Kudrummy Castle, carrying with it the superiority and dignity of the Earldom, fell to him. He was at that time keeper of Dunbarton Castle. Being thus lawfully in possession of the dignity, Erskine dealt with the property as Earl of Mar, but the Crown did not acknowledge his title to the Earldom, and retained possession of Kildrummy Castle;29 Erskine died between 7 Sept. 1451 and 6 Nov. 1452, 5 years before the long struggle for possession of his Earldom ended, 5 Nov. 1457, in the defeat of his right.

A reminder of the family's original home is a deed about the tithes of Lessuden [St. Boswells] that James attested in November 1444 in the chapel of St Mary Magdalene at Rutherford (Mel II, 575).

When father and son were jurors at a retour at Newark in March 1446/7 the document bore the seals of both, showing an orle and in chief three martlets (DE III, 429; MS 14, App III, 23).

In 1449, 1450 and 1451 James was one of the Scottish conservators of truce with England (CDS IV N.1239; Rot II, 341, 353; Rymer XI, 254),

James Ruthyrfurd and Nicholas Ruthyrfurde [of Hundalee/Swinside] were two of the thirty Scottish conservators of the truce between Scotland and England in 1451 (Bain,IV, 1239).

and in 1453 he had sasine of the lands and fishery of Maxton (ER IX, 662), a grant leading to much dispute. For faithful service he acquired by royal charter in March 1451/2 Lethbert, Lethbertshiels and Eremis, Stirls., rendering a silver penny (GS II N.530, 552).

The early story of St. Ninians is hid in the mists of antiquity. Perhaps St. Ninians in his journeyings north from Candida Casa in Whithorn spent some part of his missionary activities in this territory south of the Forth. His name is associated with St.Ninians Well, beside the Wellgreen, and it is known that he, or his associates, sought to evangelise Scotland, and, in particular, the people of northern Pictland. In earlier days the Church bore the important name of Eccles, which means that it was THE CHURCH of a wide area. Attached to it were various Chapels and Oratories. such as "Donypas" (Dunipace) and "Lethbert" (Larbert) which are mentioned in the Papal Bull of 1195. The shrine at St. Thomas's Well was also attached to the Church, and tradition has it that King Robert the Bruce took communion there before the Battle of Bannockburn in June, 1314. Of the chapel itself we know only that around 1450 a new plain building appeared on the site of the present Kirkyard and that either before or in the immediate aftermath of the Reformation it fell into disrepair. Beyond that we have little information about the Larbert area before the 16th century but we can be sure that the turbulent relations between powerful feudal families which were the norm throughout lowland Scotland did not pass by the Larbert area. The Foresters of Garden who from the 1400s were the keepers of the valuable and strategically important royal forest of Torwood, the Bruces of Airth Castle, later also Stenhouse and Kinnaird, and the neighbouring Livingstons of Callendar shared the territory between them, at times in harmonious alliance and at others through bitter feud and conflict with much blood shed on both sides.

The Arms of Vans of Barnbarroch have been differenced by the Lord Lyon from the Arms of de Vaux of Dirleton by a silver mullet being placed on the red bend while one or two of the very old Armorials shew three silver mullets as the correct difference. The Arms of the Douglas family include three silver mullets and it may well be, though there is no direct proof, that the silver mullet awarded to Barnbarroch may be because the first Vaux to come to Wigtownshire and the progenitor of Robert of 1451 was a younger son of William, the last baron de Vaux of Dirleton and his wife who was a Douglas. Alternatively, the silver mullet perhaps only recognises the fact that Robert obtained his land from the Douglas, or perhaps Robert's mother was a Douglas. Perhaps the silver mullet has nothing whatever to do with any Douglas connection. The fact that the Arms of Barnbarroch are the Arms of Dirleton with a difference is very strong evidence that the Wigtownshire branch are cadets of the East Lothian ones. If, as seems likely, the members of the Vaux family were landless between say 1350 and 1450, it might well prove impossible to trace them with accuracy because the only evidence would lie in Charters which concerned the ownership of land.

According, to Robert Vans Agnew in his introduction to Correspondence of Sir Patrick Waus:

"A son, or perhaps a nephew, of Willielmus de Vaux of Dirleton in East Lothian settled in Galloway where he is said to have married an heiress about the year 1384 and obtained the lands of Barnbarroch, which he held under the Douglasses, who were at that time Lords of Galloway, and to whom he was allied, Willielmus (whose son or nephew he is supposed to have been) having married Catherine Douglas. This was Johannes de Vallibus or Vaus, the first of the name at Barnbarroch. From this John Vaus of 1384 the family has continued in the male line in unbroken descent, and in possession of the same lords of Barnbarroch to the present time. In the fifth generation from him the representative of the family was Patrick Vaus who, while yet a minor, succeeded to the estate in 1482."

In any case Robert certainly obtained a Charter dated 26th January, 1451 from the eighth Earl of Douglas to the land of Barglass and Barnbarroch. P.H. M'Kerlie doubts the correctness of the previous paragraph. He thinks it likely that Robert Vaus was the son of Alexander Vaus who was Bishop of Galloway in 1420 and that Robert obtained the Charter of 1451 through the Bishop's influence. The bishop himself might well have been the remaining heir male of the name, from a younger son of William de Vaux of Dirleton.

- - -

Vaux = Argent, an inescutcheon within an orle of martlets Gules.

- - -

Robert VAUS of Barnbarroch

Succ: succeeded by his son Blaise

Death: aft 6 Mar 1459

Charter of Barnbarroch granted to him by William, Earl of Douglas, presumably the 8th Earl, Jan 1451

Charter of Barnbarroch granted to Robert Vaus by James, Earl of Douglas, 26 Oct 1453

Spouse: Euphemia GRAHAM

Father: Malise GRAHAM 1st Earl of Menteith (ca1407-)

Mother: Jane de VERE

Children: Blaise (-<1482)

Thomas

George (-1508)

Patrick - Patrick Graham of Kilpont, Craiguchty and Auchmore (dvp c1488 ?)

