Ref:

The Scots Peerage- Vol. VII, p.398

2I. ORM (HUGH 1)

d.c.1185

Orm is listed as son of Hugh and probably succeeded his father as Lay Abott of the Culdee monastery. He witnessed a charter by Ernaldus or Arnold, Bishop of St. Andrews between Nov. 1160 and sept. 1162.(1) Orm also witnessed a charter of William the Lion. (2)

Orm exchanged the lands of Balbirnie with Duncan, Earl of Fife, for the lands of Glendukie and balmeadow in Fife, a transaction confirmed by King William the Lion between 1165 and 1171. Also during this time King William bestowd on Orm, son of Hugh, the lands of Invaryhten reserving to the King the service due for these lands, likewise commanding that any natives and fugitives pertaining to them, be not unjustly detained by other owners. Orm is the first of the family who is found bearing the territorial appellation 'de Abernethy' as it was to him the King William granted the charter of the abbacy of Abernethy between 1172 and 1178 with all the rights as they stood the year and day when King David, the King's grandfather was living, except the £10 lands which the King gave to Henry Revel with the daughter of said Orm; to be held to him and his heirs free of all services and customs except common aid, common hosting, and common carriage, with soc, sac, tol and theme, and infangthef; paying yearly £20 of silver, £10 at the feast of St. John the Baptist and £10 at the feast of St. Bride. he was to have neither pit nor gallows but at two places, Abernethy and Inerarichtin and the King willed that Orm's men of Fife and Gowry should come to the 'mote' or 'pit' of Abernethy and those of his other lands to the mote or pit of Inverarity.(3)

Issue-

Ref:

(1) Reg. Prior. Saint Andrews- 131-2
(2) Lib. Eccl. Saint Trinitat. de Scon.- No. 34
(3) The Scots Peerage- Vol.VII, pp.396-7

3I. LAURENCE (HUGH 1, ORM 2)

m. DEVORGUILE ______

Laurence 'filius Orm de Abernethy' was the last to hold the office of Lay Abbot. Towards the end of the 12th century the King denuded him of all his revenues as Abbot and handed them over to the monks of the recently founded Abbey of Arbroath. He does not seem to have been deprived of the 'dominium' or lordship which he held as Abbot, and retrained his position as Lord of Abernethy. He and his wife Devorguile are recorded as visitors to the shrine of St. Cuthbert at Durham early in the 13th century. He granted, with consent of his son and heir Patrick, an annual payment of 10/ out of his lands of Blanebreich to the Canons regular of St. Andrews. Laurence had a chfrater between 1204 and 1228 from Reginald de Waren of the lands of Coventre in exchange for those of Wester Dron, and another from Gregory, Bishop of Brechin, of the land formerly disputed between Dunlappie and Stracathro. On 5 Apr. 1223 King Alexander II confirmed to him the lands of Glendukie and Balmeadow, which his father had and on 24 June the King confirmed to him that land in the royal castle of Roxburgh quitclaimed by the King's nephew William, son of the Earl of Dunbar. After 1233 Laurence sold the lands of Cultran, Balmerino and others to the monastery of Balmerino for 200 merks paid to him by the executors of William the Lion's widow, Queen Ermengarde, who had founded it. As late as 1244 he accompanied King Alexander II to the meeting with Henry III and was one of the Barons who swore to the ratification of the treaty of Newcastle. Laurence then lived as a secular Baron at Kerpal (Carpow) the old mansion of the lords of Abernethy.

Shrine of St. Cuthbert- Durham Cathedral

Issue-

Ref:

The Scotts Peerage- Vol. VII, pp.398-9

4II. HUGH (HUGH 1, ORM 2, LAURENCE 3)

m. MARY of Argyll, Queen of Man (m.1. Magnus, King of Man, 2. Malise, Earl of Strathearn (d. 1271), m. 4. before 1299 William Fitz-Waren, d. 1304)

Hugh is first named 18 Mar. 1232/3 when King Alexander II confirmed a grant by Alan, son of Roland, Constable of Scotland, his 'cousin', of the lands of Oxton and Lyleston, Lauderdale.

