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HAY
'According to legend, it all started with an ox-yoke and a falcon. Family tradition has kept the saga alive for more than a thousand years. It is the beginning of the story of 'The HAYS of HISTORY and LEGEND.'
In that place now known as Demarkfield, just about a mile from a little village of Luncarty in Perthshire, Scotland, they remembered the heroics of a Scottish farmer and his two sons in the year 971 A.D., before recorded history was commonplace, but when it was quite common for stories to be passed down from clansmen to clansmen around the fires that warmed not only their bodies but their pride as well.
"The traditional story . . . concerns the Battle of Luncarty which is believed to have taken place in 971 A.D., but as it belongs to the oral tradition, this can be but a guess. The reigning sovereign was Kenneth III who, at the time of the event, was residing at Stirling.
"News came to him that the Danes had landed north of the River Esk in Angus and that they had pilaged, burned and murdered subjects, regardless of age or sex, and that they were now enroute to Perth. King Kenneth immediately set off, with his soldiers camping at Montcrieffe Hill on the way.
"The King and his followers engaged the Danes at Luncarty. A fierce battle developed, with no quarter being given by either side. The King commanded the center, with the wings being led by the Thane of Athol and the Prince of Cumbria. The Danes, noted for their ferocity, broke one of the wings of the Scots army, with the result that survivors began to retreat in confusion.
"A countryman and his two sons, ploughing (plowing) in a field nearby, saw this happen, and the father, commanding his sons to follow with their implements, snatched up an ox-yoke as a weapon and barred the way of the fleeing men. He and his two sons lead them back into battle and they fought so well that the tables were turned and the Danes were completely routed.
"The father was a man of great personal strength and stature and he was acclaimed by all for his sterling contribution to the victory. He was requested to accompany the King to Perth, and was taken there with honor, although he spoke modestly of his part in the affair.
"The King commanded that a falcon be let off from Kinnoull Hill and that as far as it flew, the land would belong to the hero and his sons. The bird flew to a stone in St. Madoes Parish, still known as the Hawks Stone. (It is now situated in a private garden.) This took in some of the best land in the Carse of Gowrie, so overnight the peasant had become a powerful man.
"The Chiefs of the Hays carry their coat-of-arms three bloodstained shields representing the father and his two sons, the falcon, the ox-yoke and the supporters, two peasants, representing the two sons. . . Many Hays believe the tradition implicitly, although no written proof is possible.'
"A most interesting aspect relating to the legend is the fact that in 1770 a Mr. Sandeman, who farmed at Denmarkfield, which is the farm now occupying the site of the Battle, decided to level some tumli (mounds of earth, especially ones marking the sites of ancient graves) to make a bleaching field. On proceeding, the bones of men and horses were found. A little distance off, beside a large stone, traditionally pointed out as the grave of a Danish King, a sword was uncovered. This would appear to prove that a battle had been fought, to say nothing of the name of the farm."
In 1971 members of the Clan Hay Societies of Scotland, the United States, Canada, Australia, and other places throughout the world gathered in a field along the river Tay, a few miles up from Perth, to observe the 1,000 anniversary of the legendary Battle of Luncarty between the Scots and the Danes.'
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HAY
ORIGIN
OF NAME
French: La Haye
Place-name
in Normandy,
meaning “the stockade.”
The
traditional beginning
of Clan Hay was
at the Battle
of Luncarty
in 977 A.D.
The Danes attacked and succeeded in breaking through one wing of the
Scottish Army.
The Scots
were retreating in confusion when a farmer and his two
sons stepped
forward to
rally the Scots. Using ox yokes as weapons, they led the Scots back into
battle and were victorious. King Malcolm showed his gratitude
by ordering that all land that a
falcon could fly over in one day would
become the estate of the farmer. To this day there is a stone in Saint
Madoes Parish known as the ‘Hawk’s Stane.” The Chief of Clan Hay
remembers this battle in his arms —
three
bloodstained shields, a Peregrine falcon, an ox yoke, and two peasant
supporters.
Historically,
the name of Hay is found in the eighth century and by the eleventh century,
the family was well-established in the Gallo-Roman world. In 1066 several
family members arrived in Scotland with William the Conqueror. William de la
Haye, the forefather
of Clan Hay, arrived in 1160. He held the title of Butler of Scotland and married
a Celtic
princess, Eva of Pitmilly, and became Baron of Erroll.
Gilbert,
the fifth Chief, was rewarded for heroism in the Scottish War for
Independence under Robert the Bruce with Slams Castle and appointment as
hereditary Constable of Scotland. The ninth Chief. William.
was belted
Earl of Erroll in 1452. Thus, the Hays became one of the most powerful
families in Scotland.
Merlin,
the current Lord High Constable of Scotland, is the 24th Earl of Erroll and
32nd Chief of Clan Hay.
He succeeded
to these and many other titles in 1978 at the age of 30.
(Source: a book on Scottish clans)
HAY
MEANING:
A hedge, an inclosure, to inclose, fence in, a protection, a place of safety. In Dutch, Haag; Sax., Hege; Ger., Heck; Danish, Hekke; Swedish, Hagn; Fr., Haie; Welsh, Cae; Gaelic, Ca; Cor. Br., Hay.
CLAN
ORIGINS:
"In the reign of Kenneth III. (says Douglass), about 980, the Danes having invaded Scotland, were encountered by that king, near Loncarty, in Perthshire. The Scots at first gave way, and fled through a narrow pass, where they were stopped by a countryman of great strength and courage, and his two sons, with no other weapons than the yokes of their plows. Upbraiding the fugitives for their cowardice, he succeeded in rallying them; the battle was renewed, and the Danes totally discomfited. It is said, that after the victory was obtained, the old man, lying on the ground wounded and fatigued, cried 'Hay, Hay,' which word became the surname of his posterity. The king, as a reward for that signal service, gave him as much land in the Carse of Gowrie as a falcon should fly over before it settled; and a falcon being accordingly let off, flew over an extent of ground six miles in length, afterward called Errol, and lighted on a stone still called Falconstone or
Hawkstone."
(Source: Last
Name Meanings)
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