(c24.01.1455-6) Isobel Erskine (dau of Thomas Erskine, 2nd Lord)

(William) Alexander

John

Unknown

Mariotta

Margaret

- - -

William, 8th Earl of Douglas

William succeeded his father with the aim of restoring to the family the possessions forfeited after the Death of William, 6th Earl of Douglas. He regained the Lordship of Galloway by marrying the sister and heiress of the victims of the Black Bull's Dinner. His holdings were further enhanced by his brothers who became, in turn, Bishop of Aberdeen, Earl of Moray, Earl of Ormond and Lord of Balveny. In 1447 war once again broke out between Scotland and England. The 8th Earl proved to be the hero in the Scot's burning of Alnwick and Warkworth in retaliation for English aggression. His brother, Earl of Ormond, defeated an English invasion at the Battle of Sark. In 1450 the 8th Earl led a Scottish retinue to Rome in celebration of the end of the Papal schism. King James II, growing wary of the Douglas power, took the opportunity to assert his authority by seizing and destroying a number of Douglas strongholds. On his return to Scotland, William, now distrustful of the King, made a pact against him with Alexander Lindsay, Earl of Crawford and John, Lord of the Isles. He also made contact with the Yorkists in England. James II learned of the Earl's maneuvering and summoned him to Stirling Castle with a promise of safe conduct. On February 22, 1452 the Earl dined with the King and then retired with him to a small antechamber. There the King revealed his knowledge of Douglas' dealings and asked him to reaffirm his loyalty by renouncing his band with Crawford and the Lord of the Isles. When Douglas refused the King became enraged and stabbed the Earl in the throat. The King's Captain of the Guard, hearing the scuffle, burst into the room and finished Douglas off. He then threw Douglas' body from the window into the garden below.

A poem imagines the Earl's refusal...

'No, by the cross it may not be;

I've pledged my knightly word',

And like a thunder-cloud he scowled,

And half unsheathed his sword.

Then drew the King that jewelled glaive,

Which gore so oft had spilt

And in the haughty Douglas' heart

He sheathed it to the hilt.

James, 9th Earl of Douglas

Upon the murder of his brother, William, the 8th Earl of Douglas, James left his duties as Bishop of Aberdeen to assume the Earldom and avenge his brother. He rode, with a column of several hundred, to Stirling and burned the town. King James II gave chase with an army of thirty thousand. The 9th Earl recognized the futility of his situation and surrendered to the King. He was obliged to formally forgive James II, but nursed his animosity until 1455 when he again marched on Stirling with an army of forty thousand. The King's army, ironically led by George, 4th Earl of Angus, a Douglas kinsmen from the Red Douglas line, took the field against him with a numerically equal force. On the eve of the battle the Lord Hamilton defected with his troops to the King's cause, tilting the advantage away from Douglas. In the resultant Battle of Arkinholm the power of the Black Douglases was broken. The Earl escaped capture and fled to England with one brother, Balveny. His other brothers did not fare as well. Moray fell in the battle, and Ormond was captured and executed. All Douglas holdings were declared forfiet and Douglas strongholds were besieged with heavy gun and ultimately taken. Tradition holds that King James II employed his most prized weapon, Mons Meg, to reduce the Douglas strongholds at Albecorn and Threave. The defeat of the Black Douglases by the Red Douglases at Arkinholm gave rise to the following verse,

"Pompey by Caesar only was undone,

None but a Roman soldier conquered Rome;

A Douglas could not have been brought so low,

Had not a Douglas wrought his overthrow."

- - -

James, ninth Earl of Douglas, rose in rebellion against his sovereign, 1454-55, actuated thereto both by personal ambition and also by desire to avenge the murder of his brother and predecessor, William, the eighth Earl of Douglas, who perished under the dagger of James II. Earl Archibald, however, was foiled in his attempt to capture the castle of Abercorn in West Lothian by the energetic action of the Scottish monarch and his superior forces. Deserted by his confederates, especially by his kinsman, Lord Hamilton, the Earl was fain to take refuge in flight and hide himseif in Annandale. A disorderly band of his remaining followers was mustered in Ewesdale and offered resistance to the royal authority until the 1st of May in 1455. On that day the rebellious rabble of an army under the command of Earl James and his two brothers, the Earls of Moray and Ormond, approached, and a battle took place in Arkinholm, on ground now partly covered by the town of Laugholm. In this encounter the Douglas faction was swept from the field in total rout. Moray and Ormond were captured and beheaded. Earl James took refuge in Argyle, and ultimately in England, where he received support from the Yorkist party. The Scottish Parliament, on the 10th of June 1455, passed an Act declaring that the Earl and all his abettors were traitors and had forfeited their lives, and that their property was escheated in the hands of the Crown, and so passed the Crawfordjohn hail barony out of the possession of the elder branch of the Douglas family and for a brief period became a royal domain.

Sir Richard Rutherfurd of that Ilk and his wife Jean Douglas had a son, James Rutherfurd of that ilk, who died in battle before 15th July 1455. He married Christian Lauder daughter of John Lauder of the Bass family and Katherine Landells of Swynset [Swinsyde]. They had a son, James Rutherfurd II of that ilk and of Edgerston, born about 1424 and died in 1498. He married Lady Margaret Erskine.

----------10. James Rutherford I

in battle bef. 15th July 1455 in Roxburgh, Scotland
[1] Christian Lauder

child:

-----------11. James Rutherfurd II of that Ilk and of Edgerston

abt 1424
in 1498
[1] Lady Margaret Erskine

grandchild:

------------12. Christian Rutherfurd

[1] Sir Robert Ker of Caverton, d. by 6 Nov 1500

1484 (marriage contract)

son: Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford

son: George Ker of Faldonside, d. by 1553/4

CHRISTIAN m. 1484 Sir Robert Ker of Caverton. Their son Sir Andrew of Cessford was of age when he succeeded his grandfather Sir Walter in 1511 and had sasine of Hownam and land vocatur Rutherfurdislandis in Caverton (ER XIII, 662). Christian was ancestress of Sir Robert Ker, first Earl of Roxburgh.

