Clan Muir's History Part II

The Scottish clan system is a structure which is followed by rules. Below is a clan structure :

Chief- Supreme leader and lawgiver

The Tanist- nominated by the chief, tanistry was a system of succession by a previously elected member of the clan/family.

Commander/ Military leader

Chieftains- heads of various branches or septs of the clan, always appointed if the chief were old or infirm.

Gentlemen- those who could claim a blood connection with the chief.

Clansmen and septs- the greatest in numbers. In peace time, the clansmen did the manual work, while during war time, they fought for their chief. Although this hierarchy was scrupulously observed, there was no feeling of resentment on the part of the clansmen, whose powers of reflection we're limited by their circumstances. They were proud to be connected to their chief and to each other and the evidence shows they were willing to die for their clan.

Septs:

A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family.[1] The word may derive from the Latin saeptum, meaning "enclosure" or "fold", or via an alteration of "sect". The term is used in both Ireland and Scotland, where it may be translated as sliocht, meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person (for example, Sliocht Brian Mac Diarmada, "the descendant of Brian MacDermott").

In the context of Scottish clans, septs are families that followed another family's chief. These smaller septs would then comprise, and be part of, the chief's larger clan. A sept might follow another chief if two families were linked through marriage; or, if a family lived on the land of a powerful laird, they would follow him whether they were related or not. Bonds of manrent were sometimes used to bind lesser chiefs and his followers to more powerful chiefs.

Today, sept lists are used by clan societies to recruit new members. Such lists date back to the 19th century, when clan societies and tartan manufacturers attempted to capitalise on the enthusiasm and interest for all things Scottish. Lists were drawn up that linked as many surnames as possible to a particular clan. In this way, individuals without a "clan name" could connect to a Scottish clan and thus feel "entitled" to its tartan. Remember those that married into the clan can join as well those who have been adopted into a family with any of the septs or any variant spelling of Muir. Full list of Clan Muir Septs: * The following list is consider a sept of Clan Muir, and therefore allow to join the clan*These names include from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, France, Germany, Austria and India, and the list also contains most of the variant of the spellings of the surnames.

　Mur, Mor, Muir, Mure, Moor, Moore, Mure, More, Moores, Mores, Moir, Langmoore/Longmuir, De la Mare, Mare, De la More, de Mora, Mora, Moar, de Moore, Moors, Mair, Meuros, Moyer, Moyre, Moorman, Muirman, Delamore, Dunsmore, Dunmor, Dundemor, Dundemore, Dunmoor, Dunsmoor, Dunmuir, Dunsmuir, Densmore, Densmuir, Denmuir, Dinsmoor Dinsmore, Dunmore, Muire, Mueros, Murieson, Murrison, Murrieson, Muirson, Mureson,Mour, Moer, Moire, Moure, Muire, Myre, O'More, McMore, Moire, Moare, MacMoore, McMoir, McMoore , O'Moore, O'Moire, McMoare, MacMoir, MacMoare, Mooer, Mooers, Mordha, O'Mordha, Moret, Morez, Moré, Morais, Morey, Moraie, Moraies, Mauret, Maurez, Maurais, Maurey, Mauraie, Mauraies, Morret, Maurret, Morrez, Morré, Morrais, Maurrais, Morrey, Maurrey, Morraie, Maurraie, Morraies, Maurraies, Mouré, Mouret, Mourez, Mourière, de Moret and du Moret, Morher, Mohre, Mohr, Dunsmore, Moire, Moorhouse, Moorcraft Morey, Myre/Myres, Morfield, Mohr, Mar, Morton, Morley, Blackmore De Mare, Mare, Mour/Moure, Moare/Moer, Moorfield, Moorefield, Morawa, Mory, Murzynowa, Mourier, Maurier, Murabito, Morias,Morill, Głowa, Morefield, Morfield, Morwick, Moran,Muirhead, Moorhead, Gilmore, Gilmour,Gillamor, Gillemoire, Gillemor, Gillemore, Gillemur, Gillemure, Gilmer, Gilmoir, Gilmor, Gilmore, Gilmour, Gilmoure, Gilmur, Gilmure, Gylmor, Moreland, Mortimer, Moorer, Blackmore, Moorhayes, de Moreham, Morehame, Myhr, Mawr and including other variant of spellings, Byres, Caldwell, Halliday, Mac Gaethin (GAHAN, MacGEEHAN, MAGEEHAN), Mac Ceadach (KEADY, KEADIE, KEDDY, KEEDIE, KEEDY, MACKEADY), Ó Leathlobhar (LALOR, LAWLOR), Ó hArraghain (HARRIGAN, HARAGHAN, HARAHAN), Ó Liathain, Mac Laoidhigh (LEE, MacLEA, MacLEE), Ó Suaird (SWORDS SORD, SOURDES, SUARD), Ó Broithe (BROPHY, BROFIE), Ó Casain (CASHIN, KISSANE), Ó Deoradhain (DORAN, DORRIAN), Ó Dunlaing (DOWLING), Ó Duibhgainn (Deegan), Bourbon, Bueil, BecCrespin, Mascureau, Pierre, Pourthence, Madhure, Devkate, Harphale, Dhyber, Marathe, Darekar, Devkar, and Adavale.

A branch of a clan- means that a large clan with several lands under the control of several chieftains belong to one clan in which they look after their own supporters, but always report to the main chief of the clan. After defining what a branch of a clan means; we can fully support that Clan Muir is indeed a very large clan comparing to those like Macdonalds and the Campbells. The following list below has been heavily research thru historic books and documents.

Mure of Polkelly ( Ancient historic Seat)
Mure of Kilmarnock
Mure of Rowallan
Mure of Abercorn
Moir of Aberdeenshire
Mure of Cowdams and Camseskane
Moir of Caithness/ Sutherland
Mure of Skaithmure
Mores of the Isle of Lewis
Mure of Caldwell
Moar of Orkney
Mure of Cloncaird
Moir of Overhill
Mure of Cassencarrie
Mure of Thornton
Mure of Glanderstoun
Mure of Braca
Mure of Kittochside
Mure of New Grange
Mure of Ferryhill
Moir of Strathavon
Mure of Torhouse, Cairnfield, Glenturk, and Craiglaw
Moir of Strathspey, Strathdee, Mulben, Moray, and Banff
Mure of Ardrossan, Ardnel and Dalry
Mure of Auchendrane
Mure of Otterburne
Mure of Bondingtown
Moir of Scotstown
Mure of Hertfchaw
Moir of Abergeldie
Mure of Templestoun
Moir of Hilton
Mure of Sheills
Moir of Leckie
Mure of Traquair
Moir of Stoneywood
Mure of Talticultrie
Moir of Invernettie
Mure of Akintoir
Moir of Barnes
Mure of Aboun
Moir of Kermuck
Mure of Meikle
Moir of Tonley
Mure of Morfy
Moir of Lonmay
Mure of Douny
Mure of Caverays
Mure of Balgram
Mure of Fermartyn
Mure of Auntslare
Mure of Obeyne
Mure of Foveran
Mure of Kintumer
Mure of Cromar
Mure of Dumlay, Spittleside, Brownhill, and Whitehill
Mure of Sauchens,Deanston, Gartincaber, and Doune
Mure of Clunche, Braidhaugh, Hillfoot, and Lochyfaulds
Mure of Thornhill, Moss-side, Boquhapple and Meadowhead
Mure of Clony and The Thrange of Formartyn
Mure of Netherton, Limflare, Craiagarnhall, and Lowdown Hill
Mure of Herber
Mure of Craighead, Carses Calder, Warnockland, and Blcklaw
Mure of Darlache
Mure of Aucheneil, Treescraig, Craighead Park and Middleston
More of Drumcork
Mure of Bruntwood or Bruntfield
Mure of Penkill
Muir of Beltone, Berwickshire ( Scottish Borders)

Chieftains of Polkelly ( Ancient Seat)

Reginald's Unknown father More ( 1st Lord of Polkelly) 1129-1179

Reginald More ( 2nd Lord of Polkelly) 1149-1199

Sir David More ( 3rd Lord of Polkelly) 1174- 1249

Ronald Muir ( 4th Lord of Polkelly) 1238- ?

Gilchrist Muir ( 5th Lord of Polkelly) 1269-?

Janet Muir ( 6th Lady of Polkelly) 1295- 1330

Andrew Muir ( 7th Lord of Polkelly) 1325- 1370

Alexander Muir ( 8th Lord of Polkelly) 1348- 1426

Adam Muir ( 9th Lord of Polkelly) ?

Archibald Muir ( 10th Lord of Polkelly) 1368-1446

Robert Muir ( 11th Lord of Polkelly) ?

Robert Muir ( 12th Lord of Polkelly) ?- 1511

Margaret Muir ( 13th Lady of Polkelly) ?

Hugh Muir ( 14th Lord of Polkelly) ?

Hugh Muir ( 15th Lord of Polkelly) ?

Elizabeth Muir ( 16th Lord of Polkelly) ?- 1589

William Muir ( 17th Lord of Polkelly) ?- 1629


Chieftians of Rowallan ( Historic Seat)

David More ( 1st Lord of Rowallan) 1174- 1249

Gilchrist Muir ( 2nd Lord of Rowallan) 1200- 1280

Archibald Muir ( 3rd Lord of Rowallan) 1231-1298

William Muir ( 4th Lord of Rowallan) 1265-1348

Adam Muir ( 5th Lord of Rowallan) 1280- ?

Adam Muir ( 6th Lord of Rowallan) 1323-1399

Archibald Muir ( 7th Lord of Rowallan) 1348-1426

Robert Muir ( 8th Lord of Rowallan) 1379- ?

Archibald Muir ( 9th Lord of Rowallan) 1413-1448

Robert " Rud" Muir ( 10th Lord of Rowallan) 1439-1504

John Muir ( 11th Lord of Rowallan) 1467- ?

John Muir II ( 12th Lord of Rowallan) 1471- ?

Mungo Muir ( 13th Lord of Rowallan) 1500- 1547

John Muir ( 14th Lord of Rowallan) 1523- 1591

William Muir ( 15th Lord of Rowallan) 1547-1616

William Muir ( 16th Lord of Rowallan) 1594-1686

Sir William Muir ( 17th Lord of Rowallan) 1623-1700

Jean Muir ( 18th Lady of Rowallan) ?- 1724

The Mures of Rowallan

This, however, is a mistake, as David de More, of the house of Polkelly, Renfrewshire, appears as a witness to a charter of Alexander II. Willielmi de Mora and Laurentii de Mora also occur in two charters granted by Robert the Bruce. The first on record of the family is stated to have been the above-named David de More. His successor is supposed to have been Sir Gilchrist More, the first of the name mentioned in the family 'Historie.' In the beginning of the reign of Alexander III., Sir Walter Cumyn took forcible possession of the house and living of Rowallan, "the owner thereof, Gilchrist More, being redacted for his safety to keep close in his castle of Pokellie."

The latter distinguished himself at the battle of Largs in 1263, and for his bravery was knighted. "At which time," says the 'Historie,' "Sir Gilchrist was reponed to his whole inheritance, and gifted with the lands belonging to Sir Walter Cuming before mentioned, a man not of the meanest of that powerful tribe, which for might and number have scarcelie to this day been equaled in this land." He married Isobel, daughter and heiress of the said Sir Walter Cumyn, and in the death of his father-in-law, he found himself secured not only in the title and full possession of his old inheritance, but also in the border lands wherein he succeeded to Sir Walter Cuming, within the sheriffdom of Roxburgh. Sir Gilchrist "disponed to his kinsman Ranald More, who had come purposlie from Ireland for his assistance: in the time of his troubles, and also at the battle of Largs, the lands of Polkellie, which appear to have been the original inheritance of the family.

