Biography

The Scots Peerage- Vol. VII, pp.399-401

4II. HUGH (HUGH 1, ORM 2, LAURENCE 3)

m. MARY of Argyll, Queen of Man (m.1. Magnus, King of Man, 2. Malise, Earl of Strathearn (d. 1271), m. 4. before 1299 William Fitz-Waren, d. 1304)

Hugh is first named 18 Mar. 1232/3 when King Alexander II confirmed a grant by Alan, son of Roland, Constable of Scotland, his 'cousin', of the lands of Oxton and Lyleston, Lauderdale.

Hugh occupies a distinct place in Scottish history as he was one of the party composed of the Earls of Menteith, Buchan, and Mar who surprised the young King Alexander III at Kinross during the night of 29 Oct. 1257 and carried him off to Stirling.

Hugh was one of the 'magnates Scotiae' appointed in 1260 who, in the event of the absence or death of Alexander III, were to receive the child of his Queen Margaret, whose delivery, when it should occur, was arranged to take place at her father's court.

On 31 Mar. 1265 Hugh hada grant of £50 from the rents of Tannadice from King Alexander III.

Sir Hugh obtained a dispensation for his marriage to Queen Mary in Apr. 1281. The date at which he actually married her cannot have been later than 1275 as it is stated in the dispensation that he had 'several' sons by her.(1) On the death of Alexander in 1285 six guardians were appointed to carry on the affairs of the Kingdom. Three years later one of these guardians, Duncan, Earl of Fife, was waylaid and murdered by Sir Patrick de Abernethy (probably the eldest son of Sir Laurence) and Sir Walter de Percy, instigated, as Fordun and Wyntous both state, by Sir William de Abernethy, who guarded another route by which the Earl might have travelled. The consequences of this outrage were serious. Sir Patrick fled to France and died in exile; Percy was captured and executed, and Sir William is stated by the historians above mentioned to have been imprisoned in Douglas castle for life. This, however, is a mistake. It was more probably Sir Hugh, as head of the family and chief instigator in the whole affair, who was imprisoned, as is shown by two documents: first, a letter from him to the King of England in 1288 requesting his intercession with the Pope respecting certain affairs to be laid before him by the bearer of the letter, the Bishop of Brechin; and second, an order from Edward I dated 28 June 1291 for the transference of Hugh de Abernethy to the King's prison from that of William Douglas where he was confined for the murder of the Earl of Fife. Sir Hugh probably died in prison as nothing more is recorded of him.(2)

Issue-

5I. ALEXANDER-

Ref:

• (1) Cal. of Papal Registers, Papal Letter- I, 463
• (2) Rotuli Scotiae- I, 2

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https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/aa/abernethy1.php

*Orm de Abernethy (a 1172/3)

• *1. Laurence de Abernethy, Abbot of Abernethy (a 1216, lived v. old) m. Devorgulle
  • * A. Patrick de Abernethy (d by 1254)
    • B. Hugh Abernethy of that ilk (d after 1291) m. (by 05.04.1281) Mary de Ergadia (Mary MacDougall of Lorn) (d 1304, dau of Ewen MacDougall, 3rd of Dunollie and of Lorn)
      • i. Alexander Abernethy of that ilk, Governor of Dundee (d c1316)
        • a. Margaret Abernethy (d c1370) -- m. John Stewart, 1st Earl of Angus (d 09.12.1331) --
        • b. Mary Abernethy -- m1. (1313) Sir Andrew Leslie -- m2. (1324) Sir David de Lindsay

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Notes

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Abernethy-245

Disputed Parentage

There appears to be information appearing in web resources, and carried into wikipedia, that sources "Historical Records of the Family of Leslie" by Charles J. Leslie; Volume 1, page 37, note A. A person Andrew B. W. MacEwen has been correcting material with "Laurence de Abernethy was previously noted as the father of Sir Hugh de Abernethy, but this is in error. Sir Hugh's father was Patrick de Abernethy, who predeceased his father Laurence."