Sir Walter Scott was cousin to Sir William Crichton, the powerful and unscrupulous Chancellor of James II., and it was, in all probability, through this connection that the Scotts took part with the King in his desperate contest with the house of Douglas. In 1455 the three brothers of the exiled Earl—the Earls of Moray and Ormond, and Lord Balveny—invaded the Scottish borders at the head of a powerful force, but were encountered (1st May) at Arkinholm, near Langholm, by the Scotts and other Border clans, under the Earl of Angus, and were totally routed. Balveny escaped into England, but Moray was killed, and Ormond was wounded, taken prisoner, and executed. Sir Walter Scott was liberally rewarded for his services in this conflict. He obtained a grant of Quhychester and Crawford-John—part of the forfeited estates of the Douglases—expressly for his meritorious deeds at Arkinholm, and a remission of certain sums of money due to the Crown.

- - -

Bruce’s supporters, the Good Sir James and William Douglas, the Knight of Liddesdale, have already been mentioned. After Bannockburn Ettrick Forest came into the possession of the Douglases. James the second Earl of Douglas, was the hero of Chevy Chase, and the dead Douglas that won the field. The fourth Earl died at Verneuil, the sixth was murdered in Edinburgh Castle. The eighth was slain at Stirling, arid the ninth defeated in battle at Arkinholm by their implacable foe James II. Sir Walter Scott of Kirkurd in Peehlesshire was laird of Buccleuch in Ettrick, when he fought against the Black Douglases at Arkinholm; and the Sir Walter Scott, who succeeded his father in 1574, became the first peer of the family, as Lord Scott of Buccleuch.

- - -

"There has lately been recovered and produced from the Charter Room of Fleurs, a charter of this date, 1444, granted by Andrew Ker, Dominos de Altenburn, with the consent of Andrew Ker his son and heir, to another son named James, and his heirs, of certain portions of the lands of Primside, which are therein described as lying adjoining to the lands,belonging to Thomas, a third son of the said Andrew Ker, and partly bounded by the Lock of Litton. These three sons were the progenitors of the Kers of Cessford ( the eldest branch of the family), of the Kers of Litton.,and of the Kers of Gateshaw

"The same Andrew Ker, Lord of Altenburn, of this date, obtained another charter under the Great Seal to himself in life-rent, and after his death to his eldest son and heir and his heirs male, of the lands of Cessford whom failing, to other sons therein named successively, and their heirs male; and from this period the family seems to have borne the title of Cessford exclusively, for near two centuries, and then to have been styled of Roxburghe. The eldest son's son of the aforesaid Andrew Ker was Robert, afterwards Sir Robert Ker of Caverton, who predeceased his father. Besides Sir Robert, there is evidence that there was a younger son named Mark, who acquired the lands of Dolphington by marrying Marjorie Ainslie,the heiress thereof; and of this Mark Ker, who is said to have taken an active concern in the disorders of the times,there are minutes in the Book of the Justiceyre in 1502, in which he is named as having several times stood surety to a large amount, for criminals of his own party accused of divers crimes, Sir Robert eldest son, Andrew of Cessford,with his brother, George of Faldonside, both deceased early in life, the former being slain at Melrose in 1526; but he left children, of whom Mark, the second son, Vicar of Lintoun, and afterwards Commentator of Newbottle,was ancestor to the first Earls of Lothian. "The title-deeds of the family estates are here interrupted for about a century ; but, from infection the Public Records, this defect can in a great measure be supplied. Accordingly, it is communicated by them that the eldest son of Andrew, slain at Melrose,being without heirs, his brother William succeeded,which William had two sons, Mark, who died without issue, and Robert, who became first knight, then baron,and shortly before his death Earl of Roxburghe.He obtained a new charter of the lands and barony of Cessford, including the Castle of Roxburghe, and it was by him that the Entail of 1648 was executed. At this period, namely, 1648, the Cessford family had become nearly extinct in the male line.

- - -

By the end of the century, the lands of Molle/Mow were possessed by Alexander Molle, and soon after by John Molle. Before 1357, the lands seem to have been in the hands of John de Copeland, who was probably a sheriff of the county, because we know that he resigned all the lands which had forerly belonged to Adam of Roule to John Ker of the forest of Selkirk. In 1358, John Kerr, on the resignation of William of Blackdeane, of part of the lands of Mow and Auldtownburn (Attonburn), obtained a charter in favour of himself and his wife, Mariote, of the said lands and others. In 1474, the lands of Altonburne, as part of the barony of Cessford, were resigned to James III by Andrew Ker of Cessford, and granted by the king to Walter Ker, Andrew's son. 1481 saw Walter resigning the same lands to the king, who granted them again to him in heritage, with the remainder in succession to his brothers, Thomas, William and Ralph and the heirs of Andrew Ker.

- - -

Only one child of James I is certainly known: 1. JAMES II of that Ilk, his heir, below; but there is reason to suspect that other sons were: 2. ALAN* who witnessed the M'Dowel charter in 1451/2 and whose name recalls the prisoner in the tower . 3. ARCHIBALD* mentioned below.

JAMES Rutherford II (c.1420-1498), whose mother was a daughter of John Lauder, before July 15, 1455 succeeded his father with whom he is found in deeds between 1437 and 1447.

Sir Alexander Home married Marion Lauder daughter of John Lauder, granddaughter of Sir Robert de Lauder. Along with her sisters; Mariota, Beatrice and Christian each of the 4 [and their husbands] received 1/4th of the Crailing, Hownam and Swinside estates. On December 11, 1436 Lord James Rutherford and Lord Alexander Home held sasine at Linlinthgow. Swinside remained a Rutherford holding because Lord James Rutherford married one of the Lauder sisters; Christian. - "Historical Manuscripts Commission", 12th report, App VII, 78-79, 109, 120-121

The sheriffs account for Roxburgh in July 1455 shows that £22.16.8 due from the ward of Edgerston and Maxton was remitted by letters under the Privy Seal as recompense for losses at the time of his father's death, the incident for which Andrew Ker was arraigned (ER VI, 97). Echoes of lasting enmity between their families may linger in the feud that raged until 1560. That quarrel had other causes, but the longevity of hatreds that smouldered on both sides of the Border is illustrated by the murder in 1543 of John Rutherford of Rudchester in Northumberland in the course of a quarrel that had lasted a century.

