An old family : or, the Setons of Scotland and America

Front matter

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Preface

The glories of our blood and state Are shadows, not substantial things.

— Shirley.

Gibbon says in his Autobiography: "A lively desire of knowing and recording our ancestors so generally prevails that it must depend on the influence of some common principle in the minds of men"; and I am strongly persuaded that a long line of distinguished and patriotic forefathers usually engenders a poiseful self-respect which is neither pride nor arrogance, nor a bit of medievalism, nor a superstition of dead ages. It is founded on the words of Scripture: Take care of a good name ; for this shall continue with thee more than a thousand treasures precious and great (Ecclesiasticus xli. 15).

There is no civilized people, whether living under republican or monarchical institutions, but has some kind of aristocracy. It may take the form of birth, of intellect, or of wealth ; but it is there. Of these manifestations of inequality among men, the noblest is that of Mind, the most romantic that of Blood, the meanest that of Money. Therefore, while a man may have a decent regard for his lineage, he should avoid whatever implies a contempt for others not so well born. " Who were thine ancestors ? " was put by Dante into the mouth of a reprobate — Farinata degli Ubcrti — lifting his haughty and tranquil brow from a couch of everlasting fire:

" E'en as if Hell he had in great despite."

vi PREFACE.

It is a little embarrassing to write about Family in America. The insolence of wealth, the crushing ostentation, the impudent assumption of crests and coats-of-arms, ought, perhaps, to be left unnoticed, because, as Selden says in his Table Talk, u Honesty sometimes keeps a man from growing rich and civility from being witty." It now seems incongruous and out of harmony with the right ideas for an old family to have Money, for Money is the chief distinction in our sordid age; although to a reflective and imaginative mind there is nothing grand in a House founded on gold, whose heirlooms are shares and bonds and city lots — a House without traditions of self-sacrifice and chivalry to hand down to later generations.

The early emigration to this country was not drawn to any considerable extent from the ignorant and poorer part of the population; but was largely composed of those who were not merely of an adventurous disposition and energetic character, but were also possessed of some pecuniary means and some advantages of education. Yet few of the Colonial families were scions of old stock. Recently, however, claims are advanced in every direction, and Americans who aspire to Society, at home or abroad — earlier, perhaps, abroad than at home — pretend to be connected with British families. on similarity of name or other flimsy foundation in a manner that makes them ridiculous — to the Sphinx from whom they would learn the secret of their transmarine descent. Yet any reasonable member of the Forty Families in America whose aristocratic origin is " well ratified by law and heraldry' will have the good sense to say with the wise and eloquent Ulysses, when resting his claim to leadership on personal merits and not on the divinity of his ancestors :

— Metamorphoses, XIII. , 140.

With us every honest man can become his own ancestor.

PREFACE. vii

The following extract from an article by the late General E. P. Scammon on u The South Before, During, and After the War," which appeared in the Catholic World for March, 1892, is quoted becausejt speaks the truth about a matter on which there has been a certain confusion of ideas: "That there was little difference of social rank or condition between the colonists of North and South is proved beyond question by colonial records. There is no escape from their evidence; and they tell us not only who but what the colonists were. Generally they were people who sought to improve their worldly fortunes ; they were neither the rich nor the powerful. The more numerous exceptions to this rule would naturally be expected, where, in fact, they were, among those who came to the New World to secure that religious liberty for themselves which was denied them in the Old. They were notably among the Puritans of New England, the Friends, or Quakers, of Pennsylvania, and the Catholics of Maryland. Doubtless there were many others — adventurous younger sons with little fortune or prospect of preferment at home, and some whom adversity had so reduced in fortune that they were unable to maintain their accustomed stations in the Old World, but yet were left with what was comparative wealth for a new countrv where poverty was the rule. To this class some of the leading colonists of Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia belonged. But their numbers were relatively small. The pretence of gentle birth, as a characteristic difference between colonists of different States, is alike silly and unfounded. There were Washingtons, Fairfaxes, Masons, Lees, and Johnstones in the array of old names in Virginia; Tudors, Vaughans, Waldrons, Wentworths, and Dudleys in New England ; as later there were Van Cortlandts, Van Rensselaers, Livingstons, and Setons in New York, and in these and other colonies a list of less familiar names which might challenge their claims to precedence."

viii PREFACE.