He died "about the year 1280, near the 80 year of his age," and was buried "with his forfathers in his own buriell place in the Mures Isle at Kilmarnock."
He had a son, Archibald, and two daughters, Elizabeth, the wife of Sir Godfrey Ross, and Anicia, married to Richard Boyle of Kelburne, ancestor of the earls of Glasgow. In the Ragman Roll, among those barons who swore fealty to Edward I. in 1296, we find the names of Gilchrist More of Craig and Reginald More de Craig, that is, the Craig of Rowallan. The former is stated to have been the ancestor of the Mures of Polkellie, who, Nisbet thinks, were "the stem of the Mures, and an ancienter family than the Rowallan." The latter was in 1329 chamberlain of Scotland.William More, the son and successor of Archibald, married a daughter of the house of Craigie, then Lindsay, and with two daughters, had a son, Adam, who succeeded him. Of William honourable mention is made in an indenture of truce with England in the nonage of King David, wherein he is designated Sir William.

He died about the time when King David was taken prisoner at the battle of Durham, fought 17th October 1346. There is supposed to have been an older son than Adam, named Reynold. The editor of the 'Historie,' on the authority of Crawford's Officers of State, (vol. i. p. 290), says in a note: Reynold, son and heir of Sir William More, was one of the hostages left in England at David's redemption. This is certainly the same Sir William mentioned above, but whether of Rowallan seems still doubtful; If so, he must have lived long after 1348. There is a William More, Miles, mentioned in M'Farlane's MS., as living in 1363. Supposing this Sir William More to have been of Rowallan, Reynold probably never returned from England, and thus the estate may have fallen to Sir Adam, a younger son. During the long protracted payment of the king's ransom, many of the hostages died in confinement.

Sir Adam More, who, "in his father's auld age," had the management of all his affairs, both private and public, considerably enlarged and improved the estate. He married, in his younger years, Janet Mure, heiress of Polkellie, granddaughter of Ranald More, and thus restored that estate to the family. By this marriage he had two sons, Sir Adam, his successor, and Andrew, and a daughter, Elizabeth, married in 1348, to Robert, the high steward, afterwards King Robert II. She was a lady of great beauty and rare virtues, and attracted the high steward's regard in his younger years when living in concealment about Dundonald castle during Edward Baliol's usurpation.

There was long considerable doubt as to this marriage, and Buchanan and earlier historians were of opinion that none had ever taken place. The fact of her marriage, however, is now set beyond all question, and the author of the 'Historie' says, "Mr. John Learmonth, chaplain to Alexander, archbishop of St. Andrews, hath left upon record, in a deduction of the descent of the house of Rowallan, collected by him at command of the said archbishop, that Robert, great steward of Scotland, having taken away the said Elizabeth, drew to Sir Adam her father ane instrument that he should take her to his lawful wife, which myself have seen, saith the collector, as also ane testimonie, written in Latin by Roger M'Adam, priest of our Ladie Marie's chapel, ('Our Lady's Kirk of Kyle,' in the parish of Monktown,) that the said Roger married Robert and Elizabeth foresaids."

The editor of the 'Historie' remarks in a note: "Mr. Lewis Innes, principal of the Scots college at Paris, first completely proved the fallacy of Buchanan's account of King Robert's marriages, by publishing in 1694, a charter granted by him in 1364, which charter showed that Elizabeth More was the first wife of Robert, and made reference to a dispensation granted by the pope for the marriage. That dispensation was long sought for in vain, but was at length discovered in 1789, at which time a dispensation for the marriage with Euphemia Ross was also found. These discoveries have decided the question. The dispensation for the marriage with Elizabeth More is dated in December, in the sixth year of the pontificate of Clement VI. He was elected pope in 1342; this dispensation must therefore have been granted in December 1347. The dispensation for the marriage with Euphemia Ross is dated in the third year of the pontificate of Innocent VI. He was elected pope in 1352; this dispensation must therefore have been given in 1355."

Sir Adam, the eldest son, had on his own resignation, a new charger from Robert III., of the barony of Rowallan and whole lands holden of the crown, as also of the barony of Polkellie, &c., with very ample privileg4es, the designation given him by the king being 'consanguineus.' He married Joan, daughter of Danielston of that ilk, and by her had three sons. "Caried away," says the 'Historie,' "as appears with emptie surmises and hopes founded on court favors, he made unawares a new rent in his estate and provided his second son, Alexander, to the barronie of Pokellie, together with the lands of Limflare and Lowdonehill, wherein his lady was infeft in liferent, and wer given out by him, now the second time, to the great damage and prejudice of his house and posteritie.

However, at that time the court seemed to smile upon him, his proper estate considerable, his friendship strong, and of the greatest of these times. He gave a quartered coat of the arms of Mure and cumin. The hoarseness and asperitie of the Irish pronunciation of his title and lands is forgot, and Rigallane is now Rowallane, Pothkellath is now Pokellie, &c., and More is now Mure by the court dialect. He died in 1399. His two younger sons, Alexander and Rankine, were steady adherents of the Douglases. From the earl of Douglas, who married Margaret, daughter of Robert III., he had the lands of Hareschaw and Drumbowy, Lanarkshire, by a precept of infeftment dated in 1417. The family of Polkellie, sprung from him, continued for nearly 150 years, when Margaret, daughter and heiress of William Mure, the last of that house, marrying Robert Cunningham of Cunninghamhead, her whole inheritance came into possession of that family.

Rankine, the youngest son, was "commonlie called of Abercorn," says the 'Historie,' "not that he had these lands in heritage, for that doth never appear by historie nor evident that ever come to my hands, notwithstanding of the common tradition thairanent, being established thair as bailiffe and a chief officer under his lord, the earle of Duglass, having charge of his men thair in all his noble atchiefements." He "rose to no mean respect, place, and power, and is said to have attained to large possessions in Stirlingshire within Abercorn, the Carses Calder and other places adjacent where he also settled divers of his surname and friends." He was an active and stirring adversary of Sir Alexander Livingstone of Calender, guardian of the young king, James II., one of the principal enemies of the earl of Douglas.

Rankine's grandson long held out the castle of Abercorn for the Douglases, and was slain when it was stormed, and the power of that great family overthrown. Archibald, eldest son of Sir Adam, succeeded. He married Euphame Kennedy, daughter of the knight of Dunure, ancestor of the marquis of Ailsa, and had a son, named Robert. He is said by the author of the 'Historie' to have "died in battell against Ingland, 1426." The date is evidently wrong, for, as the editor remarks in a note, "Nothing in history of this nature corresponds to the date 1426. The action alluded to should possibly be referred to the battle of Sark, 1448; and if so, we must place Archibald, who fell, after a Robert, probably his brother, and both sons of an Archibald."
In a charter of "George Fullertoun, lord of Corsbie," in 1430, Robert More of Rowallan is designated sheriff depute, it is understood of Ayrshire. He is supposed to have been succeeded by a son or brother named Archibald, father of another Robert "who frequented the court in the minoritie of King James the Third.

He was ane man black hared and of ane budge large stature, therefore, commonlie called 'the Rud of Rowallane.'" The epithet 'Rud' is explained in a note to mean of great stature and strength, "a man with 'a back as braid as a barn door,' and who, in addition to his bodily ability, has also the inclination for a fray."
The 'Historie' does not give a good account of this fierce personage, 'the Rud of Rowallan,' nor of his wife either. "The king, in his bearne head proponed to round with him, and as he offered swa to doe dang out his eye with the spang of ane cockle shell. He was a man reguarded not the well of his house, but in following court, and being unfit for it, waisted, sold, and wadset all his proper lands of Rowallane, whilk may be ane example to all his posteritie.
He married Margerie Newfound, daughter to the laird of Michaelhill in the Merse; ane drunken woman, and ane waistor man, what made then this house to stand but the grace of God?" The 'Rud of Rowallan' died in 1504. He had four sons and a daughter.

John, his eldest son, married "Elizabeth Stewart, daughter to the first Lord Evandale," says the 'Historie,' "whose mother was daughter to the earle of Crawfurd, called Earle Beardie." The first Lord Evandale, who was the son of Lord James Stewart, son of Murdoch, duke of Albany, of the royal house of Stewart, died without issue in 1488. His nephew, Andrew Stewart, who afterwards succeeded to the estate of Evandale, was created a peer by the same title. He left several sons and daughters, and Elizabeth Stewart, who married John Mure of Rowallan, must have been one of the latter, although not mentioned so in the published histories. If, as is understood, she was the daughter of the second, not the first, Lord Evandale, she was the sister of Andrew Stewart, third Lord Evandale, and also of Henry Stewart, created Lord Methven, the third husband of Margaret, queen-mother of Scotland, daughter of Henry VII. Of England, and grandmother of Mary, queen of Scots.
He had four sons and three daughters.

The sons were, John, his successor; Archibald, called 'Mickle Archibald;' Patrick Boyd, and James. From Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, we learn that "Nov. 3, 1508. - Patrick Boyde, brother to the laird of Rowallan," and 27 others, were "convicted of art and part of convocation of the lieges against the act of parliament, coming to the Kirk of Stewarton, in company with John Mure of Rowallan, for the office of parish clerk of the same kirk, against Robert Cunynghame of Cunynghamehed and his servants, in the year 1508;" and that "James Muir, brother to the laird of Rowalloun was, in 1508, convicted of art and part of the forethought felony and oppression done to John Mowat, junior, laird of Busbie, and Andrew Stevinstone, in the town of Stewarton, in company with the laird of Rowalloun." John is said to have "deceast before Robert his father in 1501;" if so, he must have possessed the estate on his father's resignation.
The editor adds in a note, that he was dead in 1495.

A long feud had existed betwixt the lairds of Crawfurdland and Rowallan, the latter being superior of the lands of Ardoch as Crawfurdland was first called, during which the evidents of both houses were destroyed. In a Justice-eyre, held at Ayr about 1476 by John, Lord Carlyle, chief justice of Scotland on the south side of the Forth, Robert Muir of Rowallan and John Muir his son, and others their accomplices, were indicted for breaking the king's peace against Archibald Craufurd of Craufurdland. John Mure of Rowallan, the eldest son, and grandson of Robert "the Rud," married Margaret, third daughter of Archibald Boyd of Bonshaw, brother of Thomas, master of Boyd, created earl of Arran about 1467. This lady was the means of putting an end to the feud of the Rowallan family with the Crawfurds. In her youth she had been mistress to James IV., by whom, with a son, Alexander, bishop of St. Andrews, she had a daughter, Catherine Stewart, married to the third earl of Morton.

She afterwards "procured to herself the ward of the laird of Rowallan, John Muir, and married him." They had sasine of the lands of Warnockland, the gift of James IV., in January 1498. This John Mure of Rowallan was slain at Flodden in September 1513. He had four sons and four daughters. Mungo, his eldest son, succeeded him. His half-sister, Catherine, countess of Morton, had three daughters, the eldest of whom, Lady Margaret Douglas, married the regent earl of Arran, duke of Chatelherault, ancestor of the dukes of Hamilton; the second, Lady Beatrix, married Lord Maxwell; and the youngest, Lady Elizabeth, became the wife of the regent Morton. These noblemen, therefore, stood in near relationship to Mungo Mure of Rowallan, which they were all very ready, the regent Morton in particular, to acknowledge.

Mungo Mure of Rowallan was with Robert Boyd of the Kilmarnock family when he arrived, with a party of horse, to the assistance of the regent Arran in the skirmish at Glasgow, in 1543, with the earl of Glencairn. In the appendix to the 'Historie' there is an account of "the behaviour of the house of Kilmarnock towardis the house of Rowallane, and of their house towards them," in which he is thus referred to: "It is understandit that Mungow Muir of Rowallane, quhois mother was Boyd, joynit with Robert Boyd guidmane of Kilmarnock, in seeking revengement of the slaughter of James Boyd, the king's sisteris sone, quho sould have bene Lord Boyd, bot befoir he was fullie restorrit was slaine be the earl of Eglintoune. Nixt, my lord of Glencairne proponing ane richt to the barronie of Kilmarnock proclaimit ane court to be holdin at the Knockanlaw, quhair the said Robert Boyd guidmane of Kilmarnock and Mungow Muir of Rowallane, with the assistance of thair friends, keipit the said day and place of court, offirit battle to the said earl of Glencairn, and stayit him from his pretendit court hoilding.

