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Beattie A new friend recently asked us about the
name Beattie. We haven’t had the
opportunity to do an research on that name before, but we thought we would share
our preliminary findings. Clan
Beattie does not have its own Tartan, but its members are entitled to Beat’a is apparently the original
name. There is a book of the same
name which details the history of the Beatties of the High Street,
Linlithgow, West Lothian. This family
is descended from Thomas Beattie (1770-1838). The family were reivers and it is believed that their name
Beat’a was derived from the family tradition that was shouted at everyone
that translates as “Let’s beat everyone in our path.” Actually, it is more logical that the clan
cry was the family name. Next
question, what are reivers? Border Reivers were raiders along the
Anglo-Scottish border (Border country), for nearly three hundred years from
the late 13th century to the end of the 16th century, although their heyday
was perhaps in the last hundred years of their existence. The reivers were both English and Scottish
and raided both sides of the border impartially, so long as the people they
hit had no powerful protectors and no connection to their own kin. Their
activities, although usually within a day's ride of the Border, extended both
north and south of their main haunts. English raiders were The inhabitants had to live in a state of constant When riding, as it was termed, the Reivers rode light
on hardy nags or ponies renowned for the ability to pick their way over the
boggy moss lands. The original dress of a shepherd's plaid was later replaced
by light armour such as brigandines or "jacks of plaite" (a type of
sleeveless doublet into which small plates of steel were stitched), and a
metal helmet such as a burgonet or morion; hence their nickname of the steel
bonnets. They were armed with a lance and small shield, and sometimes
also with a longbow, or a light crossbow known as a "latch", or
later on in their history with one or more pistols. They invariably also
carried a sword and dirk. Debunking of some Beattie myths: There is no relationship between the Beatties and the MacBeth
clan. The MacBeth Tartan for the
Beattie Clan has its origins in financial gail rather than in historic reality. The book of Tartans, the official source
gives the Bethune and the MacDonald as the Tartans for Beattie. The Beatties are definitely lowlanders, not
highlianders. However, given the
activites of reivers, it is not surprising to find some Beattie families in
areas outside of border country. Beattie may indeed be derived from Bate which in turn
is a derivation of Bartholomew. Ancestors of the Border Beatties were Saxon refuges
from the Norman Conquest. They
escaped from London or Northumberland in the eleventh century. In 1070 Princess Margaret of the English
House of Alfred and her Saxon followers fled England from the onslaught of the
Norman Conquest. Their ships were
driven north to Scotland and the Firth of Forth. She was taken to the court of Malcolm III, King of Scotland in
Dunfermline. Margaret married Malcolm
and her followers setttled in the DumFriesshire area.. Others believe that Arkil of Northumberland who moved
across the border in 1066 to escape the Normans was the founder of the sone
of Bartholomew, Battisouns and Beatties of the Dumfriesshire area. Whichever story you believe, the Saxon
origin is clear. The town of Langholm in Dumfriesshire is where "the Beattie are
of the Borders is centered...Being seventeen miles north of Hadrian's Wall
and only eight miles from the present day England - Scotland border, it has
seen a great deal of varied history. Unlike some Reiver
families, the Beatties have always been on the Scottish side of the border
and that Northumberland English has been predominant on both sides of the
border. 1455 - The Beatties aid
Red Douglas in the overthrow of Black Douglas at the battle of Arkinhom, 1
May 1455. As a reward King James II (1437-1460) made several grants of land
to the Beatties for their services to the Crown. This firmly established the
family around Langholm and the Eskdale area. 1504 - Adam Batie was
hanged by the criminal court at Dumfries for being part of the "king's
rebels...of Eskdale.." 1537 - the year of the
greatest dispersal of Beatties from Langholm with migrations to the north of
Scotland, to Ireland and to Galloway. Some evidently remained in the area
also. See story at the end of this list. 1544 - Beatties and other
Border clans came under the English. 116 Beatties were noted under the
leadership of a Sander Beattie. 1547-48 - Under English
leadership -the Lennoxes, Armstrongs, Beatties, and Littles sacked and burned
the town of Annan. 1585 - The Maxwells,
Armstrongs, Scots, Beatties and Littles attacked the Johnstone castle of
Lockwood. 1598 - more Beatties were
dispersed and the clan was effectively broken up. Some claim they went to
Northumberland in England from where they had migrated five hundred years
earlier. 1618 - the list of
"last of the Border blackguards" included the family name of
Beattie. 1537 King James V
(1513-1542) stripped the Beatties of Eskdale of their lands and gave the
lands to Robert Lord Maxwell. Seems that when Maxwell summoned the Beatties
to acknowledge him as their feudal superior, the Beatties declared the royal
grant was unjust. As the Beatties were mustering against him Ronald Beattie,
the chief, gave Maxwell a fast, white mare to flee on. Maxwell shortly sold
the lands to Scott, Warden of the Middle Marches. Scott and his men seized
the Beattie possessions and divided up the 40-50 Beattie estates. Maxwell,
however, appealed to Scott to reward Ronald Beattie for saving Maxwell's
life. As a result, Beattie was given the perpetual tenant-right of
Watcarrick, one mile south of Eskdalemuir. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
states that the Beattie descendants continued to occupy Watcarrick into the
19th century. In 1988 there were 2,213
Beattie households in Scotland and 478 in England. The Reiver families have
been given somewhat of a bad rap.
They typically did not kill....just plundered, burnt, stole and
carried off young women! So the arsonists, abductors, and thieves are
acquitted of murder! One informative
point for researchers made is that due to the centuries of reiving/raiding in
the Border area early church records do not exist. The Armstrongs by
themselves supposedly burned over 100 churches.
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Updated
03/05/2007 |
