THE Keiths are among the oldest and most illustrious, as they were at one time among the most powerful of the historical families of Scotland. During five centuries they took a prominent part in all the important public events—political and ecclesiastical— in their own country, and obtained great renown ‘in far lands ayont the sea.’ They were distinguished for their diplomatic ability as well as for their warlike achievements, and were munificent patrons of learning, which they promoted both by their wealth and their pen. Though they ultimately forfeited their titles and estates by their adherence to the cause of the ill-fated Stewart dynasty, the Keiths, throughout nearly the whole of their career, were not only zealous patriots but staunch supporters of civil and religious liberty.

The origin of the Keiths is hid amid the mists of antiquity, and the stories told by the early chroniclers respecting their descent from the German tribe of the ‘Catti,’ who were driven from their own country and took refuge in Caithness, are absurd fictions. All that is known with certainty on the subject is, that in the reign of David I., when Norman, Saxon, Flemish, and Scandinavian settlers in great numbers took up their residence in Scotland, a part of the district of Keith, in East Lothian, was possessed by a baron named HERVELUS, who witnessed the charter by which King David granted Annandale to Robert de Brus. His estate received from him the designation of Keith Hervei, and afterwards of Keith Marischal. Herveus de Keith, the son of this baron, held the office of King’s Marischal under Malcolm IV. and William I., which from this time became hereditary in the family. Philip, his grandson, who died before 1220, succeeded him in his estate and office, and by his marriage with Eda, grand-daughter and heiress of Simon Fraser, obtained Keith Hundeby (now Humbie), the other half of the barony of Keith.

The family soon become numerous and powerful, and spread their branches far and wide throughout the Lowland districts of Scotland. SIR WILLIAM KEITH of Galston, in Ayrshire, fought on the patriotic side in the War of Independence, and distinguished himself by his signal bravery and energy at the capture of Berwick, in 1318. He was one of the knights who, in 1330, accompanied Sir James Douglas in his expedition to the Holy Land, with the heart of King Robert Bruce. In 1333 he was appointed Governor of Berwick, and two years later was sent ambassador to England. He was killed at the siege of Stirling in 1336.

SIR ROBERT DE KEITH, the fourth in descent from Philip, the Great Marischal, was one of the most celebrated knights of his day. In the year 1300 he was appointed Justiciary of the country beyond the Forth, and in 1305 was chosen one of the representatives of the barons, to consult respecting the government of the kingdom after the death of Wallace. Three years later he repaired to the standard of Bruce, and distinguished himself at the battle of Inverury, where Comyn of Badenoch, the deadly enemy of the patriot King, was defeated. As a reward for his signal services in this conflict, Sir Robert received a grant of several estates in Aberdeenshire, along with a royal residence called Hall Forest- a donation which led, as in the case of the Gordons and Frasers, to the removal of the family to the north, where they ultimately had their chief seat and estates. Sir Robert de Keith rendered important service to the patriotic cause throughout the War of Independence, and contributed not a little to the crowning victory of Bannockburn. He was despatched by Bruce along with Sir James Douglas to reconnoitre the English army on their march, and to bring him confidential information respecting their numbers and equipments; and to him was entrusted the important duty of attacking and dispersing the English archers, whose deadly clothyard shafts so often overwhelmed the Scottish spearmen. At the head of a small body of cavalry, Sir Robert, making a circuit to the right, assailed the formidable bowmen in flank, cut them down in great numbers, and drove them off the field. The effect of this manoeuvre is portrayed in spirited terms by Sir Walter Scott in his ‘Lord of the Isles.’ After describing the position of the Scottish army, and the manner in which Bruce had drawn up the different divisions, with the right wing under Edward Bruce, protected by the broken bank and deep ravine of the Bannock on their flank, the poet goes on to say- 

‘Behind them, screen’d by sheltering wood,
The gallant Keith, Lord Marshal, stood; 
His men-at-arms bear mace and lance,
And plumes that wave and helms that glance.