Thridlie, the foirsaid Robert Boyd guidmane of Kilmarnock, and the said Mungow Muir of Rowallane, entirit in the field of Glasgow, the said Mungow being lairglie better accompanied then the foirsaid Robert, they behavit themselfe so valiantlie in that fact that the Duik Hamiltone quho reckonit both his lyfe and honour to be preservit be thair handis, maid the said Robert Boyd, guidman of Kilmarnock, Lord Boyd, lyk also as he revardit the said Mungow Muir with dyvers fair giftis. The said Robert Boyd hichlie esteemit of the sais Mungow Muir of Rowallane and gave him the first place of honour al his dayis, acknawleging the alternation of his estait to the worthines of the said Mungowis handis. "This Mungo is particularly mentioned as having greatly improved the old castle of Rowallan. He was slain in battle at Pinkiefield "at the black Satterday, in the yeare of our lord 1547." He married Isabel, daughter of Sir Hugh Campbell of Loundoun, sheriff of Ayr, and had five sons and six daughters. His eldest son, John Mure of Rowallan, took great delight in planting, and built a portion of Rowallan castle.

He "lived gratiouslie," says the 'Historie,' and "died in 1581, in the 66th year of his age." The year is supposed to be a mistake for 1591, as it is given in the family Genealogical tree, drawn up in 1597. A 'letter of Soleance,' subscribed at Irvine and Kilwinning, 16th and 17th March 1571, is inserted in the Appendix to the 'Historie' so often quoted, from Alexander Cowper, mason in Kilwinning, "with consent and assent" of certain persons named, his "cheife and capitall branchis, bayth on the father side and mother side," granting his remission, free forgiveness and pardon to John Mure of Rowallan, William Mure, his son and heir, John Mure and Mungo Mure, his sons, and two others, and "thair complices, kin, freindis, allys, assistaris and parttakeris, the crewall wonding, hurting and bluding of me, the said Alexander, to the great effusions of my blude, done and committit be the saidis persones thair seruandis and complicis," in the month of February, 1570.

The account above quoted of the mutual friendly offices between these families appears to have been drawn up in reference to this charge. It recites many good deeds done by the Mures to the Boyds, in particular, amongst others, that after Robert, master of Boyd, had slain Sir Neil Montgomerie of Lainshaw, he was received and concealed by John Muir of Rowallan, who, with his friends and servants, was the means of saving his life, when pursued by the Montgomeries; and also that after the battle of Langside he kindly received the said Robert, being then Lord Boyd, although he had fallen into disfavour with the regent Moray, and much more to the same purport. John Muir of Rowallan subscribed the bond in support of the Reformation in 1562, and the same year he was a member of the Scottish estates. In 1568, when Queen Mary escaped from Lochleven castle, she wrote the laird of Rowallan a letter dated 6th May that year, requiring him to meet her at Hamilton, as soon as he could muster his retainers, all well armed for her service.

It does not appear, however, that he complied with the summons. In 1584 John Mure of Rowallan, "and his spouse and six persons with them in company," received a license from James VI., to eat flesh in Lent, and upon Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays "for ane zeir next hereafter," and in February 1588 he had the present of a gray courser from his kinsman, the earl of Morton, on the latter going abroad. In the letter which accompanied the gift he says: "I think ze sall find him als meit in haikney for zour self or zour wife to ryd upoun as ony uther, for I chosit him to have been presentit to the king quhen the Scots horse suld have been send to the duke of Gwies."

He married a daughter of Cunninghame of Cunninghamehead, and had three sons and three daughters. His third son, Mungo Mure, received a remission, of date 1st March 1607, for being concerned in the slaughter of Hew, fourth earl of Eglintoun. He died in London in November 1632. Before his departure, we are told, he greatly lamented "the crying sinne of innocent blood." William, the eldest son, succeeded his father. He was "of a meik and gentle spirit, and delyted much in the study of phisick, which he practiced especiallie among the poore people with very good success. He was ane religious man, and died gratiouslie in the yeare of his age 69, the year of our lorde 1616." With three daughters he had three sons, Sir William, who succeeded him; John Mure of Blacklaw, who was slain at a combat at Beith, and Hugh of Skirnalland.

Sir William, the eldest son, the next laird of Rowallan, is described as "ane strong man of bodie, and delyted much in hunting and halking." He died in 1639, aged 63. He was thrice married, and had issue by each of his wives. His eldest son, by his first wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, daughter of the laird of Hazlehead, was William Mure of Rowallan, the eminent poet, a memoir of whom is given below. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir William Mure of Rowallan, in the end of 1657. This Sir William Mure was firmly attached to the Reformed doctrines, and was the intimate friend of the celebrated Mr. Guthrie, first minister of Fenwick. It is said that conventicles were held in the house of Rowallan during his time. Whether on this account or not, it is certain that he suffered much during the troubles of the Church of Scotland. He was imprisoned in 1665, in the castle of Stirling, with the lairds of Cunninghamehead and Nether-Pollock. When other gentlemen were liberated upon the bond of peace in 1668, these three were retained in confinement, but in the year following, on the removal of Bishop Burnet from Glasgow, they presented a petition for release to the duke of Lauderdale, the commissioner, which was granted. IN 1683 Sir William Mure again fell under the suspicion of the court, and was apprehended, with his eldest son, in London. They were sent to Edinburgh and committed prisoners to the Tolbooth.

In the same year his second son, John, was taken prisoner, and carried to Edinburgh. In a short time the health of the young laird of Rowallan required indulgence, and he was allowed to be removed from the prison to a private house. In April 1684, they were both discharged, upon giving a bond of E2,000, to appear when called upon. Sir William died in or about 1686. He married about 1640, Elizabeth, daughter of James Hamilton of Aikenhead, provost of Glasgow, and had two sons and a daughter. The elder son, William Mure of Rowallan, the last lineal representative of the family, was entered a student at the university of Glasgow in 1660. His share in the afflictions of his father has been already noticed. This did not shake his attachment to the church for which he suffered. His name frequently occurs in the records of the parish of Kilmarnock. He is mentioned there, for the last time, in 1695, in a commission to defend a process of translation before the synod. He was a member of the Scots parliament, and died in 1700. He married, about 1670, Dame Mary Scott, apparently heiress of Collarny in Fife, by whom he had three daughters, Anna, Margaret, and Jean.

The latter, his only surviving daughter and sole heiress, married, first, William Fairlie of Bruntsfield, near Edinburgh, afterwards designed of Fairlie, to whom she had issue. Tradition still points out the spot where Fairlie was married to the heiress of Rowallan. The ceremony was performed by a curate, in the fields, about a quarter of a mile from the house of Rowallan, at a tree, still called the marriage tree, which stands on the top of a steep bank, above that part of the stream called "Janet's kirn." The heiress of Rowallan married, secondly, David, first earl of Glasgow, and had to him three daughters, Lady Betty, who died in infancy; Lady Jean, who, by special destination, succeeded to Rowallan, and Lady Anne, who died unmarried. Jean Mure, countess of Glasgow, died September 3, 1724, and was succeeded by her elder surviving daughter of the second marriage, Lady Jean Boyle Mure of Rowallan, who married the Hon. Sir James Campbell of Lawers, K.B., third and youngest son of the second earl of Loudoun. Their son, James Mure Campbell, succeeded to the estate of Rowallan, and was the fifth earl of Loudoun (see LOUDOUN, fifth earl).
　
Chieftians of Caldwell

Sir Godfrey Mure ( 1st Lord of Caldwell) 1325-1409

Sir John Mure ( 2nd Lord of Caldwell) 1385-1430

Sir John Mure II ( 3rd Lord of Caldwell) 1410-1492

Sir Adam Mure ( 4th Lord of Caldwell) 1445-1513

Sir John Mure ( 5th Lord of Caldwell) 1478-1539

John Mure ( 6th Lord of Caldwell) 1504-1554

William Mure ( 7th Lord of Caldwell) 1594-1640

Sir John Mure ( 8th Lord of Caldwell) ?

Sir Robert Mure ( 9th Lord of Caldwell) ?

Robert Mure ( 10th Lord of Caldwell) ?

Robert Mure II ( 11th Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1640

Robert Mure III ( 12th Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1644

James Mure ( 13th Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1654

William Mure ( 14th Lord of Caldwell) ?

Barbara Mure ( 15th Lady of Caldwell) ?

William Mure ( 16th Lord of Caldwell) ?

William Mure II ( 17th Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1722

William Mure III ( 18th Lord of Caldwell) 1718-1776

Colonel William Mure ( 19th Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1831

William Mure V ( 20th Lord of Caldwell) 1799-1860

William Mure VI ( 21st Lord of Caldwell) 1830-1880

William Mure VII ( 22nd Lord of Caldwell) ?- 1912

David Mure (23rd Lord of Caldwell) ?

George Mure ( 24th Lord of Caldwell) 1939- ?

The Mures of Caldwell

Sir Reginald, who was granduncle of the queen, Elizabeth Mure, first wife of Robert I., acquired his extensive estates of Abercorn, &c., in the Lothians and Stirlingshire, by marriage with one of the coheiresses of Sir John Graham of Eskdale and Abercorn. He adhered steadily to the cause of David II. in the Baliol wars with England, and was one of the commissioners appointed in 1340 to treat with the lords Percy, Moubray, and Neville of a truce between the two kingdoms. With one daughter, he had two sons, William, who succeeded to Abercorn, and died without male issue, and Gilchrist More, already mentioned, who carried on the line of the family.

Sir Adam Mure, the fourth in succession from Gilchrist, was knighted by James IV., and is supposed to have been slain at the battle of Flodden. His son, John Mure of Caldwell, on 20th February 1515, took by assault, at the head of his followers, "the castle and palace" of the archbishop of Glasgow, situated near the city, battering the walls in breach 'with artillery,' and carrying off a rich booty. He married Lady Janet Stewart, daughter of Matthew earl of Lennox, and grand-aunt of Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, queen of Scots, and died in 1533. His eldest son, John Mure of Caldwell, had, with other children, two sons, John, his heir, and William of Glanderstoun, ancestor of the Mures of Glanderstoun. The granddaughter of the latter was the mother of the Rev. William Carstairs, a divine of great political influence in the reign of William III.

Sir John, the elder son, was knighted by James V. He was slain, 10th September 1570, by the Cunninghames of Cunninghamehead and Raeburne of that ilk, the same who were afterwards principals in the murder of his cousin, Hugh, earl of Eglintoun, in 1585. His son, Sir Robert Mure of Caldwell, was one of the jury appointed in 1580 to try the Lord Ruthven, high-treasurer of Scotland, for the murder of David Rizzio. He was on terms of great intimacy and confidence with James VI., by whom he was knighted, and to whom he was related through the Lennoxes. Six letters addressed to him by that monarch, preserved at Caldwell, have been inserted in the 'Selections from the Caldwell Papers,' printed for the Maitland Club in 3 vols. 4to, in 1854.

About 1610 the lands of Thornton near Kilmarnock, long in possession of the family, were alienated to a cadet, founder of the house of Mure of Thornton, the male line of which becoming extinct in 1701, in the person of Sir Archibald Mure, lord provost of Edinburgh, the estate passed by his heir female to John Cuningham of Caddell, and is now held by his descendant, in feu of the Caldwell family. William Mure of Caldwell, the fourth in succession to Sir Robert, was a staunch Covenanter. He and a few other west-country gentlemen of similar sentiments, met in arms at Chitterfleet, in the parish of Beith, on 28th November 1666, and having collected a body of horsemen, amounting to about fifty in all, and consisting chiefly of the tenantry of Caldwell and the neighbouring estates, they set out, under Caldwell's command, to join Colonel Wallace of Achans, who was marching from Galloway in the direction of the Pentlands, by Lesmahago and Lanark. On the way, finding themselves intercepted by the king's troops, under General Dalzell, they retraced their steps, and dispersed. Caldwell was attainted, fled to Holland, and died in exile.

