Interview by Sarah Powell
| The name Hepburn is a prominent one, reflecting the significant roles played by Hepburn kinsmen in some of the most famous events shaping Scottish, British and European history. Their eventful past reflects many turbulent times and certain of their exploits and achievements have gone down in history, mirroring the diverse loyalties, conflicts, intrigues and affiliations of Scottish society over the centuries. |
|
|
From the early fourteenth century onwards the family, which has Northumbrian origins, was immersed in Scottish affairs. Adam de Hibburne or Hyburne rose to prominence during the reign of King Robert the Bruce, being present with Sir Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of March at the siege of Berwick in 1334. For his "good and faithful service" Sir Patrick granted him estates in East Lothian including Hailes and Traprain. Adam's son, Sir Patrick of Hailes, and grandson, Patrick Younger of Hailes, both distinguished themselves in the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. Fourteen years later the younger Patrick fell in the Battle of Nisbet Moor with, family history relates, "the flower of youth of East Lothian".
Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn, current head of the Hepburn family, continues: "Sir Patrick was succeeded by his grandson Sir Adam who was one of the commissioners sent to England in 1423 to negotiate the release of James I of Scotland from captivity, which they achieved. In 1444 Adam was succeeded by his son, Sir Patrick, who was created Lord Hailes in 1456. Lord Hailes' eldest son, Adam, was involved in the clan wars which plagued the country during the reign of James III, giving rise to a family reputation for 'unruliness'. "Adam had five sons. His fourth, John, also had a reputation for unruliness but has gone down in history primarily for his significant contribution to the University of St. Andrew's in 1512 as 'munificent founder of St. Leonard's College' - one of the earliest university colleges in Scotland - when he was 'Pryor Johne of St. Androis'. Rather charmingly described in family histories as a 'muscular Christian', Prior John reportedly repulsed efforts by the Bishop of Moray to claim the 'breives' of St. Andrews and refused to let him enter the Abbey Kirk or Castle. . . Prior John's younger brother James, Abbot of Dunfermline and High Treasurer of Scotland, assumed the mantle of Bishop of Moray in 1516 as, later, did James's nephew, Patrick, who had been educated by his uncle, Prior John." The family's power continued to grow. Patrick Lord Hailes, Adam's eldest son, was Commander of Berwick Castle in 1482 and held out against the English army even after the town had surrendered. He then took part in the rising against King James III and fought at the Battle of Sauchieburn. A loyal supporter of James IV, Patrick became one of his principal ministers, was made Governor of Edinburgh Castle, Master of the Household and High Admiral of Scotland. In 1488 he was created 1st Earl of Bothwell. The 1st Earl acted as an ambassador to the courts of France, Spain and England during the negotiations surrounding the marriage of James IV. Bothwell's favoured standing with the king subsequently led to his officiation as the king's representative at James IV's marriage to Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. |
| Bothwell and Mary Queen of Scots |
| Thomas Carlyle's description of history as "a distillation of rumour" is one that resonates with Sir Alastair. One of his most famous ancestors, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was a prime suspect in the murder of Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, who was found strangled following an explosion at Kirk O'Field. Although Bothwell was subsequently tried and cleared, the trial was reportedly rigged, hence the stigma remained and many, if not most, history books continue to suggest his involvement, if not that of Queen Mary herself, in the crime. |
|
|
Sir Alastair does not believe that his ancestor was involved in the actual murder - although he may have been implicated in the explosion - viewing the early accusations as mirroring the complex social and religious upheavals and court intrigues of sixteenth-century Scotland. He points out that authors such as Robert Gore-Browne, in his book Lord Bothwell, paint a very different picture of his ancestor. "What is known", says Sir Alastair, "is that Bothwell was a Scots patriot and a close confidant of the queen at a time when she was estranged from Lord Darnley who had conspired in the murder of her secretary, David Rizzio. Shortly after the close of his trial, Bothwell allegedly 'kidnapped' Mary Queen of Scots, divorced his wife, Lady Jean Gordon, and married the queen. A month later, in June 1567, a rebellion led them to flee.
"The queen was soon forced to surrender and Bothwell escaped via Orkney and Shetland to Norway which at that time was under Danish rule. Initially he enjoyed the protection of King Frederick II who refused to extradite him but, when it became clear to the Danes that Mary's cause was lost, Bothwell was incarcerated in the castle of Dragsholm in Zeeland where, five years later, he died, reputedly insane. To this day the castle is said to be haunted by his ghost." |
| Founder of The Royal Scots |
|
"A more fortunate chapter in our family history opened in the early seventeenth century with the military achievements of Sir John Hepburn who has been described by a French military historian as 'one of the best officers Scotland ever produced'. As a young, gallant cavalier Sir John fought as a soldier of fortune with the Bohemian, Dutch, Swedish and French armies. The Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus extolled his virtues and role in a string of victories culminating at Leipzig in 1631 when, family history relates, Hepburn's Scots Brigade, or 'Green Brigade' as it was more popularly known, charged. . .'firing in platoons, they swept on until so close to the Austrians that the very colour of their eyes was visible. . .' Their dramatic offensive 'turned what was apparently going to be a defeat into a glorious victory'. Gustavus expressed his gratitude to the Green Brigade in front of the whole army, 'ascribing the fortune of the day to its bold advance and headlong valour'."