* * * * *

‘Then "Mount, ye gallants free!"
He cried; and vaulting from the ground
His saddle every horseman found.
On high their glittering crests they toss,
As springs the wild-fire from the moss;
The shield hangs down on every breast, 
Each ready lance is in the rest

* * * * *

Then spurs were dash’d in chargers’ flanks,
They rushed among the archer ranks;
No spears were there the shock to let,
No stakes to turn the charge were set,
And how shall yeoman’s armour slight
Stand the long lance and mace of might?
Or what may their short swords avail
‘Gainst barbed horse and shirt of mail?
Amid their ranks the chargers sprung,
High o’er their heads the weapons swung,
And shriek, and groan, and vengeful shout
Give note of triumph and of rout
Awhile with stubborn hardihood
Their English hearts the strife made good;
Borne down at length on every side,
Compelled to flight they scatter wide.

* * * * *

Broken, dispersed, in flight o’erta’en, 
Pierced through, trod down, by thousands slain, 
They cumber Bannock’s bloody plain.’

 ‘Although,’ Sir Walter says, ‘the success of this manoeuvre was evident, it is very remarkable that the Scottish generals do not appear to have profited by the lesson. Almost every subsequent battle which they lost against England was decided by the archers, to whom the close and compact array of the Scottish phalanx afforded an exposed and unresisting mark.’

Sir Robert Keith was one of the Scottish magnates who in 1320 signed the famous letter to the Pope vindicating the independence of Scotland. He evidently stood high in the confidence of Robert Bruce, for we find him nominated one of the commissioners to treat for a peace with England in 1323; and he was also appointed, along with other great nobles, to ratify an alliance with the French king, Charles le Bel. As a testimony of the esteem in which Sir Robert was held by his sovereign, he received from King Robert a charter of the lands of Keith Marischal, and of the office of Great Marischal of Scotland, to himself and to his nearest heirs male bearing the name and arms of Keith. Sir Robert fell at the fatal battle of Dupplin, 12th August, 1332, when the Scottish army was surprised and cut to pieces through the negligence and incompetency of its commander, the Earl of Mar. His grandson, who bore his name and succeeded him in his estates and offices, was killed at the battle of Durham, 17th October, 1346, where David II. was taken prisoner, along with another two chiefs of the Keith family. As he died without issue he was succeeded by his grand-uncle, SIR EDWARD KEITH, who was twice married; his only daughter Janet, by his second wife, Christian Menteith, married Sir Thomas Erskine. Her maternal grandmother, Lady Eline, was the daughter of Gratney, Earl of Mar, of the ancient line, and that title was conferred upon their descendant, Lord Erskine, by Queen Mary, a hundred and twenty years after it had been withheld from Sir Robert Erskine, son of Sir Thomas and Lady Janet Keith. Sir Edward’s second son, John, was the ancestor of the Keiths of Inverugie, an estate which he obtained by his marriage to Mariot Cheyne, the heiress of a family of Anglo-Norman descent, which settled in Scotland in the early part of the thirteenth century. After continuing separate from the main stock for seven or eight descents, this branch of the Keiths fell again into the direct line, by the marriage of the elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Keith to the fourth Earl Marischal. Sir Edward Keith died before 1350. His eldest son- 

SIR WILLIAM KEITH, added greatly to the power and possessions of the family by his marriage to the only child and heiress of Sir John Fraser, eldest son of Alexander Fraser, High Chamberlain of Scotland, by his wife Mary, sister of Robert Bruce. He obtained with her large estates in Kincardine or Mearns, which from this time forward became the principal residence of the Keith family. He exchanged with William de Lindsay, of Byres, certain lands in the counties of Fife and Stirling for part of the estate of Dunnottar, in Kincardineshire.