It is more than forty years since I began to study the history of my family and to gather notes on every subject concerning it — since I commenced to talk to venerable men about it and to take from their lips the lore of earlier times : Refnember the days of old ; think upon every generation ; ask thy father, and he will declare to thee ; thy elders, and they will tell thee (Deut. xxxii. 7).

Some of my friends and acquaintances may feel surprised that I should pay attention to a subject of no general or public interest, and which seems especially reprehensible in view of the Apostle's admonition to Timothy and Titus to " avoid foolish questions " and u endless genealogies." In extenuation, I will say that I have neglected no ecclesiastical duty in compiling the records of my family, to which I have devoted only "those interstitial vacancies" that may intervene even in the most crowded variety of occupation, and that they have little in common with the tables of descent such as the Jews paraded, giving rise to trivial disputes and unreasonable expectations reproved by St. Paul. Not alone have Clerics, in the past, been often the only preservers of their family history, but every family of mediaeval antiquity must go to monastic chronicles and religious charters for the earlier links of its pedigree. To mention only Scotchmen : Father Aloysius Leslie, S.J., wrote the history of the Leslies, published in a large and sumptuous folio at Gratz in 1692, with the title Laurus Lesliana Explicata ; and about the same time Father Hay gave out his Genealogie of the Mays of Tweeddale. I might also add that my learned correspondent the late Henry Foley, S.J., has collected in his Records of the English Province an immense amount of genealogical information about old families in Great Britain.

Acknowledgments.

I am indebted for assistance to the following gentlemen, to whom I return thanks if living, and of whom I am mindful if dead: Sir William Fraser, the Peerage Lawyer; Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart. ; Edward Stillingfleet Caylev, Esq., of Wydale; Reginald Stuart Poole, Esq., of the British Museum; Rev. Dr. Struthers, Minister of Prestonpans ; Colonel the Hon. Robert Boyle, brother to the Earl of Glasgow; Mark Seton Synnot, Esq., of Ballymoyer; William Dunlop, Esq., of Edinburgh; Charles Olney, Esq., of the Bank of New York; ex-Governor Francis Philip Fleming, of Florida; Henry Vining Ogden, Esq. ; Bergwyne Maitland, Esq. ; William Seton Gordon, Esq. ; Henry Ogden, Esq.

Bibliography.

I. The History of the House of Seytoun to the Year MDLIX. By Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, Knight, with the Continuation, by Alexander Viscount Kingston, to MDCLXXXVII. Printed at Glasgow, MDCCCXXIX.

The author belonged to an old Scotch family celebrated in the political history of their country, and it has been said of him that " in the literary world he was known by his history of the family of Seton, and Poems on several subjects." His mother's father was Lord Seton; and he piqued himself on being " a daughter's son of the said house," whose history and chronicle he wrote at the personal request of his cousin George, Lord Seton. Maitland was the first in that long list of family historians who have done so much to illustrate the antiquity and importance of the great houses of Scotland. This edition was privately printed for the members of the Maitland Club, for whom it was edited by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, the celebrated antiquary. A lady of high rank — descended, as he also was, from the Setons — writing to him, February 18, 1821, before he had undertaken to edit Maitland's History, says: " It has occurred to me that if . . . you were to publish their memoirs with notes, and with such prints, the book would sell well, and might be made a curious one as to Scotch domestic history and anecdotes relating to remarkable persons"; and she offers to make sketches for him. I have also another edition of the same work, with some differences and additions, printed at Edinburgh in 1830. These copies were given to my father by kinsmen when he xii BIBLIOGRAPHY.

visited Scotland in 1855, being the first of our branch of the family to return there in over a century.

II. A History of the Family of Seton during Eight Centuries. Bv George Seton, Advocate, M.A. Oxon., etc. Two vols. Edinburgh, 1896.

The author of this copious record of the family is an old friend, the representative of the Cariston branch. It is a very large and profusely illustrated work of over one thousand pages. It has been a labor of love and of profound research ; but as one who is honorably mentioned therein, I will say (without malice) that it contains some things that are important, many things that are useful, and everything that is superfluous.

