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From: "David Grierson" <>
Subject: The land of Blackmyre, along with the land of Grennan
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 01:44:27 -0400
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~alanmilliken/regarde_bien/13.html
The land of Blackmyre, along with the land of Grennan, comprised what were commonly known as the Messingers lands, indicating that these farms had at one time been granted to men who held the hereditary office of messenger-at-arms probably at the old sheriff court of Nithsdale. The superiority of the Messingers lands belonged to the Griersons of Lag and were parts and pertinents of the land and barony of Ard[5]. Sometime after 1369, George tenth Earl of Dunbar granted this small barony to Gilbert Grierson, the ancestor to the Griersons of Lag, as payment in kind for the service of baillie in the barony of Tibbers. It is now almost impossible to determine at what date Grierson of Lag alienated the lands of Grennan and Blackmyre. Of the land of Grennan, however, it is possible to reconstruct some kind of history back to the year 1464. In that year, Robert Fergusson of Breconside, which lies in the parish of Glencairn, appeared in person at the barony court of Ard, where Ve!
dast Grierson of Lag granted him the land of Grennan on behalf of Jonet and Isabel, heirs of the deceased Duncan John of Grennan[6]. In 1485, Vedasts son and heir apparent, Roger, divided the land of Grennan between Robert Fergusson and Isabel his spouse, and Gilbert McCall, on the instruction of King James III (1460-88) of Scotland[7].
Roger Grierson came to possess the superiority of the Messingers lands in 1474, when his father, Vedast, resigned them in his favour[8]. A year earlier, Roger had married Isabella, daughter of William Gordon of Lochinver in Galloway, and as a dowry, Vedast gifted the young couple the 5 merkland of Tererran, and 7½ merkland of Corriedow, Murmulloch, "Cormuligane", Crostane and Margmony, which are located in the civil parish of Tynron in Nithsdale[9]. The young couple subsequently built their manor house at Tererran, near the farmtoun of Cormuligane. Ten years later in 1484, we find the barony of Drumjohn with its pertinents, viz. Longfurd, Kilcrosche, Corarlo and Holm of Daltallochan in the parish of Carsphairn in Galloway, resigned in favour of Roger by his father[10]. The sasine recording this conveyance was witnessed by Alexander Gordon, chaplain, Roger Gordon, Bernard Gordon, Sir William McMillan, Fergus Amuligane, Michael McMillan, Simon Amuligane and William Spens. Mo!
st, if not all the men listed in this sasine were either relatives or tenants of Vedast Grierson of Lag and Roger Grierson of Tererran.
There is some evidence to indicate that Fergus may also have held land on Vedasts small estate in the district of Carsphairn in Galloway perhaps as early as 1480. In that year, Fergus Amulykin, John Michelson and William Reid were accused of plundering and stealing five cows and two calves belonging to John Matheson. This man was given leave by the Lords of Council to prove his case before the Steward of Kirkcudbright and recover as far as possible his losses[11]. I am of the opinion, Fergus was the son of Gilbert Amuligane, keeper of the kings unbroken horses and one of Vedasts tenants-in-chief. As far as I can ascertain, Gilbert is the first Amuligane to appear in Galloway and lived for a time at Balmaclellan, another small estate belonging to Vedast, which he sold in 1466. It is more than likely, that when this property was sold, Gilbert took his livestock further up the valley and settled them on Vedasts other estate in the Carsphairn area. Whilst there is no evide!
nce to support this suggestion, it would explain why we find the Amuliganes in this area from the 1480s onwards. The family surnames of Michelson (McMichael) and Reid, along with Gordon, McMillan, Amuligane and Spens from this date onwards feature predominantly amongst the 16-17th century records relating to the Carsphairn area of Galloway.
Regretably, there are no extant charters surviving to indicate at what date Fergus came to possess the land of Blackmyre, though, I rather think it could be inferred from the documents cited, it was granted to him sometime after 1474. Similarly there is no evidence to indicate it belonged to his father, though, I suspect this may well have been the case, but without definite proof, any suggestion would only be speculation on my part. Whatever, with the death of his father, Fergus almost certainly became the beneficiary to a fairly healthy legacy, which probably included a number of small properties leased from the Laird of Lag and possibly other major landowners. I think this could be inferred in the document cited above which records that William Douglas acted as Ferguss procurator. William Douglas could either have been a trusted friend or one of his overlords. I think this man can be identified as William Douglas of Drumlanrig, a chosen man whom King James IV of Scotland!
knighted probably in 1505. In that year, as Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig obtained the lands of Malcomflat from Adam Kirkpatrick of Pennersax.
The Sasine that records the resignation of the land of Malcomflat in favour of Sir William Douglas was witnessed in the presence of Sir John Gordon of Lochinver, Quentin Mure of Ard, James Maitland of Auchengassel and Cuthbert Amuligane of Crogo at the notary booth of James Young in Edinburgh. This is quite a formidable list of names; Sir John Gordon was father-in-law of Sir William Douglas of Douglas and King Jamess personal shield bearer. Cuthbert Amuligane of Crogo was related to Sir John through marriage to Marion McNaucht of Crogo, whose sister Egidia married Roger Gordon of Lochinver, Sir Johns younger brother. Both Sir John Gordon and Sir William Douglas were men of noble birth, schooled in the art and cult of medieval chivalry and courtiers whose honour earned them knighthoods. It should come of no great surprise then to find Fergus and Cuthbert in the company of these two knights, if they themselves were the sons of a man who had a background of royal service. The!
only man to fit this description would have been Gilbert Amuligane, keeper of the kings unbroken horse in 1456 in Galloway.
