Please refer to the following. It contains my analysis. The research was accepted and published in The Scottish Genealogist, June 2019, Page 56 published by the Scottish Genealogy Society in Edinburgh.
According to his biography, George Buchanan was born in the parish of Killearn in Stirlingshire in 1506, the son of Thomas Buchanan of Drummikill and his wife Agnes Heriot. He described the family situation after his father’s death as being “almost reduced to the extremity of Want.”
Agnes Heriot, George Buchanan's mother, is said by all his biographers, but on slight authority, to have been a daughter of Heriot of Trabroun, East Lothian, and related to George Heriot who is well-known as the founder of Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh.
There is apparently a lot of confusion. This is evident in referring to Ballingall’s two books on the Heriots. In 1878 G. W. Ballingall refers to Agnes Heriot as the sister of James Heriot, son and apparent heir of Andrew Heriot of Trabroun, who predeceased him. However, in 1894 he says that Agnes Heriot was probably a sister of Andrew Heriot, Laird of Trabroun, who died in 1531. It appears neither is correct.
George Buchanan proceeds to praise his mother for raising five boys and three girls to manhood and womanhood under the direst of circumstances. Her husband Thomas Buchanan died when George was a young boy and the family was basically bankrupt. Agnes Heriot was clearly a shrewd, capable woman, who overcame much to raise her family.
After the death of her husband, Agnes Heriot left the Moss, and in 1513 she took a lease of a farm in Menteith making all her boys (including George, not yet eight years old) joint tenants. Raising five sons and three daughters was no easy task. The family was in dire need for money and received financial support for son George’s education at the University of Paris from his maternal uncle James Heriot. Evidently, James must have recognized George’s talent at a very young age. Since James was referenced in George Buchanan’s writings as his maternal uncle it would make him his mother’s brother.
George Buchanan thrived in Paris. It was there that he began to develop his poetic talents. But, alas, within two years, his uncle died, and the funding stopped. George Buchanan was forced to return to Scotland to pursue his education. He attended the University of St. Andrews and became a distinguished scholar, poet, and historian. This account would indicate that George Buchanan’s uncle was James Heriot, Canon of Ross and Justicar of Lothian, who died in 1522. Moreover, the executors of James Heriot’s will were John Heriot, most likely his father, and Thomas Buchanan, George Buchanan’s brother.
Research shows that Agnes Heriot is indeed of the Heriots of Trabroun, but is most likely the daughter of George Heriot, one of the sons of Simon Heriot, the Second Laird of Trabroun. Ballingall provides little information regarding Simon Heriot in his various books, completely omitting the fact that he had several children besides James Heriot, the heir and next Laird. Simon Heriot also had sons David, William, Robert, George, and Patrick.
George Heriot and his brother William Heriot were witnesses in 1471 to the action by their father Simon Heriot that attempted to transfer Trabroun back into the hands of the king. Shortly thereafter Trabroun was resigned instead to their older brother James who became the next Laird.
In 1477 George Heriot was also one of several witnesses to the signing of a deed for the Cathedral of Ross. Rosslyn had long been established as the family home of the Sinclair family who was responsible for the building of the Cathedral; so, there was evidently a strong connection between the families and this most likely had something to do with the Sinclairs choosing James Heriot to be chaplain of Rosslyn Chapel.
George Heriot had at least three children. The eldest son would be John Heriot who was married to either a Sinclair or a Livingston. This connection was made by examining his son Robert Heriot who married Helen Swinton. Robert is said to be a cousin of Henry Sinclair, son of Oliver Sinclair and his wife Isobell Livingston, and his father’s name was John. This would infer that his father was either married to a Sinclair or a Livingston. Robert Heriot is identified as being Mr. Robert Heriot of Lymphoy (near Currie), otherwise of Trabroun.
