RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT - Through the Years

RICHARD ALLEN SCOTT
THROUGH THE YEARS
THE SCOTT NAME
Growing up, I was exposed to a deep pride by my father that I was a Scott of Buccleuch
(pronounced ‘bewclue’), though there is no evidence to support his
claim that he and I (and my subsequent male offspring), are
descended from that branch of the Scott clan. I assume it must be
true. My father had a tuxedo jacket tailored for him in the Scott
Green tartan, and a waistcoat in Scott Red. Those items are still
in my possession. I had a family crest embroidered for me and sewn onto a blazer when I was
a teenager. I still have the crest.
The Scotts of Buccleuch
Motto: Amo (Latin) meaning “I love”
Coat of Arms
Family Crest
The earliest written ancestral record of the present Scotts of Buccleuch refers to a Scott, living
in Peeblesshire in 1116. Between the 12th and 14th centuries descendants of one, Richard
Scott, were granted lands at the head of the Ettrick spreading thereafter along the Teviot and
down into Eskdale and Liddesdale along the border with England. Life was turbulent marked by
simmering conflict with the ‘auld enemie’ and much internal feuding. Many fortified small castles
or ‘keeps’ – Newark, Aikwood, Kirkhope, Gilnockie, to name but a few – as well as larger
fortresses such as Hermitage or the Scott headquarters at Branxholme bear witness to these
times.
One of the most memorable characters to emerge in the 16th Century was the Walter Scott
knighted by King James VI in 1590 and known as “Bold Buccleuch”. Together with Watt Scott
of Harden he famously rescued another Border brigand, Kinmont Willie from the English
stronghold at Carlisle provoking both the ire and the admiration of Queen Elizabeth I.
The union of the thrones in 1603 in the person of King James VI of Scotland and I of England,
brought peace and the Scotts of Buccleuch became part of the establishment. Their position
was consolidated when Anna, the Scott heiress was married in 1663 to King Charles II’s eldest
illegitimate son James, who was created Duke of Monmouth and 1st Duke of Buccleuch.
Although Monmouth himself was to lose both his head and his title following a rebellion in 1685,
his widow continued the Dukedom and thus it has descended directly through the male line to
the present Duke, Richard, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, a Knight of the British Empire.
June 2017
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