Clan Haig is a Lowlands

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...

History

Origins

The 13th century poet,

Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...

, made the prophecy ''Tyde what may, what'er betyde, Haig shall be Haig of Bemersyde''.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The

Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC) is the organisation that represents the Chiefs of many prominent Scottish Clans and Families. It describes itself as "the definitive and authoritative body for information on the Scottish Clan System ...

). Published in 1994. Pages 156 - 157. Bemersyde has been in the hands of the Haigs for eight hundred years from the founder, Petrus de Haga, to the present chief. Alexander Nisbet asserted that the Haigs were of

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

or early British extraction. However, it is evident that the name de Haga is Norman. Petrus de Haga appears as a witness on a charter of Richard de Morville, who was

Constable of Scotland The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the Royal Family.p60-61, Bruce, Alistair, Keepers of the King ...

from 1162 to 1188, to

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regu ...

. Petrus is mentioned in several charters as ''Dominus de Bemersyde'' (Master of Bemersyde) which is evidence that the family were considerable

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s at that time. de Haga was amongst the nobles who were charged with the apprehension of John de Bisset for the murder of the Earl of Atholl in 1242.

13th and 14th centuries Wars of Scottish Independence

The Haig Barons of Bemersyde swore fealty to

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 va ...

and appear on the Ragman Rolls in 1296. However, later they strongly supported the struggle for Scottish Independence and fought for

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

at the

Battle of Stirling Bridge The Battle of Stirling Bridge ( gd, Blàr Drochaid Shruighlea) was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne ...

in 1297. The sixth Haig Laird followed

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

to the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...

in 1314 even though at the time he was only seventeen years old. He was later killed at the

Battle of Halidon Hill The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seiz ...

in 1333.

15th century Clan conflicts

In 1449 Gilbert Haig was a commander in the Scottish host that defeated the Earl of Northumberland at the

Battle of Sark The Battle of Sark, alternatively called the Battle of Lochmaben Stone, was fought between England and Scotland in October 1448. A large battle, it was the first significant Scottish victory over the English in over half a century, since the Bat ...

. Gilbert also opposed the rising power of the

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also in France and Sweden. Th ...

family. Gilbert's son, James Haig, was an adherent of

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh C ...

. When James III was murdered in 1488, Haig was forced into hiding until he could make peace with the young

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sau ...

16th century wars between Scotland and England

In 1513 William Haig of Bemersyde was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

. However, his son, Robert, the 14th Laird, avenged his death at the

Battle of Ancrum Moor The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English incursions in the Scottish border and lowlands. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Histo ...

in 1544, where he captured Lord Evers, an English commander. Lord Evers was wounded and Haig carried him to Bemersyde where he died a few days later and Haig buried him at

Melrose Abbey St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of th ...

17th century

During the 17th century the Haigs endured persecution for their religious beliefs. Chief William Haig, the 19th Laird was the King's Solicitor for Scotland during the reigns of

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

and

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after ...

. The twenty-first Laird, Anthony Haig was persecuted for his membership of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and suffered a long period of imprisonment. Between 1629 and 1630 four sons of the chief were killed while fighting in the service of the

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...

19th century

In the 19th century the line of succession looked to be in danger when the succession fell to three unmarried daughters. However, they signed a deed before their death that transferred the succession to a cousin—Colonel

Arthur Balfour Haig Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Balfour Haig, CMG, CVO (10 July 1840 – 15 April 1925) was a British Army officer, courtier, and Conservative Party political agent. A second cousin of Field-Marshal the Earl Haig, Arthur Balfour Haig was educated at Rug ...

who was of the Clackmannan branch of the clan and a descendant of the 17th Laird. He became the 28th Laird and Chief of Clan Haig.

Tower of Bemersyde

The ancestral seat of the Haigs,

Bemersyde House Bemersyde House is a historic house in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The nearest towns are Newtown St. Boswells, Melrose, and Dryburgh. The William Wallace Statue, Bemersyde is on the Bemersyde Estate. History Dating back to the 16th century as a ...

was originally built in 1535 when its principal purpose was defence. It was improved in 1690 when large windows and fireplaces were introduced. The house was extended in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1960 further alterations were carried out by

George Haig, 2nd Earl Haig George Alexander Eugene Douglas Haig, 2nd Earl Haig, (15 March 1918 – 9 July 2009) was a British artist and peer who succeeded to the earldom of Haig on 29 January 1928, at the age of nine upon the death of his father, Field Marshal the 1st ...

to improve the overall design and proportions of the house. The lands of Bemersyde have stayed in the possession of the Haig family for eight hundred years, a fact predicted in the thirteenth century by Thomas the Rhymer, who said 'Tyde what may, what’er betyde, Haig shall be Haig of Bemersyde’.

Clan Chief

The current Chief of Clan Haig is the Rt. Hon. Alexander Douglas Derrick Haig, 3rd Earl Haig, 31st of Bemersyde (b. 1961), grandson of Field-Marshal Sir

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 unt ...

References

External links

Clan Haig at ScotClans

{{Scottish clans Haig Scottish Lowlands