Henry Sinclair was born in the year 1508 and was the youngest son of Sir Oliver Sinclair of Rosslyn and his second wife Isabella Livingston (the first wife being Margaret Borthwick). His elder brother was the well-known Oliver Sinclair, who was appointed by King James V to be the supreme commander of the army as he prepared for the invasion of England -- and occasioned its disastrous route at Solway Moss. His grandfather was William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Chancellor of Scotland, who, by his mother, Egidia Douglas, was descended from the royal family of Scotland. These circumstances were much in his favor, for it was no trivial recommendation in the time of feudal pride to be able to claim an alliance with the blood of Douglas and the house of Stuart. It appears that the Sinclairs used these connections to the benefit of themselves and related families such as the Heriots.
Robert Heriot and Helen Swinton were very prominent and successful at marrying their three daughters into very prominent families:
• Helen Heriot married Sir Thomas Craig
• Agnes Heriot married Sir James Foulis
• Jean or Joanne Heriot married John Laurie (Lawrie), bailie of Edinburgh
Ballingall indicated that Helen Heriot who married Sir Thomas Craig was the daughter of James Heriot, Laird of Trabroun – his second daughter named Helen. This is incorrect.
The identification of Robert Heriot also shows a strong connection to the family of George Heriot, the goldsmith and jeweler to King James VI. He and his wife, along with George Heriot, the elder (father of the goldsmith) are referenced regarding the baptisms of the Bannatyne children. His connections to the Bannatynes, Sinclairs, and the Heriot goldsmiths are noteworthy. Though Robert does not appear to have been a resident of Edinburgh, he had connections there, as in 1550 he was made a burgess “gratis” by the town council, granting him privileged status without some of the voting rights. In 1553 he was appointed Sheriff of Roxburgh and Peblis, positions which probably required political connections.
After Robert Heriot’s death his wife Helen Swinton married Edward Henryson, a prominent advocate and classical scholar, and lived in Glasgow in a tenement left to her daughters.
There is a monument in the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard erected by their son Sir Thomas Henryson, Knight, in 1636 that reads in part:
“And to the memory of Mr. Edward Henryson, Doctor of Civil and Canon Law, his most loving father, senator, and one of the judges of the consistory of Edinburgh; and dame Helen Swinton, his dearest mother; and of three most beloved uterine sisters -- Dame Agnes and her most worthy husband, Sir James Foulis, Baron of Colintoun; Dame Helen, and her most renowned husband, Mr. Thomas Craig of Riccartoun, most famous lawyer; of Sir Lodovick Craig of Riccartoun, Knight, a most honorable senator; Jean and of her husband, John Lawrie, bailie of Edinburgh; of one sister germane, Elizabeth Henryson, and her notable husband, John Nicolson of Dryden, most eloquent advocate, and the judge of the said consistorie.”
So, the question is at what point did members of the Heriot family migrate from Trabroun, near Lauder, to Glasgow? First, most likely not all Heriots accompanied John Heriot, the first Laird of Trabroun, to his new estate when he received the charter in 1423. James Heriot had as late as 1426, three years after this charter, been appointed bailie of the King and to pay the fermes (rents) of the lands of Nether Liberton. It is very likely that some family members stayed with him; Trabroun was not a huge estate.
We know for sure that the Heriot presence in Glasgow occurred prior to the year 1504 and lasted for several hundred years. There is no doubt that the early Heriot inhabitants were associated with the Heriots of Trabroun and were well-connected to both the ecclesiastical rulers of Glasgow and the crown -- and used these connections to great benefit. The Heriots appear to have had connections to the Blackadders of Tulliallen and to Henry Sinclair, both of whom held several high-level church positions in Glasgow at this time and were trusted confidants of the King.
Thus, it appears they most likely they went around 1484 when Robert Blackadder was appointed Bishop of Glasgow. Blackadder was frequently in Rome after 1471 serving as a liaison between the Pope and the King. He was involved in seeking a bride for King James, arranging the marriage treaty with England in 1502, and consummating the marriage between James IV and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII of England in 1503.
