Women of the Red Cross Motor Corps

 Image title: Motor Corps taking "Flivver" apart (28 Oct 1918). American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress).

The American Red Cross Motor Corps was a unit of women who served during WWI and WWII to transport and give aid to sick and wounded troops and to support the American Red Cross (ARC). Their duties were many, and they often took on additional tasks and went far beyond their call of duty. During the flu pandemic of 1918-1920, the Motor Corps often traveled the country and overseas, caring for the sick, their loved ones, and even their homes:

 Fearless of the possibility of contracting influenza themselves, the Motor Corps women worked night and day, serving frequently as much as 100 hours per week apiece, carrying patients—on their backs, in sheets, in blankets, on chairs, or whatever was available when stretchers could not be used— to hospitals from homes of poverty and luxury alike. No assignment was refused, nor did members of the Motor Corps confine themselves to these services-—they did anything that needed doing. It is on record that they actually scrubbed floors and cooked meals for families, all members of which were ill, and in several instances they even conducted funerals. (The Redcross Bulletin, Vols. 4-5, cited in Wikipedia).

 

Maria Michella Casbarro "Margaret Casper" in uniform 1917 (age 22).
Part of a pennant is visible on the wall and may have read "A.R.C." (American Red Cross).
Personal family collection. Please do not copy or distribute.

Born in New York, 1895, to Italian immigrants, Maria Michela Casbarro (later Margaret Agnes Casper), was a longtime volunteer nurse for the Red Cross and served in both WWI and WWII. We have recently discovered this photograph of her wearing a Motor Corps Driver uniform in 1917, the year the Motor Corps began. This was a specific part of her story that we never knew about, and it has inspired us to learn more about these selfless and valiant women. 

 

 American Red Cross Uniforms from Left to Right: 1. Motor Corps Driver's Uniform, 2. another style of Motor Corps Driver's uniform (the one worn by Maria Casbarro), 3. Motor Corp Driver's Overcoat, 4. Foreign Service Uniform. Photos of women wearing uniform number two without the long overcoat seem to be scarce.
Image courtesy of The Smithsonian under fair use law. Original author unknown.

Motor Corps Minneapolis, Minnesota, 27 November 1918. American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Motor Corps receiving instructions in First Aid, 28 October 1918. American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress).

"Motor Corps Women did much for the comfort of sick and wounded during the war and after. Two are here shown doing their bit in helping a wounded hero from ambulance into a theatre where a show was given for wounded Colored soldiers." Scott, Emmett J. The American Negro in the World War, Chapter VIII (1919).

St. Louis Red Cross Motor Corps on duty, October 1918. American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress).



"The Motor Corps has been a service of unselfishness and self-sacrifice, made possible only by the spirit of generosity which the war evoked throughout the nation. From this account it would be ungracious to omit mention also of the silent contribution made by many husbands, brothers, fathers, sisters, and mothers, who have given the entire use of their cars to this service. Indeed the whole story of the Motor Corps is a remarkable and interesting page in the history of the development of war-time transportation." -The Red Cross Bulletin, 1920

 

Photo of Florence Harriman heading Washington Ambulance Corps in Red Cross parade 4 October 1917. 
Work is in the public domain in the United States.

From the autobiography of Florence Jaffray Harriman, women's rights advocate, author, and Red Cross Motor Corps Driver:

Tuesday, May 29th, 1917. Helen Astor wants me to let Ethel go to France to do Y.M.C.A. work with her. It is a great opportunity, but it is hard to reconcile myself to parting with her. I wish that I could go myself, but now that I have accepted Mr. Gompers’ appointment, I couldn’t very well do that.

I hardly remember at all what I did in the summer of 1917. I missed Ethel dreadfully, and since she wasn't at home, took on the ambulance work on Sundays. The week I divided very evenly between the Committee on Women in Industry and the Red Cross Motor Corps. The Sunday runs of the ambulance were hard work, but never without an incident. Usually we went to Humphries and brought patients back from there to Walter Reed Hospital, a round trip of about fifty-five miles.