- - -

When, in 1444, the Kers rose to greater power, and Lord of Altenburn obtained his charter of the lands of Cessford, there seems to have been an especial enmity between them and the Rutherfords, "Ruyrfords," as they are called in an old document quoted in these Roxburghe Papers.

- - -

As head of a leading Border family James was a conservator of truce with England in 1457 and 1459-60 (Rot II, 383, 398) and in 1484 a commissioner for settling the Marches (Rymer XII, 246).

He had sasine of Hownam in 1464 (ER IX, 669), was juror in January 1464/5 at a Douglas retour of service at Jedburgh (MS 7' 728) and witnessed at Scraisburgh December 12, 1465 [???] Sir Simon Glendinwin's charter of Hunthill to Robert Rutherford of Chatto (GS II N.899).

1 - Sir Simon Glendonwyn of Glendonwyn (b c1378, d 1437)

(1406-7) Mary Douglas (dau of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Tourraine)

2 - Sir Simon (William) Glendonwyn of Glendonwyn and Parton (d. 1455)???

m1. (before 03.01.1436-7) Agnes Helborn/Hepburn

m2. Elizabeth Lindsay (dau of Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford)

m3. Johnstone

3 - Simon Glendonwyn (d 01.05.1455)

- - -

1 - Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas ("the Grim", d 24.12.1400)

Johanna Moray (d c1407, dau (or possibly widow) of Thomas Moray, Lord of Bothwell)

2 - Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Tourraine (b c1372, d Verneuil 17.08.1424)

Margaret Stewart (dau of John Stewart, King Robert III of Scots)

3 - Archibald Douglas, Earl of Wigtown, 5th Earl of Douglas, 2nd Duke of Tourraine, 1st Count of Longueville (b c1390, d 26.06.1438)

m1.Matilda Lindsay (dau of David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford)

m2. (c1424) Euphemia Graham (d c10.1468, dau of Sir Patrick Graham of Strathearn)

4 - William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Duke of Tourraine, 2nd Count of Longueville (b c1425, dsp 24.11.1440)

(before 1440) Jean (or Janet) Lindsay (dau of David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford)

4 - David Douglas (d 24.11.1440)

4 - Margaret Douglas ("the Fair Maid of Galloway")

m1. William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas (d 1451)

m2. (divorced 1459) James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas (d 15.04.1488)

m3. (1460) Sir John Stewart of Balveny, 1st Earl of Atholl (b c1440, d 19.09.1512)

3 - Sir James Douglas (d Verneuil 17.08.1424)

3 - Mary Douglas (b c1390)

(1406-7) Sir Simon Glendonwyn of Glendonwyn (b c1378, d 1437)

3 - Elizabeth Douglas (d c1451)

m1. (1413) John Stewart, Earl of Buchan (Constable of France)

m2. Thomas Stewart, younger of Mar and Garioch (dvpsp by 1435)

m3. William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney, Earl of Caithness, Chancellor (d before 03.1482)

3 - Helen Douglas

Alexander [George] Lauder, 2nd of Hatton

In June 1468 in Dryburgh Abbey he made an agreement with Sir Alexander Home and Andrew Ker (acting for Henry Wardlaw) dividing parts of the Lauder inheritance, himself takng Swinside, Fulogy and 20 marks of the lands of Cuniardon (MS 12, App VIII, 120-1).

Henry Wardlaw

Marriage: Alison Hume, 1531, Torrie, Fife, Scot

- - -

1 - Sir Henry Wardlaw, 5th of Wilton, 2nd of Torrie (a 1434)

Christian Lander

2 - Henry Wardlaw, 6th of Wilton and of Torrie (a 1458)

Margaret Oliphant (dau of Sir John Oliphant of Aberdalgie)

3 - Sir Henry Wardlaw, 7th of Wilton and of Torrie

(1473) Margaret Lindsay (dau of Sir John Lindsay, 1st Lord of the Byres)

4 - John Wardlaw of Torrie (a 1513)

Elizabeth Bethune (b c1504, dau of John Bethune, 6th of Balfour)

James' long life was much occupied with land and dynastic matters. Through his Lauder blood he came into a Forfarshire estate. But on March 6, 1469/70, in exchange for his quarter of Arbirlot, Newton and Cuthlie near Arbroath, Thomas Hume of Crowdy gave him a quarter of Over Crailing, Hownam, Capehope, Swinside, 'with the middle part of Berehope, Simalstoun, Ranaldstonerig, Cunyourtoune, Filogir and Cuthbertishope', in Roxburghshire, after the death of Hume's mother Elizabeth Lauder; some of these occur in the previous deed (GS II N.1037).

Sir Alexander Napier, 2nd of Merchiston (d before 15.02.1475-9, Lord Provost of Edinburgh) m. Elizabeth Lauder (dau of William Lauder of Haltoun)?

In 1471 James was ordered to restore to Adam Pringle a complete stand of harness he had borrowed, or pay £21 (ALA 12). He witnessed at Edinburgh in June 1474 Robert Lauder's grant of West Nisbet to David Creichton and in July 1481 Lord Gray's charter ofBroxfield to Nicholas Ormiston (GS II N.1202, 1523).

Douglas said that on July 13, 1457 James was given the patronage of Rutherford church, and by charter on August 30, 1479 James Newton, rector of Bedrule, made him patron of St Kentigern's altar in Jedburgh parish church after his own death (Ib II N.1432). The patronage of Bedrule given to his father by the Earl of Douglas was confirmed by royal charter in June 1482 (Ib II N.1511).

