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katherine kerr, her story[Story] [The Back Story: Francis Lovell] [Name] [Device]I have lived as katherine kerr of the Hermitage for 15 years now. I'm still tinkering with her story, and may even one day get my name and device registered, an the College of Heralds be willing! Her story fuses my early interest in the House of York with my desire to base my persona on the Scots Borders. Story - A Tale of Old Lives and NewThe last hope of the Yorkist cause died on the field of Stoke, when my grandfather and many others gave of their best efforts to remove the Welsh usurper Henry Tydder from his ill-gotten throne. My grandfather left the rout of the battle, swam his horse across the Trent and headed north, as had his father before him, to rest up with relatives and friends across the Border. He knew that all was lost and was weary of the years of skulking and brief skirmishes that had been his lot since his liege lord and friend, Richard Plantagenet, had met his untimely death. He had thought to return to England, to take up the banner once more, but a long illness saw his strength sapped, and he became less and less inclined to carry on what now seemed a hopeless task. His disinclination became the stronger the more he was nursed by a Borderer lady, a cousin to the Middle March Warden. Finally he faced the distasteful thought that there was no longer a life in England for him. A new life began with his marriage to his erstwhile nurse, Anne Kerr. Because my grandfather still had powerful enemies of high rank in England, he took the name of the Border lady; it was not uncommon at that time for Scottish women to keep their own names after marriage. Francis Kerr, as he became known, was a quiet, rather melancholy man who often sat a-horse near the Border, staring southwards. He lived as a house knight at the Hermitage, the dour fortress buried in the depths of the Border dales. He spoke little of his life in England, and his son Richard, my father, grew up as a Borderer of Clan Kerr. Richard was the only fruit of the marriage and went to serve on the Continent in France and Italy as a sometime mercenary. While in Venice, he married a woman of the House Mocenigo (possibly attracted by the white rose that is the symbol of that family) and it was there that I was born in 1526. When I was five, my mother died of the coughing sickness and my father brought me to Scotland where I was raised by my grandfather and grandmother. There I learned the tale of Francis Kerr and of our connections with the once-royal House of York. I grew up in the Hermitage, and have spent time in Edinburgh and Stirling. A contract marriage for the space of five years saw the birth of my children Dickon, Pippin and Grace. (And all but the last seem to have been subsequently taken in a kidnapping raid by a 12th-century Saxon scoundrel called Bartholomew Baskin...) The year is 1566, and we recently saw a visit from the Lieutenant of the Borders, who had suffered a surfeit of Elliotts (as do we all!). Tongues are wagging over the lightning visit of Her Grace, Mary Queen of Scots, to the Hermitage to tend to the wounded Earl of Bothwell, Patrick Hepburn. No good is likely to come of it.... The Back Story: Francis LovellIn 1487, the battle of Stoke in the north of England saw the last major conflict of the Wars of the Roses. Francis, Viscount Lovell, was last seen alive at the height of battle, but his body was never found. One report had him drowned on trying to swim his horse across the River Trent, heading north for family lands and safety.In the 1700s, a secret room was found at Minster Lovell, wherein was discovered a skeleton, with a book and pen and a bottle. The family believed that they had discovered the whereabouts of their long-lost ancestor, although the skeleton's identity was never confirmed and the room was never seen again. It's likely to have been an apocryphal tale. So what did happen to Francis Lovell? In my story I contend that he headed across the Border, following the loss at Stoke, and stayed in Scotland. (A generation earlier, Francis Lovell's father had been one of the Lancastrian supporters to follow Margaret of Anjou into Scotland after the losses inflicted by Edward IV.) A recent communication indicates that I am not alone in making this suppostion! There are records that indicate Lovell went to Scotland from the Continent. In 1488, James IV, following a request from Margaret of Burgundy (Richard III's sister), provided safe conduct for him and 22 others to come into Scotland, according to Joe Ann Ricca, CEO/President of The Richard III Foundation, who thinks that the Pastons or Howards may have assisted Lovell (he'd had help from the Pastons previously). She also notes the existence of a record which states Brompton returned to England in 1492 and said he had seen (or been) with Lovell (pers.comm.) By 1488 Margaret was also in secret negotiations and correspondence with James IV of Scotland. On November 4th of that year...an embassy of 42 exiled Yorkists -- including Richard Harliston, a former govenor of Jersey, and the undrowned Lovell -- was sent by Margaret to see him. Safe conducts had been granted to both of them and, provisionally to "all other English persons whom they may draw to their cause. This comes from Wroe's Perkin, a story of deception (Vintage 2003), and she references RMS nos 1738 1798. The entries for James' reign start at nos 1731; Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum 1 ed James Balfour Paul (Edinburgh 1884); see also Patrick Fraser Tyler History of Scotland (Edinburgh 1831) Vol 4 pp 371-372. Apparently Lovell's wife, Anne (or Anna) Fitzhugh, was conducting a search for Lovell as late as the 1490s and, at least at that stage, was not referring to herself as a widow. Anne is said to have died in 1512, but the source for that has other inaccuracies. Her search is mentioned by her mother, Alice Fitzhugh, in a letter to John Paston, provisionally dated 1488: "Also my doghtyr Lovell makith great sute and labour for my sone hir husbande". The letter goes on to state that "Sir Edward Franke hath bene in the North to inquire for hym [Lovell]; he is comyn agayne, and cane nogth understonde wher he is. Wherfore he benevolers willith hir to continue hir sute and labour; and so I can not departe nor leve hir as ye know well." Like many northern families, the Lovells had friends and relations across the Border. An early medieval motte built at Hawick (10 miles north of the Hermitage as the raven flies) is said to have been constructed by a Richard Lovell. The Lovels were said to have been rewarded during the reign of King David (1) with extensive lands in the Borders. They came north from their Somerset estate to make their headquarters in Hawick and were created first Barons of Hawick. They erected their wooden palisaded tower on a huge mound of upcast earth before a more substantial building took its place on the site of what later became the Tower Hotel and is now Drumlanrig's Tower Visitor Centre. In 1346, the lands were taken possession of by the English sheriff, following the capture of King David at the battle of Durham. The Lovels petitioned the English king to restore the lands and barony of Hawick. However the action of William Douglas delivered Teviotdale out of the hands of the English and by the end of the 14th century the lands passed into the family of Douglas of Drumlanrig. The display at Drumlanrig Tower says that in the early 1300s, at the time of Edward I (he died in 1307), the then-current Lovel abandoned his Hawick lands in favour of English ones. According to an updated entry on Stirnet, the Castle Cary Lovels (which include the Hawick line) and the Titchmarsh Lovells (which include Francis Lovell of Minster Lovell) were not related. More research is required... Stirnet shows Francis descending from Ascelin Gouel de Perceval (died before 1119), 'Lupus', Sire de Yvery or possibly Comte de Yvery (Ivry), and notes that Ascelin apparently gained the nickname Lupus (Wolf) because of his reputation for having a bad temper. This is also noted in the family tree information provided in St Kenelm's Church in Minster Lovell. Ascelin's second son William was nicknamed "Lupellus" (little wolf) or Lovel, and the name passed down as Lupel and thence Lovel. According to Taylor (pg 16), William was granted the landof Minster Lovell by Henry I in or after 1124. This line had Scottish connections. In 1296, John Lovell (the 1st Lord Lovell) was marshal of Edward I's army in Scotland, serving there again in 1303 and 1304. The keys of Stirling Castle were surrendered to him after a three-month seige, and his son (also called John) was killed at the battle of Bannockburn. Francis Lovell was the son of noted Lancastrian John Lovel, 8th Lord of Titchmarsh, Lord Holand (d 09/01/1464/5) and Joan Beaumont (d 05/08/1466), daughter of John Beaumont, 1st Viscount. Francis succeeded to his titles as a minor (being arounf 10 when his father died), and was brought up as a ward of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, in company with Richard Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. Stirnet's listing, drawing from the TCP other sources, show Francis Lovel, as 9th Lord of