One evening I was driving with my girl orderly beside me. We had three very sick soldiers, one unconscious and one delirious. The road from the camp to Washington was only just under construction and a thunder-storm on the way out had so mucked a part of the road just before the main highway that we were mire. The girl orderly loped off down the road until she found two kind young men and ran them back to pry us out. In the middle of our trouble our third patient made a sign that he felt seasick. Our new ambulance was our pride and our joy. My orderly almost automatically snatched what proved to be a brannew hat from the head of our kindly rescuer, thrust it under the soldier's chin with a pleading, "Goodness sakes, don't spoil the ambulance! Use this."

It may have been just a case of man standing by man. The seasick man, out of respect for his brother's hat, settled back and didn't use it.

The rule was that no man, unless in uniform, could accompany us on Motor Corps work and it was very rare that an officer had time to volunteer to come along. And my fleet-footed orderly couldn't always find husky arms to conscript on the lonely country road. The girls used to change tires themselves with extraordinary speed when we had a critical case inside. They used to get up at 4 A.M. They followed behind green troops on country hikes and carried the canteen workers back and forth.

The work was organized in March, 1917, at Miss Boardman’s request, and a few days after war was declared, the organization was complete. Ethel designed the Corps uniform, long gray coat and breeches, high boots, leather belt and a service cap. What stormy meetings we used to have and all about the uniform. Some thought breeches wouldn’t become them. Some said their husbands would never, never let them wear such things. Some, who knew beforehand how beautifully they could wear the uniform, turned out quite incapable of driving a car. Once we got the coats and breeches made, they became so popular that the national motor service of the Red Cross followed the example of our Washington Corps and the breeches dispute became a lost cause. 

The members qualified themselves for their service by taking courses in the first aid and motor repair work, and they received stretcher drills from officers of the 6th Engineers and became very skilful in lifting the injured, placing them on litters, loading and unloading ambulances, and carrying the stretchers into hospitals and houses. When I went to Europe in the autumn of 1917, Mrs. Floyd Waggaman became Commanding Officer pro tem., and I resumed command on my return the following spring. In September, 1918, when I went across again, I resigned and Mrs. David Fairchild took my place, followed later by Mrs. Carter. The best work was done while I was overseas during the influenza epidemic. Then the Motor Corps members went in and out of houses, carrying the stretchers themselves. In all they carried as many as two thousand patients to the hospitals. They did a yeoman’s service. Members of the Corps were on duty for twenty-four hours at a time, sleeping on cots in the garage between calls. 

Harriman, Florence Jaffray, 1870-1967. From pinafores to politics. Henry Holt and Company, publishers. National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/23017479.

The automobile fleet of the Women's Volunteer Motor Corps of the A.R.C. was out in force to transport wounded veterans in the great welcome parade accorded the Twenty-seventh Division in N.Y. March 25, 1919. These men had an honor position in the long column and received a tumultuous ovation by the millions that witnessed the spectacle. American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Learn more about the woman of the Red Cross Motor Corps:

National Women's History Museum
TransportationHistory.org
The Red Cross Bulletin, Volumes 4-5, American Red Cross, 1920

A Portrait of Charles Schaw Cathcart

Charles Schaw Cathcart, 9th Lord Cathcart, Knight of the Thistle, Lord High Commissioner in the general assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, Ambassador to St. Petersburg, Rector of Glasgow University. Charles was a son of Charles Cathcart, 8th Lord Cathcart and Marion Schaw. He married Jane (Jean) Hamilton in 1753 and had nine children, namely: Jane; William, 1st Earl Cathcart; Mary; Louisa; Charles; John (who died in infancy); Archibald; Catherine; and a second son who died in infancy. He lived 1721-1776.


[Charles Schaw Cathcart] was very proud of his Fontenoy* scar, and twice sat for Sir Joshua Reynolds (June 1761 and March 1773**) for his portrait. 'It's not often a man has had a pistol-bullet through the head and lived,' and he always requested Sir Joshua to arrange that the black patch on his cheek might be visible, a desire which was complied with. (Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22)


Image Credit: Artist, Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Manchester Art Gallery. Portrait of Charles Schaw Cathcart. Oil on canvas. Image in in the public domain.

*During the War of the Austrian Succession, the English were defeated by the French in a battle at Fontenoy, Antoing, Belgium, 11 May 1745.


**The Manchester Art Gallery gives the date of this portrait as 1753-1755, but the Dictionary of national Biography gives the two dates Charles Cathcart was painted by Joshua Reynolds as 1761 and 1773. Therefore, the actual date of this portrait can only be estimated at this time as "during his lifetime".

The Fateful Duel of James Cathcart and Alexander Gordon (13 Jun 1716)

The following is an excerpt of a letter written circa 1716 and published in The Sutherland Book, Vol. II (1892). It has not been edited with the exception of the addition of the word "six" to clarify the number of Mr. Gordon's wounds. The men involved in this duel were:

1. The Honorable James Cathcart, Army Major, abt age 35 (1681-1716), son of Alan Cathcart, 7th Lord Cathcart and Elizabeth Dalrymple.
2. Alexander Gordon of Ardoch, Muster Master of Scotland, abt. age 31 (1685-1722), son of Sir Adam Gordon and brother of Sir William Gordon of Invergordon, 1st Baronet.

Sir William refers to Sir William Gordon, brother of Alexander Gordon.

Apparent cause of the duel: James Cathcart accused Alexander's brother (Sir William) of cowardice after a dual between William and Sir Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat was interrupted by guards.
   

Alexander Eoss, Solicitor, Edinburgh, holograph but unsigned, to
[William, Lord Strathnaver],—giving an account of Lord Lovat's
proceedings and of a duel between Major James Cathcart and Mr. Gordon
of Ardoch. Circa 1716.