However this is an error in Leslie's work. His work, Historical Records of the Family of Leslie, printed 1869, is used, as a source by Sir Balfour Paul for his work, "The Scots Peerage" printed 1908 and this note is discounted when he described the family of Abernethy,[1]

Hugh is clearly identified as brother to Marjory in the agreement of her marriage with Hugh de Douglas,[2] and thus as a brother to Patrick. Hugh is also noticed contemporary with Patrick in 1233 when he receives a grant of the lands of Oxton and Lyleston, Lauderdale.[3] Hugh must have been a brother of Patrick and not a son.

Events

In 1259, 6 April, he was a signatory to one of, if not the, oldest marriage contract still surviving in private Charters. The contract, between Sir William Douglas and Sir Hugh Abernethy for the marriage of Hugh of Douglas, son and heir of Sir William, with Sir Hugh's sister, Marjory, is still preserved in the Douglas Charter chest.[4] The contract is retained in The Douglas Book[5] and clearly provides the relationship to Marjory. Earlier that year, in arranging the marriage, he is noticed as being the Sheriff of Roxburgh and Forester of Selkirk.[6] This agreement is interesting as Sir William of Douglas was clearly a supporter of the English while Sir Hugh of Abernethy, on the other hand, was a powerful member of the Scottish party.

The same source informs that Hugh of Douglas was under age, as was, apparently, Marjory.[7] The terms obliged Hugh Douglas, stated as son and heir, to marry Marjory, sister of Sir Hugh of Abernethy, immediately after the following Easter (Easter 1260).

Hugh de Abernethy, although sometimes (Wyntoun and Fordun) confused with his brother William, is regarded as the perpetrator of the plot to murder Duncan, Earl of Fife, on 7 April 1288. The Earl was murdered at Petpolloch (Pitteloch) by Sir Patrick de Abernethy and Sir Walter de Percy, with consent of Sir William of Abernethy who lay in wait with a large party on a different road, so that the Earl might not escape alive. The party were pursued and de Percy caught and summarily executed. Sir Patrick de Abernethy escaped to France where he died.[8] In the confused history it is given that William was captured and handed over to Sir William Douglas to be imprisoned for life in the castle of Douglas. It was however his elder brother, Sir Hugh de Abernethy, that was the person imprisoned in Douglas Castle on that account. This appears in The Douglas Book, Douglas being his brother in law (had married his sister Marjorie), and in The Scots Peerage. [9]

Abbots and lords of Abernethy

The abbots of Abernethy were descendants of Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fife. The abbacy may have been held by Áed (called Hugo or Eggu and other Latinised forms), son of Gille Míchéil,[2] but the abbacy is first attested when Áed's son Orm is confirmed in possession of it by King William of Scotland in the 1170s, in condition for making concessions favorable to the King's new monastic establishment at Arbroath Abbey.[3] The title of Abbot disappears in the sources during the abbacy of Laurence, with the title of dominus predominating:

• Orm de Abernethy (fl. 1170s)
• Laurence de Abernethy (fl. 1190s)
• Hugh de Abernethy (d. 1291)
• Alexander de Abernethy (d. c. 1315)

Following the death of Alexander Abernethy, the title passed to his daughter Margaret who married John Stewart of Bonkyll, who assumed the title, as well as being granted the forfeited Earldom of Angus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_Abernethy

References

• The Scots peerage : founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom by Paul, James Balfour, Sir, 1846-1931 Publication date 1904-1914. Vol. 7. Page 399-401. Archive.Org
• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mainegenie/genealogy/ABERNETH.htm
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Abernethy-245 cites
  • Source S-2 Sir William Fraser. The Douglas book; Volume 1. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: unknown, 1885. archive.org
• Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_de_Abernethy
  • Maxwell, Sir Herbert -A History of the House of Douglas II vols. London 1902. Page 16 - Archive.Org
• PoMS, no. 2063 (https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/person/2063/; accessed 15 December 2021)