James de Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester

James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester was born before 1576. He married Lady Margaret Kerr, daughter of Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian and Margaret Maxwell. He died on 3 February 1609.

    James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester gained the title of 7th Lord Hay of Yester.

JAMES, seventh Lord Yester, who obtained from James VI. a charter to him and to his heirs male of the lordship and barony of Yester, containing a new creation. The charter is dated 1591, but it had not passed the seals when his brother died, and Father Hay asserts the Chancellor Maitland extorted from Lord Yester the superiority of Lethington, and the lands of Haystoun, near Haddington, before he would pass it. Lord Yester resided at Neidpath Castle like his predecessors. At this time his wife—Lady Margaret Kerr, a daughter of the Earl of Lothian—had brought him no family, and his presumptive heir was his second cousin, Hay of Smithfield. In connection with this state of matters, a singular incident occurred— a public judicial combat on Edston-haugh, on the north bank of the Tweed, near Neidpath—the last of the kind in Scotland.

Lord Yester had for his page one George Hepburn, brother of the parson of Oldhamstocks, in East Lothian. His master of the horse was John Brown of Hartree. One day Brown, in conversation with Hepburn, remarked, ‘Your father had good knowledge of physic; I think you should have some also.’ ‘What mean ye by that?’ said Hepburn. ‘You might have great advantage of something,’ answered Brown. On being further questioned, the latter stated that, seeing Lord Yester had no children, and Hay of Smithfield came next in the entail, it was only necessary to give the former a suitable dose to make the latter Lord Yester. ‘If you,’ continued Brown, ‘could give him some poison, you should be nobly rewarded, you and yours.’ ‘Methinks that were no good physic,’ quoth Hepburn, drily, and soon after revealed the project to his lord. Brown, on being taxed with it, stood stoutly on his denial. Hepburn strongly insisted that the proposal had been made to him. In these circumstances it was resolved that a passage of arms should be held between the two, in order to determine the dispute.

‘The two combatants were to fight in their doublets, mounted, with spears and swords. Some of the greatest men in the country took part in the affair, and honoured it with their presence. The Laird of Buccleuch appeared as judge for Brown; Hepburn had on his part the Laird of Cessford. The Lords Yester and Newbottle were amongst those officiating. When all was ready, the two combatants rode full tilt against each other with their spears, when Brown missed Hepburn, and was thrown from his horse, with his adversary’s weapon through his body. Having grazed his thigh in the charge, Hepburn did not immediately follow up his advantage, but suffered Brown to lie unharmed on the ground. ‘Fy!’ cried one of the judges; ‘alight, and take amends of thy enemy!’ He then advanced on foot, with his sword in his hand, to Brown, and commanded him to confess the truth. ‘Stay,’ cried Brown, ‘till I draw the broken spear out of my body.’ This being done, Brown suddenly drew his sword and struck at Hepburn, who for some time was content to ward off his blows, but at last dealt him a backward wipe across the face, when the wretched man, blinded with blood, fell to the ground. The judges then interposed to prevent him being further punished by Hepburn, but he resolutely refused to make any confession.

Lord Yester, after this incident, had by Lady Margaret, ‘who was ane active woman, and did mutch for the standing of the familie,’ three sons and a daughter—John, his successor; William, who was the ancestor of the Hays of Linplum; and Robert, who died young. It was this Lady Yester who in her widowhood erected the church in Edinburgh which bears and perpetuates her name.

Sheriff of Peebles.