Here, about a mile and a half from Stonehaven, he erected an extensive fortress of great strength on the summit of a stupendous perpendicular rock projecting into the sea, and separated from the land by a deep chasm. The only access to it is by a steep and narrow path winding round the rock. Strange to say, notwithstanding its almost inaccessible position, the summit of this insulated rock was occupied by a church and churchyard long before it was made the site of a fortress. When Sir William Keith resolved to erect a castle upon it as a place of safety during the troublous times in which he lived, he took the precaution first of all to build a church for the parish in a more convenient place; but notwithstanding, the Bishop of St. Andrews, who must have been actuated by some personal feeling, thought fit to excommunicate him on the pretence that he had violated consecrated ground. Sir William, however, appealed to the Pope (Benedict XIII.), stating the whole circumstances of the case, the urgent need of such a fortress, and the compensation he had made for the site by building another church. The Pontiff, on learning the real state of matters, issued a Bull, dated 18th July, 1394, deciding the appeal in Sir William's favour, directing the Bishop to remove the excommunication, and to permit the baron to retain possession of the castle on the payment of a certain sum to the Church. Dunnottar thenceforth was the seat of the family, and became the scene of several important events in the history of the country. Though long dismantled and uninhabited, it is still an object of deep interest to Scotsmen, who visit it in great numbers. ‘The battlements with their narrow embrasures, the strong towers and airy turrets full of loopholes for the archer and musketeer, the hall for the banquet, and the cell for the captive, are all alike entire and distinct. Even the iron rings and bolts that held the culprits for security or for torture, still remain to attest the different order of things which once prevailed in this country. Many a sigh has been sent from the profound bosom of this vast rock; many a despairing glance has wandered hence over the boundless wave; and many a weary heart has there sunk rejoicing into eternal sleep.’

[In 1685 Dunnottar was employed as a place of confinement for a body of the Covenanters, 167 in number, including several women and children, who had been compelled to travel on foot from Edinburgh to this spot. They were thrust, men and women together, into a dark underground dungeon in the castle which still bears the name of the ‘Whigs’ Vault,’ having only small windows looking out to the sea, and the floor covered with mire ankle deep. They remained there during the whole summer with little more than standing room, and were subjected to the most shocking tortures by the soldiers who guarded them. A good many died under their sufferings.]

In this impregnable fortress the Keiths established themselves, and continued generation after generation to make their power felt both in their feuds with the neighbouring barons and in the public affairs of the kingdom. Sir William, the builder of the stronghold, died between 1406 and 1408, leaving three sons and four daughters. Muriella, his eldest daughter, became the second wife of Robert, Duke of Albany, Regent of the kingdom during the long captivity of James I. in England, and was the mother of John, Earl of Buchan, the famous Constable of France. Sir William’s eldest son John, ‘a man of great valour,’ says Nisbet, who fought at the battle of Otterburn, married a daughter of King Robert II. He predeceased his father, who was succeeded by his second son, ROBERT. Sir Alexander, his third son had the command of the horse at the battle of Harlaw.

SIR WILLIAM, eldest son of Sir Robert de Keith, was raised to the peerage by James II., about 1458, by the title of Earl Marischal, as a reward for his eminent services, especially in preserving the peace of the northern districts, usually the seat of intestine broils and feuds. His eldest son, who bore his name-the second Earl -unlike the Keith family, who were conspicuous for their loyalty, joined the confederacy of the rebel lords against James III. His eldest son, also named WILLIAM KEITH, succeeded as third Earl in 1515, took a prominent part in public affairs during the minority of James V., and was one of the nobles entrusted with the charge of the young king. His two eldest sons fell at the disastrous battle of Flodden, along with Sir William Keith, of Inverugie and other members of the house. [The pennon of the Earl Marischal borne in that battle, bearing three stags’ heads and the motto ‘Veritas vincit,’ is preserved in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh.] Earl William was noted for his sterling honesty, sound judgment, calmness, and moderation, and his earnest endeavours to heal dissensions. From the expression which he frequently used he received the sobriquet of’ Hearken and take heed.’ His grandson- 

Part 2 - WILLIAM, 4TH EARL MARISCHAL

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