James Hay, Lord Hay and Lord Slains (c.1797 – 16 June 1815) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer killed during the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...

Biography

James Hay was the son of

William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll (12 March 1772 – 26 January 1819), known as Lord Hay until 1778, was a Scottish peer. Early life Erroll was the son of James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll and his second wife, Isabella Carr, the eldest daughter and ...

and his wife Alicia Eliot (d. 1812). Hay, an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, was killed at the

Battle of Quatre Bras The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought on 16 June 1815, as a preliminary engagement to the decisive Battle of Waterloo that occurred two days later. The battle took place near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras and was contested between ele ...

while serving as '' aide-de-camp'' to General Maitland. Had he lived, he would have succeeded his father as

Earl of Erroll Earl of Erroll () is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are ''Lord Hay'' (created 1449) and ''Lord Slains'' (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. ...

upon his death in 1819; as it was, his brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

succeeded to the title. In 1899

Murray's Magazine ''Murray's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine published by the John Murray publishing house. Sixty issues were published, from January 1887 through to December 1891. It was priced at 1/- (one shilling). The magazine included limited amounts of f ...

published some recollections by Georgiana, Dowager Lady De Ros (a daughter of the Duchess of Richmond) about

Duchess of Richmond's ball The Duchess of Richmond's ball was a ball hosted by Charlotte, Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras. Charlotte's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, was in command of a reserve fo ...

that took place on 15 June 1815. She recalled "I remember being quite provoked with poor Lord Hay, a dashing merry youth, full of military ardour, whom I knew very well for his delight at the idea of going into action, and of all the honours he was to gain; and the first news we had on the 16th was that he and the

Duke of Brunswick Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

were killed".Georgiana, Dowager Lady De Ros. Circa 1890, Hay's remains were moved to the crypt under The British Waterloo Campaign Monument in The Brussels Cemetery at Evere.

Fictional portrayals

*In the 1970 film '' Waterloo'', Hay is portrayed by British actor Peter Davies; in contrast with historical events, he is a main character, constantly at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

's side on the day of Waterloo. At the

, he dances with her daughter Sarah and the two are obviously in love. The Duchess says to Wellington, "Don't let young Hay get killed", and he is surprised to hear that they have been formally engaged. Later in the film, Hay serves alongside the Duchess' brother, the Duke of Gordon, chieftain of

Clan Gordon Clan Gordon is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire ...

. Wellington remarks to Hay that he is "a lucky fellow, to see such a sight (the French Army) in your first battle". The fictional Hay's last words are "Think of England, men, think of England!" but these are likely to have been fabricated by the scriptwriters. He is struck in the head by a bullet and dies instantly. *He is also portrayed in

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...

's 1937 novel '' An Infamous Army'', which deals with events of Waterloo through the eyes of fictional characters but describing real people and events.

References

;General * *Georgiana, Dowager Lady De Ros
Personal Recollections of the Duke of Wellington
July 2005. Originally published in

1889 Part I
pp. 40,43
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, James 1797 births 1815 deaths Grenadier Guards officers British military personnel killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British courtesy barons and lords of Parliament Heirs apparent who never acceded