William le Vache del counte de Pebbles

SIGNATORIE IN THE RAGMAN ROLLS OF 1296 Vache, William le (del counte de Pebbles). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragman_Rolls

The History of Peebles

DRUMELZIER No parish in Peeblesshire abounds in more curious family history than that of Drummelzier, and we regret that our limited space enables us only to glance at the leading particulars, beginning at Dawick in the north, and going southwards. The lands of Dawick belonged, in early times, to the Veitches, a Norman French family, as their name in its original form of Vache, or le Vache, imports. We hear of them as early as the reign of Alexander II, and in 1296, William le Vache signs the Ragman Roll. From this time, they appear in various charters, the name gradually changing from Vache to Vaitch, and finally Veitch. In the early part of the fifteenth century, they are seen to be in possession of Dawick, and were a leading family in the county. A hundred years later, they took the side of royalty. David Veitch, brother of Sir John Veitch of Dawick, joined Montrose, and with him suffered defeat at Philiphaugh. So says the ballad of The Gallant Grahams : ' And Newton, Gordon, burd alane, And Dalgatie both stout and keen, And gallant Veitch upon the field,

A brawer face was never seen.'

Sir John Veitch acted as a commissioner from Peeblesshire to the Convention of Estates in 1643, and he appears to have sat in several subsequent parliaments. Considering the honourable character of the family, we are at a loss to understand the cause of feud between them and the Tweedies, unless on the supposition that the latter could endure no rivals in the neighbourhood. To do the Veitches justice, they are generally observed to be on the defensive, and must have suffered greatly from the lairds of Drummelzier. After centuries of distinction, the family began to decline about 1696, and the lands were sold in consequence of debts contracted in the public service, and for which they were never indemnified. The last laird, John Veitch of Dawick, was appointed to the office of precentor of signatures in the Court of Exchequer, in which he was succeeded by his son, who was alive in 1722. After this, the Veitches merged into the general population; their name, as in sundry other cases of land proprietors in the county, surviving till our own times among the burgesses of Peebles.

The Veitches of Dawick were succeeded by the Naesmyths, who are now in possession. The family of Naesmyth, through intermarriage with the Bairds, is an old, but not the oldest, family in the county.

The mythic legend of the Veitches explanatory of their name must not be omitted. 'The original of our name,' says Robert Veitch of Campflat, 'was Gailard, a native of France, who came over to Scotland in the reign of Robert Bruce. He became a favourite of that king, from being an alert hunter. Happening to distinguish himself at a time when Robert was pent up in an encampment near Warkworth Castle, and his army in great want of provisions, Gailard bravely ventured his life, by driving a herd of cattle in the night; by which means Robert's men so much revived that they made so vigorous a sally as next day secured them a safe retreat. Robert soon after coming to Peebles, where he had a hunting-seat (the vestiges of which are now to be seen adjoining the church of Peebles), it was then he thought proper to reward Gailard for his bravery, by giving him the lands of Dawick upon the Tweed, and for his coat of arms three cows' heads, with the motto, Famam Extendimus fac1is [We extend our fame by our deeds], at the same time he took the surname of Vache, by reason of its corresponding with the crest. It came to be differently spelled afte1 wards, through ignorance.'—Papers of Veitch of Campflat.The originator of this story does not appear to have been aware that ' William le Vache' of the county of Peebles, figures in .the Ragman Roll, considerably before the date of the alleged exploit at Warkworth

https://books.google.com/books?id=ulhQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=...

http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/william-chambers/a-history-of... peeblesshire-ala.shtml

http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castle/dawyck

https://books.google.com/books?id=uoZYAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PR45&lpg=RA1-...

https://electricscotland.com/history/articles/ragman_rolls.htm

https://books.google.com/books?id=uoZYAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PR45&lpg=RA1-...

http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castle/dawyck

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jglQnQ84qCs

http://www.scislaw.com/genealogy/Veitch/Lineages/Veitch_of_Dawick.html

https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/person/19777/

https://archive.org/details/historyofpeebles00chamiala/page/416

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vache-13

https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/veitch/217/

https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/person/19777/

https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/832103/?offset=&r..., page 316