The History of the Tweedie or Tweedy Family
Michael Forbes Tweedie. Published 1902.
CHAPTER VII
THE ARMORIAL BEARINGS, TOMBSTONES AND MEMORIALS
No family history would be complete without some mention of the coats of arms, the crests and the mottoes borne by the various branches; and of the ancient memorials and the tombstones that cover the graves of its departed members.
It is generally accepted that armorial bearings and surnames were introduced into Scotland about the time of the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214). The coat of arms or shield were the symbols emblazoned upon the surcoat or on the shield of the man in armour, and the crest was a device affixed in very early times to the warrior's helmet, for the purpose of identity in the confusion of battle. Mottoes, in a strictly heraldic sense, are said to be not earlier than the sixteenth century.
The Lyon Court at Edinburgh is the authority which controls all matters of Arms in Scotland. The oldest register extant of Scottish Arms is one in MS. made by Sir David Lyndsay, Lord Lyon, in 1542, which is now preserved in the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. This register which contained a record of 114 noblemen and 320 gentlemen was authenticated by the Privy Council and is accepted by Lyon Court as an official register in existence prior to the constitution of the Lyon register itself, but the original official records were destroyed by fire early in the sixteenth century.
Stringent regulations about the right to bear Arms were enacted by 127 Parliament 12 of James VI. (1592), and re-enacted and confirmed by 21 Parliament 2 Session 3 of Charles II., 10th September, 1672, ordering every man entitled to Coat Armour to re-register within a certain time, but this order was complied with more in the breach than in the observance owing probably to the disturbed state of the country; and the period of limitation for re-registering has been extended from time to time. The title to bear Arms is acquired only by establishing the right in this way or by receiving an original grant from the Lyon-King-of-Arms.
In Scotland the right to the Arms or the crest of a family is confined strictly to the heir of line. All younger sons and their descendants have a right to the Arms, but not until they matriculate in Lyon Court, when some mark of cadency is added or a difference granted.
Though not a regulation, it was sometimes a practice upon each occasion of matriculation to alter the crest, which accounts for the large number of different crests borne by members of the same family in Scotland, and the crest is consequently no indication of relationship or the reverse; the Coat of Arms being the important matter.
The earliest mention of any crest or armorial bearing attributable to the family is the reference to a "William de Hopkelioghe, one of the tenants of the King in the County of Peebles," who swore fealty to Edward I of England at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 28th August, 1296. His Seal is described as "Vesica shape lion passant to Sinister," and lettered "Willelm de Hopcailov." Hopkailzie was a very early possession of the Tweedie family.
In Sir David Lyndsay's register the Arms of Tweedie of Drummelzier are given as:- "Argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure." The simplicity of this at once speaks for its antiquity, and this is the coat, with various differences, that is found in use amongst all of the name.
In his well-known work on Scottish Arms, Mr. R. R. Stodart tells us that the Arms of Tweedie are cut in stone at Drummelzier Castle with a "bull's head" as crest and the motto "Thol and think." This has however now disappeared, and it may be doubted whether the crest was not a boar's head, which might easily be mistaken for a bull's head in rough sculpture defaced by weather and worn by age; or it may be that the Drummelzier and Oliver branches of the family adopted different crests for the sake of distinction while in common with all other branches they used the same Coat of Arms. Mr. Stodart goes on to say:- "Mr. Laing described the Seal used in 1511 by John Tweedie of Drummelzier as a saltire couped with a fess (? Chief) charged with a mullet, crest a wolf's head. The Tweedies of Oliver bore the Saltire engrailed, but the Chief is omitted in the stones there where the arms are cut with the dates 1649 and 1734, and the crest is a boar's head couped with the motto "Tholl and think on."
In the history of "The House of Cockburn" it is also stated that over the gate of the castle of the Tweedies was carved the "fierce bull's head" with the motto "Thol and think."
The Arms are also emblazoned in the carving over the door at Drummelzier Church, and on the Tweedie tombstone in Peebles Churchyard, to which we shall presently refer.