III. Seton of Parbroath in Scotland and America. Printed for private circulation. i2mo, pp. 28, 1890.

A little monograph rather hastily prepared. More time and study have enabled me to modify some of my views and correct some of my statements.

IV. The Olivestob Hamiltons. By Rev. Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, B.A., New York. Privately printed,

A very interesting and well-written account of one branch of a princely family connected with the Setons.

V. Chart of the Descendants of John and Elizabeth Seton.

It is carefully compiled by a member of the family and enriched with a large number of notes.

VI. Record of the Bavley Family in America. Bv Guy Carleton Bayley, M.D., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

VII. Descendants of John Ogden. 1640. By Henry Ogden, Esq., of New York.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. xiii

VIII. Descendants of Martinus Hoffman. B. 1640. D. 1 67 1. With Notes. By Lindley Murray Hoffman, Esq., of New York.

IX. Some Account of the Family of Prime of Rowley, Mass., with Notes on the Families of Platts and Jewett. By Temple Prime. Second edition (illustrated), New York,

X. Descent of Comfort Sands and of his Children, with Notes on the Families of Ray, Thomas, Guthrie, Alcock, Palgrave, Cornell, Dodge, Hunt, and Jessup. By Temple Prime. Second edition, New York, 1897.

The author of these interesting, carefully compiled, and exquisitely printed family histories, Temple Prime, Esq., of Huntington, L. I., is my cousin, and a great-grandson, maternally, of Sir John Temple, Bart. He is a member of several learned societies, and an authority on genealogy, European and American. He has written a number of other works on his family connections with a modesty rare in one so well descended.

XI. The Green Book.

It is so called from the color of its binding, and contains Notes, Recollections, and Memoranda of the Seton Family, particularly in America. The earliest entry is 1797. Manuscript in my possession.

XII. The Brown Book.

Same reason as above ; contains Notes and Memoranda made bv me while visiting Scotland in 1855, 1861, 1889, and 1896. Manuscript in my possession.

Chapter II

1 100-1380 — Origin of the name Saher de Say — Saint Walthen or Waltheof — William the Lion Grants Charter to Philip de Setoune — First Mention of Coal in Scotland — Origin and History of Comyn Family — The Perciesof Topcliff — Sir Christopher Seton(2), Friend and Companion of Wallace — Sir Christopher Seton (3), xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Associate of Bruce — Battle of Methven — Capture and Execution of Sir Christopher — Loch Doon Castle — Origin of " Chrystell's Mount" — Seton Estates in England Confiscated — Battle of Bannockburn — Sir Alexander Seton (2) Accompanies Bruce to Ireland — Tranent Granted to the Setons — Edward Baliol's Usurpation — Defence of Berwick by Sir Alexander Seton (3) — The Cheyne Eamily — Margaret, Heiress of Seton ... 22

Chapter III

1383-1585 — Froissart's Mention of the Setons — Battle of Otterburn — Sir John Assueton's Gallant Feat of Arms — Froissart at Seton Castle — Sir William Seton, "the Premier Baron of Scotland"— Origin of the Gordons — John, Second Lord Seton, Taken Prisoner at Homildon Hill — William, ''Master" of Seton, Accompanies the Scots Guards to France, Takes Part in the Battle of Bauge, and is Killed at Verneuil — " The Mass of Verneuil " — Setons in the Scotch Auxiliaries of France — Setons Allied to the Douglasses — George, Fourth Lord Seton, " Vocatus Necromanticus " — The Collegiate Church of Seton — Poem on "The Ruins of Seton Chapel" — George, Fourth Lord Seton, Captured by Dunkirkers — Defeat of His Enemies — Origin of the Campbell Family — Origin of the Hepburns — Battle of Flodden — The Setons Benefactors of the Convent of St. Catharine of Siena in Edinburgh — The Seton Cairn at Edinburgh — The Ruins of Niddry Castle — Seton Castle Burned by the English — The Setons of Cariston — Origin of the Hamiltons — George, Seventh Lord Seton, Brings the First Coach to Scotland — Mary, Queen of Scots, at Seton — Description of Seton House — The New Seton Castle — Architectural Monuments of the Setons — Loyalty of the Setons to Mary, Queen of Scots — Battle of Carberry Hill — Lord Seton's Rescue of Mary, Queen of Scots, from Loch Leven Castle — Battle of Langside — Exile of Lord Seton — Agent of the Imprisoned Queen — His Letter to Pope Gregory XIII. — His Death — His Epitaph in Seton Church ...... 46

