HEPBURN,
a surname derived from the lands of Hepborne or Heyborn in
Northumberland, in which county several families of the name, in
early times, had possessions. The first of this surname who settled
in Scotland was Sir Adam Hepburn, said to have been taken prisoner
in battle by the earl of March, who, in testimony of his esteem for
the signal bravery which he had displayed, conveyed to him by
charter several lands and estates in Haddingtonshire. [Nisbet’s
Heraldry, vol. i, p. 155.] From Robert the Bruce he obtained the
lands of North Hailes and Traprene. He had two sons, Sir Patrick,
ancestor of the Hepburns, earls of Bothwell (see BOTHWELL, earl of),
and John, foster brother of the earl of March and Moray, who
conferred upon him, by charter, the lands of Over and Nether
Merkhill in the sheriffdom of March. He is supposed to have been the
ancestor of the Hepburns of Waughton, long a family of the first
consequence in the county of Haddington, although Crawford, in his
notes to Buchanan, says that this family is older than that of the
Bothwell Hepburns.
The
Hepburns of Athelstaneford, also in East Lothian, a branch of the
Waughton family, held that property feudally of their kinsmen. On 24th
November 1569, George Hepburn of Athelstaneford was cited before an
assize, for slaying ‘vmquhile Johnne Geddes, and hurting and
wounding diverse utheris,” while besieging the place and fortalice
of Waughton in January of that year, then held by the king’s party,
the Hepburns being adherents of Queen Mary. As Geddes was slain by
Hepburn’s son Andrew, he seems to have been absolved from the
charge. Nearly all of his surname in Haddingtonshire, we are told,
were concerned in this tumult, under Robert Hepburn, younger of
Waughton, who was endeavouring to regain possession of his ancestral
house. They broke into the barbican, and took sixteen horses from
the stables, but the laird of Carmichael, captain of the tower,
sallied forth sword in hand, slew three of the assailants, and cause
the rest to retire. From Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials we also
learn that the same George Hepburn was charged with intercommuning
with Harry Hepburn of Fortune, and Patrick Hepburn of Kirklandhill,
denounced as rebels and traitors for being adherents to their feudal
chief, the outlawed earl of Bothwell, duke of Orkney, but acquitted,
as he was also of the charge of slaying three of the king’s soldiers
at the battle of Langside, in the preceding year. He had five sons
and several daughters, and at his death – before 1616 – his eldest
son, also named George Hepburn, succeeded him in the estate of
Athelstaneford. His second son, John, was the celebrated Sir John
Hepburn, a field-marshal of France under Louis XIII., whose “Memoirs
and Adventures,’ in one volume, by James Grant, was published at
Edinburgh in 1851.
Sir John
Hepburn, considered “one of the best soldiers in Christendom,” in
his time, was born about the year 1598 or 1600, and is supposed to
have studied for a short time at the university of St. Andrews, as
in the beginning of 1615 a Joannes Hepburne was matriculated
at St. Leonard’s college, there. “It is extremely probable,” says
Mr. Grant, “that he was the John Hepburn who studied at St.
Leonard’s, as that university was founded by one of his family, John
Hepburne, prior of the Augustinian monastery, and son of Adam,
second Lord Hailes. Many students of his name were studying there
during the first twenty years of the seventeenth century; and one of
these, James Hepburn, died at Rome, keeper of the Vatican library.”
In 1615, to improve his mind and obtain a knowledge of foreign
languages and manners, with his friend, afterwards Colonel Sir
Robert Munro, he visited Paris and Poictiers. Sir David Dalrymple,
Lord Hailes, says, “Sir Robert Monro and Sir John Hepburn joined the
more important advantages of academical study in foreign parts, as
well as at home.” In the spring of 1620 he joined, as a volunteer,
Sir Andrew Gray, a soldier of fortune then recruiting for the cause
of the elector palatine, the unfortunate king of Bohemia, who had
married the princess Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of their own
sovereign, James the Sixth, and had formed a camp on the Monkrig, a
property of the Hepburns in East Lothian. About the end of May they
sailed from Leith for Holland, and on the 1st October of
the same year joined a part of the Bohemian army. Soon after he
obtained the command of a company of pikes in Sir Andrew Gray’s
Scottish band, which was employed to guard the king’s person. After
the battle of Prague, November 8, 1620, the Scottish companies were
employed under Ernest, count of Mansfeldt, in Germany and Alsace,
and in 1622, after the commencement of the Thirty Years’ War,
Captain John Hepburn was one of the defenders of Bergen-op-Zoom,
against the strong besieging force of the marquis de Spinola. The
troops, under Mansfeldt, “12,000 strong, horse and foot,” all
soldiers of fortune, subsequently joined the Dutch, and at the
sanguinary battle of Fleurus, in Hainault, in 20th August
1622, fought to prevent them entering Flanders, the Scottish bands,
led by Captains John Hepburn, Hume, and Sir James Ramsay, are
recorded to have evinced the most determined bravery. Though
defeated, they succeeded in entering Holland, which caused the
raising of the new siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and in the following
year Mansfeldt’s army was disbanded. Under Captain Hepburn the
survivors of the Scottish companies went to Sweden, and entered the
service of the great Gustavus Adolphus, who had taken up arms in
defence of the Protestant cause, then in extreme jeopardy. Although
a Catholic, Hepburn did not scruple to serve under so great a
commander. On the other hand, several Scots Presbyterian officers of
note were fighting under the Austrian banners. His cousin, James
Hepburn, younger of Waughton, also joined the Swedish service, and
soon attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but was killed in
Lorraine in 1637. By his ardour and high military qualities, John
Hepburn early acquired the favour of Gustavus, who in 1625 appointed
him colonel of one of the auxiliary regiments, composed of his
countrymen who had served with him in Bohemia and Holland, and of
which the first or Royal Scots regiment of the British line is now
the direct representative. It is stated by Mr. Grant that every
historian of the wars of Gustavus extole the brave Hepburn as thee
most famous of his cavaliers, and Defoe, who introduces him
prominently in one of his most graphic novels, says, “he was a
complete soldier indeed, and so well beloved by the gallant king (Gustavus)
that he hardly knew how to go about any great action without him.”
