Lord of Halydean or Baron of Halydean is a nobility title in the Baronage of Scotland (a lordship of higher nobility than barony).
Halydean (pronounced "Hollydeen," and also spelled "Holydean") is a Scottish Crown Barony and Lordship in Roxburghshire in the neighbourhood of Kelso, in the Borderlands of Scotland, along the River Tweed. This area along the Tweed is home to the Scottish border clans, including the Armstrongs, Douglases, Elliots, Johnstones, Kers, Moffats, and many others. The Barony and Lordship of Halydean (Holydean) is one of the oldest Norman feudal baronies in Scotland with a living claimant.
The first Lord Halydean was created by King David I of Scotland when he erected the Barony and Lordship of Halydean in 1128. The Abbot of Kelso from Kelso Abbey was the local lord, who ruled one of the most powerful ecclesiastical burghs in all of Scotland. [1] This burgh was rivaled only by St. Andrews (another burgh). David I brought the monks from Tiron in Picardy, whom he transferred from Selkirk. The monks were part of the peerage of Scotland until 1545 when the Earl of Hertford reduced the abbey to ruins. [2] The next Lord of Halydean was made in 1602 when the Barony and Lordship of Halydean was infeft to Sir Rober Ker of Cessford, who was made 1st Earl of Roxburghe. One of his heirs became the Duke of Roxburghe, [3] and eventually the Lordship and Barony of Halydean were disponed in the traditional Scottish manner to a member of Clan Moffat, another Scottish border clan.
Taylor Moffitt of Halydean is the present Lord Halydean, [4] [5] the 15th baron since secularisation in 1602. The incumbent is Ewan Moffitt of Halydean, yr, according to the customs of primogeniture.
The Duke of Roxburghe is a title in the peerage of Scotland created in 1707 along with the titles Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford, Earl of Kelso and Viscount Broxmouth. John Ker, 5th Earl of Roxburghe became the first holder of these titles. The title is derived from the royal burgh of Roxburgh in the Scottish Borders that in 1460 the Scots captured and destroyed.
Roxburgh is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at least as much importance as Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, or Berwick-upon-Tweed, for a time acting as de facto capital.
Cessford Castle is a large ruined mid-15th century L-plan castle near the village of Cessford, midway Jedburgh and Kelso, in the historic county of Roxburghshire, now a division of the Scottish Borders. The Castle is caput of the Barony of Cessford, and the principal stronghold of the Kers/Kerrs, notorious Border Reivers, many of whom served as Wardens of the Middle March.
Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot waters, the site of what was once the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh and the intended southern centre for the developing Scottish kingdom at that time. Kelso thus became the seat of a pre-eminently powerful abbacy in the heart of the Scottish Borders.
Kelso is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence. The town has a population of 5,639 according to the 2011 census and based on the 2010 definition of the locality.
In Scotland, "baron" or "baroness" is a rank of the ancient nobility of the Baronage of Scotland, a hereditary title of honour, and refers to the holder of a barony, formerly a feudal superiority or prescriptive barony attached to land erected into a free barony by Crown Charter, this being the status of a minor baron, recognised by the crown as noble, but not a peer.
Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements, designed by William Playfair, for The 6th Duke of Roxburghe. Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings. Floors Castle stands by the bank of the River Tweed and overlooks the Cheviot Hills to the south.
The Abbot of Kelso was the head of the Tironensian monastic community at Kelso Abbey in the Scottish Borders. The Abbey was originally founded at Selkirk in 1113 by David, Prince of the Cumbrians, and thus the first three Abbots were Abbots of Selkirk. The community was moved to Kelso by David and John, Bishop of Glasgow in 1127. The abbot was the first in Scotland to be granted the mitre in 1165. In the 16th century the monastery increasingly came under secular control, and finally in 1607 it was granted as a secular lordship (Holydean) to its last commendator, Robert Ker of Cesford, later Earl of Roxburghe. The following is a list of abbots and commendators:
Holydean Castle was a castle sited near Melrose in Bowden, 1.25 miles SW of the village, in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, and the former Roxburghshire.
A Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility, held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is a lord, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
Baron of Plenderleith is an ancient title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland.
Lord of Hailes is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland.
Bowden is a village in the Roxburghshire area of the Scottish Borders, situated 3 miles south of Melrose, 2 miles west of Newtown St Boswells and tucked in the shadow of the Eildon Hills, Scotland.
An Earl/Marquis/Duke in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility that is held en baroneum, which means that its holder, who is a earl/marquis/duke in the Baronage of Scotland, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
In the Baronage of Scotland, a Lord of Regality is an ancient noble title. Lords of regality were said to hold a regality - a type of territorial jurisdiction under old Scots law. This jurisdiction was created by erecting lands in liberam regalitatem, and the area over which this right extended became the regality.
Baron of Stobo is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland which takes its name from Stobo in the Scottish Borders.
Lord of Balvaird or Baron of Balvaird is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland. It was originally confirmed by James VI in 1624 for Andrew Murray as a barony and later erected into a lordship in favour of David Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont in 1673.
William Bellenden-Ker, 7th Lord Bellenden, 4th Duke of Roxburghe was a Scottish nobleman.
Baron of Muirton is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland.
Baron of Cowie is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland.