The Haigs of Bemersyde : a family history

Front matter

M.L.

©ENEALOGY COLLECTION

Ml\l7iim,i<i9,U,!viT1l' PUBLIC LIBRARY

Contents

INTRODUCTORY.

PAGE

Sir Walter Scott and the Bemersyde Family — Thomas the Rhymer's prediction concerning it— Bemersyde : its locality and scenery— Bemersyde House: its antiquity and surroundings— Its long occupation by the Haigs as a manorial residence — Bemersyde lands : their configuration and extent — Plan of History : arrangement of material — Authorities, . i

Chapter I. Traditional Period, A.d. 839-ii50

Tradition precedes history — Date of earliest extant Scotch writings— Period of ascertained history in Scotland — Its bearing upon family history — The older Scotch genealogists ; their manufacture of pedigrees — The Haig Family: great antiquity assigned to it by tradition — Alleged Pictish origin — Mylne's Pictish genealogy of family : I. Druskine, last King of the Picts, a.d. 839 — II. Hago, his son, carried in infancy over to Norway — III. Hago, a.d. 961 — IV. Arworth — V. Sueno, a.d. 1038 — VI. Hago, a.d. 1072-1103 — VII. Petrus de Hago: shipwrecked on coast of Berwickshire, founded Bemersyde family, etc. — Pictish genealogy of family traditional and fabulous, . . . . . .17

Chapter II. Rise And Probable Origin Of The Family

Inquiry as to the rise and origin of the family — The earliest documents in which the name occurs — Two charters of Richard de Morville — Their probable age — Bearing of Charviii CONTENTS.

ter evidence on inquiries of this nature — The settlement of English and Norman adventurers in Scotland : the De Morvilles ; the Earls of March — The surname of Haig : whence derived — The indications afforded of a Norman origin for the family — Probable period of immigration, and ascertained date of appearance in Scotland, . . . .28

Chapter III. 1 150-1240

Appearance and condition of the Scottish Borders in the twelfth century — I. Petrus de Haga, founder of family, a.d. 1150- 1200 : list of charters in which his name appears — His possession of Bemersyde — II. Petrus de Haga, a.d. 1200-28 : charters to which he is a witness — His first grant of land, etc., to Dryburgh Abbey, 1215-20 — Social aspect of the Borders in thirteenth century — The villages of Bemersyde, Bowden, Newton, and Clarilaw — Lands and rents of cottagers and husbandmen — Condition of the serfs — Inquiry as to how the lands of Bemersyde were acquired and held by the early Haigs — Their relations to neighbouring overlords — Their burial-place in Dryburgh Abbey — III. Henricus DE Haga, a.d. 1228-40: charter of Alan Fitz-Roland, Constable of Scotland, ....... 37

Chapter IV. 1 240-1414

The civil and religious reforms of David I. — Planting of religious houses in south of Scotland — IV. Petrus de Haga, 1 240-80 : grants his Forest of Flatvvood to Dryburgh Abbey- Charter of half a stone of wax to Old Melrose — Witnessed by Thomas Rymour of Ercildune — Question as to date of Charter and Thomas the Rhymer's connection therewith — V.Johannes de Haga, 1280-1326: confirms grant of Flatwood — Swears fealty to Edward I., 1296 — Joins Sir William Wallace — Thomas the Rhymer's prediction concerning family — Traditional account of the prediction — Its various forms — Origin of the family motto — The family arms — Grant of land at Bemersyde to Melrose Abbey— VI. Petrus de Haga, 1326-33 : killed at battle of Halidon Hill — VII. Henricus de Haga, 1333-68 — VIII. Johannes de Haga, 1368-88: killed at battle of Otterbourne— IX. Sir Andrew Hatg, 1 388-1414: knighted by Robert III., . 63

CONTENTS. ix

Chapter V. 1414-1602

Retrograde condition of the Borders — X. John Haig, 1414-36 : dispute with the convent of Melrose — Mediation of Earl of Douglas — His letter — Haigs excommunicated — Copy "Publication of Excommunication" — Formula of procedure — Dispute still unsettled — Finally disposed of by a jury of laymen— XI. Gilbert Haig, 1436-58 — XII. James Haig, 145S- 90: national troubles — Espouses cause of James III.- — At battle of Sauchieburn — Receives conditional pardon from James IV. — Resigns estates in favour of his son — Feudal ceremony of "staff and baton" — XIII. William Haig, 1490-1513 : killed at Flodden— XIV. Robert Haig, 1513- 54: before Lords of Session for stouthreif — At battle of Ancrum Moor — Bemersyde burned by Hertford — Takes "assurance" of Protector Somerset — Resigns estates — XV. Andrew Haig, 1554-83: restores the Tower — XVI. Robert Haig, 1583- 1602: his daughter's marriage — SJr_ Walter ^cotFs descent thereTrom," . . .88

