Sir Andrew de Rait of

Rait Rait () is a small village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies northwest of Errol, in the Gowrie area west of Dundee, on a minor road crossing the Sidlaw Hills through the Glen of Rait. The village is mainly residential with stone cottage ...

(born c.1280) was a 13th-14th century Scottish noble. Andrew de Rait was the younger brother of Gervase de Rait, Constable of Invernairn. Andrew was Constable of Nairn Castle in 1296. He appears on the 1296

Ragman Roll Ragman Rolls are the collection of instruments by which the nobility and gentry of Scotland subscribed allegiance to King Edward I of England, during the time between the Conference of Norham in May 1291 and the final award in favour of Balliol ...

giving homage to King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

. He succeeded to his brother's estates and titles in 1297. Arms: Argent, a cross indented Gules

Scottish Wars of Independence

After Edward I sacked Berwick in March 1296 and the Scottish king

John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

abdicated the following July, Edward held a parliament at Berwick on 28 August to receive the submission of the Scottish

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

s and

clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. Sir Andrew de Rait and his older brother, Gervaise, paid homage for

Nairnshire The County of Nairn (also called Nairnshire) ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Narann) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county was used for local administration until the county council, based at the county t ...

. Sir Andrew supported Edward in 1297 when Sir Andrew

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

launched an assault against

Urquhart Castle Urquhart Castle (; gd, Caisteal na Sròine) is a ruined castle that sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is on the A82 road, south-west of Inverness and east of the village of Drumnadrochit. The present ruins dat ...

, then under English control. He went north with those sent by Edward to put down Moray’s revolt under the leadership of

Henry le Chen Henry le Chen ''le Cheyn, le Chein, Cheyne, de Chenewas a late 13th-century and early 14th-century Scoto-Norman bishop. Hector Boece claims that he was the nephew of John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, but no contemporary evidence supports this. ...

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

;

John Comyn, Earl of Buchan John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan (circa 1260 – 1308) was a chief opponent of Robert the Bruce in the civil war that paralleled the War of Scottish Independence. He should not be confused with the better known John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch ...

; and Gartnait of Mar, son and heir of the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. The ...

. Although Edward’s contingent met with Moray near the

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

on 7 July, they did not seize him, blaming the difficulties of the terrain for preventing further pursuit. Andrew de Rait was selected to bear the bishop’s letter of explanation to King Edward:

In Launoy upon-the-Spey on the Tuesday before the feast of St.
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
, there met us Andrew de Murray with a large body of rogues, the number of which Sir Andrew de Raite, your
bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...
, can show you according to what he heard from the people of their company. And the aforesaid rogues betook themselves into a very great stronghold of bog and wood, where no horseman could be of service. It would be too long a business to write, but we pray you to have the goodness to give evidence to Sir Andrew de Raite, your bachelor, who can tell you all these affairs in all points, for he was in person at all these doings.

Euphemia,

Countess of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a separate earldom in the mid 12 ...

and

Malise III, Earl of Strathearn Malise III of Strathearn (Gaelic: ''Maol Íosa''; c. 12571312) was a Scottish nobleman, the ruler of the region of Strathearn. He was the son of Malise II and his second wife Matilda, daughter of Gilbert, Earl of Orkney and Caithness. He succeed ...

, also entrusted Sir Andrew with dispatches to the king, the latter writing, “Dear Sire, I pray you, if it please you, to have the goodness to believe Sir Andrew de Raite, the bearer of this letter, in the matter which he will tell you verbally from me.” En route, Sir Andrew met with

Hugh de Cressingham Sir Hugh de Cressingham (died 11 September 1297William Wallace & Andrew Moray defeat English) was the treasurer of the English administration in Scotland from 1296 to 1297. He was hated by the Scots and did not seem well liked even by the Engli ...

, treasurer of the English administration in Scotland, and showed him the bishop’s letter, but Cressingham reported to the king that the letter was “false in many points and obscure.” It has been argued that Cressingham believed that Chien, Comyn, and Mar were “exaggerating the value of the services they had rendered” in the hope that the king, in his gratitude, would reward them with “the estates of their rivals.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rait, Andrew 13th-century Scottish people 14th-century Scottish people Medieval Scottish knights Scottish people of the Wars of Scottish Independence