When did the name "Haig" first appear?

Much of the following information on the Scottish and American Haigs was compiled by my father in the 1960's. Today in the information age there are many sources that were not then available. Please email me if you have anything to add to the story of the Haigs.bjhaig@ourheritage.net

Here's dad at the 1907 Reunion

In the 12 th century, at the time of the Norman invasion of England, a norman knight named Petrus del Hage pushed up into the lowlands of Scotland and built himself a modest castle at a place called Bemersyde. The name of Petrus del Hage appears as a witness to a charter drawn up between 1162 and 1166 and we can assume that he had been settled for some time prior to those dates in that region. Some hundred years later, toward the end of the 13th century, Thomas of Ercildowne, better known as "Thomas the Rhymer" witnessed the Bemersyde Charter and uttered his famous prophecy, namely:

It is interesting to find that Bemersyde has descended in unbroken succession to branches of the Haig family for 29 generations. James Laver, in his book entitled "The House of Haig" remarks on the tenacity of the Haigs. In the border region in which they lived, there were for many centuries, perpetual skirmishes with the English and they were involved in all their country's battles. A Haig was among those who stood with William Wallace at Stirling Bridge. A Haig was slain at Halidon Hill, and another at Otterburn, and a Haig fought with his king at Flodden Field and perished with him. The Haigs took part in the Crusades and in commemoration, adopted the cross of St. Andrew on their coat of arms. It is interesting to note that the name Haig was first used by the 9 th laird of Bemersyde, Sir Andrew Haig, who was knighted by Robert 3rd of Scotland in 1390.

The direct line died out in 1867 and the ancestral manor of Bemersyde passed into other hands, but in 1921 it was purchasd by the nation and presented to Sir Douglas Haig of 1st World War fame who had been created Earl Haig, Viscount of Dawick and Baron Haig of Bemersyde House in 1919. The family seat, which is at St. Boswells, Berwickshire, remains in the hands of his descendants.

Now lets look at the American Haigs.

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