Chapter VI. 1602-16

A new era in the Bemersyde family — Their remarkable survival — XVII. James Haig, 1602-1619: his turbulent disposition — Clandestine marriage — Pecuniary difficulties — Dispute as to Loch of Bemersyde — His brother William's education and character — Estates disponed to William — Consequent troubles — William in Lord Yester's service — Implicated in Somerset's fall — James Haig charges William with effecting Prince Henry's death — Letters to the King, James VI. — William apprehended, charged with seeking the King's life — " Statement" by James Haig to the King, . . .117

Chapter VII. 1616-32

The King orders an inquiry into the allegations of James Haig against his brother — James apprehended — Writes to the King, desiring to be confronted with his brother — Both brothers sent down to Scotland, and confined in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh — Depositions before the Lord Chanx CONTENTS.

cellor — Maintenance allowed to James Haig while in prison — William obtains permission to write a state of his case to the King — His letter to his Majesty — Further depositions before the Lords — James challenges his brother to trial by combat — The result of the inquiry — James departs abroad, and there dies — A period of family troubles — William Haig resigns estates to his nephew — XVIII. Andrew Haig, 1620-27 : his conditional possession of the family property — His brothers Robert and James leave Bemersyde — Straitened circumstances of family — Harassment by creditors — Death of Andrew — William Haig resumes possession of the estates — Dispersion of family, ..... 145

Chapter VIII

XIX. William Haig, 1627-36: succeeds his nephew Andrew — Is appointed Solicitor to the King, and Collector of the Burgh Taxes in Scotland — Opposes the ecclesiastical policy of Charles I. (1633) — Draws up " Supplication " to the King in name of Dissenting Lords — The " Supplication" given to Lord Rothes for presentation to his Majesty, but suppressed — Is discovered in the possession of Lord Balmerino — The latter apprehended and consigned to Edinburgh Castle — William Haig escapes to Holland — Is put to the horn, and declared rebel — Sends back letters acknowledging authorship of "Supplication" — Balmerino's trial — His conviction, and sentence to death — Execution delayed, and subsequent pardon — William Haig obliged to remain abroad — Resigns the Bemersyde estates to his nephew David (1636) — His death (1639) and character, . . . . .185

Chapter IX. 1636-54

Family circumstances — XX. David Haig, 1636-54 : his residence in Holland — Chosen by his uncle William Haig as his heir — Receives disposition of Bemersyde estates — His marriage, and return to Scotland — Sells a portion of the property — Redeems the remainder of the estate — Resides at the Thrid of Bemersyde — Its locality and scenery — His character— Curious contract with his blacksmith — Changed aspects of Border life after the Union — Harassments during the Protectorate — Heavy taxes on proprietors — David Haig's will — His death, . . . . . .221

CONTENTS. xi

Chapter X. 1654-67

XXI. Anthony Haig, 1654-1712 : his peculiar character — Affection for his family and name— Devotes himself to clearing the estate of its burdens — His brother William goes to London to become a merchant — His career there — Curious domestic accounts — Both brothers join the sect of the Quakers— Other Border Quakers — Persecution of that sect in Scotland— Anthony Haig imprisoned, 1663 — His connections with Kirkton the historian — Litigation between them— Letter by Kirkton — William Haig sends Quaker publications from London — Proceedings of the Privy Council — Letters from William in London — Bemersyde's release from prison, 1667, . . ..... 246

Chapter XI. 1668-17 1 2

Anthony Haig, on his release from prison, devotes himself to his property — Domestic transactions — Education of his children — Inventory of his household goods, etc. — Commercial and banking transactions of the period — The Laird of Bemersyde implicated in the abduction of an heiress — His final clearance of the burdens on the property — Removal from the Thrid to Bemersyde — Record of his improvements on the estate — His brother William emigrates to America — His death there — Anthony Haig's family — Marriage of his daughter, and her "plenishing" — Singular quarrel with his son — Epistolary correspondence as to quarrel — Friendly mediation by neighbours— Obadiah Haig draws up family genealogy — His departure for America, and death on the voyage — Anthony Haig's lawsuits — His death, . . 287