His estates were bestowed on General Dalzell; and Caldwell's lady, a daughter of Sir William Cunninghame of Cunninghamehead, was imprisoned, with two of his daughter, in Blackness castle, where she underwent much cruel persecution. Barbara Mure, the second daughter, lived to obtain, by special act of parliament, 19th July 1690, a full restoration of the family estates. She married John Fairlie of that ilk, but dying without issue, was succeeded, in 1710, by her kinsman, William Mure, fourth laird of Glanderstoun, descended from William, second son of the John Mure who inherited Caldwell in 1539. This William Mure bore his share in the persecution of the times, having been imprisoned and fined, on a charge of nonconformity, in 1683. A Journal of a tour by him through England and the Netherlands in 1696, is printed among the 'Caldwell Papers.'

Dying without issue, he was succeeded by his nephew, William Mure, eldest son of Mure of Rhoddens in Ireland. His son, William Mure of Caldwell, M.P. for Renfrewshire from 1742 to 1761, was appointed one of the barons of the exchequer in Scotland in the latter year. In 1753 he bought Wester or Little Caldwell from the duke of Hamilton. The portion of the estate the Mures had previously possessed was called Easter Caldwell. Baron Mure was an intimate associate of David Hume the historian, and the author of one of two tracts on speculative points of political economy, printed for private circulation. His correspondence and miscellaneous papers occupy the greater part of two of the three volumes of the 'Caldwell Papers.' He was rector of the university of Glasgow in 1764-5, and died in 1776. His eldest son, Colonel William Mure of Caldwell, was the friend of Sir John Moore, but early left the army. He was rector of the university of Glasgow in 1793-4.

He married Anne, eldest daughter of Sir J. Hunter Blair, bart. of Dunskev, with issue, and died February 9, 1831. Col. Mure's eldest son, William Mure of Caldwell, D.C.L., born July 9, 1799, was educated at Westminster, and studied at Edinburgh and in Germany, where he imbibed that taste for critical inquiry which made his name extensively known among the scholars of modern Europe. He married in 1825, Laura, 2d daughter of William Markham, Esq. of Becca Hall, Yorkshire, with issue; vice-lieutenant of Renfrewshire and colonel of its militia; was M.P. for that county from 1846 to 1855; lord-rector of Glasgow university in 1847-48; author of 'Brief Remarks on the Chronology of the Egyptian Dynasties; showing the Fallacy of the System laid down by Messrs. Champollion, in Two Letters on the Museum of Turin,' London, 1829, 8vo; 'A Dissertation on the Calendar of the Zodiac of Ancient Egypt,' Edinburgh, 1832, 8vo; 'A Tour in Greece,' 1842; 'A Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece,' 5 vols., 8vo. 1850-57; and the compiler of the 'Caldwell Papers.' He died at London, April 1, 1860, in his 61st year.

His eldest son, William Mure of Caldwell, lieutenant-colonel Scots fusilier guards, married 3d daughter of 1st Lord Leconfield. David Mure, born in 1810, 3d son of Col. William Mure, who died in 1831, passed advocate at the Scottish bar in the latter year. In 1853 he was appointed sheriff of Perthshire, and in 1858 solicitor-general for Scotland; lord-advocate in April 1859, and elected M.P. for Buteshire soon after.

Chieftains of Auchindrane

Andrew Mure ( 1st Lord of Auchindrane) 1300-1365

Unknown Mure ( 2nd Lord of Auchindrane) 1320-1385

Unknown Mure ( 3rd Lord of Auchindrane) 1345-1415

Unknown Mure ( 4th Lord of Auchindrane) 1370-1450

John Mure ( 5th Lord of Auchindrane) 1395-1470

Unknown Mure ( 6th Lord of Auchindrane) 1415-1480

Archibald Mure ( 7th Lord of Auchindrane) 1435-1515

John Mure ( 8th Lord of Auchindrane) 1460-1520

John Mure II ( 9th Lord of Auchindrane) 1485-1540

Sir John Mure ( 10th Lord of Auchindrane) 1505-1565

James Mure ( 11th Lord of Auchindrane) ?

John Mure ( 12th Lord of Auchindrane) 1531-1611

James Mure ( 13th Lord of Auchindrane) 1556- 1621

Unknown Mure ( 14th Lord of Auchindrane) 1581-1631

John Mure ( 15th Lord of Auchindrane) 1611-?

William Mure ( 16th Lord of Auchindrane) 1635- 1700

Hugh Mure ( 17th Lord of Auchindrane) 1665-1715

John Mure ( 18th Lord of Auchindrane) 1690- 1740

William Mure ( 19th Lord of Auchindrane) 1710-1770

John Mure ( 20th Lord of Auchindrane) 1735- 1790

Hugh Mure ( 21st Lord of Auchindrane) 1741-1795

Eleanor Mure ( 22nd Lady of Auchindrane) 1750- 1810

The Mures of Auchindrane

MURE, SIR WILLIAM, of Rowallan, a poet of the 17th century, was born in 1594. He was the eldest son of Sir William Mure of Rowallan, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Montgomery of Hazlehead, and sister of Alexander Montgomery, author of 'The Cherrie and the Slae.' He obtained an excellent classical education, and in his early years began to cultivate a taste for poetry. The 'Historie' of his family above quoted says of him: "This Sir William was pious and learned, and had an excellent vein in poesie; he delyted much in building and planting." Before his twentieth year he attempted a poetical version of the story of Dido and Eneas, from Virgil. In the 'Muse's Welcome,' a collection of poems and addresses made to King James on his visiting Scotland in 1617, there is an address by Mure of Rowallan. In 1628, he published a translation, in English sapphics, of Boyd of Trochrig's beautiful Latin poem, 'Hecatombe Christiana,' together with a small original piece called 'Doomesday.' His principal work is his 'True Crucifixe for true Catholikes,' published at Edinburgh in 1629.

For some years afterwards he seems to have been employed on a version of the Psalms, which was much wanted in Scotland at that time. The old English version was not popular; and the one executed by King James and Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, subsequently earl of Stirling, was so disliked that the bishops would not press it upon the church. King James' version was not sanctioned by the Assembly, and some expressions in it gave offence to the people, such as the sun being called "The lord of light," and the moon, "The pale lady of the night." Though this version was rejected, still many wished that the old one should be improved, or a better one substituted in its place. Several gentlemen attempted particular psalms; but a version of the whole was undertaken by Sir W. Mure of Rowallan, which he seems to have finished in 1639.

Principal Baillie, who attended the Westminster Assembly, as a commissioner from the Church of Scotland, in a letter, dated at London, January 1st, 1644, says, "I wish I had Rowallan's Psalter here, for I like it better than any I have yet seen." It does not, however, appear that Sir William's version was transmitted to the Assembly. That of Mr. Rous, which was recommended by the English parliament, was finally adopted, and has ever since been used in Scotland; but the committee appointed in 1650 to revise Mr. Rous's version, were instructed to avail themselves of the help of Sir William Mure's. (Historic and Descent of the House of Rowallane, pp. 92-94.) During the civil war, Sir William Mure took arms on the popular side. In the first army raised against the king, he commanded a company in the Ayrshire regiment, and was a member of the convention of 1643, by which the Solemn League and covenant was ratified with England. He was a member of the 'Committee of warre' for the sheriffdom of Ayr in 1644, and in the beginning of that year he accompanied the Scots army which marched to the aid of the parliamentary cause, and was wounded at the battle of Longmarston Moor, July 2. He was also present at the storming of Newcastle, in the following month. He died in the end of 1657.

Specimens of his poems, many of which are still in manuscript, will be found in Lyle's 'Ancient Ballads and Songs,' published at London in 1827. Sir William Mure was twice married, first, in 1615, when only twenty-one, to Anna, daughter of Dundas of Newliston, by whom he had five sons and six daughters; and, secondly, to Dame Jane Hamilton, Lady Duntreath, by whom he had two sons and two daughters. His second son, Captain Alexander Mure, was slain in the war against the rebels in Ireland; another of them, Patrick, the youngest son of the first marriage, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1622. That title is now extinct.


Chieftains of Glanderstoun:

1st Laird of Glanderstoun: William Mure ( 1534- 1606)

2nd Laird of Glanderstoun: William Mure ( 1555- 1640)

3rd Laird of Glanderstoun: William Mure ( 1575- 1658)

4th Laird of Glanderstoun: William Mure ( 1595- 1678)

Chieftains of Cassencarie:

1st of Cassencarie: Alexander Mure

2nd of Cassencarie: Alexander Mure II

3rd of Cassencarie: George Mure

4th of Cassencarie: Alexander Mure

Mure of Skaithmuir “ The forgotten Branch”

The Muir/ Mure of Skaithmuir or back then it was called Skaithmure was owned by clan Muir from 1329- 1617; the last of this great line was the eldest son Alexander Mure. The lands of Skaithmure from the reign of David II till about the middle of the sixteenth century belonged to the family of More or Mure of Skaithmure. The old castle of which it is supposed a square tower3 about five hundred yards west of Carron Hall mansion is all that now remains was said have been built by Sir Reginald More Lord Great under David II .

On the tower are two sundials and the lintel of a window is the date 1637 and the initials Alexander fourth Lord Elphinstone and Dame Jean Livingstone his wife 1 whose son Michael was the founder of Quarrell branch of the Elphinstones as already stated Fleming has given interesting sketches of the tower and in his book Ancient Castles and Mansions of Stirling Nobility About 1488. Alexander Mure of Skaithmure was tenant his son James of Westerton of Bothkenner A charter by Robert Bisset of Quarrell is dated at Skaithmure 21st May 1543 sic probably 1534 and William Mure of Skamur a witness. The confirmation of this charter is dated September 1542. Probably about this date the Bissets into possession of the lands On 31st October 1582. Mure was retoured heir of Alexander Mure of Skaithmure his father in the lands of Skaithmure and as late as 1617. Alexander Mure eldest son of the late Alexander of Skaithmure was alive From this time Skaithmure to be used as a territorial title.

Skaithmure tower/ castle

Complaint by Sir David Livingstoun of Donypace knight baronet as He has been in peaceable possession of the teinds of the lands Skaithmure for several years past and the tenants thereof having requisition to him under form of instrument to collect and lead his as his other urgent affairs hindered him from doing so at the time allowed the tenants themselves to lead them on the condition they willingly agreed that each of them should preserve his own thereof safely till the complainer gave direction about the same tenants accordingly led the teinds to their barnyard of that William Mowat George Groser and Thomas Duncan the servants and teind masters had delivered the same to them Alexander Mure of Skaithmure being informed of this by bangsterie and oppression to seize the said teinds on September last he assembled some forty or fifty persons whom were William Seller burgess of Linlithgow James Charles Seller in Stanehous Sir John Hamiltoun of Grange George Hamilton his sons Mr Alexander Hamiltoun brother to Sir John and Alexander Hamiltoun his son who on horse and foot with lances jacks steelbonnets and other weapons came in under silence of night to the said barnyards of Skaithmure kuist the compleaners whole teinds tred the same with thair hors feit the most part thairof and the small remanent they caried thame.

This was the account the complainers teindmasters received from the tenants when on 26th September last they carry away the said teinds and found nothing Charge having to the persons above complained upon and all compearing with except the said Alexander Mure who for this cause is be put to the horn and escheat the Lords after hearing parties the judge ordinary the trial of the civil rights of parties to the question and reserve to themselves the punishment of the wrong the discussing of the civil right.


BRUCES OF AIRTH.

“ Amongst the Airth papers there is a licence by the Regent Morton in the king's name, permitting" Alexander Brus of Airth," "Alexander Mure of Skaith- muir," and " Thomas Brus of Larbertscheilles," and their tenants, "to remain and byd at hame fra our raid and army ordanit to convene and meet our said cousing and regent at Dumfries upon the tent day of October 1577, for persute and invasion of the thevis, outlawes, and perturbaris of the peace and quietness of our realme. — Dated at Haliruidhous, 19th October 1577." These three are cousins, the sons of Robert of Airth, of Mr Thomas of Leth- bertscheilles, progenitor of the Comtes de Bruce in France, and of their sister, who married " Mure of Skaithmuir." Elizabeth Mure of Skaithmure.