Chapter IV

1548-1615 — The " Four Maries" — Sketch of Mary Seton, Daughter of the Sixth Lord Seton — Mary Seton's Watch ... 97

Chapter V

1 585-1 716 — Robert Seton, First Earl of Winton, Persecuted by the Presbyterians — Origin of the P'arls of Eglinton — Connection of the Setons with the Earldoms of Eglinton, Perth, and Both well '

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xvii

— Charles Stewart, son of Lady Isabel Seton, " Trooper in the Civil Wars" — Union of Scotland and England — The Roundle at Seton — Winton House, Haddingtonshire — Lord Winton a Royalist in the Civil War — Taken Prisoner at Philiphaugh — Seton Family Injured by the Civil Wars — Origin of the Hay Family and its Connection with the Setons — Lord Traquair, Husband of Lady Ann Seton, Persecuted by the Covenanters — The Fourth Earl of Winton at the Battle of Pothwell Bridge — The Last Earl of Winton Takes Part in the " Rising " of 1715 — Captured at Preston, Condemned to Death, but Escapes to France — End of the Wintons — The Name of Seton Disappears from the Peerage ............. 100

Chapter VI

1555-1694 — Alexander Seton, First Earl of Dunfermline — Queen Mary Grants Him the Priory of Pluscardine — The Last Catholic Lord Chancellor of Scotland — Letter of Father James Seton, S.J., to the General of the Jesuits — The Earl of Dunfermline's Love of Heraldry and Poetry — Pinkie House, Mid-Lothian — Death and Character of Chancellor Seton — The Second Earl of Dunfermline, Lord Privy Seal — End of the Dunfermlines . 123

Chapter VII

1621-1726 — Alexander Seton's Devotion to Charles II., Who Makes Him Viscount Kingston — Defends Tantallon Castle against Cromwell and Takes Part in the Battle of Worcester — In Battles of Pentland Hills and Bothwell Brig — The Last Viscount Kingston Attainted for Taking Part in the "Rising" of 1715 — His Estates are Forfeited and He Flees to the Continent — The Hays of Dunse Castle Representatives of the Kingston Family . 137

Chapter VIII

1639-1769 — The Setons of Garleton — Dedication of An Answer to Monsieur De Rodoris Funeral of the A/ass to the First Garleton — The Second Garleton Connected with the Ancient Family of Wauchope — The Last Garleton ...... 142

Chapter XII

I553_I588 — The Setons of Barnes — John, Son of the Seventh Lord Seton, Bred at the Court of Spain, and Employed in Various High Offices in Scotland — Sir John Seton (2) Receives Grant of Land in Ireland, and Marries into the Ancient Family of O'Ferrall— Last Seton of Barnes Takes Part in the " Rising" of 1715 — James Seton (1), Governor of St. Vincent (West Indies), Representative of the Barnes Family ...... 153

Chapter XVI

The Setons of Abercorn — The Maule Family — Charles I. Institutes the Hereditary Order of Baronets in Scotland — Sir Walter Seton Created Baronet of Nova Scotia — Sir Henry Seton Serves in the French and Indian War and Receives a Grant of Land in New York — Sir Alexander Seton Connected with the East India Company— Sir Henry-John Seton, Captain in the Peninsular War and Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria — Sir Bruce-Maxwell Seton — The Setons of Pitmedden — The Setons of Mounie — The Protestant Cemetery at Leghorn — Alexander Seton, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-fourth Highlanders, Drowned in the Wreck of H. M. S. Birkenhead — The Setons of Cariston — The Setons of Parbroath — The Ramsays — The Ancient Family of Vieux- Pont — Origin of the Pitcairn Family — " Master David " Seton — Maitland's Eulogy of " Master David " — The Murrays — The Lindsays — John Seton, Fifth Baron of Parbroath, Killed at Flodden — The Burleighs — The Leslies — Sir David Seton, of

