Eliott

Eliott

Clan Eliott of that Ilk, Scotland; descended from Ellot (or Elwalde) of Angus in the Highlands, they moved their seat to Teviotdale in the Borders temp. Robert the Bruce, possibly being granted some of the lands forfeited by William de Soulis when he was convicted of treason. First of the clan to be recorded in the Borders was Ellot of Redheugh, c. 1410, and John Elwalde of Teviotdale, 1426. Robert Ellot of Redheugh was recorded as being the 10th Chief of the Clan in 1476, and about this time he built Hermitage Castle, one of a hundred towers built by the clan. Robert, the 13th chief was killed at the Battle of Flodden. In 1556, they began a feud with the Scotts, when Scott of Buccleuch executed four Ellots for cattle rustling, resulting in a great battle, both sides suffering heavy casualties. In 1569, after James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and future husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was wounded in a skirmish in the Borders, 4,000 royal troops were sent to lay waste the Ellots lands.

When James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, many of the Borders families were persecuted. It was about this time when the clan began calling themselves Eliott, when Robert Eliott of Redheugh went into exile in Fife. Sir Gilbert Eliott of Stobs became chief in 1673 and was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles II in December 1666. The second son of the third baronet, the distinguished soldier, Lieutenant General George Augustus Eliott, was created Baron Heathfield in 1787. Of the main cadet branch, the Eliotts of Minto, was Sir Gilbert Eliott, Governor General of Bengal and was created Earl of Minto in 1813.

Arms: Gules, on a bend or, a baton azure.

Crest: A hand couped at the wrist in armour holding a cutlass in bend proper.

Motto: Fortiter et recte (Boldly and rightly).

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