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Clan Hay
☀☀☀ Officially registered clan, with Clan Chief, registered with the Lord Lyon Court.
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- Crest/Badge
- Gaelic Name: MacGaraidh
- Motto: Serva Jugum - Remember the Yoke
This apparently recalls the story of how a countryman and his two sons defended the Scots against Danish invaders with nothing but an ox yoke while plowing a field (Luncarty 980). See Battle of Lunkarty
- Origin of Tartan:
- Name Variations:
- Lands
- Seat: Woodbury Hall
- Historic Seat: Slains Castle (originally called The Tower of Bowness
- Clan Chief: The Rt. Hon. Merlin Sereld Hay The 24th Earl of Erroll
Origins of the name
One theory regarding the origin of the Hay clan is the Legend of Luncarty, when Hay and his sons excelled at the Battle of Lunkarty in 980. As a reward, the King of Perth granted to Hay the land over which the king's falcon flew. The land was later known as Erroll.
Another theory is that the original Hay family was Norman which arrived much later - the Norman princes de La Haye who were part of William the Conqueror's army that swept into England in 1066. The de la Hayes were from the Cotentin peninsula. The first Hay in Scotland was William de la Haye, Butler of Scotland and 1st Baron of Erroll (created 1178), who was an associate of Kings Malcolm IV (1153-65) and William the Lyon (1165-1214). He became ambassador to England at the end of the Century.
Historical references
Hay People
There are several branches of the Hay clan. Three of them are Peerages:
- The Earls of Erroll
- Sir Robert Hay, the 7th Baron of Erroll, married Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of King Robert II and marriages to the daughters of the Earl of Strathearn and Earl of Buchan by other Hays increased the stature of the family still further.
- The Marquesses of Tweeddale
- Robert de la Haye, brother of the 2nd Chief, was ancestor of the Marquesses of Tweedale, and his son William was the Ancestor of the earls of Kinnoull.
- The Earls of Kinnoul
- The 3rd Lord Erroll, Gilbert de la Haye was the Sheriff of Perth and acted as co-Regent of Scotland twice during the minority of Alexander III (1249-86)
- Sir Gilbert Haye, 5th Lord Erroll was a staunch supporter of King Robert the Bruce and was confirmed as Hereditary Constable of Scotland after the Battle of Bannockburn. He was also hereditary Commander of the Royal Bodyguard, an honour which cost the deaths of two Hay Chiefs in battle:
- David de la Haye, 6th Lord Erroll was killed at the Battle of Nevill's Cross in 1346, at which King David II was captured by the English.
- William, 4th Earl of Erroll was killed with King James IV at the Battle of Flodden. Many other Hays died at the same Battle.
- Sir Thomas Hay, 7th Lord Erroll married Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of King Robert II. Their younger son, Sir Gilbert Hay was one of the Scottish Knights who helped Joan of Arc in having King Charles VII of France crowned at Reims in 1429.
- William Hay, 9th Chief was created 1st Earl of Erroll in 1452. He married Beatrice daughter of James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas and eventually co-heiress to her brother William, 8th Earl of Douglas - last of the "Black Douglasses" - who was banished by James II in 1455.
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