Hugh occupies a distinct place in Scottish history as he was one of the party composed of the Earls of Menteith, Buchan, and Mar who surprised the young King Alexander III at Kinross during the night of 29 Oct. 1257 and carried him off to Stirling.

Hugh was one of the 'magnates Scotiae' appointed in 1260 who, in the event of the absence or death of Alexander III, were to receive the child of his Queen Margaret, whose delivery, when it should occur, was arranged to take place at her father's court.

On 31 Mar. 1265 Hugh hada grant of £50 from the rents of Tannadice from King Alexander III.

Sir Hugh obtained a dispensation for his marriage to Queen Mary in Apr. 1281. The date at which he actually married her cannot have been later than 1275 as it is stated in the dispensation that he had 'several' sons by her.(1) On the death of Alexander in 1285 six guardians were appointed to carry on the affairs of the Kingdom. Three years later one of these guardians, Duncan, Earl of Fife, was waylaid and murdered by Sir Patrick de Abernethy (probably the eldest son of Sir Laurence) and Sir Walter de Percy, instigated, as Fordun and Wyntous both state, by Sir William de Abernethy, who guarded another route by which the Earl might have travelled. The consequences of this outrage were serious. Sir Patrick fled to France and died in exile; Percy was captured and executed, and Sir William is stated by the historians above mentioned to have been imprisoned in Douglas castle for life. This, however, is a mistake. It was more probably Sir Hugh, as head of the family and chief instigator in the whole affair, who was imprisoned, as is shown by two documents: first, a letter from him to the King of England in 1288 requesting his intercession with the Pope respecting certain affairs to be laid before him by the bearer of the letter, the Bishop of Brechin; and second, an order from Edward I dated 28 June 1291 for the transference of Hugh de Abernethy to the King's prison from that of William Douglas where he was confined for the murder of the Earl of Fife. Sir Hugh probably died in prison as nothing more is recorded of him.(2)

Issue-

Ref:

(1) Cal. of Papal Registers, Papal Letter- I, 463
(2) Rotuli Scotiae- I, 2

The Scots Peerage- Vol. VII, pp.399-401

5I. ALEXANDER (HUGH 1, ORM 2, LAURENCE 3, HUGH 4)

d.c. 1315

In 1292 Alexander's mother Mary, was summoned to declare whether she knew anything to prevent Alexander, son of Hugh de Abernethy, from obtaining possession of the lands of Ballintray and others. In the same Parliament his lands were given in ward to Alexander Menteith as he was not of age in 1292.(>1) At the same time, however, he was not a mere child, as he swore fealty to Edward I on 19 July 1291 at St. Andrews.(2) Alexander opposed Robert the Bruce in the War of Independence deserting the national party, perhaps as Lord Saltoun suggests on account of the enmity of many of the Scottish nobles which his father's crime had provoked. He became liegeman to Edward I by whom he was favored and trusted and to whose interests, and those of Edward II, he steadfastly adhered during his life. In 1308 with Robert de Keith, Adam de Gordon and others, Alexander was a surety to Edward for the good behavior of William de Lambyrton, Bishop of St. Andrews. He was appointed Warden of Scotland between the Forth and the mountains by King Edward 15 June 1310. When Robert the Bruce succeeded in establishing his authority as Scottish King, Alexander's lands were forfeited and he became for all intents an Englishman. He was afterwards largely employed by the English King in his diplomatic service on several occasions sent as ambassador to France and in 1313 visited the Papal Court in the same capacity.

Issue-

Ref:

(1) Cal. of Docs.- II, 1062, 1104
(2) Acta Parl. Scot.- I, 446

"Foedera"- Rymer, Vol.3, pp. 82, 211
"The Scottish Nation"- William Anderson, A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh, 1880
The Scots Peerage- Vol. VII, pp.401-2

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