Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm

Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm was born ABT 1418 in Rankilburn, Crosslee, Teviotdale, Scotland and died BEF 9 Feb 1468/1469 in Branxholme, Hawick, Teviotdale, Scotland

• from Electric Scotland: the Scotts of Buccleuch

Robert Scott was succeeded, in 1426, by his eldest son, SIR WALTER SCOTT, Knight, who was the first of the family styled ‘Lord of Buccleuch.’ He possessed the family estates during the long period of forty-three years, and added greatly to their extent.

His first acquisition was the lands of Lempitlaw, near Kelso, from Archibald, Earl of Douglas, on the resignation of Robert Scott, his father, in 1426. He next obtained, in 1437, the barony of Eckford, also in Roxburghshire, from James II., as a reward for his capture of Gilbert Rutherford, a notorious freebooter; and in 1446 he exchanged the estate of Murthockstone, or Murdiestone, for the other half of Branxholm, of which Sir Thomas Inglis of Manor was proprietor. According to tradition, the exchange took place in consequence of a conversation between Scott and Inglis, in which the latter complained of the injuries that he suffered from the depredations of the English Borderers, who frequently plundered his lands of Branxholm. Sir Walter Scott, who already possessed the other half of the barony, offered him the estate of Murdiestone, in exchange for the lands which were exposed to these inroads. The offer was at once accepted. When the bargain was completed, Scott made the significant and characteristic remark that ‘the cattle in Cumberland were as good as those of Teviotdale.’

Sir Walter Scott was cousin to Sir William Crichton, the powerful and unscrupulous Chancellor of James II., and it was, in all probability, through this connection that the Scotts took part with the King in his desperate contest with the house of Douglas. ... He was appointed no less than seven times one of the conservators of successive truces with England, along with a number of the most powerful barons in the kingdom. He died before 9th February, 1469, leaving by his wife, Margaret Cockburn of Henderland, three sons, succeeded by the eldest, SIR DAVID SCOTT, who was the first of the family that bore the designation of Buccleuch.

Family

• Father: Robert of Rankilburn & Murthockston Scott b: 30 Nov 1378 in Rankilburn, Crosslee, Teviotdale, Scot.

Married

1. Margaret Cockburn b: ABT 1401 in Henderland, Dumfries, Scot.

Children

1. Sir David Scott, 1st of Buccleuch   b. Est 1440 in Branxholme, Hawick, Teviotdale, Scot   d. Mar 1491-1492. Married Janet Douglas.
2. Alexander Scott.

Sources

1. vol 2, pg, 227, "The Scotts Peerage" by Sir James Balfour Paul Links
2. http://www.palmspringsbum.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I765...
3. http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=brucedjoh...