Titchmarsh, Lord Holand, Viscount Lovel (b c1455, dsp 16/06/1487), and last of the Lovell's at Minster Lovell - the hall and grounds were given by Henry VII to Jasper Tudor in 1486. Francis was married to Anna FitzHugh (daughter of Henry FitzHugh, 6th Lord) and niece to Warwick. He had two sisters, Joane and Fridiswide. Francis Lovell is perhaps best known for his appearance in William Collyngebourne's scurrilous rhyme, repeated by Shakespeare, maligning Richard III and his supporters: The cat, the rat and Lovell, our dog One source quotes Lovell as having been referred to as "the King's Spaniel". He served Richard III as Chief Butler of all England, Privy Councillor, and Lord Chancellor of the King's Household, and became a Knight of the Garter. HIs Garter stall plate survives, and part of it is used in my device. According to Geoffrey Richardson's lecture , on June 20th 1480, Lovell was appointed a Commissioner of Array for the North Riding of Yorkshire. His first duties involved the recruitment of men to march with Gloucester on a major, punitive campaign into Scotland. Lovell found opportunities to distinguish himself in the ensuing fighting and he was knighted by Richard at Hutton-by-Berwick on August 22nd 1481. After the campaign, Richard continued to find employment for Lovell in the north and he was appointed a commissioner of oyer and terminer for Yorkshire in March 1482. NameKatherine"Katherine" derives from Greek (pure) and has been used in a variety of spellings throughout the period of the SCA, including in the 16th-century Scottish Borderlands. This variant is formally recorded as used in Scotland in 1512 [THOWLESS, 770]; 1542 [MACAUSLAN]; and 1564 [YESTER, 827] in "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records: Part Three: Post-1400 Names" by Talan Gwynek. The citations in square brackets refer to the surname and page number which references this spelling of Katherine in George F. Black, "The Surnames of Scotland". "Katherine" is also referenced as being found for entries in the years 1551 and 1577 in Names of women mentioned in the Perth Guildry Book 1, a list by Aryanhwy merch Catmael based on the Perth Guildry Book 1 (ed Marion L. Stavert; Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society, New Series no. 19, 1993). "Katherine" is also listed by Sharon Krossa, in Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names Women's Given Names - Alphabetical, as having 46 instances in 16-century Scotland, with Katherine being the most common (17 citations), centred around 1548-49; also Katherin (6; 1509) and Catte (4; 1531). Krossa's listing, It is also the spelling that is most commonly cited for Richard III's bastard daughter, which fits my persona story nicely. Cathryn is my middle name mundanely. KerrThe Kerrs (Ker, Keir, Carr, Carre) were a large, infamous Border riding family for most of the 16th century, noted as a "leading tribe of the Middle March" (Fraser, pg 45). Reaney & Wilson cite Kerr as a Middle English name, with an early example being Robert Ker in 1231 (pg 84). Kerr family history has a tradition that they came to England in 1066 with de Bruys, ancester ot the Bruces. "Kerr", is also found in Black s.n."Ker", dated to 1357 and 1686 in this spelling.
The Ragman Roll (a fealty roll of nobles and landowners prepared in 1326) lists four entries for Kerr/Ker/Kerre: Henry Kerr of Edinburghshire, Andrew Ker of Stirlingshire, Nicole Kerre of Peeblesshire and William Kerre of Ayrshire. A Charter under the Great Seal by Robert the Bruce cites Wilhielmi Ker, holding the 20 merk land of Kersland. It is said that two descendants of Kersland were involved in the murder of a laird and that they fled the area to found the Border Kerr clans (Ralph Kerr, Teviotdale 1330, later of Ferniehirst; John Ker, Cessford). Other spellings found in the 1500s include Kair and Kayr, noted in Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names Surnames - Alphabetical by Sharon L. Krossa. The Academy of Saint Gabriel gives the spellings Ker 1467; Carr 1491; Car 1515; Kere 1493; as well as Carre, Kar, Karre. (Report 2421) According to the Stirnet Genealogy Families Database (III - BRITISH FAMILIES - MEDIEVAL, RENAISSANCE & MODERN), the Kerr family is thought to be of Norse rather than Norman origin. The name is variously spelt Ker or Kerr and it is likely that various families named Carr are descended from this family. Stirnet, based on TSP and BP as well as family usage, tends to cite Ker for the senior line that led to the Earls & Dukes of Roxburghe (such as Cessford) and as Kerr for the branch that led to the Earls & Marquesses of Lothian (Ferniehirst).