TABLE OF CONTENTS. xix

PAGE

Parbroath, Comptroller in the Reigns of Queen Mary and James VI. — The Seton Miniature of Mary, Queen of Scots — The Last Seton of Parbroath — History and Description of Parbroath House — Old Dovecote at Parbroath — The Setons of Lathrisk — Captain Patrick Seton — His Curious Will — The Setons of Clatto — Seton-Karr of Kippilaw ....... 164

Chapter XVII

Miscellany — Barony of Tranent, in Haddingtonshire, Granted to the Setons in the Thirteenth Century — The Ancient Church of Tranent— Bailie Seton's Tomb — Witchcraft in Tranent — Old Buildings of Tranent — Falside Castle — The Falside Family — Elphinstone Castle — " Seyton, an Officer Attending on Macbeth" — Shakespeare's "Macbeth" — Setons, "Confessors of the Faith " — David Seton, Grand Prior of Scotland — Jesuits at Seton — Seton Jesuits — Father Robert Seton, S.J. — Setons in Prison for the '45 — Seton Tartan — Seton Names — Setons in Sweden — In Italy — In Ireland — Last Man in England Killed in a Duel — Seton Lake Mission ......... 209

Chapter XVIII

Setons of New Vork Belong to the Parbroath Line — The Robertson Family — Elizabeth Seton — The Cayleys — The Synnots — Kirkbridge, Yorkshire, England, Birthplace of Mary and Agnes Berry — William Seton in England — William Seton in America — Maria Synnot — William Seton (1) — The American Curzons — Descendants of William Seton (1) — Anna Maria Curzon — Elizabeth Seton's Letter to Lady Cayley — William Seton (2) — The Bayley Family in America — Miniature of E. A. Seton — Miniature of W. M. Seton — Anna-Maria Seton — " Our Great-grandfather's Balls " — New York Society at the End of the Eighteenth Century — Rebecca Seton — Lady Cayley's Letter to Mrs. Seton — Mrs. Seton's Letter to Mrs. Scott — Lady Cayley's Letter to Elizabeth Seton — Death of Dr. Bayley, Health Officer of New York — Elizabeth Seton's Letter to Rebecca Seton — Elizabeth Seton Becomes a Catholic — James Seton — Alfred Seton — Samuel Waddington Seton — Edward-Augustus Seton — Elizabeth and Charlotte Seton — The Ogdens — Rebecca and Henrietta Seton — Cecilia Seton — Descendants of Andrew and Margaret Seton — The Flemings of Florida — Children of William Seton and Elizabeth Bayley — Mother Catharine Seton — Richard Seton — William Seton (3) — Midshipman Seton — Lieutenant Seton — The Primes — Rufus Prime Marries into the Old English Family of Temple — Henry

XX TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Seton, Officer in the United States Army — Robert Seton, First American to be Made a Roman Prelate — William Seton (4), Soldier, Scholar, and Author ....... 239

Chapter XIX

The Seton Estate at Cragdon, Westchester County, N. Y. — E. N.

Vallandigham's Description of Seton Lane .... 365

CHAPTER XX. Lelia Seton Wilder ......... 384

CHAPTER XXL

Heraldry of the Setons — Earliest Seton Arms — Earl of Winton's Arms — The Seton Crest — The Wyvern — Motto of the Setons — Seton Supporters — Prior of Pluscardin's Arms — Earl of Dunfermline's Arms ......... 385

CHAPTER XXII. Arms of the Setons of Parbroath ....... 400

Conclusion 402 v.

List of Illustrations.

Robert Seton, D.D.

Arms of William, First Lord Seton

Seal of Sir Robert Avexei

dougall de say-toun

Sir, Christopher Seton's Two-handed Sword Ruins of Loch Doon Castle, Ayrshire Dumfries in the Sixteenth Century (full-page) Seal of Roger de Quincy, 1250 r>er\vick-on-t\veed in i745 (full-page) Sir Alexander Seton's Dagger Seton Church (full-page) Bell of Seton Church Interior of Seton Church (full-page) Seton Cairn, Edinburgh .

Ruins of Niddry Castle .

