Pringle
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| Pringle of Whytbank |
The Hop Pringles of Teviotdale may descend from the son of a pilgrim
to the Holy Land, perhaps a crusading knight.
The Hop
Pringles of that Ilk held substantial lands around Galashiels. The
Lairds of Whitsome were allies of the great house of Douglas, and
Robert Pringle was squire to James, Earl of Douglas, at the Battle
of Otterburn in 1388.
David Pringle, Laird from 1495 to
1535, built the tower of Smailholm which is perched on the rocky
hills at Sandyknowe, situated six miles west of Kelso and still
stands today. The tower was well known to Sir Walter Scott, whose
grandfather owned the farm at Sandyknowe.
Sir James Pringle
of Smailholme was sheriff principal of Ettrick Forest in 1622. He is
said to have sold off a considerable portion of his estates to pay
debts incurred by living extravagantly at the court of James VI. The
Pringles of Stitchill were raised to the rank of baronet in 1682.
Another prominent family descended from the Pringles of
Smailholm are the Lairds of Torwoodlee. This family suffered much
during the persecution of the Covenanters when their house near
Selkirk frequently offered sanctuary to those forced into hiding for
their adherence to the Covenant.
Other cadets include the
Pringles of Haining, Newhall and Lochton. Thomas Pringle, the Border
poet and writer, was born in Teviotdale in 1789. He became Secretary
to the Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1834.
The
arms of this ancient family bear three scallop shells, the scallop
being the traditional badge of those on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
In 1950 the tower of Smailholm was entrusted to the
guardianship of the then Ministry of Works (now Secretary of State
for Scotland) by the owner, the Earl of Ellesmere.
Other
towers associated with this family include towers in the Kelso,
Melrose and Galashiels area: Greenknowe, Whytburn, Blindlee,
Muirhouse, Torwoodlee and Buckh??
Notes:
1. Might a Pringle knight have accompanied Sir James
Douglas when he and another knight banneret, seven knights, and twenty-six esquires
escorted Robert the Bruce's heart to the Holy Land?
2. Robert Hoppringle, 1st of Smailholm, squire to Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, and Duke of Touraine, built Smailholm Tower, was at the Battle of Otterburn 1388, and was killed with the Earl at the Battle of Verneuil in Normandy, 24 Aug 1424.
3. David Pringle of Pilmuir, who went to Rome with William, 8th Earl of Douglas 1450, Ranger of the Ward of Tweed under his brothers 1455-66, and succeeded his bro Robert as 4th of Smailholm; m Elspeth, dau of Sir William Dishington, of Ardross, and d 1480.
See also: Pringle of
Whitsome
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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