Chieftains of Leckie: 1668 - 1792

DAVID MOIR OF CRAIGARNHALL AND 1ST OF LECKIE
DAVID MOIR, 2ND OF LECKIE
JAMES MOIR, 3RD OF LECKIE
GEORGE MOIR, 4TH OF LECKIE
JAMES MOIR 5TH OF LECKIE

Anglo-Scottish Wars

Unfortunately, after the Scottish wars of independence; Scotland continue to fight for it's survival during the reigns of the Stewarts aginst thier most hated rivials, the English. The Muir/ Mure of Skaithmure from the reign of David II, till about the middle of the sixteen century belonging to clan of Muir. Once again the Clan Muir will played a vital role in the wars fought by the Kings and Queen of Scotland. England and Scotland fought several times during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Wars like the Border war, The Flodden campaign, 1514-1523, clan feuds, and all the way to the convenanter wars ( Scotland and England civil wars).
Clan Muir have fought at the battles of Duns, Otterburn, Homildon Hill, and at the battle of Piperdean. The reason is that I believe that at one time the Mure of Rowallan and Polkelly were supporters and allies of clan Douglas, and usually fought side by side during wars and clan feuds. It also seems like another Acrhibald Mure of Rowallan die in battle against the English in 1426.

The Siege of Abercorn Castle

This siege may have been in the year 1445. During this siege it is claimed that Rankine Mure of Rowallan's grandson held Abercorn castle for the Douglases and was slain when it was stormed by the King's forces. That Mure line was then overthrown. Rankine Mure is said to be a supporter of the Earl of Douglas and stood with Douglas against the Livingstone of Calendar, guardian of James II (14371460). Rankie Mure and his clansmen fought at the battles of Arkininholm, Battle of Ancrum Moor and the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge. king James collected his forces and laid siege to Abercorn Castle while Douglas was absent raising his followers.

With 70,000 men, Douglas then advanced to raise the siege of his stronghold but the Earl of Hamilton with his men went over to the king's side and this was but the signal for the defection of nearly the whole of Douglas's army whereupon the king went in pursuit but failed to capture inre his haughty subject who found refuge with Donald Lord of the Isles. The king then returned to Abercorn Castle took it by storm with the loss of many of his folks and sundrie rich, evil, and wound it. The castle was dismantled and never restored.

Battle of Sark

This battle took place on October 23, 1448 in Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway Scotland. This was a decisive victory for the Scots. There was an Achibald Mure of Rowallan who was slain in battle. The stage for the battle was set when, in October, the Earl of Northumberland led a troop of 6,000 men into Scotland, where they made camp near the Lochmaben Stone. Their location proved poorly chosen, as they settled in a tidal waterway between the River Sark and Kirtle Water. Among the Scots, Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde, mustered a force of 4,000 from Annandale and Nithsdale, marching against Northumberland on 23 October 1448. Northumberland took the lead in organizing his troops into three wings, with Magnus Reidman, a celebrated veteran of the 100 years war in France, John Pennington,with a large group of Welshmen, with the bulk of the forces at the core commanded by Northumberland himself, which arrangement Ormonde mirrored.

Ormonde had Sir William Wallace of Cragie, who opposed Magnus, and against Sir John Pennington was placed the knight of Carlaverock, called Lord Maxwell, and Johnston of Laird of Johnston, with many inland gentlemen. Ormonde and his retinue opposed Northumberland at the centre. Forces on both sides contained a large contingent of plate armored men at arms, some possibly mounted. At the beginning of the engagement, the English opened fire, pelting the Scottish ranks with the arrows of the English longbow. After enduring some volleys, the Scots, in avoidance of a repeat of Homildon Hill, made a daring advance.

It is said that Wallace cried out with a loud voice, so as he was heard by his followers, "why should we stand still thus to be wounded afar off? follow me, says he, and let us join in hand-strokes, where true valour is to be seen!" The Scots charged, and at arms length the English, being sorely pressed by axe, spear and halberd were routed, with Magnus being slain in the melee. When their ranks broke, they were caught by the rising tide, in which a large number drowned. There a great number of prisoners taken, amongst whom were Sir John Pennington, and Sir Robert Harrington, and the Lord Percy son to the Earl of Northumberland, taken while he helped his father to his horse, who thereby escaped capture.

The causalities were different sources report the number of Scots who lost their lives in the engagement variously: from as few as 26 (Auchinleck chronicle) to as many as 600 The History of Scotland; from 1436 to 1565(Pitscottie, Buchanan, Hume). The number of English deaths in the same sources varies from 2,000 (1,500 killed in battle; 500 drowned - Auchinleck chronicle) to 3,000 killed and drowned(The History of Scotland; from 1436 to 1565(Pitscottie, Buchanan, Hume). In the light of the nature of the battle 26 casualties for the Scots seems far too low, given the barrage of arrows and the death of Wallace of Cragie and Reidman, both Scottish and English commanding officers respectively. This wouldn't happen unless there was a fairly heavy engagement. A larger number of scholarly sources also seem to prefer numbers given by Pitscottie.

The Battle of Flodden

Battle of Flodden was fought on September 9, 1513. John Mure of Rowallan, Sir Adam Mure of Caldwell fought and die at this battle, and pursume that their was also other clansmen. It was a major diastrious for the Scots. he battle actually took place near the village of Branxton, in the county of Northumberland, rather than at Flodden--hence the alternative name is Battle of Branxton. The Scots had previously been stationed at Flodden Edge, to the south of Branxton. The Earl of Surrey, writing at Wooler Haugh on Wednesday 7 September, compared this position to a fortress in his challenge sent to James IV by Thomas Hawley, the Rouge Croix Pursuivant. He complained that James had sent his Islay Herald agreeing that they would join in battle on Friday between 12.00 and 3.00 pm, and asked that James would face him on the plain at Milfield as appointed.

Next, Surrey moved to block off the Scots' route north and so James was forced to move his army and artillery two miles to Branxton Hill. The Scottish artillery, as described by an English source, included five great curtals, two great culverins, four sakers, and six great serpentines. The King's secretary, Patrick Paniter was in charge of these cannon. When the armies were within three miles of each other Surrey sent the Rouge Croix pursuivant to James, who answered that he would wait till noon. At 11 o'clock, Thomas, Lord Howard's vanguard and artillery crossed the Twizel Bridge. (Pitscottie says the king would not allow the Scots artillery to fire on the vulnerable English during this manoeuvre.)

The Scots army was in good order in five formations, after the Almain (German) manner. On Friday afternoon the Scots host descended without speaking any word to meet the English. Western side of the battlefield, looking south-south-east from the monument erected in 1910. The Scottish army advanced down the ploughed field, the English down the grassy field in the foreground, and they met, presumably at the valley boundary between the two fields.The English army had formed two "battles" each with two wings. Lord Howard combined his "vanguard" with the soldiers of his father's "rearward" to meet the Scots.
According to English report, the groups commanded by the Earls of Huntly and Crawford and Erroll, totalling 6000 men, engaged Lord Howard and were repulsed and mostly slain. Then James IV himself leading a great force came on to Surrey and Lord Darcy's son who "bore all the brunt of the battle". Lennox and Argyll's commands were met by Sir Edward Stanley.

After the artillery fire ended, according to the English chronicler Edward Hall, "the battle was cruel, none spared other, and the King himself fought valiantly". James was killed within a spear length from Surrey and his body taken to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Hall says the King was fatally wounded by an arrow and a bill. Meanwhile, Lord Howard's brother, Edmund Howard, commanding men from Cheshire and Lancashire, fought the section of the Scottish army commanded by the Chamberlain of Scotland, Alexander, Lord Home, and Thomas, Lord Dacre's force, who had been fighting Huntley, came to assist him. The Earl of Surrey captured the Scottish guns, including a group of culverins made in Edinburgh by Robert Borthwick called the "seven sisters", which were dragged to Etal Castle.

The Bishop of Durham thought them the finest ever seen. The treasurer of the English army Sir Philip Tilney valued seventeen captured guns as 'well worth 1700 marks', and that 'the value of the getyng of thaym from Scotland is to the Kingis grace of muche more valew'. Soon after the battle, the council of Scotland decided to send for help from Christian II of Denmark. The Scottish ambassador, Andrew Brounhill, was given instructions to explain "how this cais is hapnit." Brounhill's instructions blame James IV for moving down the hill to attack the English on marshy ground from a favourable position, and credits the victory to Scottish inexperience rather than English valour. The letter also mentions that the Scots placed their officers in the front line in medieval style who were vulnerable and killed, contrasting this loss of the nobility with the English great men who took their stand with the reserves and at the rear.

The English generals stayed behind the lines in the Renaissance style. The loss of so many Scottish officers meant there was no one to coordinate a retreat. However, according to contemporary English reports, Thomas Howard marched on foot leading the English vanguard to the foot of the hill. Howard was moved to dismount and do this by taunts of cowardice sent by James IV's heralds, apparently based on his role at sea and the death two years earlier of the Scottish naval officer Sir Andrew Braton. A version of Howard's declaration to James IV that he would lead the vanguard and take no prisoners was included in later English chronicle accounts of the battle. Howard claims his presence in "proper person" at the front is his Trail by combat for Barton's death.

The Battle of Summerdale

The battle was fought on May 19, 1529 between the Sinclairs of Orkney and the Sinclairs of Caithness, who had the support of James V, King of Scotland. The loyal Sinclairs were pushed out of Orkney to Caithness during a rebellion in which James Sinclair took over Kirkwall castle. The Moars were in Orkney around 1426, and joinned forces with Sinclairs of Orkney during the Sinclair uprising. It has been said that upon landing at Orphir, William Sinclair of Caithness encountered a witch. This witch unwound two balls of wool as they marched, one red and one blue. The red ball ran out first and the witch informed William Sinclair that this meant the side whose blood was spilt first would be defeated. Sinclair supposedly put great faith in the prophecy, and decided to kill the first Orcadian they came across.

Seeing a boy herding cattle, William Sinclair ordered his men to kill him, but once the boy was dead, he was recognised as a native of Caithness who had taken refuge in Orkney some time before. Tradition has it that this unnerved them, and contributed to their subsequent defeat. In another tradition, the land where the battle was fought was said to have been smooth grass without stones until the day of the battle. However, that morning so many stones had appeared that the Orcadians dropped the pitchfolks they were armed with and threw these stones at the oncoming Caithness men, preventing them from getting close enough to attack and eventually forcing them to flee, with the Orcadians in close pursuit. After the battle, William Sinclair of Caithness forces lost all his men except for one man, while James Sinclair and his Orcadians force lost only one. The victor is Orkney Sinclairs.

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

On September 10 1547, in Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland was a battle called Pinkie Cleugh, in which the English were victorious. Mungo Mure of Rowallan fought and die on that day. On the morning of Saturday, 10 September, Somerset advanced his army to close up with the detachment at Inveresk. He found that Arran had moved his army across the Esk by the 'Roman bridge', and was advancing rapidly to meet him. Arran knew himself to be outmatched in artillery and therefore tried to force close combat before the English artillery could deploy. Arran's left wing came under fire from English ships offshore. (Their advance meant that the guns on their former position could no longer protect them.)

They were thrown into disorder, and were pushed into Arran's own division in the centre. On the other flank, Somerset threw in his cavalry to delay the Scots' advance. The Scottish pikemen drove them off and inflicted heavy casualties on the English horsemen. Lord Grey himself was wounded by a pike thrust through his throat and into his mouth. The Scottish army was by now stalled and under heavy fire on three sides, from ships' cannon, artillery, arquebusiers and archers, to which they had no reply. When they broke, the English cavalry rejoined the battle following a vanguard of 300 experienced soldiers under the command of Sir John Luttrell.

Many of the retreating Scots were slaughtered or drowned as they tried to swim the fastflowing Esk or cross the bogs. The English eyewitness William Patten described the slaughter inflicted on the Scots.Soon after this notable strewing of their footmen's weapons, began a pitiful sight of the dead corpses lying dispersed abroad, some their legs off, some but houghed, and left lying half-dead, some thrust quite through the body, others the arms cut off, diverse their necks half asunder, many their heads cloven, of sundry the brains pasht out, some others again their heads quite off, with other many kinds of killing.

