The Scott Country -- Branxholm Tower

Branxholm Tower

“It was from Branxholm, on the Teviot above Hawick, that another Scott of the name – generation after generation were Walters – rode forth to rescue ‘Kinmount Willie’ from prison in Carlisle. The Minstrel’s tale, in the Lay, opens at and returns again to Branxholm Ha’; it was at the Tower Inn, at Hawick, where the Duchess Anne of Buccleuch and Monmouth held her receptions, and that the greatest of all the Sir Walters parted from his guests the Wordsworths.” The Scott Country (p. 21)

Watercolour illustrations from The Scott Country completed by Ernest William Haslehust (1866-1949).

The Scott Country -- images

Smailholm-Tower

Smailholm is a well preserved and restored border tower house dating from the 15th century. Situated on Sandyknowe Farm, it is visible for miles around. Formerly home to the Pringles of Smailholm and later the Scotts of Harden, it was well known to Sir Walter Scott who came to Sandyknowe regularly to visit his grandfather.

Watercolour illustration from The Scott Country completed by Ernest William Haslehust R.I., R.B.A. (1866-1949)

Name Profiling - A New Tool in Tracking Scotts

Name profiling is a form of research that allows one to follow migration patterns - as family names become established in new locations. Both telephone and electoral data are used to determine how prevalent both surnames and given names are in various areas.

Research on the surname Scott has been done by a team of geographers from University College, London, using data from electoral rolls and telephone directories as part of an effort to map the distribution of 10.8 million distinct surnames.

The information, covering a billion people in 26 countries, shows concentrations of individual surnames which is used to help show where different names originated and where families with those surnames are currently living around the world - revealing the ongoing impact of migration.

The online maps, at www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames, lists the top regions and cities for the presence of each last name.

The highest prevalence of Scotts in Scottish districts shows a concentration in the counties north and south of Edinburgh. This includes the current districts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Midlothian, East Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Northumberland, and the Scottish Borders. As well the Orkney Islands are equal in having the highest frequency of the surname in the UK.

Scotland is clearly recognized as the source of the surname, a fact borne out by a continuing presence measured by frequency per million (FPM) of 5492.02. Despite being the source, it is closely followed by both New Zealand at 3031.03 and Australia at 2409.68, which place second and third internationally.

Perhaps it is no surprise given the waves of Scottish immigration to North America that Canada is the fourth highest country for Scotts at 1990.45 and the US is fifth at 1582.32.

With the high frequency of Scotts in New Zealand, one could logically expect that some of the top ten Scott areas in the world might be located there. The top international districts include:

Scotland - 5492.02
Northern UK - 5201.8
Otago Region, NZ - 4727.51
Marlborough Region, NZ - 4345.43
Nelson Region, NZ - 4345.43
Tasman Region, NZ - 4345.43
Gisborne Region, NZ - 3661.09
Northern Ireland, UK - 3608.02
Western Australia, Australia - 3572.36
Canterbury Region, NZ - 3558.98

The research also lists the top five Scott cities worldwide with the majority of those being in Scotland. They include:

Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

The website provides a unique mapping tool which allows one to type in a surname and then click on the maps to drill down from world maps to a district level.

Clan Scott Society Gathering - 2009 - Bowhill - Scotland

As part of Homecoming Scotland 2009, Bowhill is hosting a Clan Scott Society Gathering between the 24th and 27th of September 2009. Details are now available on the various events.

The Bowhill House & Country Estate site now has the details in pdf format through the following link.
The details have been copied (without the original formatting) below

Bowhill House and Country Estate
www.bowhill.org

Provisional Programme for Scott Clan Gathering at Bowhill

24 – 27 September 2009

Wednesday September 23, 2009
Evening Welcome with traditional music and supper - location County Hotel, Selkirk

Thursday September 24, 2009
All Day Bus Tour of Scott Country - Around the Scottish Borders (preference given to Scott Clan members)

Thursday September 24, 2009
Evening Theatre Performance Bowhill Theatre (numbers limited to 72)

Friday September 25, 2009
Afternoon Tours of Bowhill House - Bowhill House and tea with 10 Duke of Buccleuch (tickets limited)

Friday September 25
Afternoon Ranger led tours of Bowhill Country Estate - Bowhill Woodlands

Friday September 25
Evening Reception Dinner at Abbotsford (Scott Clan only)

or Traditional Music Supper in Selkirk - location County Hotel, Selkirk

Saturday September 26, 2009
All Day Tented Village: local crafts, Genealogy, Clan Parade, Storytelling, Re-enactment of Carterhaugh Ba’ Game
(open to all) - location Bowhill Gardens and Estate

Saturday September 26, 2009
Evening Concert with SCOCHA – traditional Scottish folk rock band (open to all) - location Bowhill Gardens

Sunday September 27, 2009
All day Walks round Estate, display of Buccleuch Fox Hounds, Ox roast BBQ to bid farewell to the Scotts
(open to all) - location Bowhill Gardens and Estate

(Pricing and further details to follow)

Clan Scott Society Gathering 2009

As published by The Herald - June 17, 2008 in an article called Piping up for a welcome home

September 24-27

Clan Scott Society Gathering 2009

First international gathering of the Scott clan at its ancestral Borders home in Bowhill; includes historical re-enactment, archery displays and the performance of a play about Sir Walter Scott.

Buccleuch Memorial to be Restored

as published by Edinburgh World Heritage

note - the Dukes of Buccleuch, serve as the Titular Chiefs of Clan Scott

Edinburgh World Heritage has announced that the memorial to the 5th Duke of Buccleuch in Parliament Square will be conserved, as part of the on-going programme of conservation of the city’s key statues and monuments.


