Henry of Erskine

HENRY OF ERSKINE (aka HENRICO DE ESKYN)

The parish of Erskine was part of the lordship of Renfrew given to Walter son of Alan, the first hereditary steward of Scotland, by David I, King of Scots, 1124-53. Part or all of it may have been the fee of Henry of Erskine. Origines Parochiales Scotiae etc. Volume First, pp. 80-81

Heny of Erskine is noticed only once in Scottish record, in a charter by which Alexander II, King of Scots, confirms that Amelec, the brother of Maldoveni. Earl of Lennox, has given the church of Rosneath to the monks of Paisley.The charter was issued on 12 March in the twelfth year of the reign of Alexander II, King of Scots, 1214-49. Passelet: 210

Evidence from the Register of Paisley Abbey

ALEXANDER Dei gratia Rex Scottorum omnibus probis hominibus totius terre sue clericis et laicis salutem. Sciantes presents et futuri nos concessisse et hac carte nostra confirmasse donationem illam quam Amelec frater Maldoveni comitis Levenax fecit Deo et Sanctis Jacobo et Mirino de Passelet et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, de ecclesia Rosneth cum omnibus justis pertinentiis suis; Tenendam et possidendam predictis monachis in liberam, puram et perpetuam elemosinam, ita libere, quiete et honorifice, sicut carta predicti Amelec inde facta predictis monachis juste testator, Salvo servitio nostro. Testibus, Thoma de Stirleyn cancelario nostro, Waltero Olifart justiciario Laudonie, Radulfo capellano nostro, Thoma de Haia, Henrico de Eskyn, Alexandro de Stirleyn, David de Lyndsay, apud Trefquer duodecimo die Marcii anno regno nostril duodecimo. Registrum Monasterii de Passelet Cartas Privilegia Conventiones Aliaque Munimenta Complectens A Domo Fundata MCLXIII Usque AD A.D. MDXXIX Ad Fidem Codicis M.S., in Bibliotheca Facultatis Juridicae Edinensis Servati Nunc Primum Typis Mandatum (Edinburgi MDCCCXXXII), page 210

Genealogy

1. The Scots Peerage etc. Edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, LL.D., Lord Lyon King of Arms, Volume V (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1908), pp. 590-630
2. Stirnet: Erskine 01

Commentary

ERSKINE, anciently spelled Areskin, and sometimes Irskyn, a surname of great antiquity, and one which has been much distinguished in all periods of Scottish history, was originally derived from the lands and barony of Erskine in Renfrewshire, situated on the south side of the Clyde, the most ancient possession of the noble family who afterwards became Lords Erskine and earls of Mar.

Henry de Erskine was proprietor of the barony of Erskine so early as the reign of Alexander the Second. He was witness of a grant by Amelick, brother of Maldwin, earl of Lennox, of the patronage and tithes of the parish church of Roseneath to the abbey of Paisley in 1226.

William St. Clair, the 'Last of the Rosslyns' died in 1778 without any legitimate male heirs. The title and ownership of Rosslyn Castle and what remained of the original estate passed to the Lords Sinclair and then to the current Erskine family through marriage.

Henry de Ghent was also known as Henry Erskine in Scotland. He took the Alost arms, reversed to Scotland: argent, a pale sable. Henry Erskine's device came closest to the original Alost pattern out of those families that took the colours to Scotland." - The Flemish by Dean Amory, Page 76

This, the most direct and strongly supporting statement, comes from an article by Ms. Teresa Bostle, President of the Clan Lindsay Society of Australia. It was featured in the March 2002 Newsletter of the Australian Lindsay Society. Ms Bostle used the "Lives of the Lindsays" publication (published in 1840 by Alexander William Crawford Lindsay (1812-1880), 25th Earl of Crawford and Chief of Clan Lindsay) and the research report by Ms. Beryl Platts to the Lindsay Society of Scotland as her source material. The De Ghent, Lord of Alaast family are the descendants of Ralph, Lord of Aalst and his son Gilbert de Ghent who arrived in Britain during the Norman conquest, received many estates for his service as a Commander at the Firing of London, as recorded in the Domesday Book.

https://moultray.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/flemish-counts-of-guines/

The work of Mrs. Beryl Platts have been central to the idea that the Rutherfurd/Rutherford family, like their near relatives: Douglas, Bruce, Stewart, Lindsay, Hay, Bethune, Lyle, Erskine, and Crawford came to Scotland from Flanders and Normandy" - The Flemish by Dean Amory, Page 82

The above quote is from "The Rutherfords of Roxburghshire" by Gary Rutherford Harding, and can also be seen on the Clan Rutherfurd webpage. This article is also available here: http://www.hunthill.mysite.com/custom_2.html

William the Conqueror made vast rewards to his Flemish followers. They were given many manors in England and his protégés were also, most of them, his wife’s kinsmen. He had arranged a marriage between his niece Judith, daughter of his sister Adèle and Count Lambert of Lens (a “comté” lying between Bethune and Douai), and the last English nobleman, Waltheof, only surviving son and heir of the mighty Siward, Earl of Northumbria. After Waltheof’s execution, Judith’s elder daughter, Maud was made the heiress of her father’s immense Midlands possessions and these were passed to Maud’s husband, Simon de Senlis, a cadet of the great house of Vermandois (the house of Vermandois was sprung from Charlemagne’s second son Pepin). Simon de Senlis died in 1111 and Maud, his widow, took as her second husband Malcolm Canmore’s youngest son, David and when he ascended the Scottish throne in 1124 as David I, Maud went north with him as his queen,- followed, inevitably, by a large retinue of her Flemish kinsmen. They received large estates in Scotland and it was thus that a new feudal system soon took the place of the older Celtic way of life. These Flemish knights were the ancestors of many Scottish families:
Balliol, Beaton, Brodie, Bruce, Cameron, Campbell, Comyn, Crawford, Douglas, Erskine, Fleming Fraser, Graham, Hamilton, Hay, Innes, Leslie, Lindsay, Lyle, Murray, Oliphant, Seton, Stewart.." - The Flemish by Dean Amory, Page 63

This article states the source of this information originates from

- Beryl PLATTS, “Origins of Heraldry”, 1980; “Scottish Hazard” Vol. I, 1985 & Vol.II, 1990, Procter Press, London.

- J. Arnold FLEMING, “Flemish Influence in Britain” Vol. I & Il, 1930, Jackson, Wylie & Co., Glasgow.