After that and further in chase, all for the most part killed either in the head or in the neck, for our horsemen could not well reach the lower with their swords. And thus with blood and slaughter of the enemy, this chase was continued five miles in length westward from the place of their standing, which was in the fallow fields of Inveresk until Edinburgh Park and well nigh to the gates of the town itself and unto Leith, and in breadth nigh 4 miles, from the Firth sands up toward Dalkeith southward. In all which space, the dead bodies lay as thick as a man may note cattle grazing in a full replenished pasture.

The river ran all red with blood, so that in the same chase were counted, as well by some of our men that somewhat diligently did mark it as by some of them taken prisoners, that very much did lament it, to have been slain about 14 thousand. In all this compass of ground what with weapons, arms, hands, legs, heads, blood and dead bodies, their flight might have been easily tracked to every of their three refuges. And for the smallness of our number and the shortness of the time (which was scant five hours, from one to well nigh six) the mortality was so great, as it was thought, the like aforetime not to have been seen. The Imperial ambassador François van der Delft went to the court of Edward VI at Oatlands Palace to hear the news of the battle from William Paget. Van der Delft wrote to the Queen Dowager, Mary of Hungary, with his version on 19 September 1547.

He had heard of the cavalry skirmish the day before the battle. Next day, when the English army encountered the Scottish formation, the Scots advance horsemen dismounted and crossed their lances, which were like pikes, and stood in close formation. Van der Delft heard that the Earl of Warwick then attempted to attack the Scots from behind using smoky fires as a diversion.

When they engaged the Scottish rearguard the Scots took flight, apparently following those who already had an understanding with the Protector Somerset. The rest of the Scots army then attempted to flee the field. Van der Delft wrote another shorter description for Prince Philip on 21 October 1547. In this account he lays emphasis on the Scots attempting to change position. He said the Scots crossed the brook in order to occupy two hills which flanked both armies.

The Scottish army, "without any need whatever were seized with panic and began to fly." Another letter with derivative news of the battle was sent by John Hooper in Switzerland to the Reformer Henry Bullinger. Hooper mentions that Scots had to abandon their artillery due to the archers commanded by the Earl of Warwick, and when the Scots changed position the sun was in their eyes. He was told there were 15,000 Scottish casualties and 2,000 prisoners. There were 17,000 English in the field and 30,000 Scots. Hooper's letter is undated but he includes the false early report that Mary of Guise surrendered in person to Somerset after the battle. Although they had suffered a resounding defeat, the Scottish government refused to come to terms.

The infant Queen Mary was smuggled out of the country to France to be betrothed to the young dauphin Francis. Somerset occupied several Scottish strongholds and large parts of the Lowlands and Borders, but without peace these garrisons became a useless drain on the Treasury of England. Although the Scots blamed traitors within their own ranks for the defeat, it may be fair to say that a Renaissance army defeated a Mediaeval army. Henry VIII had taken steps towards creating standing naval and land forces which formed the nucleus of the fleet and army that gave Somerset the victory.

However, the military historian Gervase Phillips has defended Scottish tactics, pointing out that Arran moved from his position by the Esk as a rational response to English manouevres by sea and land. In his 1877 account of the battle, Major Sadleir Stoney commented that "every tyro knows that changing front in presence of an enemy is a perilous operation". Early commentators such as John Knox had focused on the move as the cause of the defeat and attributed the order to the influence of local landowners George Durie, Abbot of Dunfermline, and Hugh Rig of Carberry. Marcus Merriman sees the initial Scottish field encampment as the most sophisticated ever erected in Scotland, let down by their cavalry numbers.

Phillips maintains the defeat may be considered due to a crisis of morale after the English cavalry charge, and notes William Patten's praise of the Earl of Angus's pikemen. Merriman regards Somerset's failure to press on and capture Edinburgh and Leith as a loss of 'a magnificent opportunity' and 'a massive blunder' which cost him the war. In 1548, the Scottish Master of Artillery, Lord Methven, gave his opinion that the battle was lost due to growing support in Scotland for English policy, and the mis-order and great haste of the Scottish army on the day.The longbow continued to play a key role in England's battles and Pinkie was no exception. Though the combination of bill and longbow which England used was old, it could still hold its own against the pike and arquebus tactics used in Continental armies at this stage in the development of firearms.

The Mures served in the Garde-du- Corps of the French company served several of Mora, Mores, Mure and other varient of the spelling. The Garde-du-corps were an elite Scottish guards in which they fought and served as a body of the king's bodyguards. Clan Muir has been fighting for France under the " Auld Alliance" with bravery and honour. The battles they fought were:

The battle of Bauge The Siege of Orleans
The battle of Herrings The Battle of Cravant
The battle of Verneuil The Loire Campaign

The Mures of Auchendraine served oversea in the Netherlands and with the Regent, Earl of Morton during the civil war also known as the Marian Civil war.

Battle of Harlaw

The Moirs and Mores that had lands in Aberdeen city or around the area fought at the battle of Harlaw to defend their Allies of clan Gordon and Leslie's lands and home from the Highland army. Battle of Harlaw was fought July 24, 1444 of north of Inverurie. John More, Donald's brother, was placed with a detachment of the lightest and nimblest men as a reserve, either to assist the wings or main battle, as occasion required. To him was joined Mackenzie and Donald Cameron of Locheill. This Donald Balloch was son to John More, brother to Donald of the Isles and Earl of Ross.

According to the Scotichronicon, the two armies joined battle on the eve of the feast of St. James – Friday, 24 July 1411. The same source puts Donald's army at 10,000 islanders and men of Ross, although it was probably far less. They were armed with swords, bows and axes, short knives and round targe shields.It is likely that most ordinary highlanders would have worn for armour, if anything, a padded Gambeson, known as a cotun. Wealthier highlanders would have been equipped in a similar way to the Gallowglasses of Ireland and the Isles, with long padded Gambesons, mail hauberks and sometimes partial plate. Tradition has it that they faced a force numbering between 1000 and 2000 men, although it was probably several thousand, with significant numbers of knights.

Sir Gilbert de Greenlaw died at Harlaw and his tombstone at Kinkell Church gives an idea of how Mar's knights were equipped. Sir Gilbert carries a hand and a half sword and wears an open-faced bascinet helmet with a mail-reinforced arming doublet beneath plate armour. Mar's men also carried spears, maces and battle axes. Tradition has it that the black armour in the entrance hall of Aberdeen's Town House belonged to Robert Davidson, Provost of Aberdeen, who fell in the battle alongside most of the burgesses with him. On spotting the islanders, Mar organised his force into battle array, with the main army behind a small advance guard of men-atarms under Sir James Scrymgeour (Constable of Dundee, the hereditary standard-bearer of Scotland) and Sir Alexander Ogilvie of Auchterhouse (Sheriff of Angus). He probably split the army into three, with the knights as a cavalry reserve and the infantry arranged in schiltrons, close-packed arrays of spearmen. There is no mention of significant numbers of archers.

The islanders were arranged in the traditional cuneiform or wedge shape, with Hector MacLean commanding the right wing and the chief of Clan Mackintosh on the left. At first the clansmen launched themselves at Scrymgeour's men, but failed to make much impression on the armoured column and many were slain. However, every wave of islanders that was repulsed, was replaced by fresh men. Meanwhile, Mar led his knights into the main body of Donald's army with similar results. The islanders brought down the knights' horses and then used their dirks to finish off the riders.

By nightfall, the ballads claim that 600 of Mar's men were dead, including Ogilvie and his son, Scrymgeour, Sir Robert Maule, Sir Thomas Moray, William Abernethy, Alexander Straiton of Lauriston, James Lovel, Alexander Stirling and Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum; according to Maclean history the latter duelled with Hector Maclean until both were dead. Many families lost not just their chief but every male in their house; Lesley of Balquhain died with six of his sons.

Donald lost 900 men, a much smaller proportion of his total force, but including his two seconds-in-command. Too feeble to retreat, Mar and his surviving men camped on the battlefield, expecting combat to resume in the morning. Come dawn they found that Donald had withdrawn during the night, retreating first to Ross and then back to the Isles. The casualties on both sides meant that neither side felt it had won the day, but Mar had kept Donald from Aberdeen and for the islanders, the absence of conclusive victory was as bad as defeat. Many of those who fell were buried at Kinkell Church south of Inverurie. The heirs of the slain Scots were exempt from death duties in the same way as heirs of those who died fighting the English.

Suspecting that Donald had merely fallen back to rest and reinforce his troops, Albany collected an army and marched on Dingwall in the autumn, seizing the castle and regaining control of Ross. In the summer of 1412, he followed up with a three-pronged attack on Donald's possessions, forcing Donald to surrender his claim on Ross, become a vassal of the Scottish crown and give up hostages against his future good behaviour. The treaty was signed at Polgilbe/Polgillip (Loch Gilp), an inlet of Loch Fyne in Argyll.

It was proposed on 3 June 1415 that Euphemia should marry Thomas Dunbar, 3rd (6th) Earl of Moray but the papal commission would not have arrived before she surrendered her land and titles (possibly under compulsion) to Albany's son the Earl of Buchan on 12 June 1415, after which she appears to have entered a nunnery. However Buchan was killed at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424, and the rest of Albany's heirs were executed or exiled by James I on his return to Scotland. Mariota claimed the earldom of Ross once more, and James I awarded it to her in 1424. Donald's son Alexander succeeded to the title on her death in 1429.

After Harlaw, the Earl of Mar "ruled with acceptance nearly all the north of the country beyond the Mounth" according to the Scotichronicon. He entered into an "uneasy alliance" with his uncle Albany, but the ruin of Albany's heirs left Mar in control of the north. Alexander attempted an invasion of Ross in 1429 which led to his defeat and capture by Mar at the Battle of Lochaber. In turn Mar suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Donald's nephew Donald Balloch, at the Battle of Inverlochy. The resulting power vacuum allowed Alexander to occupy Inverness and perhaps consider himself Earl of Ross by 1437; the title was officially confirmed by the new regent, the Earl of Douglas, after the death of James I that year.

Capture and Sacking of Bishop's Castles

The castle had been attacked in 1516 by the Mures of Caldwell, it was garrisoned against the Earl of Arran by the pro-English Earl of Lennox. During the Reformation it was occupied by French troops and in 1568 besieged by the Earl of Argyll. .An attacked with artillery in 1516 by the Mures of Caldwell who then sacked the castle by removed beds, jewels, utensils, provisions and ammunition, restitution was eventually obtained by the archbishop after the castle had been retaken by government force.

Battle of Glasgow Muir

During the battle of Glasgow Muir; there was two Muirs/ Mures fighting there but on opposite sides. Mungo Mure of Rowallan fought for Hamilton, while John Mure of Caldwell fought for Glencairn. The rejection, a breach of the Treaty of Greenwich, resulted in the declaration of war, the war now called the Rough Wooing. Lennox and Glencairn were thus caught offside and technically traitors. Lennox wrote to Mary of Guise on 7 March 1544 hoping to buy time by offering his innocence to be tried before a convention of his peers.

He wrote that it was heavily murmured by the Governor and his council; The Mures were also involved with a Raids on Dumfries. "that I am the principell man that causis division and braik be in this realme and makis daily insurrectionis and disobeance contrar the authority." However Arran had already ordered an attack on Glasgow. Artillery and hand guns were sent from Edinburgh Castle. Bothwell Castle was taken first on 8 March. Lennox's men took up position at the Castle and Cathedral, but he himself stayed at his stronghold, Dumbarton Castle. Arran's forces encountered Lennox's followers at Glasgow Muir (Moor), a mile east of the town.

The battle started well for Lennox, his force of about 800 men drove the first rank of more numerous forces of Hamilton back into the second rank and captured their cannon. At this juncture Robert Boyd of Kilmarnock and his friend Mungo Mure of Rowallan, at the head of a small party of horse, who having just arrived at the site of the battle, valiantly thrust themselves "into the midst of the combat", and decided the fate of the day favourably for the Regent Hamilton. There were about 300 slain on both sides. Lennox himself withdrew to Dumbarton Castle.