But I heartily wish the matter had ended here, but unluckily it did not; for on Wednesday thereafter, being the 13, in the evening, Major James Cathcart and Mr. Gordon, happening to be at Old Mans Coffee-house, Mr. Cathcart took occasion in his discourse to throw very injurious insinuations and reflections on Sir William and him, asking a gentleman that sate near Mr. Gordon if ever he knew four gentlemen to go out to fight and come home with whole fleshy wounds, of whom two were such cullions or cowards (or some word to that purpose) as to hyer a gaurd for their preservation, and asking a surgeon, that also sate near, if he could tell what the cureing of such wounds would cost, and a great deall to this purpose, of which Mr. Gordon took no notice since he spoke of no name. But soon after Mr. Cathcart went up and down the coffee-house boasting to several people how he had insulted Mr. Gordon, who durst not resent it, and they say insisted much on that strain, upon which Mr. Gordon came up to him, asking what ground he had for such language and who were his authors, but the other said he was not obliedged to give him any authors, and bid him go immediatly out of his sight, at the same time offering to strike him with his cane. Mr. Gordon telling him he took the offer of a cane in the same way as the laying on, and whispered him to follow him, and away both went in a coach to Kensingtoun, from whence they went on foot by several feilds to a very remote and private place, where they fought, and Mr. Cathcart had the misfortune to be killed on the spott. Mr. Gordon receaved five wounds ere the other was touched, and both of them therafter very eager in their thrusts by a countertang run each other thorow the body . Mr. Cathcarts sword entered Mr. Gordons right breast betwixt the niple and the hollow, and went out at his back seven inches, and with the weight of his body in the lounge broke it, leaving 13 inches behind. Mr. Gordons entered Mr. Cathcarts right breast and went out at his left side, and he endeavouring therafter to recover his sword, Mr. Cathcart, who then threw away what remained of his own, took hold of Mr. Gordons in both his hands, which were cutt when Mr. Gordon drew it back. Hereupon Mr. Cathcart fell back saying he had gote it, but as it was his own fault so he deserved it, and forgave him very heartily. Mr. Gordon said he hoped it was not mortal], but, if it was, he doubted not but in few hours to follow him. Mr. Gordon, in the case he was in, run above a quarter of a mile to get help to Mr. Cathcart, crying out, and at length found a man who was mowing hay, with whom he returned, and they both helped up Mr. Cathcart, who by that time was speechless, but had some life remaining. The man says that Mr. Gordon was in the outmost concern for him, and kissed him frequently, and chargeing the man to take care of him untill he brought or sent a coach. He walked away above a mile befor he came hither to a house, where being refused access he walked further to another, where he gote access, and immediatly directed people to go and look after Mr. Cathcart, therafter sent for a surgeon to himself, and calling for pen, ink, and paper, wrote a line to his brother, his sex [six] wounds blooding all this while, and the broken part of the sword remaining in his body, which continued so for above two hours after he had receaved it. He has two wounds in the left arm (that being the hand he fought with), one of them thorow, a third in the same arm near his shoulder, which enters a litle from behind, a fourth on his left side which slanted on his rib, a fifth in his left breast a litle under his shoulder, which goes also pretty farr, and the other, the most dangerous of all, thorow his whole body and his lungs. His wounds were dressed that night be twelve by Mr. Bouchier, in presence of Doctor Welwood, who both declared they feared the worst. He was also befor next morning thrice bled, after which, and not till then, he had some ease. His wounds were again dressed yesterday, and as they do not blood inwardly, and that there is no extravased blood in his body, they begin to have good hopes of him. He gote a glister yesternight, which had very good effects, but today he seems a litle feaverish, which in all appearance, from the good symptoms that attend him, is the only danger that now threatens him. This is the account he himself gave of the whole affair, some hours after his wounds were dressed, when there was no hopes of his recovery, and which he declared as a dyeing man, at the same time owning that 'twas with the greatest reluctancy he was engadged in this unlucky quarrell till he was provocked with such treatment as no man could bear ; in which he is vindicated by all the company that was in the coffee-house, which certainly must be some satisfaction to his freinds whatever becomes of him.


References:

Bulloch, John M. (1906). The families of gordon of invergordon, newhall, also ardoch, ross-shire, and carroll, sutherland. National Library of Scotland. https://archive.org/stream/familiesofgordon00bull/familiesofgordon00bull_djvu.txt.

The History of Parliament Trust (2019). Alexander gordon research page. http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1715-1754/member/gordon-alexander-1753.

Kirkmichael Trust (n.d.). The story behind the stone – the families, estates and stories of kirkmichael, cullicudden, the black Isle and beyond. https://www.kirkmichael.info/LadyArdochLife.html.

Fraser, William (1892). The sutherland book: in three volumes quarto, with illustrations (Vol. II). National Library of Scotland.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations." -Macaulay

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." -Winston Churchill

"We all carry, inside us, people who came before us." - Liam Callahan

Descended from Cathcart

The surname Kithcart originated in Scotland, apparently as Cathcart. And there were many variations in spelling in Scotland, Ireland, and England used throughout history. This is largely because several hundred years ago names were often spelled by the way they sounded, and the spelling was not always consistent, even within the same family. Another reason for variations in spelling in old records is sometimes because the transcriber often wrote down what they thought they heard, rather than asking for the spelling. For example, two records for the same person might read Hutchison and Hutchinson, or Cathcart and Kethert.

Cathcart had many variations. In addition to Kithcart, some variations have been Cathert, Kethkart, Kathkert, Kethkert, Kethert. It should be noted that there was never a letter K in the Irish or Scottish alphabets, but English and other languages have also been spoken in Ireland and Scotland throughout time. The blended use of other languages may have accounted for the use of the letter K. There are branches of Kithcarts in Ireland and Scotland who have maintained that spelling for centuries, however the branch from which I descend actually began as Cathcart.