Mary, Queen of Scots, at Seton Seton House in Ruins, 1790, Front View (full-page) Seton House in Ruins, 1790, Rear View (full-page) Seton Castle Raised by Mackenzie, 1798 Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire (full-page) Seton Portrait Group (full-page) Mary Seton's Watch ....

Robert Seton, First Farl of Wtinton, His Countess, and Their only Daughter (full-page) .

The Roundle at Seton

Winton House, Haddingtonshire (full-page)

George, Fifth Earl of Winton (full-page) .

Signature of Lord Chancellor Seton .

Alexander Seton, First Earl of Dunfermline (full-page)

Pinkie House, Midlothian (full-page)

Ruins of Dalgety Lodge and Church (full-pace)

Sir Bruce-Maxwell Seton, Bart, (full-page)

English Burial Ground, Leghorn .

Seton Miniature of Mary, Queen of Scots (full-page)

Clump of Trees and Broken Arch, Parbroath (full-page)

Frontispiece

PAGE

Facing 1

9 23 29

30 31 37 39 43

59 61

Si

125 129

133 169

193 199

XX11

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Macbeth " (full-page)

Old Abandoned " Dookit " at Parbroath

Bailie Seton's Tomb, Tranent Churchyard

Old Tranent Church, and David Seton's Dookit

Ruins of Falside Castle .

Elphinstone Tower .

*' Seyton, an Officer Attending on

Elizabeth Seton (full-page)

E. S. Cayley (full-page) .

M. Seton Synnot (full-page) .

Mary Berry, 1790

Kirkbridge, Yorkshire, England (full-page)

Fountain, Ballymoyer, Ireland

Maria Synnot, 1796 .

William Seton's Notarial Seal

John Curzon Seton, 1798 .

William Seton (full-page)

E. A. Seton, 1794

William M. Seton (full-page)

James Seton, of New York

S. W. Seton (full-page)

E. A. Seton (full-page)

Margaret Seton Porter .

Saint Joseph's Sisterhood, 1810 (full-page) .

Margaret Seton, Wife of Andrew Seton, 1807 •

Charles Seton, Son of Andrew and Margaret Seton,

Mother Catharine Seton, 1870 (full-page) .

Richard B. Seton (full-page)

Mother Seton, 1820 (full-page) ....

William Sp:ton (full-page)

Nathaniel Prime (full-page) .....

Cornelia Sands (Mrs. Nathaniel Prime) (full-page)

Henry Seton (full-page)

Willie Seton (full-page)

Thomas Seton Jevons (full-page) ....

William Seton (full-page)

Plan of Cragdon and of East Chester Village (full- Mansion House, Cragdon, 1850 (full-page) William Seton, 1850 (full-page) Skating Pond, Cragdon (full-page) Emily Prime (Mrs. William Seton) (full-page) Wolf's Cave at Cragdon (full-page) Winter Scene at Cragdon (full-page) .

Seal of Sir Alexander Seton, 1216

'AGE

PAGE 20I 213

215 217

221 223 241

245 247 249 251

323 327

363 3^7 3^9 373

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

xxin

Silver-mounted Shell Snuffbox given by the Earl of Win ton to Sir George Seton of Parbroath

Arms on Earl of Winton's Snuffbox ....

Seton Crest

Later Arms of Seton

Arms of Duke of Richmond and Gordon

Arms of Seton of Abercorn, Bart. ....

Arms of Seton of Pitmedden, Bart

Arms of Governor Gordon of Pennsylvania

Arms of Baron Halkett

Arms of Earl of Eglinton

Arms of Alexander Seton, Commendatory Prior of Plus cakdin

Arms of Alexander Seton, First Earl of Dunfermline

Later Arms of Seton of Parbroath ....

Book-plate of William Seton

Arms of Sir George Seton of Parbroath

Earlier Arms of Seton of Parbroath ....

397 399 400 400 401 401

ARMS OF WILLIAM, FIRST LORD SETON. (From the Armorial de Gelre, composed about 1369.) This lord visited Jerusalem, and took an antelope's head for a crest, as a memorial of his travels and sport in the East.

Introduction.

'Tis opportune to look back upon old times and contemplate our forefathers.

— Browne : Urn Burial.