Chapter XII. 1712-90

XXII. Zerubabel Haig, 1712-32 : his large family of daughters— The Rhymer's prophecy imperilled — The Jacobite Rising of 1715 — Haig's connection therewith — His. death — Funeral expenses — Succeeded by his son — XXIII. James Anthony Haig, 1732-90: his education and character — A Parliamentary election in 1741— Haig's Jacobite principles —The '45 Rebellion— Incidents relating thereto — His busixii CONTENTS.

ness connections with Sir Walter Scott's father — The Ladies Cairncross of Hillslap — Their will reduced — Letter from Mr Walter Scott thereanent — Laird of Bemersyde's litigation with the Haliburtons of Newmains — Family incidents — His aversion to the Hanoverian dynasty — Opposes his son joining the Volunteer Yeomanry— Consequent proceedings — His death, ....... 343

Chapter XIII. 1783-1881

XXIV. James Zkrubabel Haig, 1 790-1840 : his travels on the Continent — Paris and Versailles — The French Court in 1783 — Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette — Their banqueting-hall at Versailles — The Dauphin — Anecdote of Madame du Barry — Corruption of society, courts of justice, etc. — Succession to Bemersyde — Agricultural improvements — Family bereavements — XXV. James Haig, 1840-54; dies unmarried — Superstitions attending his death and burial — Succeeded by his sisters — XXVI. Barbara Haig, 1854-73 — XXVTL Sophia Haig, 1873-78 : last of David Haig's line — Disposition of Bemersyde property to Colonel Haig — The "Clackmannanshire Branch" — XXVIII. Arthur Balfour Haig, 1878 378

Chapter XIV. Some Illustrations Of Bygone Border Life

The development of Border life — The materials for social and domestic history — The condition of the Borders in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries — The nativi, or serfs : their liberation — The husbandmen and cottagers : their political and social condition — Effect of the reforms of David I.— Evil results of the War of Independence — Its effect upon the Border inhabitants — Origin and development of the wild spirit — Results of the Union of 1603 — Attitude of the Borderers towards the law — Their respect for heritable rights — Disregard of the law in moveables — Nature of land tenure and land cultivation before the Union of 1603 — The same after the Union — Division of land into outfield and infield — Their respective uses — Rent of land — Price of labour — Houses and roads — Effects of the Union of 1707 — Habits and manners of the people — Education and religion — Border gentry in the eighteenth century — The poetry and tradition of^the Borders, ...... 398

CONTENTS. xiii ifamtlg ©eiualogg.

The Bemersyde Succession, ..... 432

Yorkshire Branch, ....... 456

Slppenirii.

I. Philology of the Surname Haig, .... 459 II. Carta Petri de Haga super duabus bovatis terre in

III. Carta Petri de Haga super nemore de Flatwode, . 461

IV. The Rhymer Charter, ..... 462 V. Confirmatio Johannis de Haga super nemore de Flatwod, 463

VI. Carta Johannis de ij bovatis terre de Bemersyd, . . 464 VII. List of Border Chiefs who took " Assurance " of Protector Somerset at Kelso in 1547, .... 464 VIII. The Ancient Privilege of Trial by Combat, . . 465 IX. Letters — William Haig to Lord Balmerino, . . 468 X. Anthony Plaig's Outlays for his Brother William, . 470 XI. Anthony Haig's Inventory of Household Goods, etc., at

XII. Memorandum by Anthony Haig as to Bemersyde Loch, 476

XIII. Anthony Haig's Account of his Daughter Hannah's

Plenishing on the Occasion of her Marriage in 1689, . 478

XIV. Extracts from Diary of James A. Haig, . . . 479 XV. Extracts from Diary of James Z. Haig, . . . 481

XVI. Anthony Haig's Recipes for Medicated Seeds (<r. 1670), . 483

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Bemersyde House ( 1 831 ), by Turner,

Bemersyde House (1881),

St Mary's Aisle, Dryburgh Abbey,

Facsimile of the Rhymer Charter,

The Haig Arms,

Rhymer's Tower, Earlstoun,

Stone with Family Arms, etc.,

Seal of James Haig (1610), .

Autograph of James Haig (1616),

Autograph of William Haig, (1616),

Adrian Haig's Tombstone,

Autograph of Anthony Haig,

Monogram on Sun-dial,

Autograph of Walter Scott ("Beardie

Autograph of Zerubabel Haig,

Anthony Haig's Sun-dial,

Autograph of Mr Walter Scott, W.S.,

Frontispiece

INTRODUCTORY

THE

HAIGS OF BEMERSYDE.