Thus far, my furthest known direct ancestor in the Kithcart branch, was John Cathcart. He was born in 1737 in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland, and died in 1812 in Pennsylvania. He married Sarah White in County Antrim, but when they moved to America he changed their name to Kithcart. Written accounts from his grandchildren state that he adopted the new spelling upon discovery that his name was misspelled as Kithcart on the deed to his land in Pennsylvania.

According to an old family album (possibly a bible) that went back hundreds of years and linked to the peerage of Scotland, John's family originated in Scotland. This item had not been seen by my living family members and was in the possession of Kithcart cousins in Oklahoma in the mid-1970s. We do not now know their names. John's father may have been a Hugh or James, but his parentage has not yet been proven with documentation, so I have not yet connected the Scottish Cathcarts to John in our tree.

I do however have many Cathcarts from Scotland in the tree through other branches. Coincidentally, I have another Cathcart from Ireland (whom I have written about previously) who I am unable to trace to his Scottish ancestors. It is Alexander Cathcart, whose grandson, Robert Sherrard, married John Cathcart's granddaughter, Mary Kithcart. Mary Kithcart is the sister of my 4th great grandfather, Thomas Kithcart. It is known that Alexander's grandfather or great-grandfather came from Scotland, but none of those men's names have been proven. The Cathcart family in Enniskillen (where Alexander was born) was numerous, but I have not been able to trace which man was his father for certain. Alexander had three sons: David, Andrew, and Robert. Alexander's wife's father was a David, his uncle was Andrew, and I have surmised that his father then could be a Robert. But this is merely a guess. I have found a Robert in Enniskillen who was the right age, but no records have been found linking the men by name. I am most interested in any info that someone might have proving the parentage of these two men. And even though it has been dismissed in family records, I will not be surprised to find one day that Alexander and John are at least distant cousins.

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." -Marcus Garvey

Nicolangelo "Nicola" Casbarro (1842-1911)

Grand Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge 1883 * 

Nicolangelo Casbarro was born 23 April 1842 in Guardiaregia, Kingdom of Two Sicilies (now known as Guardiaregia, Campobasso, Molise, Italy). His parents were Francesco Casbarro and Angela Rosa Leonardo. When Angela passed away in 1872, Francesco almost immediately emigrated to the US. He arrived in New York City that same year.

On 8 March 1874, Nicolangelo married Nicolina Niro. In 1882, they too chose to voyage to the US, along with their young daughter, Angela Rosa, and Nicolangelo's younger sister Maria. They sailed on the SS Victoria of the Anchor line, leaving Naples in March and arriving at Castle Garden in New York on 21 April 1882. For more than a decade, the family lived in Lower Manhattan, New York, just blocks from the future Brooklyn Bridge. Oral family history holds that Nicolangelo walked across the bridge on its opening day 24 May 1883. 

 

In 1895, their daughter Maria Michela was born. She and Angela Rosa were the only two of fourteen children conceived by Nicolangelo and Nicolina to survive childhood. By 1897, the family was living in Jersey City, New Jersey, just a few miles from the old neighborhood in New York. Nicolangelo and Nicolina remained there the rest of their lives.

 

Antique Grinding Wheel | Animaflora/Fotolia.com 

Nicolangelo often went by the nickname “Nicola”. His proper surname was Casbarro, the traditional spelling in Guardiaregia, and the spelling found in his Italian birth and marriage records. In the United States, however, various spellings have been used by transcribers, either by guesswork or misunderstanding. And, as happens in most families, immigrants' surnames are often reworked (for various reasons) upon arrival in the United States. Some variants of Nicolangelo's forename have included Michelangelo, Nicolo Angelo, Nicolaap, and Nicolis; while variants of his surname have included Casbarra, Casparra, Caspero, Casper, Casbero, Casperi, Caspari, Gasparro, and Casbor. The simplified "Casper" was used most often by his youngest daughter, Maria, who later adopted the name Margaret Casper.