"The Churches and Churchyards of Teviotdale"

By James Robson. 1893

Concerning the old church of Bedrule we know very little. About the earliest notice refers to 1479 when James Newton was parson of Bedrule. It is recorded also, that in 1482, James Rutherford of that ilk obtained a charter of the patronage. Subsequently to the Reformation. it was attached to the barony of "Edgarstoun", and belonged to the Earl of Traquair, who, had at the same time the lands of Rutherford.

In December next year on his own resignation he had a similar charter of 20 librates in Swinside in Hownam barony to himself and his wife Margaret (Ib II N.1569). In October the same year he attested a precept of sasine at Kelso (MS 12, App VIII, 163). It is said that James held Wells in 1457 (Hawick Arch Soc Trans 1933, 25). James was a tacksman (tenant) of the Midstead of Hertwood in Ettrick Forest, the accounts for which in June 1471 show him owing £20 which was remitted by June 1474 (ER VIII, 45, 209). In June 1486 the property remained unlet since although he had it at the previous assedation (letting) and was recently in court he did not appear (Ib IX, 615). His pledge in 1471 was ROBERT, perhaps his son so named, but the Robert to whom Hertwood was let in 1492 was of a different family.

James' family seem to have possessed rights in Maxton, as the sasine of 1453 and remission in 1455 show, but these were contested. In 1482 he was pursued before the Lords by Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree for 'douncasting' Maxton and taking timber there, an allegation met by James' claim to be the holder (ALA 101). His plea failed but references to Maxton and 'Rutherfurdislands' there occur long afterwards. This was not the first time that Rutherfords were in contention over Maxton, for in 1467 Colville successfully sued ARCHIBALD for wrongfully occupying his land there, which suggests the family had assigned the estate as the portion of a younger son (Ib 8). This was probably the Archibald who at Jedburgh in February 1454/5 attested Loxd Abernethy's precept for giving sasine of Prendyrlath and Hyndhope to Andrew Ker of Altonburn (MS 14, App III, 20), and to whom debt was owed in 1473 (p. 142).

The feud between the houses of Ochiltree and Douglas, which originated in 1449, seems to have been kept up for some considerable time, for in 1502 we learn that Robert and Henry Douglas were permitted to compound for "art and part of the oppression done to Sir William Colville of Uchiltree, in occupying, labouring, and manuring his lands of Farnesyde and Hardane, and taking and keeping the house or pele in Hardane without any title of law' and, item for the theft of the iij oxen from the said Sir William Colville, furth of Synlawis." Nor was this all, for in the same year John and William Douglas were convicted of "art and part of oppression and convocation of the lieges, and coming upon Sir William Colville of Uchiltree; Knt, at his lands of Hardane-hede, in the year 1502." In this extract, "coming upon" seems to be a euphemism for murdering, because on November 20, 1510, we are further informed that George Haliburton is denounced at the horn for "art and part of the slaughter of Sir William Colville of Uchiltree, Knt. and Richard Rutherfurde.

Sir Robert Colville, who succeeded Sir William. Was held in respect as a man of high character, and honor in the councils of his sovereign. He acted as steward to Queen Margaret and Master of the Household to James the fourth. In 1513, he raised his standard at the Cross of Ochiltree and gathered his men-at-arms around him. The call had come to support the king, and to ride with him three miles into English ground. The response was prompt and hearty, and amid cheers and shouts and God speeds, and perhaps some gathering tears, the little company marched gallantly away, never to return. They perished with "the floo'ers o' the forest" at Flodden field.

Christian Crichton (d 1477/8)

m1. (before 1451) Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree

m2. (before 10.1466) Alexander Erskine, 3rd Lord (d before 10.05.1509)

Alexander Boyd, 3rd Lord of Kilmarnock

Janet Colville (dau of Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree)

In 1472 PATRICK who occupied land at Maxton withheld money due to the College of the Trinity at Edinburgh (ALA 23). James sat as a baron in the Scots Parliament of 1487-8 (ParI 11,175, 181). In January 1488/9 Archibald Forester of Corstorphine was told to restore to James and his wife the sum of £36.4.10 due from the 'males' (rents) of Liberton just south of Edinburgh (ACiv I, 100).

1 - John Forrester, 3rd of Corstorphine (d before 15.09.1454)

2 - Sir Alexander Forrester, 4th of Corstorphine (d before 20.09.1473)

3 - Archibald Forrester, 5th of Corstorphine (d 1512-3)

m1. (before 01.02.1479-80) Margaret Hepburn

(dau of Sir Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes) - see below

That a link of feudal obligation to the Douglases still existed is shown by a royal charter of May 24, 1488 to William Douglas of Cavers in which James Rutherford promised to perform certain services to the king (MS 7, 729). But the once mighty house of Douglas had been curbed and the Rutherfords had no aid from that quarter when their hour of need soon came.

Sir William Douglas, 4th of Cavers (d 10/26/1506) - great grandson of Archibald, ncestor of the Douglas of Cavers.

From the book A History of the House of Douglas by Maxwell. Earl James Douglas who died at the battle of Otterburn in 1388 had only 1 legitimate son with his wife Princess Isabel, dau of King Robert II. However this son died in infancy. He did have 2 illegtimate sons, William who was the progenitor of the Douglas of Drumlanrig and Archibald, ancestor of the Douglas of Cavers. It was James' wife Isabel that gave Archibald the lands of Caver (pretty nice considering he was her husband's bastard child!)

James Douglas, 2nd earl of Douglas

c. 1358
August 1388, Otterburn, Roxburghshire, Scot.

Scottish leader in wars against the English in the late 14th century.

