| Clan Seton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto | "Hazard Yet Forward"[1] or "Forward Ours"[2] | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| Plant badge | Yew[1] | ||
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| Clan Seton no longer has a chief, and is anarmigerous clan | |||
| Historic seat | Seton Castle[3] | ||
| Last Chief | George Seton, 5th Earl of Winton | ||
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Clan Seton is aScottish clan which does not currently have a chief; therefore, it is considered anarmigerous clan.
The village ofSai inNormandy is believed to have given its name to Seton inScotland by 1150 when Alexander de Seton witnessed a charter byDavid I of Scotland.[4] The Chiefs of Clan Seton share a common origin with the Chiefs of HighlandClan Gordon.[5]
Sir Christopher Seton (died 1306) secured the family's fortunes by marrying a sister ofRobert the Bruce. In March 1306 he was a witness at Bruce's coronation inScone.[4]
Seton is also have said to have saved the king's life when he was unhorsed during theBattle of Methven in June 1306.[4] Seton was captured at the battle by the English and was executed inLondon with great brutality.[4] In 1320,Sir Alexander Seton, who was probably Sir Christopher's brother, signed theDeclaration of Arbroath that asserted Scottish independence.[4] Sir Alexander Seton was laterGovernor of Berwick from 1327 until 1333, when the town surrendered to the English.[4]
The English had already hanged Seton's son whom they had held as a hostage.[4] Seton's remaining two sons were also both killed – one drowning in a sea battle with an English fleet and the other was killed fightingEdward Balliol.[4] His daughter, Margaret (who married Alan de Wyntoun, a paternal cadet of the Seton family),[6][7] therefore succeeded to the estates and it was her son who took the Seton surname and was created the firstLord Seton.[4]
William Seton, 1st Lord Seton attended the coronation ofRobert II of Scotland.[4] One of Lord Seton's sons married Elizabeth of Gordon and became ancestor to the Earls andMarquesses of Huntly, chiefs ofClan Gordon.[4] (Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly was born Alexander Seton but adopted his mother's surname).
George Seton, 5th Lord Seton was a favourite ofJames IV of Scotland and died with him at theBattle of Flodden.[8][4] The Setons were supporters ofMary, Queen of Scots, and in 1557George Seton, 7th Lord Seton attended the queen's wedding to theDauphin of Viennois. Seton became her Privy Councillor, Master of the Household and a close personal friend.[4] Seton helped the queen to escape on the night of the murder of her secretary,David Rizzio, firstly toSeton Castle inEast Lothian and then toDunbar.[4]
When the queen's husband,Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was killed she again turned to Seton for help and it was in Seton Castle that the marriage contract withJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell was sealed.[4] In 1568, when the queen was imprisoned inLochleven Castle it was Seton, with two hundredlancers, who aided her escape.[4]
After the queen was defeated at theBattle of Langside in 1568, Seton retired toFlanders where he tried to enlist in foreign service. Two years later he returned to Scotland and was one of the judges on the trial of theEarl of Morton who was accused of complicity in the murder of Darnley.[4] Seton's portrait now hangs in theNational Portrait Gallery.[4] He was succeeded by his second son,Robert, whoJames VI of Scotland createdEarl of Winton in 1600.[4]
The Earl of Winton's brother,Alexander Seton, was createdLord President of the Court of Session which is Scotland's highest judicial office and laterChancellor of Scotland. In 1606, Alexander Seton was createdEarl of Dunfermline.[4]
The Setons were staunch Jacobites andJames Seton, 4th Earl of Dunfermline forfeited his title for supportingJohn Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee in 1689 as didGeorge Seton, 5th Earl of Winton after theJacobite rising of 1715.[4] Another branch of the clan, the Setons of Abercorn, were createdBaronets of Nova Scotia in 1663.[4]Sir Alexander Seton, 1st Baronet was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1677 and was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1684.[4]
Some members of the family moved to France, where they belonged to the Scottish Guard of the King.[9] In particular Jacques Seton, sr de Lavenage becomes a lieutenant of the Scottish Guard, but becomes famous for another reason: since Mazarin wants French people to replace Scottish ones, he loses part and then the entirety of his job. Mazarin then proposes to him to be in charge of the French printmaking system, which was till then a free trade (1660). But the printmakers protested, the idea failed and printmaking was confirmed a free trade, by royal edict.[10]
Port Seton,Seton Collegiate Church andSeton Castle are all on the coast south ofEdinburgh and stand as memorials to the clan.[4] The Earldom moved to the Setons of Garleton and then to the Seaton Broad-bent family. The Earldom is now dormant.[citation needed]
Castles that have belonged to the Clan Seton have included amongst many others:
