ONWARD HAME SELKIRK!
MURRAY, a very common surname in Scotland, the origin of which has already been explained; see ATHOL, duke of, and MORAY, a surname. An account of the Murrays of Tullibardine, the ancestors of the Athol family, is given under the former head, and those of Bothwell and Abercairney under the latter. (See Electric Scotland Website for further information)
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The first on record of the family of Murray of Philiphaugh in Selkirkshire, Archibald de Moravia, mentioned in the chartulary of Newbottle in 1280, was also descended, it is supposed, from the Morays, lords of Bothwell. In 1296 he swore fealty to Edward I. His son, Roger de Moravia, obtained in 1321, from James, Lord Douglas, the superior, a charter of the lands of Fala, subsequently designated Falahill, for many years the chief title of the family. The 5th in direct descent from Roger was John Murray of Falahill, the celebrated outlaw, who took possession of Ettrick Forest with 500 men,
“-----------------a’ in ae liverye clad,
O’ the Lincome grene sae gaye to see;
He and his ladye in purple clad,
O! gin they lived not royallie!”
The king, James IV., sent James Boyd to him,
“The earle of Arran his brother was he,”
To ask him of whom he held his lands, and desiring him to come and be the king’s “man,”
“And hald of him you foreste free.”
On Boyd delivering this message to him,
“Thir landis are mine! The outlaw said;
I ken nae king in Christentie;
Frae Soundron I this foreste wan,
When the king nor his knightis were not to see.”
And he declared his intention to keep it
“Contrair all kingis in Christentie.”
The king, in consequence, set forth at the head of a large force, to punish the outlaw, and force him to submission. The outlaw summoned to his aid his kinsmen Murray of Cockpool and Murray of Traquair, who hastened to Ettrick with all their men. The barony of Traquair before it came into the possession of the Stuarts (earls of Traquair) was the property of the family of Murray, ancestors of the Murrays of Blackbarony. The lands of Traquair were forfeited by Willilmus de Moravia previous to 1464. They were afterwards, by a charter from the crown dated 3d February 1478, conveyed to James Stewart, earl of Buchan, son of the black knight of Lorne, from whom they descended to the earls of Traquair. On the approach of the royal force, the outlaw, “with four in his cumpanie,” came and knelt before the king and said,
“I’ll give thee the keys of my castell,
Wi’ the blessing o’ my gay ladye,
Gin thou’lt make me sheriffe of this Foreste,
And a’ my offspring after me.”
To this the king consented, glad to receive his submission on any terms, and the usual ceremony of feudal investiture was gone through, by the outlaw resigning his possessions into the hands of the king, and receiving them back, to be held of him as superior.
“He was made sheriffe of Ettricke Foreste,
Surely while upward grows the tree;
And if he was na traitour to the king,
Forfaulted he suld never be.”
It is certain that, by a charter from James IV., dated November 30, 1509, John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of heritable sheriff of Ettrick Forest, which included the greater part of what is now Selkirkshire, an office held by his descendants till the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1747. “The tradition of Ettrick Forest,” says Sir Walter Scott, in his introduction to ‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ in the ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,’ “bears that the outlaw was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a baton or club, with which he laid lee (i.e. waste) the country for many miles round, and that he was at length slain by Buccleuch, or some of his clan, at a little mount, covered with fir trees, adjoining to Newark castle, and said to have been part of the garden. A varying tradition bears the place of his death to have been near to the house of the duke of Buccleuch’s gamekeeper, beneath the castle, and that the fatal arrow was shot by Scott of Haining from the ruins of a cottage on the opposite side of the Yarrow. There was extant, within these twenty years, some verses of a song on his death. The feud betwixt the outlaw and the Scotts may serve to explain the asperity with which the chieftain of that clan is handled in the ballad.” The laird of Buccleuch had counseled “fire and sword” against the outlaw; for, says he,
“He lives by reif and felonie!”
But the king gave him this rebuke:
“And round him cast a wilie ee, --
Now, hand thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,
Nor speak of reif nor felonie: --
For, had every honest man his awin kye,
A right puir clan thy name wad be!”
The outlaw’s wife, Lady Margaret Hepburn, was the daughter of the first earl of Bothwell. He had two sons, James, his heir, and William, ancestor of the Murrays of Romanna, afterwards Stanhope, baronets (see above).
James Murray of Falahill, the elder son, died about 1529, and his son, Patrick Murray of Falahill, obtained, under the great seal, a charter, dated 28th January 1528, of the lands of Philiphaugh, situated near the royal burgh of Selkirk, and celebrated as the scene of the signal defeat of the marquis of Montrose, 15th September 1645, by General Leslie. The hollow under the mount adjoining the ruins of Newark castle, mentioned above as the place where the outlaw Murray is said to have been slain, is called by the country people Slain-man’s lee, in which, according to tradition, the Covenanters, a day or two after the battle of Philiphaugh, put many of their prisoners to death. A number of human bones were, at one period, found there, in making a drain.
Patrick’s great-great-grandson, Sir John Murray of Philiphaugh, knight, was appointed by the Scottish Estates one of the judges for trying those of the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk, who had joined the standard of Montrose in 1646. In 1649 he claimed £12,014, for the damages he had sustained from Montrose. He died in 1676.
His eldest son, Sir James Murray of Philiphaugh, born in 1655, was admitted a lord of session in 1689, and appointed lord-register in 1703. On his death in 1708, he was succeeded by his eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, M.P. from 1725 till his decease in 1753. This gentleman’s fourth son, Charles, married a sister of Robert Scott, Esq. of Danesfield, Bucks, and was grandfather of Charles Robert Scott Murray, Esq. of Danesfield, M.P. for that county.
The eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, was several times M.P. for the county of Selkirk, and once for the Selkirk burghs, after a severe and expensive contest with Mr. Dundas. He died in 1800. His eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, died, unmarried, in 1830, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother, James Murray of Philiphaugh, the 17th of the family, in a direct line; married, with issue.
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The first baronet of the family of Murray of Blackbarony was Sir Archibald Murray, who was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, May 15, 1628. He was the son of Sir John Murray, eldest son of Andrew Murray of Blackbarony, whose ancestors had been seated at Blackbarony for five generations prior to 1552. Sir John was the brother of Sir Gideon Murray, lord-high-treasurer of Scotland and a lord of session, father of the first Lord Elibank, and of Sir William Murray, ancestor of the Clermont family. Lieutenant-colonel Sir Archibald John Murray, baronet of Blackbarony, formerly of the Scots fusilier guards, son of Sir John Murray, baronet of Blackbarony, by his wife, Anne Digby, of the noble family of Digby, died, without issue, May 22, 1860. He was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Digby Murray, baronet, born in 1798, married, 1st, in 1823, Miss Susannah Cuthbert, issue one son, John Cuthbert; 2dly, in 1827, Frances, daughter and coheiress of Peter Patten Bold, Esq., M.P., of bold Hall, Lancashire; issue, 3 sons and 4 daughters.
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The first on record of the family of Murray of Philiphaugh in Selkirkshire, Archibald de Moravia, mentioned in the chartulary of Newbottle in 1280, was also descended, it is supposed, from the Morays, lords of Bothwell. In 1296 he swore fealty to Edward I. His son, Roger de Moravia, obtained in 1321, from James, Lord Douglas, the superior, a charter of the lands of Fala, subsequently designated Falahill, for many years the chief title of the family. The 5th in direct descent from Roger was John Murray of Falahill, the celebrated outlaw, who took possession of Ettrick Forest with 500 men,
“-----------------a’ in ae liverye clad,
O’ the Lincome grene sae gaye to see;
He and his ladye in purple clad,
O! gin they lived not royallie!”
The king, James IV., sent James Boyd to him,
“The earle of Arran his brother was he,”
To ask him of whom he held his lands, and desiring him to come and be the king’s “man,”
“And hald of him you foreste free.”
On Boyd delivering this message to him,
“Thir landis are mine! The outlaw said;
I ken nae king in Christentie;
Frae Soundron I this foreste wan,
When the king nor his knightis were not to see.”
And he declared his intention to keep it
“Contrair all kingis in Christentie.”
The king, in consequence, set forth at the head of a large force, to punish the outlaw, and force him to submission. The outlaw summoned to his aid his kinsmen Murray of Cockpool and Murray of Traquair, who hastened to Ettrick with all their men. The barony of Traquair before it came into the possession of the Stuarts (earls of Traquair) was the property of the family of Murray, ancestors of the Murrays of Blackbarony. The lands of Traquair were forfeited by Willilmus de Moravia previous to 1464. They were afterwards, by a charter from the crown dated 3d February 1478, conveyed to James Stewart, earl of Buchan, son of the black knight of Lorne, from whom they descended to the earls of Traquair. On the approach of the royal force, the outlaw, “with four in his cumpanie,” came and knelt before the king and said,
“I’ll give thee the keys of my castell,
Wi’ the blessing o’ my gay ladye,
Gin thou’lt make me sheriffe of this Foreste,
And a’ my offspring after me.”
To this the king consented, glad to receive his submission on any terms, and the usual ceremony of feudal investiture was gone through, by the outlaw resigning his possessions into the hands of the king, and receiving them back, to be held of him as superior.
“He was made sheriffe of Ettricke Foreste,
Surely while upward grows the tree;
And if he was na traitour to the king,
Forfaulted he suld never be.”
It is certain that, by a charter from James IV., dated November 30, 1509, John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of heritable sheriff of Ettrick Forest, which included the greater part of what is now Selkirkshire, an office held by his descendants till the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1747. “The tradition of Ettrick Forest,” says Sir Walter Scott, in his introduction to ‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ in the ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,’ “bears that the outlaw was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a baton or club, with which he laid lee (i.e. waste) the country for many miles round, and that he was at length slain by Buccleuch, or some of his clan, at a little mount, covered with fir trees, adjoining to Newark castle, and said to have been part of the garden. A varying tradition bears the place of his death to have been near to the house of the duke of Buccleuch’s gamekeeper, beneath the castle, and that the fatal arrow was shot by Scott of Haining from the ruins of a cottage on the opposite side of the Yarrow. There was extant, within these twenty years, some verses of a song on his death. The feud betwixt the outlaw and the Scotts may serve to explain the asperity with which the chieftain of that clan is handled in the ballad.” The laird of Buccleuch had counseled “fire and sword” against the outlaw; for, says he,
“He lives by reif and felonie!”
But the king gave him this rebuke:
“And round him cast a wilie ee, --
Now, hand thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,
Nor speak of reif nor felonie: --
For, had every honest man his awin kye,
A right puir clan thy name wad be!”
The outlaw’s wife, Lady Margaret Hepburn, was the daughter of the first earl of Bothwell. He had two sons, James, his heir, and William, ancestor of the Murrays of Romanna, afterwards Stanhope, baronets (see above).
James Murray of Falahill, the elder son, died about 1529, and his son, Patrick Murray of Falahill, obtained, under the great seal, a charter, dated 28th January 1528, of the lands of Philiphaugh, situated near the royal burgh of Selkirk, and celebrated as the scene of the signal defeat of the marquis of Montrose, 15th September 1645, by General Leslie. The hollow under the mount adjoining the ruins of Newark castle, mentioned above as the place where the outlaw Murray is said to have been slain, is called by the country people Slain-man’s lee, in which, according to tradition, the Covenanters, a day or two after the battle of Philiphaugh, put many of their prisoners to death. A number of human bones were, at one period, found there, in making a drain.
Patrick’s great-great-grandson, Sir John Murray of Philiphaugh, knight, was appointed by the Scottish Estates one of the judges for trying those of the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk, who had joined the standard of Montrose in 1646. In 1649 he claimed £12,014, for the damages he had sustained from Montrose. He died in 1676.
His eldest son, Sir James Murray of Philiphaugh, born in 1655, was admitted a lord of session in 1689, and appointed lord-register in 1703. On his death in 1708, he was succeeded by his eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, M.P. from 1725 till his decease in 1753. This gentleman’s fourth son, Charles, married a sister of Robert Scott, Esq. of Danesfield, Bucks, and was grandfather of Charles Robert Scott Murray, Esq. of Danesfield, M.P. for that county.
The eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, was several times M.P. for the county of Selkirk, and once for the Selkirk burghs, after a severe and expensive contest with Mr. Dundas. He died in 1800. His eldest son, John Murray of Philiphaugh, died, unmarried, in 1830, and was succeeded by his only surviving brother, James Murray of Philiphaugh, the 17th of the family, in a direct line; married, with issue.
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The first baronet of the family of Murray of Blackbarony was Sir Archibald Murray, who was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, May 15, 1628. He was the son of Sir John Murray, eldest son of Andrew Murray of Blackbarony, whose ancestors had been seated at Blackbarony for five generations prior to 1552. Sir John was the brother of Sir Gideon Murray, lord-high-treasurer of Scotland and a lord of session, father of the first Lord Elibank, and of Sir William Murray, ancestor of the Clermont family. Lieutenant-colonel Sir Archibald John Murray, baronet of Blackbarony, formerly of the Scots fusilier guards, son of Sir John Murray, baronet of Blackbarony, by his wife, Anne Digby, of the noble family of Digby, died, without issue, May 22, 1860. He was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Digby Murray, baronet, born in 1798, married, 1st, in 1823, Miss Susannah Cuthbert, issue one son, John Cuthbert; 2dly, in 1827, Frances, daughter and coheiress of Peter Patten Bold, Esq., M.P., of bold Hall, Lancashire; issue, 3 sons and 4 daughters.
Philiphaugh Estate -Murray Homeland.
The first baronet of the Stanhope family was Sir William Murray of Stanhope, an active supporter of the royal cause during the civil wars, who for his loyalty was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, after the Restoration, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever, 13th February 1664. His ancestor, John Murray of Falahill, descended from Archibald de Moravia, mentioned in the chartulary of Newbottle in 1280, was known in history as the outlaw Murray.
He died in the early part of the reign of James V. His exploits are commemorated in one of the ballads of the ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.’ His married Lady Margaret Hepburn, and had, with three daughters, two sons. His eldest son, John Murray of Falahill, was ancestor of the Murrays of Philliphaugh.
His second son, William Murray, married Janet, daughter and heiress of William Romanno of that ilk, Peebles-shire, and had a son, William Murray of Romanno, living in December 1531. The great-grandson of the latter, Sir David Murray, who was knighted by Charles I., acquired the lands of Stanhope in the same county, and was the father of Sir William Murray, the first baronet of Stanhope.
Sir David Murray, the fourth baronet, was implicated in the rebellion of 1745, and received sentence of death at York the following year, but was subsequently pardoned on condition of his leaving the country for life. The family estates were sold under the authority of the court of session. Sir David died in exile, without issue, when the representation of the family devolved on his uncle, Charles Murray, collector of the customs at Borrowstownness, who, had the title not been forfeited, would have been fifth baronet.
His son, Sir David Murray, died without issue at Leghorn, 19th October 1770. The representation of the family then devolved on John Murray of Broughton, the well-known secretary to Prince Charles. This personage having assumed the title after the general act of revisal, became Sir John Murray of Broughton, baronet. He married Margaret, daughter of Colonel Robert Ferguson, brother of William Ferguson of Carloch, Nithsdale, and had three sons, David, his heir, Robert, and Thomas, the last a lieutenant-general in the army. Sir John died 6th December 1777. His eldest son, Sir David, a naval officer, was succeeded, on his death in June 1791, by his brother, Sir Robert, ninth baronet. The son of the latter, Sir David, became the tenth baronet in 1794, and on his death, without issue, was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Murray, eleventh baronet; married, with issue.
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The first baronet of the Stanhope family was Sir William Murray of Stanhope, an active supporter of the royal cause during the civil wars, who for his loyalty was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, after the Restoration, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever, 13th February 1664. His ancestor, John Murray of Falahill, descended from Archibald de Moravia, mentioned in the chartulary of Newbottle in 1280, was known in history as the outlaw Murray.
He died in the early part of the reign of James V. His exploits are commemorated in one of the ballads of the ‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.’ His married Lady Margaret Hepburn, and had, with three daughters, two sons. His eldest son, John Murray of Falahill, was ancestor of the Murrays of Philliphaugh.
His second son, William Murray, married Janet, daughter and heiress of William Romanno of that ilk, Peebles-shire, and had a son, William Murray of Romanno, living in December 1531. The great-grandson of the latter, Sir David Murray, who was knighted by Charles I., acquired the lands of Stanhope in the same county, and was the father of Sir William Murray, the first baronet of Stanhope.
Sir David Murray, the fourth baronet, was implicated in the rebellion of 1745, and received sentence of death at York the following year, but was subsequently pardoned on condition of his leaving the country for life. The family estates were sold under the authority of the court of session. Sir David died in exile, without issue, when the representation of the family devolved on his uncle, Charles Murray, collector of the customs at Borrowstownness, who, had the title not been forfeited, would have been fifth baronet.
His son, Sir David Murray, died without issue at Leghorn, 19th October 1770. The representation of the family then devolved on John Murray of Broughton, the well-known secretary to Prince Charles. This personage having assumed the title after the general act of revisal, became Sir John Murray of Broughton, baronet. He married Margaret, daughter of Colonel Robert Ferguson, brother of William Ferguson of Carloch, Nithsdale, and had three sons, David, his heir, Robert, and Thomas, the last a lieutenant-general in the army. Sir John died 6th December 1777. His eldest son, Sir David, a naval officer, was succeeded, on his death in June 1791, by his brother, Sir Robert, ninth baronet. The son of the latter, Sir David, became the tenth baronet in 1794, and on his death, without issue, was succeeded by his brother, Sir John Murray, eleventh baronet; married, with issue.
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Photos- Link Here.
Source- Electric Scotland
Source- Electric Scotland