INTRODUCTORY.

Sir Walter Scott and the Bemersyde Family— Thomas the Rhymer's prediction concerning- it — Bemersyde : its locality and scenery — Bemersyde House: its antiquity and surroundings — Its long occupation by the Haigs as a manorial residence — Bemersyde lands: their configuration and extent — Plan of History: arrangement of material — Authorities.

When Turner the painter, in the autumn of 1831, came to Scotland for the purpose of making drawings to illustrate the scenery of Sir Walter Scott's poems, he spent a few days at Abbotsford with the novelist, upon whom the bitter drama of his later years was now beginning to close. One morning, Scott, along with a few friends, accompanied the distinguished artist to Smailholm Tower, the scene of his own weird ballad, The Eve of St John, and thence back to Dryburgh Abbey, of both which places sketches were made. But there was yet one other place on their homeward route of which Scott was resolved there should be a fitting memorial by the same graceful hand. This was Bemersyde : " that ancient residence," says Lockhart, " of the most ancient family now subsisting on Tweedside." When the artist's work was done, Sir Walter and his friends had luncheon with " the good Laird and Lady " in one of the quaint vaulted apartments of the old tower ; after which the party returned to Abbotsford. This was Scott's last visit to his favourite Bemersyde, past which, in September of the following year, moved the long and melancholy procession which bore all that was mortal of the poet to its final resting-place in Dryburgh Abbey.

But its antiquity was not the sole claim which Bemersyde had upon the affections and veneration of Sir Walter Scott. There was that attaching to the place which could not fail, in one so constituted, not only to awaken his interest, but to stir his imagination. Round the family and their old ancestral home the fanciful superstitions of the district had thrown a veil of mingled mystery and wonder, and not a peasant or a peasant's child but could repeat the prophetic utterance of Thomas the Rhymer :

Tyde what may betyde,

Haig shall be Haig of Bemersyde.

This prediction, which had floated in various forms about the Borders for some hundreds of years, was sufficient in the popular belief to insure, as it had already for many long centuries insured, the stability and permanency of the house of Bemersyde. Many others of the Prophet's sayings were still current among the people, and to each and all of them a large and liberal credence was given ; but to none

LOCALITY OF BEMERSYDE. 3

did the popular faith cling so tenaciously as to this : for were not the place and the family still there to point to in testimony of its truth ? In a matter which appealed thus strongly to the imaginative susceptibilities of Scott, it was not in his nature to be either critical or indifferent, more especially as relating to a family that had in former times supplied a bride to one of his own ancestors among the Haliburtons. As he himself remarked in 181 7, when visiting Bemersyde with Washington Irving — "There seemed to him almost a wizard spell hanging over it, in consequence of the prophecy of Thomas the Rhymer, in which in his young days he most potently believed." And what to him had been a kind of enchanted castle in his boyhood, was still the object of tender regard in his closing days.

To all who have any acquaintance with the Borderland of Scotland, the name and locality of Bemersyde are familiar as a household word. It is situated in the parish of Mertoun, in the western extremity of that division of Berwickshire known as the Merse, and which here marches with the county of Roxburgh, being about three miles east of Melrose, and one mile north of Dryburgh Abbey. Its lands are half- embraced on their western and south-western boundary by a magnificent curvature of the river Tweed. This classic stream, which for some distance below Melrose flows due east, no sooner receives into it the waters of the Leader, than, coming in contact with the hard outlying flanks of the Merse uplands, it is suddenly deflected towards the south, nor does it finally resume its easterly course until, with many a graceful curve and sweep, it has passed the romantic confines of Mertoun House, five miles below.

Bemersyde House, the ancient stronghold of the Haigs, stands on an elevated rocky bluff overhanging this, one of the most beautiful reaches of the Tweed. The stream here flows, summer and winter, in a full, deep current, coming down between richly-wooded banks — those on the north abrupt and precipitous, and shagged with oak and birch and hawthorn to the water's edge. On the opposite bank, and all but surrounded by a circular bend of the river, is the shrine-forsaken promontory of Old Melrose, the spot on which the Saxon disciples of Aidan, more than twelve hundred years ago, uplifted the sacred symbols of Christianity. Sweeping clear of this bit of rugged beauty, and entering on a line stretch of open undulating plain, the river glides along in serene grandeur till it plunges beneath the old-red-sandstone cliffs of Dryburgh. On the south, the ground slopes gradually up towards the Eildons, which here display their full range of triple peaks, guarding the entrance into Teviotdale ; whilst on the north, the Black Hill of Ercildoune rears its gloomy front, casting sombre shadows even on the sunshine of a summer's day. The whole course of the Tweed is here amid enchanted ground. It is the Heart of the Borderland: the very names are redolent of Border song and Border story : for here are

Ercildoune and Cowdenknowes,

Where Homes had ance commanding ;

And Drygrange, with its milk-white ewes, Twixt Tweed and Leader standing;

BEMERSYDE HOUSE. 5

The bird that flees through Redpath trees,

And Gladswood banks each morrow, May chant and sing sweet Leader Haugh,

And bonnie howms of Yarrow.

