Clan Hay

Clan Motto

Deus juvat
God assists

Chief

THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF ERROLL
Woodbury Hall
Sandy Bedfordshire
SG19 2HR Associated Names

The History of the clan

The Hays descend from William de la Haye, Butler of Scotland, who was a cadet of the Seigneurs de la Haye Hue in Normandy who came to Scotland c. 1160. He married the Celtic heiress of the lands of Erroll, and c. 1178 received the Barony of Erroll. He was a cup-bearer to Malcolm IV and it is thought that he was descended from powerful Norman Princes who followed William the Conqueror to England in 1066.

The origin of the name is from the French “La Haye,” which is a place-name in Normandy meaning ‘stockade’. Sir Gilbert Hay, 5th of Erroll, was a faithful adherent to King Robert the Bruce, being one of his comrades-in-arms: as a result he was rewarded the lands of Slains in Aberdeenshire and was created Lord High Hereditary Constable of Scotland in 1314. This duty, still active and held by the present day Chief, maintains that he ensures the safety of the Royal Family and that he be the Sword Bearer at coronations. William Hay, 4th Earl of Erroll, fell at Flodden with 87 Hays, including Sir John Hay, 2nd Lord Hay of Yester.

The Hays of Erroll did not support the Reformation, and, with other Catholic nobles, including the Gordons of Huntly and the Red Douglases, attempted to negotiate with Philip II of Spain to bring about a Catholic Alliance. Charles Hay, 13th Earl of Erroll, voted against the Union: however, his kinsman, John Hay, 2nd Marquis of Tweeddale, supported the Union. The 13th Earl of Erroll was an active Jacobite and helped to organise the attempted 1708 Jacobite Rising: he received the Order of the Thistle from the “Old Pretender” James VIII . He was succeeded by his sister Mary, the 14th Countess, who raised men for Bonnie Prince Charlie during the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Slains Castle, the now ruined seat of the Earls of Errol, is situated on a cliff on the Aberdeenshire coast.

Diana, the late Countess of Erroll, was the 32nd Chief. In 1950 she founded the Clan Hay Society. She was married to the Scottish Herald, Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk Bt. The present Chief is their son, Merlin - 33rd Chief, 24th Earl of Erroll, Lord of Slains and Hereditary Lord High Constable. The North East Clan Hay Commissioner is Malcolm Hay of Edinglassie, Aberdeenshire.