Clan Eliott is a

Border Reiver Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their vi ...

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...

.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The

Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC) is the organisation that represents the Chiefs of many prominent Scottish Clans and Families. It describes itself as "the definitive and authoritative body for information on the Scottish Clan System ...

). Published in 1994. Pages 128 - 129.

History

Origins of the clan

The origins of the Eliotts is surrounded in obscurity. The Eliotts suddenly appear as a distinct clan with a chief in the late 15th century. The lack of information is believed to be due to the destruction of their old castle at Stobs in a fire in 1712. All of the family documents, with one exception were lost in the fire. According to tradition the ''Ellots'' (as the name was originally spelled) came from the foot of Glenshie in Angus and that they had moved to

Teviotdale Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...

during the time of

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

. Such a move would have been considered exceptional, however an event in 1320 does give some credence to the story. In 1320 William de Soulis, one of Scotland's most powerful nobles was convicted of treason against Robert the Bruce. He was imprisoned for life and his lands of

Liddesdale Liddesdale, the valley of the Liddel Water, in the County of Roxburgh, southern Scotland, extends in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell to the River Esk, a distance of . The Waverley route of the North British Railway runs ...

along with the great fortress of Hermitage Castle were made over to Bruce's illegitimate son, Robert. Bruce would have needed to ensure his hold on such a strategically important frontier by encouraging the settlement of a loyal and tested clan - such as the ''Ellots''.

15th century

It is known that Ellot of Redheugh was living in the early 1400s. In 1426 John Elwalde of Teviotdale is recorded. In 1476 Robert Ellot of Redheugh appears as the tenth chief of the clan. From that time onwards the formal history of the clan can be said to have begun. Robert Ellot built a strong tower on a cliff overlooking the ford on Hermitage Water in 1470. This was just one of about one hundred strong towers that were dotted around Liddesdale which belonged to the Ellots and which they shared with the

Clan Armstrong Clan Armstrong is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders.Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). ...

who were another

clan.

16th century and clan conflicts

Robert Ellot, the thirteenth chief was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

in 1513. The Eliotts supported Scott of Buccleuch at the

Battle of Melrose The Battle of Melrose was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 25 July 1526.Battle of Melros ...

in 1526. However, in 1565 a deadly feud arose between the Ellots and their neighbours, the Clan Scott. Scott of Buccleuch executed four Ellots for the minor crime of cattle rustling. In response three hundred Ellots rode to avenge the fate of their kinsmen. During the battle losses on both sides were heavy but eventually the two clans came to terms with each other. Another feud took place between the Ellots and

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell ( – 14 April 1578), better known simply as Lord Bothwell, was a prominent Scottish nobleman. He was known for his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third and final husband ...

, the future husband of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

. A skirmish took place around Hermitage Castle in which the earl was wounded. In reprisal, in 1569, a royal force of nearly four thousand men devastated the Ellot's lands.

17th, 18th and 19th centuries

In 1603 the

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...

marked the end of the border reivers. Many people were executed and many of the Borderers found new lives in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

when much of that province was colonised. Robert Eliott of Redheugh left his broad lands in Liddesdale and went into exile in Fife. The use of the letter "i" in the Ellot surname was introduced in about 1650. In 1666 Sir Gillbert Eliott of Stobs was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles II of England. He became chief of the Clan Eliott in 1673. In 1764 the third Baronet remodelled the old Tower of Stobs into a mansion house. His second son was George Augustus Eliott who was rewarded for a spirited defense of

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in 1782. A branch of the chief's family acquired the lands of Minto in 1703.

Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto, (; 23 April 175121 June 1814), known as Sir Gilbert Elliott, 4th Baronet until 1797, and The Lord Minto from 1797 to 1814, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Comm ...

was a diplomat who served in Corsica and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He later became Governor General of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Clan Chief

The chief of Clan Eliott is Madam Margaret Eliott of Redheugh, 29th Chief of the Name and Arms of Eliott. The present chief is the daughter of Sir Arthur Eliott, eleventh baronet and twenty-eighth chief of Clan Eliott. There is no bar on females succeeding to Scottish chiefships but the baronetcy passed to a male heir. The

crest badge A Scottish crest badge is a heraldic badge worn to show allegiance to an individual or membership in a specific Scottish clan. Crest badges are commonly called "clan crests", but this is a misnomer; there is no such thing as a collective ''clan' ...

used by clan members consists of a crest encircled by a strap and buckle containing a motto. The crest is a raised fist holding a sword, while the motto is ''FORTITER ET RECTE'' (translation from Latin: "Boldly and Rightly").

Castles

*Redheugh Tower was the historic seat of the chiefs of Clan Eliott, the Eliotts of Redheugh. *

Minto House Minto is a village and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland in Roxburghshire county. It is located north-east of Hawick, north of the River Teviot.Gazetteer of Scotland, publ, by W & AK Johnston, Edinburgh, 1937. Article on Minto. Pla ...

was the seat Eliott Earls of Minto. However it has now been demolished. *The Tower of Stobs was the seat of the Eliotts of Stobs.

Tartan

References

External links

Elliot Clan SocietyClan Elliot at ScotClansElliott (And Border Reivers) DNA Project
{{Scottish clans Eliott