The Swedish king is said to have ascribed his great victory at
Leipsic to Hepburn’s Scottish brigade alone. In 1625, Col. Hepburn’s
regiment formed part of the army which invaded Polish Prussia, and
served in that victorious campaign which gave Selburg, Nidorp,
Dorpat, and Duneberg to Gustavus, and ended in the total rout of the
Polish army on the plains of Semigallia, in the duchy of Courland.
“It was,” says his biographer, “during this Polish war, that Hepburn
began the series of brilliant achievements which marked his career
under the banner of Gustavus.” Having resolved to effect the relief
of Mewe, a town of Western Prussia, where his garrison was closely
blocked up, Gustavus sent a force of three thousand Scottish
infantry, under Hepburn, and five hundred horse under Count Thurm,
to cut a passage over a fortified hill defended by thirty thousand
men. By a secret path at night, they gained the summit of the hill,
without being discovered, and furiously attacked the Poles, but
after a severe struggle, were compelled to retire. Taking up a
position beside a rock, where he received a small reinforcement,
Hepburn defended himself for two whole days against the entire
Polish army, during which Gustavus achieved the relief of the town.
He frequently volunteered on desperate duties, and in 1627, with his
regiment he accompanied Gustavus into Prussia, where he bore a
prominent part in all the operations of that brave and
well-disciplined army, which stormed Kesmark, a free town of
Hungary, defeated the Poles who were marching to its relief,
besieged and captured Marienburg, and again defeated the Poles at
Dirchan, a city of the Teutonic knights.
In 1630,
previous to which year he had been knighted for his eminent
services, he was in the army led by Gustavus in person against the
Imperialists in Pomerania, and after the capture of the island of
Rugen by Lieutenant-colonel Munro, he was appointed by Gustavus
governor of the town and castle of Rugenwalde. Soon after he
distinguished himself at the siege of the strong fortress of
Colberg, and after the capitulation of that place, he marched to the
vicinity of Stettin. In March 1631, with his regiment he encamped at
Schwedt, in the province of Brandenburg, and, without any increase
of rank, received command of a brigade of four chosen Scottish
regiments in the service of the Swedish king, called Hepburn’s Scots
brigade. The honour of leading the van of the Swedish army was given
to this brigade, which, from the colour of the doublets, scarfs,
feathers, and standards of its soldiers, was also called the Green
brigade. At the siege of Frankfort on the Oder, Sir John was
severely wounded above the knee, and, on its surrender, after a
terrible slaughter, he joined the force under Marshal Horne, which
had blocked up Landsberg, a town on the east bank of the Oder, then
held by the Imperialists. On the fall of that place his brigade
formed part of the force that invested Berlin, and at Old
Brandenburg, 34 miles west of that city, he remained until quite
cured of his wound. He was afterwards engaged in numerous sharp
skirmishes, outfalls, and other hazardous duties. At the great
battle of Leipsic, 7th September 1631, where Tilly’s army
was almost annihilated, the Scottish troops in the service of
Gustavus distinguished themselves beyond all others, and Sir John
Hepburn, who, as senior colonel, commanded the reserve, consisting
of three brigades, whose advance decided the battle, behaved himself
so gallantly that, according to Sir Thomas Urquhart, “unto him, in
so far as praise is due to man, was attributed the honour of the
day.”
