THE HOWISON FAMILY IN SCOTLAND

The first known authentic references to the Howisons in Scotland are John Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. II pages 231-236 and John Philip Wood's The ancient and modern state of the Parish of Cramond, published in 1794.

Of the Howisons, Mr. Burke says:  "This family of all those that lived with repute in the district of Braehead, in Midlothian, is by far the most ancient, having continued there for more than three centuries and a half".

Burke and Wood generally agree (some dates are slightly different) on the line of descent (eldest son) through and beyond the seventh generation when the youngest sons of Alexander Howison of Braehead (d. 18 April, 1703) John (1682-1754) and his brother Robert (1673-C1704) migrated to America, landing in Maryland C1703.

The generations are:

1.  John Howison, a Burgess of Edinburgh, born 1450.

2.  James Howison of Cramond Regis, charter dated 1465.

3.  George Howison, was a witness to a sasine of Sir John Moubray, of Barnbrough, 9th October 1511, of the lands of Cockairny to his Uncle, William Moubray.

 4.  Andrew Howison of Cramond Regis, living in 1555.  Married Elizabeth Bathgate.

 5.  John Howison of Braehead in Cramond Regis, charter dated 13 December 1575. Married Janet, daughter of Alexander Moubray of of Dalmont.  Died 1618.

 6.  Alexander Howison of Braehead, charter dated 30 July 1590.  Married a daughter of James Haldane, of Saughton. Died 1637.

 7.  James Howison of Braehead. Married Alison, daughter of Ramsay of Blackcraig.  Died March, 1680, buried at Cramond.

 8.  Alexander Howison of Braehead Married Martha, daughter of William Young, Esq.  His youngest sons, Robert and John, based on strong oral tradition and connecting circumstances, migrated to America C1703.  Born 1635, died 4-18-1703. 

 9.  William Howison, of Braehead.  Married Margaret, daughter of John Mitchel of Alderstone.  Born 9-20-1666, died 2-20-1729.

10. John Howison of Braehead who married Elizabeth Crauford on 3 June 1744 (as stated in the pedigree of Craufurd).  Born C1713, died 5-12-1787.         

A well sustained tradition, as summarized by Robert Reid Howison in 1867, informs us that the family formerly was devoted to agriculture and that some of its members once saved the life of a Scottish King.

In 1424, King James I of Scotland, returned from his long captivity in England, and spent his brief reign with great energy in subduing to order the turbulence of his nobles and commoners who were in constant feuds.  On one occasion he was attacked by assassins, and would have been slain when he had strayed from his attendants near Cramond Bridge but for the sturdy courage of the Howisons who rushed from a neighboring field with their flails and effectually aided the King's guards in his defence.

This video is the local legend (click on arrow in the middle of the screen, and then click lower left arrow) :

After the fray the King accompanied them to their home, and one of them presented to him a basin of water and napkin for his hands.  In honor of their courage and simple hospitality, His Majesty granted special privileges to the family, the memory of which was perpetuated in their Coat of Arms and in a singular ceremony which has been repeated in modern times.

On the 24th of August, 1822, King George IV, of England, attended a banquet given by the City of Edinburgh, at which was commemorated the signal honors granted to the Howisons by James I of Scotland, four hundred years previously.  The ceremony is thus described by Burke at page 235:

"As soon as the king had dined, a silver basin containing rosewater was brought to his majesty by William Howison-Crauford, younger, of Braehead, who, in right of his mother, as proprietress of Braehead, in the county of Midlothian, claims this privilege; the service performed being the ancient tenure by which the estate of Braehead is held.  He was attended by Masters Charles and Walter Scott, the one a son, the other a nephew, of Sir Walter Scott, Baronet, as pages attired in splendid dresses of scarlet and white satin; the former holding a silver ewer, and the other a salver with a damask napkin of Scottish manufacture and the finest texture.  Mr. Howison-Crauford knelt down to His Majesty, who after he had dipped his fingers in the water and wiped them with the napkin, acknowledged the service with affability and grace."

The ceremony was later repeated in the 20th century at Holyrood for the princeses Mary Rose and Elizabeth.

Such is the authentic history of the lineage and the proprietorship of "Braehead" by the Howison family in Scotland.  Members of this Scottish family occasionally visited America, and one of them on his return published a book of travels, which was very popular in its day.  His description of Niagara Falls, although somewhat inflated in style, is so full of pictorial power that it has been inserted in many books of descriptive scenes.

After the marriage of John Howison and Elizabeth Crauford the heraldic symbols of the two families were united in one Coat of Arms, which Burke thus describes: 

Crauford Crest - a marble pillar supported by a man's heart.  Howison Crest - a right hand erect coupled at the wrist.  Supporters - two husbandmen in the dress of the 14th Century, one holding a flail and the other a basin and napkin.  Mottoes:  Crauford; Stant Innepa Bae, Supported by God they stand.  Howison; Sursum Corda, Hearts Upright.

In the actual language of Burke:

"Arms.......Quarterly; Craufurd - 1st and 4th, gules, a fesse ermine, Howison - 2nd and 3rd, arg. a heart ppr. on a chief azure, three fleurs-de-lis. 

Crests......Craufurd; a  marble pillar supporting a man's heart, ppr.  Howison; a dexter hand erect couped at the wrist.

Supporters..Two husbandmen in the dress of the fourteenth Century, one holding a flail, the other a basin and napkin.

Mottoes:....Craufurd.  Stant Innixa Bae.  (Supported by God they stand).  Howison.  Sursum Corda.  (Hearts Upright).

Estates:....Craufurdland, Ayrshire, held since the thirteenth century.  Braehead in  Midlothian, since the time of James I of Scotland.

Seats:......Craufurdland Castle, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire; and Braehead, in Mid Lothian".

Another version:  "Argent, a heart, proper, on a Chief, azure, three fleur de lis, Or. Crest; a dexter hand, couped at the wrist paleways.  Motto; Sursum Corda".

This means:  a silver shield with a natural colored heart; with the upper part of the shield being blue with three gold fleur-de-lis.  The crest is a right hand, cut off in a straight line at the wrist, and in a vertical position.  The motto means, "Lift up you hearts".

There are, as one would expect of an incident over 300 years old, several versions of the Howison rescue of James I.  The short version following is from the Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames, Clifford S. Sims 1862.

HOWISON.  "The son of Hugh.  The family are descended from John Howison, burgess of Edinburgh, 1450.  The first ancestor of the family, and his son, were farmers and rescued James I from an attack made upon him when he had strayed from his attendants, while hunting near Cramond Bridge, and having saved the king's life by beating off his assailants with their flails, held a basin and a towel to wash his wounds.  For these timely services they were rewarded with a grant of the lands of Braehead, the redendo in the charter being "Servitium Lavacri", a service that was complied with to George IV at the banquet of the Magistrates of Edinburgh in 1822".

Another version, from History of Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, pages 254 through 257 would indicate Scott indulged in a bit of "artistic license" both in embellishing the story and changing the King to James V rather than James I who is surely the correct James! Scott's version:

"James V had a custom of going about the country disguised as a private person in order that he might hear complaints which might not otherwise reach his ears, and, perhaps, that he might enjoy amusements which he could not have partaken of in his avowed royal character.

When James V traveled in disguise, he used a name which was known only to some of his principal nobility and attendants.  He was called the Goodman (the tenant, that is) of Ballengiech.  Ballengiech is a steep pass which leads down behind the Castle of Stirling.

Upon one occasion King James, being alone and in disguise, fell into a quarrel with some Gipsies, or other vagrants, and was assaulted by four or five of them.  This chanced to be very near the bridge of Cramond; so the King got on the bridge, which, as it was high and narrow, enabled him to defend himself with his sword against the number of persons by whom he was attacked.  There was a poor man threshing corn in a barn near by, who came out on hearing the noise of the scuffle, and seeing one man defending himself against numbers, gallantly took his part with his flail to such good purpose, that the Gypsies were obliged to fly.

The husbandman then took the King into the barn, brought him a towel and water to wash the blood from his face and hands, and finally walked with him a little way towards Edinburgh, in case he should be again attacked.  On the way, the King asked his companion what and who he was.  The labourer answered that his name was John Howison, and that he was a bondsman on the farm of Braehead, near Cramond, which belonged to the King of Scotland.  James then asked the poor man, if there was any wish in the world which he would particularly desire should be gratified; and honest John confessed, he should think himself the happiest man in Scotland were he but proprietor of the farm on which he wrought as a labourer.  He then asked the King, in turn, who he was; and James replied, as usual, that he was the Goodman of Ballengiech, a poor man who had a small appointment about the palace; but he added, that if John Howison would come to see him on the next Sunday, he would endeavor to repay his manful assistance, and, at least, give him the pleasure of seeing the royal apartments.  John put on his best clothes, as you may suppose, and appearing at a postern gate of the palace, inquired for the Goodman of Ballengiech.  The King had given orders that he should be admitted; and John found his friend the Goodman, in the same disguise, which he had formerly worn.  The King, still preserving the character of an inferior officer of the house-hold, conducted John Howison from one apartment of the palace to another, and was amused with his wonder and his remarks.  At length he asked him if he should like to see the King; to which John replied, nothing would delight him so much, if he could do so without giving offence.  The Goodman of Ballengiech, of course, undertook that the King would not be angry.  "But," said John, "how am I to know his grace from the nobles who will be all about him?" ---- "Easily," replied his companion; "all the others will be bare-headed --- the King alone will wear his hat or bonnet."

So speaking, King James introduced the countryman into a great hall, which was filled by the nobility and officers of the crown.  John was a little frightened, and drew close to his attendant; but was still unable to distinguish the King. "I told you that you should know him by his wearing his hat," said the conductor.  "Then," said John, after he had again looked around the room, "it must be either you or me, for all but us two are bareheaded."

The King laughed at John's fancy; and, that the good yeoman might have occasion for mirth also, he made him a present of the farm of Braehead, which he had wished so much to possess, on condition that John Howison, or his successors, should be ready to present an ewer and basin for the King to wash his hands, when his Majesty should come to Holyrood palace, or should pass the Bridge of Cramond.  Accordingly, in the year 1822, when George IV came to Scotland, the descendant of John Howison of Braehead, who still possesses the estate which was given to his ancestor, appeared at a solemn festival, and offered his Majesty water from a silver ewer, that he might perform the service by which he held his lands."

Another reference, from The Glory of Scotland, by J. J. Bell reports the incident on page 81 as follows:

"The shortest road back [from Sea City] to Edinburgh, a very pleasant one, skirts the Earl of Rosebery's Dalmeny estate, on which is ancient Dalmeny Church, lately restored, and passes through Cramond Bridge, where James V, on one of his incognito democratic expeditions, got into trouble with gipsies, and was rescued by a more genuine democrat, Jock Howison, a miller, who provided water and towel to remove the blood from the Royal countenance.  James presented him with land, on the condition that he or his successors should be ever ready with a hand-basin and ewer when the King crossed the bridge, or came to Holyroodhouse.  And so, when in 1822 George IV came to the Palace, a descendant of the miller was there with a silver basin and ewer."

Allen P. Howison, son of James Howison II, visited the original home of the Howison's at Edinburgh, Scotland, and brought to America crests of the Howison-Crauford Coat of Arms, duplicates of which he presented to each of his nieces and nephews and which are remain in the families of their descendents today.

In more recent times an American member of the family paid a visit to the ancestral home.  In 1951 Captain Albert P. Wemyss, Jr., son of Alice Howison Wemyss (3rd daughter of Captain James B. Howison), visited Cramond Bridge and Braehead  while on duty in England with the Strategic Air Command, U. S. Air Force.

 In a 1975 addition to the family history he reported as follows: 

"Cramond Bridge is located about five miles west of the center of Edinburgh, Scotland.  The bridge crosses the River Almond near where the river empties into the Firth of Forth.   Residents in the farm house on Braehead were most cordial and hospitable and invited me in for tea and a very pleasant visit.  They then took me for an automobile ride to see Cramond Bridge, John Howison's cottage, and Braehead House (Mansion).  John Howison's cottage was still standing, though unoccupied and in disrepair.  The cottage was made of hewn stone.  Each stone was about 18 inches thick, by 12 inches high, and about 4 feet long.  The Howison-Craufords, present holders of Braehead estate and the family honors, were away on vacation, but a house guest was most gracious in showing me around the grounds of Braehead House. 

On the return trip to London, aboard the 'Queen of Scots' luxury express train, I met a Mr. E. S. MacKintosh and his wife.  The MacKintosh's were natives of Edinburgh, with present residence at 73 Oxhey Lane, Hatch End, Middlesex, England, a suburb of London.  The MacKintosh's were most interested in my search of family ties in Scotland.  They subsequently did substantial research in the libraries of Edinburgh and sent the information to me.  We carried on a Christmas-time correspondence for several years.