The project will cost around £40,000, shared equally between Edinburgh World Heritage and the current Duke of Buccleuch. Works are expected to take around 4 weeks to complete, and will include treatments to the sandstone plinth and selective re-pointing in lime mortar, a light conservation cleaning of the bronze panels to reveal the original patina using a laser, and treatment of corrosion to arrest further deterioration.

The category A listed memorial commemorates the life of the distinguished politician Walter Francis Montague Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and the 7th Duke of Queensbery (1806 - 1884), and was paid for entirely through public subscription. The statue of the Duke shows him in the robes of the Order of the Garter, while bronze panels depict incidents from the Buccleuch family history and scenes from the life of the 5th Duke himself.

The memorial is now regarded as hugely significant in art history terms because some of the most important names in Scottish sculpture and design worked on the statue and the bronze panels. Sir Joseph Boehm (who designed the head of Queen Victoria for coinage) was the sculptor for the statue, the plinth was designed by Sir Rowand Anderson (the architect for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) and the bronze figures and panels were done by Clark Stanton, Birnie Rhind, Stuart Burnett and D.W. and W.G. Stevenson.


The Memorial was officially unveiled on the 7th February 1888, by the Earl of Stair. It had cost around £6,700 paid for through 1,200 public subscribers. It has been cared for by the City of Edinburgh Council ever since.

Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch was born 25th November 1806 and died 16th April 1884. Inheriting the Dukedom as a minor, one of his guardians was Sir Walter Scott who organised the visit of King George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, when the King stayed at the family’s Dalkeith House just outside the city. Buccleuch was a leading Tory, and served as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President in Sir Robert Peel’s government in the 1840’s. A great Scottish magnate, he took a progressive approach to the management of his estate businesses, most notably in the development of the harbour at Granton.

Sir Walter Scott wrote on 25 August 1826 that he "has grown up into a graceful and apparently strong young man... I think he will be well qualified to sustain his difficult and important task. The heart is excellent, so are the talents... With perfect good nature, he has a natural sense of his own situation, which will keep him from associating with unworthy companions."

Notes from the Life of an Ordinary Mortal records that "his great position and vast estates made him something of a grand seigneur, though his habits were simple, and his appearance rather that of an Elder of the Kirk. He always wore a dark grey cutaway coat, shepherd's plaid trousers, and a cap with a large peak, and out of doors carried a plaid over his shoulder. His manner was brusque, and he was fond of a rough sort of chaff, but no one had a kinder heart."

Princess Elizabeth portrait found in Duke of Buccleuch (Chief of Clan Scott) Collection

A rare portrait of Queen Elizabeth I as a young princess has been discovered in a private collection at a stately home in Northamptonshire. The portrait, dating from 1650 to 1680, was found in the Duke of Buccleuch’s collection at Boughton House.
It shows Elizabeth with siblings [later to be] Edward VI and Mary I, father Henry VIII and his jester, Will Somers.

Full story

Writer's portrait fetches £9,600

As published by BBC News Wednesday, 21 November 2007
A previously unrecorded portrait of Sir Walter Scott has been sold by auctioneers Bonhams for £9,600.

The work by Richard Collins is believed to be the earliest known painting of the author and poet and captures him at the age of just four.

The portrait came to light at a valuation day held by the company in the Austrian capital Vienna.

The buyer's name has not been disclosed but auctioneers said they were pleased with the "absolutely terrific price".

"We are really delighted here at Bonhams that the first ever known picture of Sir Walter Scott has gone for so much," said a spokesperson.

"It just shows how much Scott still means to people today."

Famous works

The miniature can be dated to 1775, when Scott visited the artist in London.

He was en route to the spa town of Bath in the hope of curing his lame right leg - the result of contracting polio, aged just two.

Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1771 but spent much of his life in the Scottish Borders where his historic home, Abbotsford House, is to be found.

He was the author of numerous famous works including Waverley, Rob Roy and Ivanhoe.

Early portrait of Sir Walter Scott unearthed

The portrait depicts Scott as a four-year-old boy

From BBC News Wednesday, 24 October 2007,


A previously unrecorded portrait of Sir Walter Scott has been unearthed in Austria by auctioneers Bonhams.

The work by Richard Collins is believed to be the earliest known painting of the author and poet and captures him at the age of just four.

The portrait came to light at a recent valuation day held by the company in the Austrian capital Vienna.

It is now to go up for auction next month when it is expected to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000.

The portrait shows Scott as a child wearing a pale green coat, double-breasted white waistcoat over a frilled chemise and a black hat decorated with a ribbon bow.

Measuring less than two inches high, the painting is signed with the initials RC, dated 1775 and set in a rectangular leather travelling case in the form of a book.

"The portrait has emerged from the shadows of a private collection in Austria." explained Bonhams' head of portrait miniatures, Camilla Seymour.

"It came to light on a recent valuation day in Vienna."

Polio treatment

The portrait's case carries a label attributing the work to Richard Cosway but it was in fact painted by his contemporary Richard Collins.

The miniature can be dated to 1775, when Scott visited Collins in London.

He was en route to the spa town of Bath in the hope of curing his lame right leg - the result of contracting polio, aged just two.

Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1771 but spent much of his life in the Scottish Borders where his historic home, Abbotsford House, is to be found.

He was the author of numerous famous works including Waverley, Rob Roy and Ivanhoe.