It was nice to spot the name badge on the Historic Scotland chap at Linlithgow Castle. When I asked him if he was a Cessford Ker or Ferniehirst Kerr, he said the latter and noted his name was spelled the same as the current Marquis of Ferniehirst. A further appealing aspect of the Kerr name is its meaning. Reaney & Wilson say it means "dweller by the marsh or fenny copse" (pg 84). My birth name has the same meaning and my ancestral Scots sept of Dunlop refers to "a hill in a bog". Kerr may be related to the Norse term "kjarr", meaning "small wood", or (far less likely) Gaelic for left-handed "Céarr". The name lends itself to a cant in my device relating Kerr/cur to Lovell/hound. It's been fun having another Kerr locally, though I managed to convince Duncan Kerr that he really should be from the Cessford branch, just to provide a nice point of difference. The Ferniehirst and Cessford branches didn't get on at all well in period, though the branches later united in marriage! Of the HermitageI have added "of the Hermitage" as a byname to identify where I come from, and to differentiate my name; it was a very common thing to do at this time and place. According to Krossa's Scottish Names 101, personal bynames could be locative (that is, involving locations or places), with two forms of these being toponymic bynames (involving proper names of locations, which can include territorial such as indicating places held or owned by the person or their family) and topographic (involving descriptions of places rather than place names). "Of the Hermitage" is toponymic as it is the place where katherine lives, being a fortress situated on the Hermitage Water, near Newcastleton, in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders (National Grid Reference: Hermitage, Scottish Borders; NY 497 960 79). It was first built in 1242, occupied by de Soulis, Douglas and Hepburn, amongst others, and still is (mostly) standing. The usage of "the Hermitage" as a familiar term for the fortress is attested in the following period sources:
…they shall deliver to the King's highnes of Englond...the castell called the Hermitage with all the lordschipis and landes belonging to the same This is cited as being from a secret document between King Henry VII of England and Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, dated 1491 and quoted in the Introduction (pg 2) of Hermitage Castle, the official souvenir guide written by Nick Bridgland for Historic Scotland (1996 ). I wish Stirling to be Edinburgh, Glasgow to be the Hermitage and I the Earl of Bothwell as I lie here and then I doubt not that she [Mary Queen of Scots] would be quickly with me. This was penned by a miserable Darnley (aka Henry Stewart, Mary's second husband) in January 1567, lamenting the fact that his wife was paying more attention to the Earl of Bothwell than himself (some would say he was whiney for good reason, as Bothwell ended up being Mary's third husband!). Taken from Major-General R.H. Mahon, Mary Queen of Scots A Study of the Lennox Narrative", para VIII; (Cambridge University Press, 1924 pg 125); quoted in Caroline Bingham's Darnley A Life of Henry Stuart Lord Darnley Consort of Mary Queen of Scots (Phoenix Giant, 1997; pg 172) In addition to these references, "James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell...in the mid 16th century strengthened 'Th' Armitage meanyng to Kepe it by force'", quote cited without specific attribution as part of a photo caption by Keith Durham in The Border Reivers (Osprey Publishing, 1995, pg 9). And Claud Nau (secretary to Mary Queen of Scots) wrote that "…her Majesty was both solicited and advised to pay him [the Earl of Bothwell] a visit at his house, called the Hermitage", as quoted in Mary Stuart's Scotland; the landscape, life and legends of Mary Queen of Scots, by David and Judy Steele (Crescent Books, 1987, pg 124), presumably quoted from Nau's The History of Mary Stewart from the Murder of Riccio until her flight into England. My persona belongs to the Ferniehirst branch, it being closely tied to the Liddesdale area in which the Hermitage is found. According to Fraser, Robert Kerr was Warden of the Middle Marches in 1511(pg 121), and another Robert Kerr was Deputy Keeper of Liddesdale in the 1590s (pg 276). Current status:Not registered, but in the works finally after 15 years of use. I've had various reasons for its initial rejection by the College of Heralds:
I'll try again, with improved documentation, but the first run-through doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence in the likely outcome. The DevicePer fess and per pale embattled argent and sable, in bend two boarhound's heads palewise couped close and in bend sinister two towers palewise, all counterchanged.