Son of the 1st earl, William Douglas, he married (1371 or 1373) Isabel, daughter of King Robert II. He invaded England (1388), besieged Newcastle for three days, and captured the pennon of Sir Henry Percy ("Hotspur") in single combat. Percy sought revenge in the Battle of Otterburn (August 1388), which is celebrated in English ballad as "Chevy Chase" and Scottish ballad as "Battle of Otterburn." The Scots were victorious, and Percy and his brother were captured; but James was killed. He left no legitimate male issue, but his illegitimate sons William (d. c. 1421) and Archibald (d. c. 1456) founded the families of Douglas of Drumlanrig and Douglas of Cavers.

The Battle of Otterburn took place on August 5th, 1388 and is best known through "The Border Minstrelsy" by Sir Walter Scott. Choosing an advantage in the discordant days of Richard II., the Scots mustered a very large force near Jedburgh, merely to break lances on English ground, and take loot. Learning that, as they advanced by the Carlisle route, the English intended to invade Scotland by Berwick and the east coast, the Scots sent three or four hundred men-at-arms, with a few thousand mounted archers and pikemen, who should harry Northumberland to the walls of Newcastle. These were led by James, Earl of Douglas, March, and Murray. In a fight at Newcastle, Douglas took Harry Percy's pennon, which Hotspur vowed to recover. The retreat began, but the Scots waited at Otterburn, partly to besiege the castle, partly to abide Hotspur's challenge. He made his attack at moonlight, with overwhelming odds, but was hampered by a marsh, and incommoded by a flank attack of the Scots. Then it came to who would pound longest, with axe and sword. Douglas cut his way through the English, axe in hand, and was overthrown, but his men protected his body. The Sinclairs and Lindsay raised his banner, with his cry; March and Dunbar came up; Hotspur was taken by Montgomery, and the English were routed with heavy loss. Douglas was buried in Melrose Abbey. Many years later the English defiled his grave, but were punished at Ancrum Moor. The ballad was a great favourite of Sir Walter Scott's. The embroidered gauntlet of the Percy is in the possession of Douglas of Cavers to this day.

Towards the end of his life James tried to ensure the retention of his estates in family hands by a comprehensive entail. In 1492, when he was about seventy, his eldest son was dead, but his young grandson could succeed, and if his line failed James' four other sons might inherit under the remainder he devised. Mercifully he could not foresee that his precautions would prove vain, undone by unscrupulous schemers whose influence at a corrupt court was stronger than any parchment. In the end Edgerston alone was snatched from their grasp. Thus at Jedburgh on September 15, 1492 on his own resignation James had a new charter from William Douglas of Cavers, of the lordship of Rutherford with 100 shillingsworth of land in Wells, which was confirmed January 15, 1492/3 by the king (GS II N.2122), who the same day gave James a fresh charter of his other lands held directly from the Crown: the lordship of Edgerston, half the barony of Hownam (Swinside, Capehope, Philogar and Cunyarton), the barony of Browndoun (Elphinshope and Eddillishede) , 10 librates of land in Maxton and the patronage of Bedrule church (Ib II N.2121).

A much later charter refers to 8 acres of Menslaws that once belonged to the laird of Rutherford. Both charters specified the entail to James and his heirs male, at his death to his grandson and apparent heir Richard and legitimate heirs male of his body, failing whom in succession to James' sons John, Thomas, Robert and Andrew and their heirs male, and finally to the legitimate and nearest heirs male whomsoever bearing the surname and arms of Rutherford: l'egjtjmjs et propjnqujorjbus heredjbus masculjs qujbuscunque cognomen et arma de Ruthjrfurd gerentjbus.'

Nothing could be plainer; the remainder was absolutely restricted to heirs male. James did not die soon afterwards in 1493 as SP said but lived five years longer, at a time when Border clans were involved in increasing turmoil.

In 1478 Parliament resolved to reconcile Rutherfords and Turnbulls over some quarrel (ParI II, 122) and in June 1493 the Lords sent James into Edinburgh Castle till he arranged the release of a servant of the Earl of Bothwell, held in England for a raid on Wark (ALA 173). After several hearings and against opposition by Patrick Hepburn, Earl Bothwell the Lords of Council on November 6, 1495 upheld James' claim that Alexander Lord Erskine was bound by contract to give him a tack (lease) of Over and Nether Nisbet (ACiv 389,420-2).

Most Likely it was Patrick Hepburn of Waughton and Luffness that James’ son Thomas Rutherfurd killed NOT the Earl of Bothwell - GRH

Sir Patrick Hepburn

Patrick Hepburn, 2nd Lord Hailes; 1st Earl of Bothwell

on account of services at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1485.

ca. 1450, d. 18 Oct 1508,

1st m. 1480/1481 - Janet Douglas

Janet Douglas also was married to our Sir Thomas Erskine

Aft 1458/9, and had a daughter,

Jane (Janet), b. 1485, Liv. 10 May 1558, m. by 25 Jan 1506, George Seton

2nd m. 21 Feb 1490/1 Margaret Gordon

Adam [2nd Earl of Bothwell], b. ca. 1492, d. 9 Sep 1513,
Aft 28 Aug 1511, Agnes Stewart, d. Feb 1557

iii. Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Moray

Mary Hepburn

Margaret Hepburn

John Hepburn, Bishop of Brechin

James was alive in July 1498 when Lord Erskine sued him for not paying his grassum (entry fee) and rent for these lands (ACiv II, 277). That is his last record, and James died in advanced age later in 1498, leaving as heir his grandson Richard who was well under age. James Rutherford II's wife was Margaret daughter of Thomas second Lord Erskine. ???

