Dublin. Castle HayI or Hoel
(Haylen’s Castle) in Kilkenny was a stronghold. Many espoused the Irish cause
beginning in the late sixteenth century, and as a result many lost their wide lands during
the wars of the seventeenth century.
The Savages (Sabhaois) are an Anglo-Norman
family originally planted in the Ards of County Down by Sir John de Courcy in 1177. They
became completely Gaelicized from the fifteenth century onwards, and were prominent on the
Irish side in the wars against Elizabeth. The Four Masters record the name as Mac an
tSabhaisigh—"the son of The Savage." The Savages retained considerable
property down to the revolution of 1689.
Finally, there were a number of families of
Anglo-Norman genesis that formed important baronial houses in the border regions
surrounding the Perthshire Highlands from the later middle ages onwards. The Haldanes (or
Haddens) of Gleneagles in Perthshire descend from a cadet of the Anglo-Norman house of
Howden or Hauden of that Ilk (the barony of Hadden or Halden) in Roxburgshire. This
younger son married the heiress of the family of de Gleneagles in Perthshire, and thus
became possessed of the estate of Gleneagles. They became representatives of this extinct
family, and adopted their arms as their own. Aylmer de Haldane de Gleneagles rendered
homage in 1296. The Haldanes of Gleneagles were barons of some consequence from that time
onwards, into the seventeenth century, though the name is now rare in Perthshire. The
quartering of Lennox and Menteith in their arms reflects the early fifteenth century
marriage of John Haldane of Gleneagles to the eldest granddaughter of Margaret (wife of
Robert Menteith of Rusky), one of the heiresses of the earldom of the Lennox in the late
fourteenth century. David Hadden, tutor (laird) of Gleneagles is mentioned in 1614. The
Haldanes of Lanrick, Stirlingshire, were cadets of Gleneagles.
The Butters or Buttars of Gormack (just east
of Dunkeld) in Perthshire and later Pitlochry and Kinnaird (and later also Faskally) in
Atholl appear as landowners in the area as early as 1331, when Adam Butir is on record,
and in 1360 William Butyr and Patrick Butirr are mentioned as collectors of contributions
in Gowrie (Perthshire). Their name apparently refers to the practice of archery, which is
performed at the butts, that is, at the target range (the crest of the Butter arms is
comprised of two hands holding a drawn bow and arrow). Between 1432 and 1444, Finlay and
Patrick Butter served on inquests with other local lairds (landowners) such as Sir David
Murray of Tullibardine and Malcolm Drummond of Stobhall, Patrick Rattray of that Ilk,
Finlay Ramsay of Bamff and Malcolm Moncreiffe of that Ilk. The Butters were followers of
the House of Atholl (see Murray).
The Ramsays are, according to tradition,
originally from Huntingdonshire, where Ramsey (Latin: de Rameseia) is a name derived from
a local place. The first of the name recorded in Scotland is Simund de Ramesie who
witnessed a charter to the Abbey of Holyrood (Edinburgh) before 1175, and probably in |