Per fess and per pale embattled argent and sable In his monograph for the Heraldry Society of Scotland, Findlater noted that one of the distinctive characteristics of Scottish heraldry was the significant number of arms composed of sable and argent, citing examples from Erskine, Cunningham, Maxwell, Sinclair, Armstrong, Balfour, Colville, Colquhoun and Haldane and Campbell - Armstrong and Maxwell had strong representation on the border. For me, the sable reflects the mourning for the lost House of York. in bend two boarhound's heads palewise couped close
Lovell's Garter Stall has what is described as "an irregular shaped plate of gilded copper bearing within the Garter a shield quarterly: 1, barry wavy gold and gules (for Lovell) ; 2, azure billety and a dance gold (for Deincourt); 3, azure fleury and a leopard rampant silver (for Holand) ; 4, Barry silver and azure a baston gules (for Grey of Rotherfield) ; an escutcheon of pretence silver a lion sable crowned gold (for Burnell). Above is a silver helm garnished gold, with deep purple mantle sown with gold locks and lined ermine, with blue, red and gold tassels, surmounted by the crest, a silver dog having about his neck a gold crown and chain, and sitting on an azure and gold torse" (from Francis Lovell, Lord of Longdendale).
In English heraldry, a collar was often used to distinguish between a dog and a wolf. The history of the Lovell name behind this particular charge makes it appropriate that there is a degree of ambiguity (which presumably did not bother the period heralds when Francis Lovell had his arms painted on his Garter Stall…) Close couping was chosen, as this is indicative of Scottish heraldic practice, though my original thought was to use a collar flory-counter-flory which references the collaring practice while retaining a reference to Scotland. in bend sinister two towers palewise The tower, of course, is a reference to the Hermitage border fortress. The Hermitage itself is described similarly in almost all references: sinister, solid, forbidding, squatting in the valley of Liddesdale, the "most blood-drenched of Scottish valleys". The Kerrs were Wardens of the Middle Marches and Keepers of Liddesdale throughout most of the 16th century. They were also well known for their series of peel towers. It is commonly said that, because of a preponderance of left-handers amongst the Kerrs, the staircases in their towers spiralled anticlockwise, opposite to that of everyone else, to give the kerr-handed an advantage. (Fraser, pg 39) But the Kerrs were aye-the deadliest foes My motto would have to be “Love All” from my persona’s grandfather’s name. On a vaguely related aside, it is amusing to note that the Kerr clan crest is that of a sun in splendour, a symbol also strongly associated with the house ofYork.
Current status: not registered, but actually under consideration, which is promising. (Previous efforts, one of which I even embroidered enthusiastically, if a tad over-optimistically, never made it that far, usually because something else took precedence.) It seems SCA Heraldry tends to take a dim view of quartering because of the inheritance implications, but I hope the fact that it was used is Scottish heraldry under other circumstances might let me use this. There has been discussion as to whether the hound head I used is acceptable. College/SCA practice is to require a hound to have floppy ears, for some reason, so some have argued this can't be a dog, but must be a fox, a boar (!) or a wolf. I'm not sure where this requirement comes from - the hound I've used is certainly a period example. Neubecker and Brooke-Little, respectively of the International Academy of Heraldry and the Richmond Herald of Arms, state that "the boar hound is recognisable by its erect ears, the hunting dog by its drooping ones" (pg 120), so if that's a recognised period distinction, I should be able to have a hound with its ears upright
In the meantime, I use an informal sigil as my mark on all manner of things from embroidery to books, and now have a batch of fired clay tokens with the sun in splendour on one side and my sigil on the other.
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