In 1488, Roger Grierson of Lag died as a result of wounds received at the battle of Sauchieburn, having stood for the cause of King James III against his son then Prince James. He raised an army in rebellion against his father and succeeded to the throne of Scotland, shortly after his fathers death at Sauchieburn. Two years later, we find Thomas Muligane and Simon Muligane witnessing a sasine granting Cuthbert Grierson, as son and heir of his father Roger, the 7 merkland of Lag, 21 merkland of Ard, 19 merkland of Dalgarnock Holm and 10 merkland of Messinger lands in 1490[12]. I think Simon is the same Simon Amuligane, who along with Fergus witnessed the sasine by which Roger came to possess the barony of Drumjohn some sixteen years earlier, and that both men were probably brothers of Thomas. Sir William Douglass sister, Agnes (also called Janet) married Cuthberts younger brother Roger Grierson, a marriage which further cemented the family bonds between the Griersons of !
Lag and Douglas of Drumlanrig.
Fergus Amuligane of Blackmyre appears in several other legal documents, the first recording a complaint brought before the Lords of Council at Edinburgh on 13th February, 1500, by Simon Carruthers of Mouswald in Annandale, against George Muirhouse of that Ilk, deputy to Robert, Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, Sheriff of Dumfries, "Fergus Amuligane of Blakmyre", James Walch of Shaws and others who served a brieve of chancery at the instance of Margaret, Elizabeth and Janet Carruthers[13]. Later that year, on 20th November, 1500, we find Fergus witnessing a document for Robert Carlyle, who on the stairs of the hospice in Edinburgh, told Thomas Kennedy, son of John Kennedy of Blairquhan in Ayrshire, that his father, John Lord Carlyle, had appointed him to pursue the debt of 100 merks owed by the deceased Patrick Kessock, burgess of Kirkcudbright. His daughter, Marion Kessock, was the spouse of Thomas Kennedy who in a charter granted the 2 merkland of Little Dunrod, near Kirkcudbri!
ght, to Robert Carlyle in 1502[14]. In the next document, Fergus was one of a number of men who sat on assizes held at Penpont on 2nd April, 1505, before George Muirhouse to establish the right of Cuthbert Grierson of Lag to succeed as heir to his father Roger in the lands of Drumjohn[15].
Fergus married Janet Cunningham described as one of the executors of the deceased Fergus Amuligane of Blakmyre and now spouse of Gilbert Grierson in a petition brought before the Lords of Council in 1538[16]. Gilbert is the same Gilbert styled of Camling in the parish of Tynron, who with his brother Sir Thomas Grierson, chaplain, were appointed procurators of Christian Amuligane to win or tyne in all her actions moved or to be moved in the sheriff court of Dumfries in 1537[17]. What became of Fergus after 1505 is less than certain for no record has survived to indicate his movements for less his fate; he almost certainly died at the battle of Flodden fought in Northumberland on 9th September, 1513. Nearly every family in Scotland, both noble and common, suffered the loss of one of its sons in battle. It included nine earls (Scotland had 12 earls at the time), the Archbishop of St. Andrews and fourteen greater lords, all of whom perished on the field of war along with !
King James IV, Sir John Gordon of Lochinver and Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig. In the next issue, I hope to continue the history with John Amuligane, who succeeded his father as second Laird of Blackmyre.
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1. Thomson T. (editor): Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes (1478-95), Vol.I, p. 262. Robert was the son of James Maitland and Egidia Scrymgeour of Auchengassel in the parish of Penpont.
2. Reid, R. C.: Drumlanrig Writs [Ewart Library Dumfries], Vol. 9, p. 9.
3. Note: the earl of Orkney, Henry Sinclair, obtained the Lordship of Nithsdale through his marriage to Egidia daughter of Sir William Douglas of Nithsdale.
4. Reid, R. C.: Drumlanrig Writs [Ewart Library Dumfries], Vol. 9, p. 10.
5. Acts and Decreets by the Lords of Council (extracts), R. C. Reid, Vol. I48 p. 110-112.
6. Hamilton-Grierson, Sir Philip J: The Lag Charters 1400-1720, Scottish Record Society, p. 11, no. 9.
7. Ditto, appendix, p. 53, no. 17.
8. Ditto, p. 12, no. 20.
9. Ditto, p. 13, no. 21.
10. Ditto, p. 14, no 34.
11. Thomson T. (editor): Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes (1478-95), Vol. I p. 64.
12. Hamilton-Grierson, Sir Philip J: The Lag Charters 1400-1720, Scottish Record Society, p. 16, no. 40.
13. Neilson, G. & Paton, H (editors): Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes (1496-1501), p.393.
14. Donaldson, Gordon (editor): Protocol Book of James Young 1485-1515, no. 1098; see also the Great Seal of Scotland 1424-1513, no. 2658.
15. Hamilton-Grierson, Sir Philip J: The Lag Charters 1400-1720, Scottish Record Society, p. 17, no. 49.
16. Reid, R. C.: Acts of Dominorum Concili 1538-59 [Ewart Library Dumfries], Vol.151, p. 9 & 11.
17. Sheriff Court Book of Dumfries 1537-38, TDGNHAS 1916-18, Vol. V, p. 94.
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