Further battles, great victories and accolades followed. In 1633 Sir John elected to fight with the French in the Thirty Years' War against Austria and Spain. In March of that year, with the blessing of Charles I, he went to Scotland where he recruited 2,000 men. Returning to France, he was appointed maréchal-de-camp by Louis XIII. With these men and the remnant of the Green Brigade he founded The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment). Hepburn's claim that the new regiment's descent from the veteran Green Brigade meant it was the oldest regiment in France and thus entitled to be posted to the right of the line, the position of seniority, infuriated the old French Regiment of Picardy, which dubbed Hepburn's unit "Pontius Pilate's Regiment", a name which the regiment has borne with pride to this day.* |
|
|
In 1636 Louis XIII awarded the diploma of a Marshal of France to "le Chevalier Hebron". Sir John, Marshal of France and 1st Colonel of The Royal Scots regiment, was killed, aged 38, just three years later at the siege of Saverne. A family historian relates that "he died like the hero he had lived, his last words being touchingly expressive of regret that he should be buried so far from the secluded kirkyard where his forefathers lay". Years later Louis XIV raised a monument to his memory inscribed "the best soldier in Christendom, and consequently in the world". The Royal Scots regiment, the oldest regiment in the British Army today, went on to gain numerous battle honours, fighting in almost every campaign involving British forces over the past 370 years.
|
| Saving the Union flags |
|
Military prowess has been evident far more recently in the family's history. Two faded, frayed and bullet-damaged flags serve as a reminder of an extraordinary act of courage by the late Lt. John Trant Buchan-Hepburn, Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn's father. At the outbreak of World War I, John Trant was just eighteen years old and working as a rubber planter in Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was then. Keen to fight the Kaiser, he helped to raise a regiment, the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps, which was subsequently seconded to the Royal Australian Artillery. Following training in Egypt, Lt. Buchan-Hepburn went with the Anzacs to the Dardanelles where, in 1916, they were part of a force that went ashore at Gallipoli to join the allied campaign against the Turks.
Sir Alastair explains that "The campaign was unsuccessful and eventually the order was given to retreat to the troopships. But then it was realised that two Union flags had inadvertently been left behind. To retrieve them my father impulsively dived overboard and swam back to shore where he was wounded by rifle fire from the Turkish army. Nevertheless, he managed to reach the flags, wrapped them around himself and swam back, in doing so being shot again. He managed to reach the ship and was given a hero's welcome. Later, still in possession of the flags, he was transferred to a hospital ship where he had the good fortune to choose to bed down on the exposed top deck rather than on the overcrowded lower deck. . . because en route to Malta the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine. Just before it sank, again wrapping himself in the flags, my father jumped into the sea. "He managed to cling on to a piece of wreckage until he was picked up by a British destroyer which took him, with other survivors, to Malta. There he was congratulated by the general for his courage in saving the flags but informed that, unfortunately, a recommendation that he be given an award for gallantry could not be pursued because he had broken King's Regulations by jumping overboard without being ordered to do so. As his battle honour, my father was, however, invited to keep the two Union flags. |
|
|
"He subsequently saw further action at the Somme, Passchendaele, and at Ypres where he was badly gassed. He was eventually invalided back to Scotland together with his cousin Thomas Buchan-Hepburn who had also been gassed while serving with The Royal Scots in France. My father died in St. Andrews in 1953, aged 63".
"We have framed the flags which are of considerable sentimental value to our family. Eventually they might be exhibited in a national museum so that people can share in the story of their rescue." |
| Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn |
|
Maintaining his family's long military tradition, Sir Alastair served five years in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards, which included a three-year tour of duty in Malaya where he was aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief in the Far East. This was followed, from 1957, by a long and distinguished career in the UK licensed trade from which he retired in December 2001. Sir Alastair is a member of numerous sporting and charitable bodies including the Royal and Ancient Golf Club St. Andrews, the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh, St. Andrews Preservation Trust and the St. Andrews branch of the British Legion. He is also a member of the Baronets' Trust - a charitable body - and a trustee of Dundee Industrial Heritage.
The Hepburn family is proud of its long history and eminent ancestors. Family portraits, histories and John Trant's Union flags all serve to remind their kinsmen of their colourful background. Sir Alastair's interest in family history is, however, anything but passive. Over the past seven years he has been strongly campaigning for the return of the remains of James, 4th Earl of Bothwell, from Faravejle Church, Zeeland, Denmark so that he can give his ancestor a final, dignified resting place in Scotland. The remains have already been exhumed several times and from 1949 to 1975 they were even displayed in a glass coffin as "The Scottish King" for public viewing. To date Sir Alastair's request has been refused because of uncertainty surrounding the identification of the mummified body. To resolve the situation Sir Alastair has agreed to undergo DNA testing. Recently Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn has also been involved in the restoration of a 400-year-old dovecote adjacent to Athelstaneford Church in East Lothian. This now provides a Flag Heritage Centre in the very village where the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross was conceived over 1,100 years ago, to remind visitors of the history behind Scotland's national flag - the oldest in Europe. The dovecote was originally built in 1583 by George Hepburn whose son, Sir John, was the founder of The Royal Scots. |
|
|
* A comprehensive history of The Royal Scots by Robert H. Paterson entitled Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard was published in two volumes in November 2001. It is available from Regimental Headquarters, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), The Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2YT
Photo of Sir Alastair Buchan-Hepburn with portraits of Mary Queen of Scots and of his ancestor, 4th Earl of Bothwell, reproduced by courtesy of Sandy Young Photographer who can be contacted via email or Tel: 07970 268944. Further articles by Sarah Powell are available here - http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/sitepages/page13.asp Reprinted with permission from www.burkes-peerage.net |