Chapter I

The Setons are essentially a Scottish family, and, like all the historical families of Scotland, are of Norman origin. It is, moreover, one of the few families in Great Britain which can be traced back to Normandy, and found established there before the Conquest of England ; consequently it is one of the oldest families in Europe. The Normans derived their remote origin from that family of nations, the Getae, or Goths, which was spread out from the steppes of Central Asia to the shores of the Baltic. When Rollo, in the first quarter of the tenth century, entered into full possession of his dukedom, which henceforth proclaimed the origin of its conquerors and settlers in the name itself of Normandy, cta formal repartition of the ceded territory ensued," says Palgrave, lt chieftains and soldiers taking or retaining their shares." It should be observed that nearly all the Norman nobility was of the same family stock as Duke Rollo, and, like him, descended from the Royal House of Norway, or Scandinavia. During the thirty years' reign of Richard the Good, a.d. 996—1026, a new combination of social elements was formed. cc Henceforth, " says Palgrave, 4 'the Norman annals abound with those historical names rendered illustrious by the illusions of time and the blazonry

2 THE NORMAN ARISTOCRACY. [a.d.

which imagination imparts. With few exceptions the principal baronial families of Normandy appeared during this reign." {Hist, of Eng. and Norm., III., 28.) Thus Feudalism arose, an institution which is ignorantly associated in the modern mind with whatever was oppressive and degrading during the Middle Ages. Yet it found a certain class slaves, and it made them serfs; which means that, not being any longer attached to the person of a proprietor but to the soil, they were raised a degree in the social scale. Feudalism fostered courage, attachment to home, the spirit of disciplined subordination, and love of country. Montalembert, in the sixth volume of Les Moines dy Occident, touches on the advantages of this system from the standpoint of Religion, and consequently of Civilization. Writing the history of a family which belonged to the earliest feudal hierarchy, I consider the matter only from the side of genealogy and the personal positions arising out of it which thus became important to the destiny of families and even of nations, wars in those ages having almost always a dynastic origin. " As everything," says Hallam {Middle Ages, I., 189), " in the habits of society conspired with that prejudice which, in spite of moral philosophers, will constantly raise the profession of arms above all others, it was a natural consequence that a new species of aristocracy, founded upon the mixed considerations of birth, tenure, and occupation, sprung out of the feudal system. Every possessor of a fief was a gentleman, though he owned but a few acres of land, and furnished his slender contribution towards the equipment of a knight. . . . There still, however, wanted something to ascertain gentility of blood where it was not marked by the actual tenure of land. This was supplied by two innovations devised in the eleventh and twelfth centuries: the adoption of surnames and of armorial bearings. The first are commonly referred to the former age, when the nobility began to add the names of their estates to their own, or, hay-

1000] THE NORMAN ARISTOCRACY. 3

ing in any way acquired a distinctive appellation, transmitted it to their posterity." For a family, therefore, to have a peculiar and a territorial designation in the eleventh century was proof of high rank. At an earlier period even the noblest had only personal surnames, which were generally descriptive of an individual quality, good or bad. Yet these were not surnames at all in our usual sense, although at a later age they were transmitted to descendants when surnames became common to all classes, and can generally be distinguished from those other names whose origin is essentially noble because it springs from the freehold of land, " the patent and passport of self-respect " among all races. It was, probably, first in Normandy and with the introduction of the feudal system that the use of transmissible surnames was established among the nobility. From there they were introduced into England and Scotland, and parts of Ireland, after the Conquest. Many of the followers of William had taken names from their castles or villages, which they used with the French prefix de before them. This particule nobiliaire was discarded in Great Britain with the disappearance of the Norman-French language, and it is in bad taste to try to revive it now. When the native Norse names of the earlier settlers in Normandy were modified to suit their new language — the language of civilization, which at that time was French, with a predominant Latin element — descriptive or incidental names were given or assumed. It was only later that, under the influence, as has been said, of chivalry and other feudal institutions, we find these hereditary and territorial surnames, indicative of landed property and patrician descent, which became so great a source of pride to men of Norman blood. It was once the fashion to speak of the Norman barons who fought at Hastings-Pevensey Beach, 1066 — as adventurers from every part of France who, from a condition of homeless vagabonds, became suddenly possessed of lands and castles in England ; but it is false,