The older portion of Bemersyde House, which, with more or less of necessary change in its fabric, has been occupied by the Haigs for more than seven centuries, consists of a tall, narrow, castellated tower,

BEMERSYDE HOUSE (l88l).

finished with high crow-stepped gables in the style of the latter half of the sixteenth century, and is similar in size and appearance to the neighbouring fortress of Smailholm. The upper portion underwent considerable modification about 1690. Again, in 1796, a small building in modern style was added to the east end of the tower, and a larger wing was built on the west side in 1S59 ; but the old tower is still in use equally with the new portion.1 It is surrounded by a " brotherhood of ancient trees:" stately beeches and tall elms, in whose windy tops the kindly rooks have long established a clamorous colony. On the greensward in front is a singular tree — of that long-lived species, the Spanish chestnut— with a great, rugged, warty trunk, surmounted by a twisted crown of black and gnarled boughs, on which even the greenery of June has a faded look. This is the Covin Tree — that is, the Company or Trysting Tree — beneath which in bygone times it was the habit of the hospitable old lairds to meet and bid welcome to their guests. It is said by tradition to be as old as the house itself, and to have been planted at its foundation : and in reality it looks as if it had stood there through the suns and snows of a thousand years. It was a favourite tree with the Haig family ; and the time when the " old sweet chestnut," as they called it, first puts lorth its leaves in spring is frequently found noted down in the pages of their diaries. From year to year it had silently indicated to them the passage of the seasons — of summer and winter, seed-time and harvest ; and from Generation to generation the music of the wind among- its boughs had mingled with the voices of their children at play. They could not fail to love it : the tree

that in summer was sweet to hear, That rustled its leaves in the fall of the year, And whistled and roared in the winter alone.

1 Turner's sketch represents the House as it was between 1796 and 1S59. It is truthful in effect, though not in detail. The group in the foreground, as is noted on a print of the sketch in Bemersyde House, is composed of Sir Walter Scott, staff in hand, leaning on Lockhart. The lady is Miss Haig ; the figure in the distance, Turner sketching ; and the portrait on the ground represents James Z. Haig, Laird of Bemersyde.

A BORDER PHENOMENON. 7

Its position still serves to indicate the place of the old gateway or barbican that led in ancient times to the tower within the walls ; though the walls themselves, with the usual out-buildings and offices which such fortified places contained, were removed about two hundred years ago, and in their stead is now a green lawn, broken up into flower-plots, and bounded by a line of magnificent old hollies and yews.1

Of the hundreds of forts and castles which once existed on the Scottish Border, and whose ruins still excite the wonder and curiosity of the antiquary, . Bemersyde is the only one that is still inhabited as a manorial residence, and inhabited, too, by the family that were its original founders. This singular tenacity of possession, extending as far back as into the twelfth century, would under any circumstances be remarkable ; and in the present instance becomes all the more so, when we bear in mind that its locality is in the very centre of that district of Scotland which for more than three hundred years was the battle-ground of two hostile nationalities, as well as the scene of almost never-ceasing internal conflict, rapine, and dissension. This phenomenon— for such it is — in Border history, is not more striking than it is suggestive, connecting us of the nineteenth century with that far-away time

1 In the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society for 1879, p. 66, a list is given of large Spanish chestnuts in Scotland, from which it appears that the dimensions of the Bemersyde tree are : Height, 50 feet ; circumference at the base, 27 >£ feet ; at one foot from the base, 2$% feet ; and at five feet, 21 l/i feet. It stands 600 feet above the level of the sea. The tree seems at one time to have been dwarfed in its upper boughs, as, while there are eighty-eight Spanish chestnut trees in Scotland which exceed this of Bemersyde in height, three only exceed it in girth.

when as yet the boundary-line between England and Scotland was undetermined :. when, instead of Scotch and English, we were Saxon and Celt and Norman : and when David the First was but laying the foundation-stones of those splendid religious edifices whose crumbling ruins we view to-day. It is a " far cry " from Scotland in the twelfth, to Scotland in the nineteenth century.