Tweedie of Drummelzier was from very early times the dominant head of the sept, but it is doubtful whether the family in Oliver was not actually the elder line, although their rights as such were absorbed by their powerful kinsmen, the Tweedies of Drummelzier, for as already mentioned, on the ancient stone at Oliver put up by Patrick Tweedie of Oliver in 1649 and still existing, the "Chief" is apparently wanting and the stone shews only a Saltire with the boar's head as a crest and the motto "Thole and think on," which would almost indicate that Oliver was the senior branch and that Tweedie of Drummelzier had originally sprung from a younger son and assumed the "Chief azure" as a difference. There is at Oliver, as well, a stone with the Arms of James Tweedie of Oliver, his own and his wife's initials, the date 1734, and the motto "Tholl and think on," while at Quarter is to be seen over the door a stone with the same family arms, "Argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure," the date 1762, the names of Thomas Tweedie and Mary Stevenson, and the motto "Tholl and think on."
Lawrence Tweedie of Oliver had his watch and the family seals stolen late in the eighteenth century. The Tweedies of Oliver always carried the arms as "argent a saltire engrailed gules a chief azure" with the boar's head for a crest, and the motto "Thole and think on," as we have already mentioned.
On the death of Lawrence Tweedie, Oliver descended to Christian, his only surviving daughter. Her husband, George Stodart (who was as well a first cousin on the Tweedie side), took the name of Tweedie, which had also been that of his mother, in addition to Stodart, and assumed the arms, which the Tweedie-Stodarts still carry as follows :-
"Quarterly 1st and 4th counter-quartered, 1st and 4th Argent a fess nebuly between three stars of six points Sable a bordure gules for Stodart. 2nd and 3rd Argent a Chefron between three Bulls' heads couped Sable armed Vert for Turnbull, 2nd and 3rd Argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure for Tweedie, crest a Boar's head proper with the motto, 'Thole and think on,'" as the same appears on seals still in the possession of Thomas Tweedie-Stodart of Oliver.
Tweedie of Quarter, a younger branch of Oliver, also carried the family coat, the Boar's head as a crest, and the motto, "Thole and think on," and at a later date Thomas Stevenson Tweedie of Quarter and Rachan, whilst continuing to use the same coat of arms and motto, adopted for a crest, instead of the Boar's head, a demi-lion holding an anchor proper, but for what reason is not known. Neither Drummelzier, Oliver, Quarter, nor any other branch ever appear to have gone through the formality of re-registration in 1672, probably on account of the troublous times through which the family was then passing, nor have younger sons matriculated, or no doubt a mark of cadency in each case would have been added. Captain Michael Tweedie, R.A., a younger son of Alexander Tweedie of Quarter, assumed in right of his wife Frances, the heiress of Richard Walter Forbes of Rawlinson, Rolvenden, Kent (a younger son of Forbes of Watertoun in Aberdeenshire), the arms of Forbes on an escutcheon of pretence over the arms of Tweedie, and added as a mark of cadency a gun in the chief, adopted no doubt on account of his being in the Royal Artillery. His descendant quartered the arms of Tweedie and Forbes and matriculated them in Lyon Court as follows: Quarterly 1st and 4th Argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure also engrailed the latter charged with a frays of the first for Tweedie, 2nd and 3rd counter-quartered, 1st and 4th azure three Bears' heads couped Argent muzzled and langued gules, 2nd and 3rd Argent three Unicorns, heads erased Sable for Forbes, crest a boar's head erased proper; motto, 'Thole and think on.'
At the time of this matriculation the arms of Tweedie were proved back to Thomas Tweedie of Oliver, 1611, and any descendant of his is therefore entitled on application to the Lyon Court, and proving his descent, to matriculate the arms of Tweedie with a suitable difference; the differences or marks of cadency already added are a "fraise" in the chief, apparently to denote the passage of the Coat from the Oliver family to that of Quarter (a younger branch); and the engrailing of the chief, to designate the younger branch formed by the marriage of Captain Michael Tweedie with the heiress of Rawlinson, and the new branch thus formed; and no doubt these differences or marks of cadency would be followed out suitably by the Lyon Court in granting matriculation to any other members of the family who make application. This Michael Tweedie, when a Lieutenant of Royal Artillery, during the siege of Bayonne, in 1814, crawled in at night between the French pickets to reconnoitre, and finding on his return that he had lost his seals from his fob chain he bethought himself of the place where the accident might have happened, obtained a lantern and actually returned, searched for and found his seals, and got back to the English lines again in safety. These seals he used to the day of his death.