James of Heryot , father of the First Laird of Trabroun, was granted the position of bailie of the lands of Tulyaloun (Tulliallan) in the Regality of Strathearn by Archibald, Earl of Douglas, in 1414, so may have known Robert’s parents. In addition, Sir Robert Heriot, who was appointed the Canon of Glasgow in 1500 and Canon of Askirk in 1503, was often referred to as a “nephew” of Archbishop Robert Blackadder, so there might have been a family connection.
Robert Blackadder was a liberal prelate and expended vast sums on the church and altarages. Then in 1491 the Bishop of Glasgow was granted the right to operate a public scale for weighing produce. It was called the Tron and it gave its name to the Trongate. In 1492 Glasgow was erected into an archbishopric and Robert Blackadder was appointed as the first Archbishop.
In 1495 Mr. Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow, and John Heriot are witnesses to a transaction involving the transfer of land by Patrick Blackadder in exchange for the right of him and his successors to be deputy in said bailiary and to hold courts and draw profits therefrom.
In 1504 James IV granted “special respite” and protection to the men, kin, tenants, factors, and servants of Robert (Blackadder), Archbishop of Glasgow, for their participation in the murder of Thomas Rutherford at Jedburgh. Among the many parties mentioned as having been respited with protection are Robert’s brother Adam Blackadder as well as John Heriot and Patrick Heriot and George, his brother. It also appears that David Heriot, Laird of Trabroun, a brother of Patrick and George, participated in this affair, but was declared a rebel and did not receive respite. This again demonstrates the closeness of the two families and confirms a presence in Glasgow by at least 1504.
Archbishop Robert Blackadder had the authority for appointing people to ecclesiastical positions within the Diocese of Glasgow, for granting deeds to church lands within Glasgow, and for appointing the Bailies that oversaw them. The Heriots took advantage of all of these.
Since much of the land in Glasgow was ecclesiastical it was controlled by the bishop or archbishop who doled it out to rentallers (renters). A rental right could be obtained:
• By original grant from the Bishop
• By succession
• By purchase of the “kindness” of the rentaller
• By marrying the daughter of a rentaller
While most of the Rentallers in Glasgow were of humble rank, several churchmen of note, and persons of noble and gentlemanly blood accepted holdings. One of the churchmen was Henry Sinclair, Dean of Glasgow, a scion of the family of Rosslyn. Among the rentallers of noble rank were also found successive generations of the family of Heriot (Cardarroch), Elphinstone (Blythswood and Gorbals), Forester of West Niddrie and Corstorphine, and others. Henry Sinclair was a cousin of Mr. Robert Heriot of Lymphoy (otherwise of Trabroun) whose extended family resided in these tenements in Glasgow. The Heriots also had associations with the Foresters of Corstorphine.
When Archbishop Blackadder made his ill-fated pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1508, he was accompanied by John Heriot, Robert’s father. Along the way they stopped in Orleans, France to visit John’s brother James Heriot. Archbishop Blackadder died in Venice and referenced John Heriot in his will.
Mr. James Heriot of the Church of St. Michael in Dumfries is listed in 1507 among the “Procurators of the Scottish nation and Students of Law” at the University of Orleans in Paris. Another of the students is Robert Blackadder, rector of the Metropolitan Church of Glasgow. They are apparently visited that year by Archbishop Robert Blackadder and John Heriot on their way to a pilgrimage in Jerusalem.
It appears that before acquiring the position of Canon of Ross sometime prior to 1520, James Heriot was associated with the Diocese of Glasgow and Henry Sinclair. This makes sense as his father George Heriot is observed in Glasgow as early as 1504 and his brother John is located there about the same time. It is also likely that Henry Sinclair, being part of the Sinclairs of Rosslyn, had something to do with his appointment.
And of course, John’s third child would be Agnes Heriot, who married Thomas Buchanan, as she was a sister of James Heriot, Canon of Ross. It would also explain the naming of a son George (after her father) and Patrick (after her uncle).