The lands of Bemersyde, as they are first made known to us through the medium of ancient charters and writs, were of greater extent than at present ; the estate, during the seventeenth century in particular, having been denuded of a considerable portion of its territory. In the early period, also, of the family history, chiefly in the thirteenth century, various grants of land were made from the estate to the religious houses of Dryburgh and Melrose. Originally the Bemersyde territory was bounded on the west and south by the Tweed, on the east by the lordships of Mertoun and Smailholm, and on the north by the long low ridge of craggy hills extending between Redpath and Brotherstone. It would appear, indeed, that the area of ground anciently possessed by the Haigs, embraced the whole of the lands lying southward from these hills to the Tweed, within the lateral limits assigned, excepting. only the small peninsular piece of ground on which Dryburgh Abbey was erected.

It is the History of the Family whose claims to notice we have thus indicated, that is here set forth. Under the enlightened teaching of such men as Cosmo Innes, David Laing, and other workers in the

PLAN OF HISTORY. 9

same field, the present generation has learned that we do not write the history of a nation when we have chronicled its battles and tabulated its kings, nor that of a family when we have drawn up a catalogue of its births and marriages, its deaths and successions, its reversions and escheats. To quote from the first-named writer : " The Literature of Family History, which went down at the French Revolution, has come to life in our time, but in a somewhat different shape. We are not satisfied now with a detail of pedigree, and an array of its proofs. The literature that was confined to glorifying a family does not satisfy an age that pretends to higher views; and we demand in such books — if they deal with anything short of great historical families — either a display of personal character and the interest of personal adventure, or else illustrations of social history, of the character and spirit of the age, and of the customs and conditions of the people at various times." 2 An endeavour has been made, in the drawing up of this History, to give effect to the principles here laid down.

Before proceeding further, it may be convenient in this place to give — (1) An outline of the Plan, or Arrangement, followed in this work as regards its materials ; and (2) A brief account of the chief private authorities made use of.

I. Arrangement. — It has been too much the custom, in constructing books of this nature, to make little or no distinction in form between the history of the family and the minutiae of its gene-

1 Sketches of Early Scotch History, p. 325.

IO THE HAIGS OF BEMERSYDE.

alogy. This seems to me to possess a double disadvantage. In the first place, it is extremely dimcult for the writer to oqve a continuous narrative of the main events if his attention is being perpetually distracted by the necessity of incorporating with the same the dry and not unfrequently repellent details that are nevertheless essential in a sound genealogy ; and in the second place, it renders the book inconvenient and cumbersome for purposes of reference, the general reader being compelled, in following the family history, to make his way through a mass of petty details which possibly present no points of interest to him, whilst the genealogist, who consults it for purposes of exact information, can only obtain this by a process of sifting as tedious as it is irksome. In order somewhat to obviate these difficulties, the materials for the present work are arranged under one or other of the following sections : —

I. The Family History.

II. The Family Genealogy (including that of the

cognate Branches) III. An Appendix of Charters, Family Papers,

etc. (grouping together such documents as cannot

readily be incorporated with the text, but which

are otherwise important).

In thus classifying the materials at command, care is taken, both in the index and throughout the work, to maintain a sufficient chain of references between the different sections.

II. Authorities. — The chief authorities made use of, besides the Cartularies of the old religious houses, and the various public Registers, are the Family Papers in general, and in especial certain

FAMILY PAPERS. II

documents among these which professedly deal with the history of the Bemersyde Family.

The Family Papers. — These are extensive, and range from about 1 162 to the present time — a period of 719 years. Those in the charter-chest of the family date from 1425 onwards. The history of the first 250 years is mainly derived from the charters and other documents preserved in the Cartularies of various religious houses in Scotland, chiefly those of Melrose, Dryburgh, and Kelso.1 From 1425 to 1600, the papers in the possession of the family are comparatively few ; but from the latter date the materials are abundant. Apart from the general collection of family papers, there are a few that call for special mention.

1 . Obadiah Haigs Manuscript. — The earliest document which attempts to give a consecutive account of the Haigs of Bemersyde, is one that was drawn up in 1699 by Obadiah Haig, a cadet of the family. It is in the shape of a genealogical tree, beautifully engrossed on a fine sheet of parchment, measuring three feet by two and a half feet, and is in an excellent state of preservation, the writing being singularly neat and distinct. It is entitled : —