Their children were:

PHILIP (?c.1450-1491/2) who predeceased James m. (cont. Feb. 12, 1484/5, papal dispensation Nov. 9, 1485; Roxburghe charters) Elizabeth d. of Sir Walter Ker of Cessford; she outlived Philip by nearly 60 years. His only other record is a Westminster writ Nov. 3, 1490 giving safe conduct as Scottish envoys to Philip Rothreford (sic), two Humes and a Ker (Rot II, 493). Perhaps Elizabeth was a second wife after an unfruitful first marriage, for Philip's nephews seem to have been somewhat older than his children. His widow m. Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch and Branxholm (d.1504) shortly before Oct. 19,1495 (Acta XVII. 187) and that month sued her first husband's nephew for her widow's third (AC iv 400). She perished when Catslack tower was burnt by the English Oct. 19,1548, having in her long life seen the fortunes of Philip's family crumble into near ruin. Their son died in infancy and their daughters' marriages were the cause of dynastic disaster:

RICHARD succeeded his grandfather when very young and was served heir May 15, 1499 (MS 7, 737). Grants of his wardship were made Jan. 8, 1498/9 to Sir Robert Ker (PS I N.315) and Oct. 25, 1500 to Walter Ker of Cessford (styled James' nevo = nephew) (Ib 1 N.585-6, 590), both closely connected by marriage. But the boy died before May 13, 1501.

On November 20, 1510, we are further informed that George Haliburton is denounced at the horn for "art and part of the slaughter of Sir William Colville of Uchiltree, Knt. and Richard Rutherfurde.......is this the same Richard?

KATHERINE below.

iii. HELEN below.

JOHN' son of the laird of Rutherford' with kinsmen JOK and Hob (ROBERT) was ordered to vacate the purlieus of Jedburgh Abbey in Feb. 1484/5 (AC iv 107*) and witnessed March 5, 1491/2 sasine to George Muirhead of Cavers (MS 7, 729). He was fined, as of Edgerston, for complicity in the murder of a chaplain in 1494-5 (PCT I, Pt I, 20*). He d. before May 1501 and may be the victim mentioned in a pardon Apl. 5, 1499 to William Turnbull of Minto and Alexander Turnbull 'for the slaughter of umquhill John of Rutherford' (PS I N.371), although the Ancrum settlement of 1560 referred to 'John son to the Lard of Rutherford' as killed by the Haitlies, on whom a later laird was revenged (IlkH Ixxxi).

He had only bastards:

i-iv. JAMES, ROBERT, THOMAS and WILLIAM below, whose claims after Richard's death were barred by illegitimacy.

THOMAS, first of Edgerston, ultimately made good his right as heir male there but lost the rest of the estates (Chap. III).

ROBERT below, perhaps 'Hob' cited with his brother in 1485.

ANDREW below.

CHRISTIAN m. 1484 Sir Robert Ker of Caverton. Their son Sir Andrew of Cessford was of age when he succeeded his grandfather Sir Walter in 1511 and had sasine of Hownam and land vocatur Rutherfurdislandis in Caverton (ER XIII, 662). Christian was ancestress of Sir Robert Ker, first Earl of Roxburgh.

JANET seems to have been the wife of Andrew Rutherford I of Hundalee, to which branch she brought Swinside. Hood gave her husband as John of Hundalee but was evidently mistaken about the groom's name (Chap. VI). Even in the more stable and law-abiding conditions in England an heir's minority could presage trouble, though not deprival. Young Richard's death opened the way to inheritance by his sisters, despite his grandfather's strict entail to male heirs. The prize of an heiress was too much for an adventurer to ignore.

KATHERINE (Christian in Hood's chart) was first used to extract a claim to the estate, but her suitor acted with such haste that her succession met a bar not overcome until her sister's barrenness in four marriages removed the rival pretension. Katherine, after being made a ward of the king, forfeited her case January 27, 1502/3 by 'away ganging and trespassing with James ye Stewart of Traquair, committand hir person to him in fornication', Stewart in his hurry to wed having neglected to obtain the prior dispensation required by canon law because the couple were related in the third degree of consanguineity (Riddell's Peerage law, 130). His real offence was to ignore a royal grant of the wardship of Richard's lands and the marriage of his sister on November 12, 1502 to Andrew Forman, . Bishop of Moray and later Archbishop of St Andrews, and his brother Sir John (GS II N.2677, translated IlkH Ixxiii-vi).

The way was clear for the Formans' design for HELEN to succeed. As she was yet a minor tutors were appointed January 11, 1502/3 (IlkH Ixxv), and on February 23 she was served sole heir to her grandfather and brother, despite protests by her uncles Thomas and Robert who adduced the 1492 charter; this the Crown cynically held was invalid since it was made during a royal minority (MS 7, 737). The same year Helen had sasine of Edgerston, Hownam, Browndown and Maxton vocatur Rutherfurdislandis (ER XII, 712), and in July 1504 sasine of Maxton Crags (IlkH lxxvi-ii). Since on March 9, 1505/6 she agreed at Fast Castle to infeft Sir John Forman of Dawane in Edgerston, and likewise April 3 in the barony of Rutherford and Wells (IlkT 10), it is not surprising to find that between November 20 and December 5 next she was married to him.

Whatever friends the injured Rutherfords could muster at Court were unavailing. Forman and Helen had royal confirmation December 5, 1506 of her entire lands which she had resigned in pura virginitate on November 20, to be formed into the barony of Edgerston, with remainder to the survivor, their issue and Helen's heirs (GS II N.3014). For good measure the couple had a new grant August 9,1511 of Rutherford and Wells which the king in reward for Forman's good service - and in consideration of £1000 paid for Helen's wardship and marriage - incorporated into the barony of Rutherford (Ib II N.3612).

These lands were formerly annexed to the barony of Cavers but James Douglas 'freely' surrendered the superiority (MS 7, 730).

Sir James Douglas, 5th of Cavers (d 28.09.1545)

(1537) Elizabeth Murray (dau of John Murray of Falahill)

Meeting opposition from Helen's kinsmen, Forman had recourse to legal process to extinguish the rightful claim. James Rutherford, eldest bastard of her uncle John; obtained the sheriff's precept for infefting him in Wells as nearest heir male (WKR citing RCh) but of course had a bad case. Forman saw the real risk and at his instigation the Crown brought an action in January 1506/7 against not only James and his brothers but also against their surviving uncles to annul the 1492 charter that so awkwardly insisted on heirs male, on the ground that the royal grantor was under age (IlkH xxvi).