 

Nicolangelo had been a farmer in Italy. In America, his trade was blade sharpening. He carried a heavy manual grinding wheel by a strap around his neck and walked the streets calling "Sharpener, sharpener!" Much the way others called out ‘newspaper’, ‘ice’, or ‘shoe-shining’. When he received a client, he would set up the grinder and sharpen their scissors, knives, etc. right there on the sidewalk. Sadly, the heavy bag rubbed across the same spot on his leg every day and became ulcerated and eventually cancerous. This lead to his death at age 68 on 4 April 1911. He is laid to rest in a family plot with his father, his sister Maria, and his wife Nicolina at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City. His death certificate reads that he was interred at H.C.C. Cemetery. This is an abbreviation for a previously-used name for Holy Name, "Hudson County Catholic Cemetery". The headstone reads "Qui riposano eterno", "here they rest eternally".

 

Nicolangelo worked hard for his family until the end of his life, having faced tremendous change, loss, prejudice, and countless other challenges in hopes of bettering their future. He did succeed, and his vast line of descendants flourishes today. In his memory, may we too find the courage and strength to always persevere.  

Sources include, but are not limited to: Vital records and oral family history from direct descendants.

Written by his great-great granddaughter, Maria McKenzie.

*Currier & Ives. (ca. 1883) The grand display of fireworks and illuminations: at the opening of the great suspension bridge between New York and Brooklyn on the evening of May 24th, 1883. , ca. 1883. New York: Published by Currier & Ives. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2001702100/.

'Over, fork over' (Cunningham)

According to the tradition of this Cunningham family, it dates its principal accession of fortune from the days of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland. When that prince was flying from the emissaries of the usurper Macbeth, who, having murdered his father, Duncan, sought to kill him also, he was so hotly pressed, that he was obliged to take refuge in the barn of Malcolm, son of Friskin, the ancestor of the Cunninghams, who on being informed by the prince of his danger, bade him at once place himself under some straw which lay in the barn, and to which he commenced making additions from another heap with a pitching fork, continually calling out to the companion who assisted him in his labor, 'Over, fork over'. To the pursuers, who asked whether he had seen anything of the prince, he replied in the negative. At a later period, when Malcolm Canmore had overcome and slain Macbeth, the grateful prince bestowed on his preserver the Thanedom of Cunninghame, with permission to take the name of Cunningham, and to assume for arms a shakefork, with the moto, 'Over, fork over.' 

The passage above is borrowed from the Anecdotes of Heraldry (p. 160) which can be found here.
 
A sixth great-grandfather of mine was Barnett Cunningham Jr. He was born in Ireland and descended from Scotland. I can travel further to a first cousin thirty-two times removed, Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (MacBeth), King of Scots (named above), and his grandfather, my thirty-second great grandfather, Malcolm II "The Destroyer" King of Scots. Although I am linked to Cunninghams/Cuninghames/Conynghames of Scotland several different ways, any path through Barnett is blocked currently. I do not yet know his ancestry. This is why I found the passage above incredibly intriguing. I am on the hunt for more information about my direct Cunninghams, their history in Scotland, and from whom they descend.

Sir Christopher Seton

The following are excerpts from An Old Family or The Setons of Scotland and America by Monsignor Robert Seton (1899) and refers to Sir Christopher Seton, who was a valiant knight, and friend and brother-in-law to King Robert the Bruce. The first paragraph is about Sir Christopher Seton II. Interestingly, a portion of this paragraph reminds me of the stories of Robin Hood. You can decide for yourself...

(Note: Some sites state that Christopher Seton III's parents were John de Seton and Erminia Lascelles. However, this book, and my other research indicates Christopher Seton II is the father of Christopher Seton III and that John de Seton was the name of one of his brothers and of his uncle. More research is needed.)