According to an English messenger, Edward Storye, who made a secret journey to Cumbernauld Castle at this time, Arran then took the town of Glasgow and laid siege to the Castle (Bishop's Palace) on Wednesday 26 March. Amongst the casualties at the moor was Arran's Master of Household, and a Glasgow barbersurgeon was hired to look after the injured. The gunner Hans Cochrane directed the artillery at the cathedral and castle. When Lennox's garrison surrendered, gallows were set up in the street outside the Tollbooth to hang the leaders. For his timely service in the first battle, Robert Boyd was rewarded with the family lands (which he held in tack), as well as the restoration of his family's title of Lord Boyd. Glencairn's heir, Lord Kilmaurs, and Lennox's brother Robert Stewart, Bishop- designate of Caithness, slipped away from Dumbarton Castle at night over the Clyde and then rode through the west country to England. Soon after this battle, in May 1544, an English army burnt Edinburgh.

Around 24 May 1544 Arran fought another battle on Glasgow Moor with the Earl of Glencairn. Glencairn's son, Andrew Cunningham, and John Hamilton of Cambuskeith, Arran's Master of Household, were killed. Glencairn retreated, and Lennox sailed for England from Dumbarton around 28 May 1544. Ten years later, a number of men received pardons for their presence at the battle on Lennox's side against the Regent including: William Cunningham, Earl of Glencairn; George Forrester of Kiddisdale; George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll; Robert Drummond of Carnock; and John Wemyss of that ilk.

Wars of the Three Kingdoms

The Convenanter war or the English and Scottish civil war was from 1644-51. A number of Muirs and varient of the spelling joined the Convenanters.William Mure ,2nd Laird of Glanderston, Died 1640 the first revolutionary campaign against William I at Newburn. These Scots would not accept that King Charles 1 was head of the church; that only Jesus Christ could hold that position. I believe that the Muirs took part at the Battle of Newburn and Battle of Boldon Hill. During the first Civil war the convenanters fought along side with the Oliver Cromwall, then in the second civil war they change side to fight with Charles II. It isn't clear how many battles clan Muir fought during the Convenanter war also known as the English and Scottish civil wars.

Clan Muir/ Mure had been heavily in supporting and fighting for the convenanters, which resulted in their properties of Rowallan, Caldwell and Gladerston had been confiscated. " Pride, for instance, mentions that the ‘Inglishmen’ broke into the Tower of the Place of Caldwell at some point between 1644 and 1653. This suggests that the old castle suffered during the civil war of the mid-17th century."

Sir William Mure in the year of 1644 was with the Scottish covenanter army in England, and was presented at some engagements. Also he attack and brunt the gate of Drumlanrig, plundered and laid waste to the lands in 1650. There was a Colonel John Moore during the first English civil war and was in command of John Moore's regiment of Foot. He fought for the Parliamentarian forces and was riasing a force in Lancaster. In the year of 1644, John Moore was at the garrison of Liverpool, and in June he was being besieged by the Royalist's forces. In the year of 1645 in November to December, John Moore was possibility besieged at Skipton Castle or at the siege of York and resisted five days.

The Battle of Newburn

Attempting to force the Scots to accept a new prayer book in 1637, Charles sparked a crisis that led to the compilation and subscription of the National Covenant in early 1638, a document which rejected all innovations in worship that had not been subject to the approval of both the Scottish Parliament and the general assembly of the church. In November of the same year a General Assembly in Glasgow not only rejected the Prayer Book, but also expelled the bishops from the church, as suspect agents of the crown. Charles' refusal to accept this led to the outbreak of the First Bishop's war in 1639. This war saw much posturing but little real action. In the end the two sides, reluctant to push the issue, concluded hostilities in the Pacification of Berwick, an agreement without an agreement, that was at best a breathing space.

The Scots agreed that the Glasgow Assembly had been 'illegal'; Charles agreed that a new Assembly, together with a Parliament, should meet in Edinburgh in the summer of 1640. As none of the issues that had led to the signing of the National Covenant had been settled, it was obvious to all that the Edinburgh Assembly would simply confirm the decisions taken at Glasgow. This was to lead directly to the outbreak of the Second Bishops' War in which Newburn was the only battle.To raise the necessary funds Charles summoned a new Parliament to Westminster, the first to meet for eleven years, hoping to use English patriotism as a counter to the rebel Scots. But the short parliament was more interested in raising various grievances long suppressed and was quickly dismissed, leaving the king worse off than before.

The geography and progress of the battle have been described here. This emphasizes that what mattered at Newburn was control of the crossing point of the River Tyne, upstream of the only other one between Newburn and the sea at Newcastle, and under the control of whoever held the city. In short, the Scots forces occupied better ground to the north of the river than the King's forces located on the marshes of Stella and Ryton, and the latter were defeated as a consequence.

The Battle of Marston Moor

This battle was fought on July 2, 1644, in which Sir William Mure of Rowallan fought for the convenanters, commanding a company in the Ayrshire Regiment. Sir William fought and was wounded at the battle of Marston Moor. On learning that they had been outmanoeuvred, the allied commanders debated their options. They decided to march south to Tadcaster and Cawood, where they could both protect their own supply lines from Hull, and also block any move south by Rupert on either side of the Ouse. Their foot (infantry), ordnance and baggage set off early on 2 July, leaving the cavalry and dragoons, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, as rearguard. At about 9 am, the allied generals learned that Rupert's army had crossed the captured bridge of boats at Poppleton, and was advancing onto Marston Moor.

The Covenanter and Parliamentarian foot, some of whom had already reached Tadcaster, were hastily recalled. However, Newcastle and his Lieutenant General, Lord Eythin, were opposed to any pitched battle and possibly offended by Rupert's high-handed attitude. Rather than join Rupert immediately they temporised, claiming that it would take time to clear the earth and rubble which had been used to block the city gates of York during the siege. Newcastle's soldiers in York then refused to fight unless given their delayed payment, a dispute which Eythin may have fomented. A number were also absent, pillaging the abandoned allied siege works and encampments outside the city, and had yet to return. Around midday, Rupert was joined on Marston Moor by Newcastle, accompanied by a mounted troop of "gentleman volunteers" only.

Rupert greeted him by saying, "My Lord, I wish you had come sooner with your forces, but I hope we shall yet have a glorious day." Newcastle counselled that the three allied armies, with separate garrisons, recruiting areas and lines of communication to protect, would eventually separate.

He also suggested waiting for a force of 3,000 under Colonel Clavering and collected garrisons amounting to another 2,000 to join the Royalist army. Rupert was adamant that the King's letter (which he never showed to Newcastle) was a command to engage and defeat the enemy immediately. Furthermore, Rupert wished to compensate for the Royalists' numerical inferiority by catching the enemy unawares, and before further Parliamentarian reinforcements could increase their superiority in numbers. However, without Newcastle's infantry, and with his own infantry exhausted from their long march on the previous day, Rupert was unable to attack, and the odds against him lengthened as the day wore on, and the Scots and Parliamentarian infantry and artillery returned from their aborted move south and took position. At about 2:00 pm, the allied artillery, consisting of around thirty pieces of ordnance commanded by General Alexander Hamilton, began a cannonade.

However, at about 5:00 pm, the firing ceased. Meanwhile, at about 4:00 pm, the Royalist contingent from York belatedly arrived, led by Eythin. Rupert and Eythin already knew and disliked one another. Both had fought at the battle of Vlotho in 1638, where Rupert had been captured and held prisoner for several years. Rupert blamed Eythin's caution for the defeat on that occasion, while Eythin blamed Rupert's rashness. On the Moor, Eythin criticised Rupert's dispositions as being drawn up too close to the enemy.

His main concern was that a fold in the ground (referred to by some eyewitnesses as a "glen") between the ridge on which the allied forces were drawn up and the track between Long Marston and Tockwith concealed the front line of the allied infantry from both view and artillery fire, allowing them to attack suddenly from a comparatively close distance. When Rupert proposed to either attack or move his army back as Eythin suggested, Eythin then pontificated that it was too late in the day for such a move. The Royalist army prepared to settle down for the night, close to the allied armies. Covenanters and Parliamentarians.

The Covenanters and Parliamentarians occupied Marston Hill, a low feature less than 100 feet (300 m) above the surrounding countryside but nevertheless prominent in the flat Vale of York, between the villages of Long Marston and Tockwith. They had the advantage of the higher ground, but cornfields stretching between the two villages hampered their deployment. At some point in the day, the Royalists attempted to seize a rabbit warren to the west of the cornfields from where they might enfilade the Parliamentarian position, but they were driven off and the Parliamentarian left wing of horse occupied the ground. The wing was under the command of Manchester's Lieutenant General, Oliver Cromwell.

The first two lines consisted of over 3,000 cavalry from the Eastern Association, including Cromwell's own double-strength regiment of ironsides. They were deployed in eleven divisions of three or four troops of cavalry each, with 600 "commanded" musketeers deployed as platoons between them. The use of musketeers to disrupt attacking cavalry or dragoons was a common practice in the Swedish Army during the Thirty Years' War, and was adopted by both the Parliamentarians and Royalists at Marston Moor. Three regiments of Covenanter horse, numbering 1,000 and mounted on lighter "nags", formed a third line to Cromwell's rear under Sir David Leslie. Five hundred Scottish dragoons under Colonel Hugh Fraser were deployed on the extreme left. The centre, under the direction of the Earl of Leven as nominated commander in chief, consisted of over 14,000 foot, with 30 to 40 pieces of artillery.

Thomas Stockdale recorded the disposition of the troops and the role of Leven in drawing up the order of battle: "The Yorkeshire forces strengthened with a great party of the Scotts army hauing the main battle, the Earl of Manchester’s forces the left wing, and the Scotts the right wing, each battle hauing severall reserues and winged with horse, according to Generall Lesleys direction whose great experience did worthyly challenge the prime power in ordering them."

The Covenanter Sergeant Major General of Foot, James Lumsden, nevertheless noted (in a note on the map he made of the allied army's dispositions) that "... the Brigads drawen up heir as we; it is not so formal as it ought to be." Most of Manchester's infantry under Sergeant Major General Lawrence Crawford were on the left of the front line. A brigade of Lord Fairfax's foot was in the centre. Two Covenanter brigades each of two regiments, the "vanguard" of the main battalia commanded by Lieutenant General William Baillie, made up the right of the front line. The second line consisted of four Covenanter brigades, their "main battle", commanded by Lumsden. There is confusion as to the disposition of the third line and of the infantry deployment on the right wing, as the only map (Lumsden's) is badly damaged.

The usual interpretation, based on Peter Young's reconstruction, is that the third line contained two or three Covenanter brigades and the Earl of Manchester's own regiment of foot. Young placed the main body of Fairfax's foot on the left of the third line, although more recent interpretations of accounts put them on the right of the third line or even behind the cavalry of the right wing. An unbrigaded Covenanter regiment may have formed an incomplete fourth line. (There were a total of nineteen Covenanter regiments of foot, some of them incomplete, present at the battle.) The right wing was commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, with John Lambert as his second in command. He had at least 2,000 horse from Yorkshire and Lancashire, deployed in nine divisions, with 600 musketeers posted between them in the same manner as on the left wing. There were also perhaps 500 dragoons. One regiment of Covenanter horse commanded by the Earl of Eglinton was deployed with Fairfax's front line, two more (one of them composed of lancers commanded by the Earl of Balgonie, Leven's son) were deployed behind Fairfax's second line.

The second and third lines of the right wing may also have included some units of foot, whose identity is uncertain. A plan of the Royalist dispositions at Marston Moor, drawn up by Sir Bernard de Gomme. The Royalists occupied the low-lying moor, behind a drainage ditch that Rupert noted as an effective obstacle to a cavalry charge. There is some dispute over the course of the ditch at the time of the battle.

Some contemporary accounts support the contention by later historians that it was non-existent on the Royalists' right wing. On the other hand, a near-contemporary plan of the Royalist dispositions by Rupert's chief engineer, Bernard de Gomme, shows the ditch in its present-day alignment. It is generally accepted that the ditch was at least less of an obstacle on the Royalist right. The Royalist left wing was commanded by Lord Goring. It consisted of 1,700 cavalry from the Marquess of Newcastle's cavalry (the "Northern Horse"), 400 cavalry from Derbyshire and 500 musketeers. The first line was commanded by Goring and the second by Sir Charles Lucas.

Their centre was commanded by Eythin. A brigade numbering 1,500 and consisting of Rupert's and Byron's regiments of foot under Colonel Robert Napier of Byron's regiment was deployed at the ditch, at the junction of the right wing and centre, possibly to protect some artillery which may have occupied a slight hummock near this point. To their left, a forlorn hope of musketeers lined the ditch. Behind them, the first line and the left wing of the second line were composed of the remaining infantry units of Rupert's army, numbering 5,500, under Rupert's Sergeant Major General, Henry Tillier.

The 3,000 infantry from Newcastle's army under Sergeant Major General Francis Mackworth formed the right wing of the second line and an incomplete third line behind the right centre when they arrived, though some at least of them may not have taken up their assigned positions when the battle began, leaving the right of the Royalist centre understrength. A brigade of 600 "Northern Horse" under Sir William Blakiston was deployed behind the left centre.

A total of 14 field guns were deployed in the centre. The right wing was commanded by Byron, with 2,600 horse and 500 musketeers. The second line, which included Rupert's Regiment of Horse but also some comparatively inexperienced regiments, was commanded by Lord Molyneux, although the experienced but unprincipled Sir John Urry (or "Hurry") was Sergeant Major General of Rupert's horse and therefore Byron's second in command.Unlike the Covenanters and Parliamentarians, Rupert retained a reserve of 600 cavalry, including his elite Lifeguard of Horse, under his personal command. This reserve was situated behind the centre. Delayed by the late arrival of the York garrison, it was late evening before the Royalists were fully deployed. A flurry of rain showers and the discouragement of Newcastle and Eythin persuaded Rupert to delay his attack until the next day.

From the ranks of the allied army he could hear the singing of psalms. As the Royalist troops broke ranks for their supper, Leven noted the lack of preparation among his opponents and ordered his men to attack at or shortly after 7:30 pm, just as a thunderstorm broke out over the moor. On the allied left, Crawford's infantry outflanked and drove back Napier's brigade while Cromwell's horse quickly defeated Byron's wing. Though Byron had been ordered to stand his ground and rely on the ditch and musket fire to slow and disorganize an enemy attack, he instead ordered a hasty counter-charge which disordered his own troops and prevented his musketeers and four "drakes" (field guns) attached to Napier's brigade from firing for fear of hitting their own cavalry. In the clashes which followed, Byron's front line regiments were put to flight. Cromwell was slightly wounded in the neck, by a pistol ball in most accounts, and briefly left the field to have the wound dressed.

Noting the setback on this flank, Rupert led his reserve towards the right, rallying his own fleeing regiment of horse and leading them in a counter-attack. A Parliamentarian officer wrote: "Cromwell's own division had a hard pull of it; for they were charged by Rupert's bravest men both in front and flank; they stood at the sword's point a pretty while, hacking one another; but at last (it so pleased God) he [Cromwell] brake through them, scattering them before him like a little dust." — Scoutmaster-General Watson to Henry Overton, quoted in Young, Marston Moor 1644:

Leslie's Covenanter regiments eventually swung the balance for Cromwell, outflanking and defeating the Royalist cavalry. Rupert's right wing and reserve were routed and he himself narrowly avoided capture by hiding in a nearby bean field. In the center, the main Covenanter foot initially succeeded in crossing the ditch, capturing at least three pieces of artillery. On the allied right, Sir Thomas Fairfax's wing fared worse. He later wrote: "Our Right Wing had not, all, so good success, by reason of the whins and ditches which we were to pass over before we could get to the Enemy, which put us into great disorder: notwithstanding, I drew up a body of 400 Horse.

But because the intervals of Horse, in this Wing only, were lined with Musketeers; which did us much hurt with their shot; I was necessitated to charge them. We were a long time engaged with one another, but at last we routed that part of their Wing ... I myself only returned presently, to get to the men I left behind me. But that part of the Enemy which stood, perceiving the disorder they were in, had charged and routed them, before I could get to them." — Sir Thomas Fairfax, quoted in Young (1970).

Fairfax wrote that his second-in-command, Major-General Lambert, could not get up to him, and so charged in another place. A lane, the present-day Atter with Lane, crossed the ditch on this flank, and some accounts suggest that several units were easy targets for the Royalist musketeers as they advanced along the lane only four abreast. When a small embankment alongside the ditch at this point was removed in the 1960s, several hundred musket balls were recovered.

When Goring launched a counter-charge, the disorganized Parliamentarians were routed, although some of the Covenanter cavalry regiments with Sir Thomas Fairfax's wing, especially the Earl of Eglinton's regiment, resisted stoutly for some time. As an eyewitness observed: "sir Thou. Fairfax his new levied Regiments being in the Van [of the right wing], they wheeled about, & being hotly pursued by the enemy, came back upon the L. Fairfax foot, and the reserve of the Scottish foot, broke them wholly, & trod the most part of them under foot." — Captain William Stewart, quoted in Murdoch & Grosjean.

Most of Goring's victorious wing then either scattered in pursuit, or fell out to loot the allied baggage train, but some of them under Lucas wheeled to attack the right flank of the allied infantry. Meanwhile, some of Newcastle's foot counter-attacked the brigade of Fairfax's foot in the center of the allied front line and threw them into confusion. Following up this advantage, Blakiston's brigade of horse, probably reinforced by the troop of "gentleman volunteers" under Newcastle himself, charged the allied center. Under Lucas's and Blakiston's assaults in the confusion and the gathering darkness, six of the Covenanter infantry regiments and all of Fairfax's infantry fled the field. The Scottish sergeant major general, Lumsden, on the right of the allied second line, stated that: "These that ran away shew themselves most baselie.

I commanding the battle was on the head of your Lordships [Loudoun's] Regiment, and Buccleuch's; but they carried themselves not so I could have wished, neither could I prevail with them: For these that fled, never came to charge with the enemies, but were so possest with and panic fear, that they ran for an example to others, and no enemy following them, which gave the enemy [an opportunity] to charge them, they intended not, &they had only the lose." — Sir James Lumsden to the Earl of Loudon, quoted in Young. One isolated Covenanter brigade that stood its ground was at the right of their front line and consisted of the regiments of the Earl of Crawford-Lindsay and Viscount Maitland. Lucas launched three cavalry charges against them. In the third charge, Lucas's horse was killed, and he was taken prisoner.

Behind them, Lumsden reformed the reserve of the allied center, pushing four regiments (those of the Earl of Cassilis, William Douglas of Kilhead, Lord Coupar and the Earl of Dunfermline) and part of the Clydesdale Regiment forward into the breach in the allied front line. Behind them in turn, the Earl of Manchester's regiment repulsed and scattered Blakiston's brigade. By now it was nearly fully dark, although the full moon was rising. The countryside for miles around was covered with fugitives from both sides.

A messenger from Ireland riding in search of Prince Rupert wrote: "In this horrible distraction did I coast the country; here meeting with a shoal of Scots crying out, 'Weys us, we are all undone'; and so full of lamentation and mourning, as if their day of doom had overtaken them, and from which they knew not whither to fly; and anon I met with a ragged troop reduced to four and a Cornet; by and by with a little foot officer without hat, band, sword, or indeed anything but feet and so much tongue as would serve to enquire the way to the next garrisons, which (to say the truth) were well filled with the stragglers on both sides within a few hours, though they lay distant from the place of the fight 20 or 30 miles." — Mr. Arthur Trevor to the Marquess of Ormonde, quoted in Young (1970).

Cromwell's disciplined horsemen had rallied behind the right of the original Royalist position. Sir Thomas Fairfax, finding himself alone in the midst of Goring's men, removed the "field sign" (a handkerchief or slip of white paper which identified him as a Parliamentarian) from his hat, and made his way to Cromwell's wing to relate the state of affairs on the allied right flank. Some five or six troops of Fairfax's cavalry and Balgonie's Covenanter regiment of horse (split into two bodies) also made their way though the Royalists to join Cromwell. Cromwell now led his cavalry, with Sir David Leslie still in support and Sergeant Major General Crawford's foot on his right flank, across the battlefield to attack Goring's cavalry.

By this time, Goring's troops were tired and disorganized, and several of his senior officers were prisoners. They nevertheless marched down the hill from the Parliamentarian baggage to occupy roughly the same position which Fairfax's cavalry had held at the start of the battle, which most contemporary accounts stated to be a disadvantageous position. When Cromwell attacked, Goring's outnumbered troops were driven back. Many of them retired to the "glen", the fold of ground beneath Marston Hill, but refused to take any further part in the battle despite the efforts of officers such as Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Sir Philip Monckton to rally them. Eventually they obeyed orders to retreat to York late at night.

The triumphant allies meanwhile turned against the remains of the Royalist center, overrunning successive units and cutting down many fugitives. Finally some of Newcastle's foot, the "whitecoats", gathered for a last stand in a ditched enclosure. This has usually been stated to be White Sike Close, in the rear of the Royalists' original position, where some of Newcastle's infantry would have retreated when they found their right flank "in the air" following the defeat of Byron's and Rupert's cavalry, and certainly where some mass burials later took place, although the enclosure may instead have been Fox Covert, a mile north of Long Marston on the natural line of retreat towards York. The whitecoats refused quarter and repulsed constant cavalry charges until infantry and Colonel Hugh Fraser's dragoons were brought up to break their formation with musket fire. The last 30 survivors finally surrendered. Approximately 4,000 Royalist soldiers had been killed, many in the last stand of the whitecoats, and 1,500 captured, including Lucas and Tillier.

The Royalists lost all their guns, with many hundreds of weapons and several standards also falling into the hands of the allied forces. The allied generals' dispatch, and other Parliamentarian accounts, stated that 300 of their soldiers were killed. One of those mortally wounded among the Parliamentarians was Sir Thomas Fairfax's brother, Charles. Another was Cromwell's nephew, Valentine Walton, who was struck by a cannonball early in the day. Cromwell was present when he died afterwards, and wrote a famous letter to the soldier's father, Cromwell's brother in-law, also named Valentine Walton, which briefly described the battle and then informed the father of the son's last words and death.

Siege and Storming of Newcastle

When Sir William Mure of Rowallan healed from his wounds at the battle; he was presented at the siege and storming of Newcastle in the following month. The Siege of Newcastle occurred in 1644, during the English Civil War. A Covenanter army from Scotland under the command of Lord General Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven crossed into England in January 1644. As he moved his army south he left six regiments under the direction of Lieutenant General James Livingstone, 1st Earl of Callander, to lay siege to the city of Newcastle-on-Tyne from 3 February (when the town was formally asked to surrender) until 19 October the same year when the Covenanters took the city by storm. There had been an earlier occupation during the Civil War when the General Leslie had occupied the city following the Battle of Newburn in 1640.

The city was not continually invested in this time. In a complicated situation, as the Earl of Callander diverted his troops to take surrounding towns like Newburn, as the main Covenanter army pressed south. In the meantime, the royalist governor having reinforced his position then committed forces south also where the main Covenanter-Parliamentarian allied armies clashed with the Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor. It was the defeat of the Royalist field army at Marston Moor on 2 July that decided the fate of Newcastle and all the other Royalist strongholds in the North East of England, because without the means of relief from an army in the field the capitulation of all such strongholds was only a matter of time. From 15 August 1644, Newcastle and Tynemouth were again the main target for Callander, now joined by the main Covenanters under Leven.

Bombardment and mines were necessary to breach the walls. The western half fell on 19 October 1644. Those remaining loyal to the Royalist cause retreated into the Castle Keep. Finding the situation hopeless surrender was negotiated with General Leslie and Governor Sir John Marley on 21 October 1644. The Covenanters were delighted at the result, more so it is thought than the English Parliament. Tynemouth had fallen on 27 October 1644 and the Scots were now able to control the Tyneside coal trade for a second time which they did until they were persuaded to leave on 30 January 1647 with the demise of the Solemn League and Covenant.