I often wondered why if Agnes Heriot was a daughter of the Laird of Trabroun she turned to an uncle who was a clergyman for financial support. One must remember that this was pre-Reformation Scotland and during this time it was the clergy that held the riches and not some lowly landowner. These Heriots had their ties to the Sinclairs and Blackadders who had their connections to the Royal family. This enabled them to get lucrative appointments. Meanwhile, back in Trabroun the Laird did what he could to survive.
Another indication that George Buchanan was connected to these Heriots is the fact that when in 1569 Mr. George Buchanan, pensioner, discharged a debt from Gilbert, Earl of Cassillis the witnesses were Mr. Thomas Buchanan, most likely his brother, and Matthew Heriot, Burgess of Glasgow. Matthew appears somehow connected to these Glasgow Heriots.
In his autobiography George Buchanan lavished considerable praise on his mother for raising him and his siblings during austere times. I believe we can now put her in her rightful place in the family. She was definitely “of the Heriot family of Trabroun”… just not where Ballingall… and everyone else who has cited his work… has placed her.
Footnotes/Sources...
James Aikman, History of Scotland, George Buchanan (1506-1582), Glasgow, Blackie 1827, Vol I, pg IX
G. W. Ballingall, Collections and notes historical and genealogical regarding the Heriots of Trabroun, Scotland, 1878, pg 10
G. W. B. (George Willis Ballingall), Selections from Old Records with Notes Regarding the Heriots of Trabroun, Scotland, Haddington, 1894, pg 17
David Alexander Millar, George Buchanan: A Memorial, 1506-1906;
David Irving, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of George Buchanan, Edinburgh, 1817, pg 6
Ray Harriot, Beyond Trabroun, Campfire Publishing Company, 2008, pg 37
Repository National Archives of Scotland, Reference, GD157/374
Repository National Archives of Scotland , Reference GD1/208/12, 23 May 1550
T. and A. Constable, Diary of Sir Archibald Johnston, Lord Wariston, 1639, Scottish History Society, 1896, pg 4
G. W. B. (George Willis Ballingall), Selections from Old Records with Notes Regarding the Heriots of Trabroun, Scotland, Haddington, 1894, pg 42
The Account Book of Sir John Foulis of Ravelston (1671-1707), Scottish Historical Society, Vol XVI, June 1894
Repository National Archives of Scotland, Reference AD1/110
T. and A. Constable, Diary of Sir Archibald Johnston, Lord Wariston, 1639, Scottish History Society, 1896, pg 4
The Most Famous Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions in the Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh, Colston and Coy, 19801, pg 26
G. W. B. (George Willis Ballingall), Selections from Old Records with Notes Regarding the Heriots of Trabroun, Scotland, Haddington, 1894, pg 9
George MacGregor, The History of Glasgow, Glasgow: Thomas D. Morison, London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1881, pg 64-65
Repository National Archives of Scotland, Reference GD15/336, 30 Mar 1414
Michael J. Haren, Calendar of Entries in the papal registers relating to Great Britain, and Ireland, Vol 19, London, 1998
Samuel Cowan, The Royal House of Stuart, Edinburgh, 1908, pg 445
Repository National Archives of Scotland, Reference GD15/153, 10 Aug 1495
G. W. B. (George Willis Ballingall), Selections from Old Records with Notes Regarding the Heriots of Trabroun, Scotland, Haddington, 1894, pg 19
George MacGregor, The History of Glasgow, Glasgow: Thomas D. Morison, London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1881, pg 91
John Durkan, Archbishop Blackadder’s Will, The Innes Review, Vol 23 Issue 2, 1972, pg 138-148
William Forbes-Leith, Pre-reformation Scholars in the XVIth Century, James Maclehose and Sons, Glasgow, 1915, pg 121
Repository National Archives of Scotland, Reference GD25/1/735, 12 Sep 1569
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