In the Heralds' visitations of Essex under dates 1558 and 1612, the arms of George Twedye "who came out of Scotland from the house called Drummelzier" are recorded as "quarterly 1st argent a saltire engrailed gules a Chief Azure for Twedye; 2nd Azure a Cross pattee ermine between 3 Cinquefoils or, for Fraser; 3rd Azure an orle sable within another of Martlets of the 2nd a cresent for difference Winnington; and 4th Azure 3 bears passant sable muzzled or for Berwicke; crest a bird rolant argent for Twedye," from which it would seem that in right of the alliance in the 14th century with the daughter of Lawrence Fraser, the heiress of Drummelzier, or perhaps in virtue of the then more recent marriage with the heiress of Fruid, the family had quartered the arms of Fraser with their own, and that the quartering was then still in use. It was this branch of the family, founded by George Twedye in Essex, which flourished so eminently there, and from which sprang a long line of descendants, some of whom migrated into Yorkshire and later on to Bromley and Widmore in Kent; and possibly the Cornish family of Tweedy are also a branch of this house. Their Arms are to be found on the ancient monuments at Stock Church and Sampford Parva Church, in Essex, to which reference is made later on; they are perhaps the only existing branch that has an actual specific record of descent from the Drummelzier family, and may be regarded as the only existing known direct representatives of that line. How George "who came out of Scotland from the house called Drummelzier" spelt his surname himself is not known, and spelling was not of any importance in those days, but his son Richard wrote it "Twedye," and his grandson William as "Twyddie," though it is given "Tuedy" on his monument, and unlike their brethren in Scotland who eventually called themselves "Tweedie," this branch finally adopted the spelling "Tweedy." Arthur Hearne Tweedy, the present representative, carries as his arms "Argent a saltire engrailed between two escallops in fesse gules on a chief azure an escallop of the field." Crest, "on a prick spur fesse ways a peewit rising proper holding in the beak a trefoil slipped vert."
In an English authority we find the Arms given of the Essex branch as follows: "Tweedy, Essex - argent a saltire engrailed gules a chief azure" crest, a Falcon rising, proper, and "Argent a saltire engrailed gules a chief azure Ric. Twedy Hartford Stoke Essex."
On a letter dated 27th May, 1807, written by a J. Tweedy from Stinfold Horsham to a William Tweedy (of the Cornish branch) is an impression of the seal bearing a boar's head with the motto "Thole and think on," and the initials J. T., whilst the late Henry John Tweedy, of Lincoln's Inn, a member of the Cornish branch, had in his possession old seals showing the usual Coat of Arms of the family, viz., "Argent a saltire engrailed gules a chief Azure," but with an arm, armed, proper, couped at the shoulder, holding a dagger and protruding from a cap, for a crest, with the motto "Rappe fort virtus sit dux," which establishes the presumption of kinship, although the earliest record of this branch is of a"Mr. Tweedy," who must have been born about the year 1640, and from him descends a long line of the name who have attained to eminence in Cornwall. William Tweedy, the first of this family who settled there, was a prominent member of the Society of Friends and of the Cornish Bank; his son, William Mansell Tweedy, was also a most prominent public man, being at one time or another of his life connected with almost every local institution of the county, Chairman of the Cornish Railway Company, a founder and President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, and treasurer of many county societies, and there is a memorial window to him in Kenwyn church. Robert Tweedy, another William Tweedy, and Robert Milford Tweedy were no less distinguished, and the present members of the family are their worthy successors.
Henry Colpoys Tweedy of Cloonamahon, in the County of Sligo, and of Crusheen, in the County of Clare, Ireland, carries the family coat in his arms, viz., Quarterly 1 and 4 Argent a saltire engrailed gules, on a chief azure, three fleams or (for Tweedy) 2 argent on a saltire sable five trefoils slipped or, on a chief gules, three cushions of the third (for Johnston) 3 argent a maunch ermine (for Colpoys), and upon an escutcheon of pretence the arms of Meredith, namely, azure a lion rampant per pale argent and or crest a dove volant argent Motto "Fais ce que doit advienne que pourra." This branch traces its descent from Thomas Tweedy, Alderman and High Sheriff of Dublin about 1775, a very distinguished man who is described in the records of Dublin City as having obtained the freedom of the City by Special Grace, but at present there is no knowledge of the forefathers of this Thomas Tweedy.
A seal which had belonged to an ancestor of the late Alexander Leslie Tweedie of London shows the arms of Tweedie impaled with those of a wife, and a palm and laurel branch crossed, for a crest, with the motto, "Aut pax aut bellem;" and in Burke's general Armory we find, "Tweedie (London) Or a Saltire engrailed gules on a chief azure 3 antique crowns of the first; crest, a palm branch and laurel branch in Saltire vert; Motto, Aut pax aut bellum."
General William Tweedie, C.S.I., has in his possession an ancient seal handed down to him through his father the Rev. William Tweedie of Edinburgh, and his father's father before him, shewing as a crest a demi-lion holding an anchor with the motto "Fide et Fortitudine," the crest being the same as that which Thomas Stevenson Tweedie of Quarter adopted in lieu of the boar's head, though the motto is different.
In the Spectator, under a discussion on the definition of a "gentleman," the editor of that paper observes.-
"To make the right to coat armour the test of a gentleman is of course supremely ridiculous, but to say this is not to deny the great interest and value that attach to heraldic and genealogical research. A man should know as much as he can about his ancestors, and has every right to be proud of a long sequence of armigeri. But the longer and better a true bred Englishman's blood and pedigree, the less will he want to take away the name of 'gentleman' from those who deserve it on grounds of nature, conduct and bearing;"
with which sentiments we fully agree.
The ancient tombstones and memorials of the Tweedies are but few. Chambers says of the family,
"Their principal place of sepulture was a vault in the old church of Drummelzier where was carved their coat of arms bearing a fierce bull's head with the motto, 'Thol and think,' an admonition singularly at variance with the impetuosity of their character."
It is not very certain to what Chambers refers, but there is yet to be seen over one of the doors of Drummelzier church, embedded in the old wall, an ancient stone upon which are carved the arms with the Saltire engrailed, the motto, "Thol and think", and the legend "Hic jacet Honorabilis Vir Jacobus Tweedie de Drummelzier, obit 29th July 1612"; and according to an old MS note, dated 3rd February 1840, this stone was at some previous date found in the aisle at Drummelzier church and put over the door, it is supposed by one of the heritors.
In Tweedsmuir Churchyard there is a stone known as the "Oliver" stone with the following inscription;
"Here lyes Patrick Tweedie and his son John, both of Oliver. Thomas Tweedie of Oliver, who died 7th May, 1731, aged 75, and Christian Williamson his spouse, 13th May, 1709, aged 51. James Tweedie of Oliver, 10th August, 1753, aged 70, and Margaret Ewart, his spouse, 1st February 1772, aged 85; Margaret, his daughter, 23rd November, 1774, aged 49; Christian, her sister, 13th March 1775, aged 52; Thomas Tweedie of Oliver who died 6th March 1803, aged 75; Jean Brown, his spouse, who died 1809; Lawrance Tweedie of Oliver, who died 25th January 1837, aged 70".
On this stone are the lines:-
"Death pities not the aged head,
Nor manhood fresh and green,
But blends the locks of 85
With ringlets of 16."
It is noticeable that the date of the death of Christian, the wife of Thomas of Oliver, which should be 1709 as given above and as is shown by the parish registers, has been inadvertently changed at some time to 1700 on the stone, an easy error to fall into when clearing out or restoring the letters.
In Tweedsmuir Churchyard there is a stone known as the "Quarter" stone which bears the following inscription:
"Here lyes Thomas Tweedie of Quarter, second son of Thomas Tweedie of Oliver, who died 9th February, 1776, aged 75 years, as also Mary Stevenson, his spouse, who died 3rd February 1784, aged 83 years; also Alexander Tweedie of Quarter, their son, who died 13th February, 1803, aged 57 years; and Anne Carmichael, his spouse, who died 11th March, 1836, aged 77, and their son Michael, 4th May 1789, aged 3; and to the memory of their son Lieutenant Alexander Tweedie, Madras Army, who died at Ellichpore, 19th November, 1818, aged 29."
