Clan Elliot
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Clan Elliot is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Contents |
[edit] Clan History
[edit] Origins of the Name
The name Elliot is believed to derive from the village of Eliot in Forfarshire although the Old English form of Elwold also appears in Scotland. Little is known of the early history of Clan Eliott because few records survive. This could be because the Eliott's Castle Stobs was burned down in 1712.
Legend has it that the extra "t" in Elliott arose when a branch of the Elliotts adopted Christianity. The t was in reality meant to be a cross.
The double L and single T Descent from Minto and Wolflee, The double T and single L Mark the old race in Stobs that dwell. The single L and single T The Eliots of St Germains be, But double T and double L, Who they are nobody can tell.
[edit] 14th Century & Robert the Bruce
It is known that in the time of King Robert the Bruce that the Clan Eliott who lived in the north in Glenshire moved Teviotdale in the Scottish boarders. This unusual move was taken in order to protect King Robert the Bruce's son who was also called Robert. This Robert Bruce had become Lord of Liddesdale. The previous Lord of Liddesdale, William de Soulis was serving life imprisonment for treason.
[edit] 15th & 16th Centuries
The chief of the clan was usually appointed as Captain of Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale. In 1476 the tenth chief of Clan Eliott was Robert Ellot of Redheugh. The Elliots became famous as one of the great Scottish "riding" clans.
During the Anglo-Scottish Wars in the 16th Century chief Robert died when he led the Clan Eliot in support of King James IV of Scotland at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513 fighting against the English.
In 1565 Scott of Buccleuch of Clan Scott executed four men from Clan Eliott for cattle rustling.
[edit] 17th Century
Sir Gillbert Elliot of Stobs was made the Baronet of Scotia in 1666. Gilbert Elliott was convicted for High Treason in 1685 for his work towards religious liberty. He was only pardoned after the ascension of Oliver Cromwell. Gilbert was created Baronett in 1700 and conferred a Lord of Session in 1705 in the eighteenth century.
[edit] 18th Century
George, 4th Baronet was conferred 1st Earl of Minto, he also followed his father before him into politics and in 1794 was made Viceroy of Napoleon's Corsica Island. In 1807 George was also appointed the Governor General of India in the nineteenth century.
Of the chiefs direct line, several were distinguished as judges and empire builders, the most famous were George Elliot, vegetarian and teetollar, who as governor of Gibraltar in 1779 conducted the heroic and successful defence of the Rock when it was besieged by Franco-Spanish forces, and Gilbert Elliot, first Earl of Minto, a notable Governor-General of India in the early 19th century.
[edit] 19th Century
His great grandson, Gilbert, fourth Earl of Minto (1845-1914), is remembered in the sporting world for having broken his neck riding in the Grand National. The mishap had no permanent effects and he was Governor-General of Canada before succeeding Lord Curzon as Viceroy of India in 1905. He was the chief architect of the Morley-Minto Reforms, regarded as dangerously radical in some circles at the time though, as it turned out, insufficient to stem the tide of Indian unrest.
[edit] Clan Castle
The seat of the Earl of Minto is Minto House, in Hawick, and of the Eliot of Stobs, chief of the clan at Redheugh.