Forcible methods were not unfamiliar and frequent signs of resort to them at this time are not wanting on either side. The streak of wholesale violence in Scottish history was unmatched by the almost genteel barbarism of the Wars of the Roses where bloodshed was usually confined to the battlefield. English private charters were inviolate and the more ancient the better; in Scotland it was prudent to obtain fresh deeds from time to time. Trouble was about before Forman came on the scene. In October/November 1498 various persons were pardoned for treasonable communing with the king's rebels called Ruthirfurd, Turnbull and Levin, then at the horn (proclaimed outlaw) and another had pardon in March 1500/1 for selling them meat and drink (PS I N.279, 295, 657).

In 1501 fines were paid on behalf of no fewer than 16 Rutherfords (ER XI). The brothers sued by Forman, and Sir William Douglas of Cavers, sheriff of Roxburghshire, had letters of protection in May 1502 (Ib I N.836). But on August 28, 1504 Thomas Rutherford, no doubt John's bastard, was slain in Jedburgh Abbey by Sir John Forman and others in the company of Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow (IlkT foll. 56);

George Home of Spot and Keams, sold his estate to Henry Home. In 1504, Robert Blackadder Archbishop of Glasgow, went to Rome on certain matters, charged of the King, and during his absence, his church, dean, chapter, canons, as well as his civil servants, were taken under his majesty's protection; and it was declared that none of them during that period should be prosecuted for their misdeeds done up to that time, and especially for the murder of Thomas Rutherforde within the abbey of Jedworth, except the actual murderers, and among the number so respited is George Home of Spot. Crim. Trials, i. 41. He received in 1529 from the King's treasurer recompense of vittalis furnish be him to the castellis of Hume and Weddirburn, and for cornis that wes brint and destroyit be the lard of Weddirburn for his dampnage and scaith. i. 272.

George Home of Spot, uncle to Sir George, lawful son of Alexander Home of Manderston, and father-in-law to James Douglas, was slayne be certayne wicked men of the surname of Home and Craw, and it was allegeit be Sir George that James Douglass of Spott was the author of that murder. Hist. of King James VI. Ban. Club, p. 243. [From History of Dunbar Hume and Dundas from Drummond's Noble British Families, William Pickering, London 1846]

immediately after his marriage Forman had letters of remission February 28, 1506/7 for Thomas' murder and theft from him on that occasion (PS I N.1438-9).

The cathedral of Glasgow [Saint Kentigern's] was consecrated on 6th July 1197, during Bishop Joceline's term in office. The See had been founded in 1115, with John Achaius being the first of 27 bishops until 1488 when Robert Blackadder became the first Archbishop of Glasgow. Pope Alexander VI had elevated the See of Glasgow to an Archdiocese on 9th October of that year. There followed 5 archbishops prior to the Reformation, overseeing the dioceses of Argyle and the Isles, Dunblane, Dunkeld and Galloway. The final pre-Reformation custodian was Archbishop James Beaton who fled to Paris in 1560, taking with him the Cathedral’s relics and valuable ornamentation.

Murder, sacrilege, robbery; a grabber of Forman's stamp would stoop to nothing. History tells little more of John's other bastards. His youngest appears to have died by 1504 (Acta XVIII, 72) though not expressly called deceased in the action of January 1506/7. A Robert Rutherford in Maxton who paid a fine in 1501 (ER XI, 327*) might be old James' son; it would not be surprising if Thomas of Edgerston's younger brother took part in the struggle for succession to safeguard his own eventual right under the entail. If this was the Maxton Robert who had a son John if might be significant that Mark Ker of Dolphinston was pardoned in December 1504 for mutilation and premeditated felony against John and Philip Rutherford (PS I N.1050). However more than one Robert was fined in 1501 and a Robert of Todlaw was in 1502 absolved for theft from Jedburgh Abbey (IlkT foIl. 56).

Death and childlessness severed Forman's grip on Helen's estate. By 1516 she was married again, to Sir Thomas Ker of Mersington whom, said Hood, the Rutherfords killed two days after the wedding (HCh); but in November that year the pair gave a charter of land in Maxton to her uncle Mark Ker for help in recovering her property from a Thomas Ker who detained it (IlkT 11) . She and Mark Ker were at odds March 1530/1 over their bounds and agreed to arbitration by the abbot of Glenluce (APub 352). In 1531 the Council told Ker to vacate 300 acres of hers and in October 1537 Andrew Ker and others were fined for invading her lands with 200 armed men (PCT I, Pt I, 204 *).

Mark Ker of Dolphingston [ancestor of the KERs of Littledean]

Before those events the childless Helen had married again. Doubtless her kinsmen had a hand in her third wedding before November 24, 1527 to Andrew Rutherford the young laird of Hunthill (GS III N.577). Soon Helen was again a childless widow and the attempt to unite two main branches of the house failed with Andrew's death at Martinmas 1529. But on the previous August 20 they had joint charter of Capehope which henceforth remained with his family (Ib III N.821).

Before December 1, 1534 Helen was wedded for the fourth time, to Patrick Home of Broomhouse (Ib III N.1439) to whom on her resignation the king gave half the lands of Rutherford July 14, 1535 (Ib III N.1491; precept for a similar grant of all her lands appears in 1541 (PS II N.4123). With the Homes the Rutherfords had no quarrel, indeed the rightful heir put himself under the protection of Lord Home to whom he was distantly related through their Lauder blood. In 1540 the couple regained land in Bedrule and its patronage (IlkT 11). On March 26,1551 Patrick signed the Band of Roxburgh on his wife's behalf (PC Aug. 1, 1576). A lease of Rutherford mill Helen gave in 1555 is the last heard of her (IlkT 12).

Patrick Home of Broomhouse

Born: 1497, Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland

Marriage: (2): Wyrdrop, Elinor

Marriage: (3): Rutherford, Helen 12 Mar 1536

Died: 1553

She died shortly before February 1556/7 when William Douglas had the gift of the £5 lands of Philogar and the £5 lands of Cunzerton in Hownam barony, in noQ-entry since her death (PS V N.58).