SIR CHRISTOPHER SETON II. Sir Christopher Seton succeeded his pious father, and married Agnes, daughter of Patrick, Earl of March. He was a valiant knight, and did many brave deeds against the English when the crown of Scotland was in dispute between Bruce and Balliol. He was a friend and companion of the national hero, Sir William Wallace, and when driven off" his own lands by the enemy, took refuge with forty followers in Jedburgh Forest, "ay awating his tyme contrare the Englishmen," says Maitland. He was finally killed at the battle of Dillicarew, on the 12th of June, 1298, leaving two sons, Christopher and John.

SIR CHRISTOPHER SETON III. Sir Christopher Seton III succeeded his unfortunate but gallant father in these troublous times of the War of Independence. He was knighted by King Robert Bruce, and for his courtesy and valor was called by the common people, with whom he was a favorite, Good Sir Chrystell He is mentioned by Lord Hailes (Annals, II., 2) as one of the twenty "chief associates of Bruce in his arduous attempts to restore the liberties of Scotland." He is there styled Christopher Seton of Seton.

In 1301, when Sir Christopher was twenty-three years old, he married Lady Christian Bruce, sister of the heroic Robert. She was the daughter of Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale, and of Margaret, heiress of Niel, Earl of Carrick.

At the disastrous battle of Methven, near Perth, on June 19, 1306, soon after Bruce' s coronation, the Scottish chiefs were defeated by Aylmer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and "the king was thrice unhorsed, and once so nearly taken, that the captor, Sir Philip De Mowbray, called aloud that he had the new-made king, when Sir Christopher Seton felled Mowbray to the earth and rescued his master."

The large two-handed sword, wielded on this occasion by our common ancestor, is now in the possession of George Seton, Esq., of Edinburgh, Representative of the Setons of Cariston.

***

The historian Tytler says: "So dear to King Robert was the memory of his faithful friend and fellow warrior, that he afterwards erected on the spot where he was executed a little chapel, where mass was said for his soul." The widow of Sir Christopher was really the one who built this chapel for her husband, in honor of the Holy Cross; but her royal brother so generously endowed it by a charter dated at Berwick-on-Tweed, the last day of November 1323, that he is sometimes called the founder. This memorial chapel stood on a natural eminence just outside of the town walls, which was ever after called "Chrystell's Mount", and, by corruption, "Kerstie's Mount". It was a beautiful little Gothic building of oblong shape, cornered by pointed buttresses, and having a richly decorated oriel window. It was further endowed with a small portion of the surrounding land. Sir Richard Maitland, our earliest family historian, who lived before the downfall of the Old Religion in Scotland, tells us that he had sundry times held in his hand and read the king's charter endowing the chapel, that he had heard mass there, and that it was standing whole and entire in the year 1552. The chapel was closed after the establishment of the New Religion in Scotland, and its endowments were secularized. It remained standing for nearly two centuries, a forlorn protest against the spoliation, until it was torn down in a panic by the townspeople in 1715, to build a wall and rampart against an expected attack of the Jacobite insurgents. A Presbyterian church was raised in 1838 on what is still called "The Chrvstal Mount"; and when the excavations were being made, traces of the foundation of the chapel were discovered, and "many of the stones, but all without ornaments, are still to be discerned in the neighboring dykes." A few of these were collected and set up, with a well-meaning but inelegant inscription, within his private burial ground by the late Major James Adair in 1840.

Source: Archive.org (https://ia800308.us.archive.org/18/items/oldfamilyorseton1899seto/oldfamilyorseton1899seto.pdf)

Of That Ilk

Most genealogists, when researching their Scottish branches, will eventually come across the term "of that Ilk". It may be helpful to know that "ilk" refers to the place of the same name as the person or family. For example: Lord Allen Cathcart of that Ilk could translate to Lord Cathcart of Cathcart (the place named for him or his family).

Oxford Definition:
(of that ilk) Scottish chiefly archaic. Of the place or estate of the same name: Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk