Clan Borthwick
Encyclopedia
Origins of the Clan
The origins of the name "Borthwick" are territorial. The name seems likely to have been assumed from Borthwick WaterBorthwick Water
The Borthwick Water is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and a tributary of the River Teviot....
in Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
.
It is traditionally held that the first of the noble house was Andreas, who accompanied the Saxon Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling , or Edgar II, was the last male member of the royal house of Cerdic of Wessex...
and his sister, Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
, to Scotland in 1067.
15th century
Around 1410 Sir William Borthwick 'the elder' obtained a charter confirming his possession of the lands around Borthwick and it was during the 15th century that the family gained great wealth and influence, (it was probably his grandson) becoming Lords of the Parliament of ScotlandParliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
.
The First Lord Borthwick (born c1412, dc 1458) was one of the child nobles sent to England as substitute hostages for the ransom of James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
in 1425. He was responsible for the construction of what is now one of the most impressive fortified dwellings in Scotland.
16th century
The Battle of Flodden FieldDuring the Anglo-Scottish Wars
Anglo-Scottish Wars
The Anglo-Scottish Wars were a series of wars fought between England and Scotland during the sixteenth century.After the Wars of Scottish Independence, England and Scotland had fought several times during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In most cases, one country had attempted to...
the Borthwicks fought on the side of King James IV of Scotland
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
at the Battle of Flodden Field
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
in 1513 and suffered badly in the defeat. William, 4th Lord Borthwick, whose father had died in the previous decade, succeeded to obtain important offices already at the approximate age of 20 in aftermath of the battle, because so many maturer noblemen had been slain in the battle – he was given command of Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
and charged with the safety of the infant James V of Scotland. The Complete Peerage informs that no Lord borthwick fell in the Flodden battle.
John, Lord Borthwick was an opponent of the Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
and a supporter of Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
. His adherence to the church, however, did not mean he was in favour with the church hierarchy and in 1547 he was excommunicated for contempt of the Ecclesiastical Court of the See of St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
. An officer of the court, William Langlands, was dispatched to deliver the letters of excommunication to the curate of Borthwick. Langlands was seized by Borthwick's men and thrown in the mill dam north of the castle. Later they made him eat the letters, having first soaked them in wine. He was sent back with the warning that any other letters would 'a gang the same gait'.
John's son, William, was a close friend and confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary took refuge with her husband, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...
, but was forced to flee when a force under James Stewart, Earl of Moray approached. She is said to have escaped dressed as a page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
In 1573, David Borthwick of Lochhill became the king's advocate, and may have been the first to bear the title Lord Advocate
Lord Advocate
Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...
, though not the position.
The Civil War
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
the Borthwicks sided with the Royalists and were besieged following the Battle of Dunbar (1650)
Battle of Dunbar (1650)
The Battle of Dunbar was a battle of the Third English Civil War. The English Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell defeated a Scottish army commanded by David Leslie which was loyal to King Charles II, who had been proclaimed King of Scots on 5 February 1649.-Background:The English...
. Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
offered Lord Borthwick honourable terms for surrender, which he accepted, thereby saving the castle from almost certain destruction. Lord Borthwick was allowed to leave with his family and goods. Thereafter the direct line failed and the title became dormant.
18th century
In 1762 Henry Borthwick of Neathorn was recognised as male heir first Lord by the House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He assumed the title but died without heirs ten years later. During the 18th century and 19th century various branches of the family disputed the line of succession until in 1986, Major John Borthwick of Crookston was recognised by the Lord Lyon, King of Arms as Borthwick of that Ilk, chief of the name and arms of Borthwick. He also became the 23rd Lord Borthwick
Lord Borthwick
Lord Borthwick is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.Alexander Nisbet relates that "the first of this ancient and noble family came from Hungary to Scotland, in the retinue of Queen Margaret, in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, anno Domini 1057...
in the Peerage of Scotland
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
. His son John Hugh Borthwick became the 24th Lord Borthwick three months prior to his death.http://www.thepeerage.com/p2564.htm#i25631http://www.thepeerage.com/p13796.htm#i137956
Clan Castle
The seat of Clan Borthwick has always been at Borthwick CastleBorthwick Castle
Borthwick Castle is one of the largest and best-preserved surviving medieval Scottish fortifications. It is located twelve miles south-east of Edinburgh, to the east of the village of Borthwick, on a site protected on three sides by a steep fall in the ground...
.
Clan Chief
John Hugh Borthwick of that Ilk, 24th Lord BorthwickLord Borthwick
Lord Borthwick is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.Alexander Nisbet relates that "the first of this ancient and noble family came from Hungary to Scotland, in the retinue of Queen Margaret, in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, anno Domini 1057...
, Chief of the Name and Arms of Borthwick, 18th of Crookston, Baron of Heriotmuir.