In regard to this stone also it may be pointed out that the parish registers give the 6th January 1784 as the date of the death of Mary Stevenson, the date on the stone being probably the day of her burial.
There are more stones in both this and other churchyards, and several members of the family have of late been buried in the private burial place in the grounds of Rachan House.
In the burying ground of St Andrew's Church at Peebles, is a stone which is characterised by Chambers as perhaps the oldest of several of the more interesting of the old monuments there. It bears the name of John Tweedie, who died in 1699; another John Tweedie, Provost of the Burgh, who died in 1712, besides wives and daughters. In allusion to the number who have been conveyed to the dust the following lines are yet to be read:-
"A silent scattered flock around they lie,
Free from all toil, care, grief, fear, envy.
But yet again, they shall all gather'd be
When he last awful trumpet soundeth hie"
The armorial bearings of the family are engraved on the stone, which abounds as well in quaint sculptured figures emblematical of the four seasons - a husbandman in the act of sowing; a woman with a garland of flowers; a young man with a reaping hook over his arm; and a boy with his fingers in his mouth, representing winter; it also contains an instance of that curious symbol 4X which is found on many of the gravestones erected about 200 years ago all over the Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the inscription on this fine example of a "throuch" or altar tomb runs thus: "Here lies John Tweedie, late Baillie in Peebles and 4X" and it is believed that so far no solution of this mark has been arrived at.
A stone in Broughton Churchyard bears the following inscription:-
G H
Repaired by
Richard Andre
William James
David Tweedie
1725
N T
Anno 1617
It is understood from enquiry that this stone had been brought, whence it is not known, and set up in the churchyard. It apparently has reference, from the initials on it, to a George Haddon, who married a Nicole Tweedie, and George and Nicole are no doubt the same persons referred to in the Crown Charter before mentioned, dated 19th February, 1618, whereby King James confirmed an indeftment by George Haddon under a contract of marriage dated 5th August, 1596, giving to Nicole Tweedie, his spouse, lawful daughter of the late Adam Tweedie of Dreva, half the lands and Barony of Broughton, with the Manor place, for her life. This was done at the Manor of Brouchton on the 27th August 1606, in the presence of Archibald Douglas, Archdeacon of Glasgow, and William Tweedie of the Wrae. The Haddons were a very old family in Broughton, dating back at least to the days of David II, and possibly the above stone was originally used not as a churchyard memorial stone but on some house built by George Haddon and Nicole Tweedie in 1617, and afterwards inhabited and repaired in 1725 by Richard, Andrew, William, James, and David Tweedie, but who the latter were is not known for certain, it is likely that they were of the Dreva branch.
There are no tomb stones or memorials in Tweeddale of more ancient date than the above, and, indeed, it is likely that in earlier days those who were slain in the frequent quarrels were buried where they fell, and those who died in their beds lie in some quiet place on the hillside near at hand, all trace of which is lost. There must be many such forgotten resting places throughout Scotland.
It will be remembered that a member of the family emigrated from Drummelzier in the 15th or 16th century to England and founded the branch of Tweedy of Essex. In the church of Stock Harvard *** Ramsden Bellhouse, in Essex, is still to be seen the brass erected to the memory of Richard Twedye, who died in 1574, though it is curious that there is no notice whatever of his burial in the Register Book. This brass consists of the coat of Arms at the top, then a full length effigy in complete plate armour, and at the bottom the following inscription:-
"The corpes of Richard Twedy, Esquire, lyeth buried here in tombe,
Bewrapt in clay so reserved until the joyeful dome;
Whoe in his lyffe hath served well against the Ingleshe foes
In forren lands, and eke at home his countrye well yt knowes,
The prince he served in courte full long a pensioner fitt in personage,
In his Country a Justice eke a man full grave and sage,
Foure almes howses here hath he builte for foure poore knightes to dwell,
And them endewed with stypendes lardge enough to kepe them well,
In ffiftye eyghte yeares his course he ran and ended ye 28th of Januarye, 1574."
In the arms is to be noticed the coat of the family, the blazoning being Quarterly 1st Argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure for Tweedie, 2nd Azure a cross pattee ermine between three cinquefoils or for Frazer, 3rd Argent an orle between eight martlets sable for Winnington, and 4th Azure three bears muzzled or for Barwick with (apparently) a falcon, with outspread wings as a crest, the motto is omitted. This brass is affixed to the South Wall, it is about 3 feet high by 18 inches wide, and the stone in which it is fixed is the old altar, as is shewn by the five crosses, two of which only are visible, one being under the brass and the other two cut off by the curve.
The monument of William Twedy, a son of this Richard Twedye, stands in the church of Sampford Parva in Essex. On this tomb are the arms of the family, in colours, Argent a saltire engrailed gules a chief azure, with the differences of the border of the shield being also engrailed, and the whole surrounded with a bordure; a falcon with outspread wings for the crest appears in bold relief at the top, the motto again being omitted. Underneath William Twedy and his wife are portrayed in profile, both kneeling, he on the left, she on the right, facing each other, he in plate armour, and both in the ruffs of the period with a prayer desk between them. Below runs a long inscription in Latin, the translation of which is to the following effect :-
"Here lies the body of William Twedy, Esquire, who distinguished himself as a military commander first under Queen Elizabeth of glorious memory in suppressing the tumults in the north of England, next under the invincible hero the Lord Baron de Willoughby in France, and lastly under the auspices of the illustrious Earl of Leicester in the Netherlands, and was Warden of the military works at Bergen-op-Zoom. He married firstly Mabell, the daughter of Sir Henry Curwen, Knight, of the County of Cumberland, by whom he had one son and one daughter, and afterwards married Margaret, the daughter of Rooke Green, Esquire, of Sampford Parva, in the County of Essex, by whom he had three sons and twice as many daughters. He died on the 7th July, 1605, whose soul rest in peace."
In the church of St. Mary, Castlegate, York, is a tablet to the memory of Elizabeth, the wife of John Tweedy, upon which again appear, with those of his wife, the arms of the husband as argent a Saltire engrailed gules a chief azure, but without any crest or motto; on the tablet is the following inscription,
"In memoriam Elizabeth Joannis Tweedy Arm. Ebor. uxoris Semper deflendae quae tum vi Animi pene plus quam muliebri tum eximia morum suavitate praedita est et omnes officii partes quas matrem at que uxorem praestare oportebat cumulate explevit Hoc Marmor Moerens Posuit Maritus. Nat VI. Non IVL. MDCCLXX. OB. III. Non. Dec. MDCCCXI."
The family of Twitty of Worcester are a branch of the Tweedys of Essex, as appears from the Visitations of Worcestershire in 1682-3, edited by Walter C. Metcalfe and privately printed in 1883, where their pedigree is given commencing with "Twitty alias Tweedy, a younger son of the Tweedys of Essex."
It may not be here amiss to record that Melrose Abbey, that great memorial of Scottish architecture and ecclesiastical history, owes its existence to an ancestor of the family. A Charter granted between the years 1291 and 1306 runs thus:-
"To all the sons of Holy Mother Church present and future who shall see or hear the present writing, Symon Fraser, knight, son and heir of the late Sir Simon Fraser greeting in the Lord;" the document then goes on to confirm the lands of the Abbey "to God and to the Church of St. Mary of Melros and to the Monks serving and to serve God there for ever" (alas for the vanity of human aims), "to hold and have to the said Monks as freely, quietly, well and in peace as in my Charter which I have thereupon from Sir Lawrence Fraser, late Lord of Drummelliare."
Simon Fraser's Seal is appended to this charter, to which the witnesses are Sir Andrew Fraser, Knight; William Perer, late Sheriff of Tweeddale; Stephen of Glenquholm; Robert Hastinges; Patrick of Malville; Michael of Hytteton; with sundry others. It will be remembered that Simon Fraser was the father of the heiress who brought Drummelzier into the family and thus became the ancestress of the main stock of the family of Tweedie.
With the kind permission of his descendants, this information is reproduced from the book privately published in 1902 by Michael Forbes Tweedie. This highly regarded book includes many references to the original sources of the information, extracts from parish registers and some detailed family trees.
Copies of the book are known to be in the British Library, Edinburgh Central Library and the New York Public Library.
Good luck!
G.G.