At the
storming of Marienburg, 5th October following, the Scots
brigade were also prominently engaged. After beating down the gate
of the keep, they were about to advance into the heart of the place,
when, to their great indignation, Gustavus ordered them to retire,
sending forward some Swedish r3egiments to perform this service
instead. Soon after, with 800 musketeers, Sir John was sent to
defend Ochsenfurt, a town on the Maine, against the Imperialists,
and so prevent their vast force, amounting to 50,000 men, from
crossing the river. Subsequently he was at the storming of Oppenheim,
and at the siege of Mentz which followed. The city of Donanworth,
the key to Suabia, was taken by the Scots under his command, after a
desperate resistance, as was also the castle of Oberndorff; and they
succeeded in forcing the small river Lech, leading the van as usual,
after a hard contested battle, in which the count de Tilly,
generalissimo of the Imperial troops, was mortally wounded. Sir John
was subsequently employed in Bavaria; and on the fall of Munich he
was appointed military governor of that capital; but, when
Wallenstein advanced with a formidable army, Gustavus found it
expedient to evacuate Bavaria. Both armies met at Nuremberg, in the
center of Germany, where Wallenstein, not finding it advisable to
risk a battle, remained in his entrenchments, on which an
ineffectual assault was made by the Swedish force. At this important
crisis a rupture took place between Gustavus and Sir John Hepburn,
which led to the retirement of the latter from his service. “Of the
exact merits of the dispute,” says Mr. Grant, “there is no proper
account preserved. Having had high words, Gustavus in his anger was
so imprudent as to upbraid Hepburn with his religion, which was
Catholic, and also to remark, tauntingly, the extreme richness of
his armour and apparel. Schiller adds that the colonel was ‘offended
with the king for having, not long before, preferred a younger
officer to some post of danger; and rashly vowed never again to draw
a sword in the Swedish quarrel.’ “ With the marquis of Hamilton, Sir
James Hamilton of Priestfield, and Sir James Ramsay, who had also
quitted the Swedish service, Hepburn arrived in London in the autumn
of 1632, and was presented by the marquis to Charles the First, who
is said to have knighted him, although it is certain that he had
received this honour long previously.
Before the
close of that year he offered his services to the king of France,
and from Louis XIII. He received a commission, dated 26th
January 1633, constituting him colonel of a regiment composed of
various old Scots companies which, for some time, had served
independently in the French army. On his arrival in France, he
obtained the rank of marechal-de-camp. He and his regiment
formed part of the force which invaded Lorraine, on the French king
declaring war against Austria, and at the siege of La Mothe, from
March to 28thg July, 1634, he and the young Vicomte Turenne,
afterwards the celebrated marshal of that name, distinguished
themselves so greatly, that to their exertions and gallantry, the
surrender of the town was principally attributed. With the main
army, Sir John and the force under him, soon after crossed the
Rhine, and advanced to the relief of Heidelberg., then defended
against the Imperialists by some Swedish troops. After several sharp
conflicts, he drove the enemy completely out of the vale of the
neckar, and effectually relieved the beleaguered garrison, on 23d
December 1634, taking possession of that city and fortress, with all
their cannon. The French army having formed a junction with a
Sw4edish force under duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, the remnant of his
old brigade was again placed under his command, incorporated into
one corps, and styled Le Regiment d’Hebron, as Hepburn was
spelled and pronounced in France. In the subsequent campaign in
Germany, under the Cardinal de Valette, he also served with great
distinction, but the French army were at last compelled to retreat,
pursued and continually harassed by the Imperialists, Hepburn with
his corps covering the rear, and fighting incessantly all the way
back to France. In the spring of 1636, he served in Lorraine, with
the army under the duke of Saxe-Weimar, and so eminent were his
services that King Louis ordered the diploma of a marshal of France
to be expedited under the great seal for him. Before, however, it
could, with his marshal’s baton, reach the camp, he was killed at
the siege of Saverne, by a ball shot from the ramparts, on 21st
June 1636, when he was not more than in his 36th or 38th
year. He was buried, with great splendour, in the southern transept
of the cathedral of Toul in French Lorraine, and many years
afterwards, a noble monument to his memory was erected above his
remains by Louis XIV. In 1793 this monument was demolished by the
Revolutionary mob, but in 1853, when the cathedral of Toul was
undergoing a renovation, in making some excavations, the coffin of
Sir John Hepburn was discovered. The coffin, composed of lead, was
scrupulously respected, and was again interred. It bears the
following inscription: – “Dom Ossa Joannis Hepvrinin Scoti
Eqvitisavrati Exercitvs Galici Campi Marescalli Qviad Tabernas
Sclopeto. Trajectvs Occvbvit viii. Idvs ivlii. MDCXXXVI., Reqviescat
in Pace.”
_____
The
principal branch of the Waughton family terminated in an heiress,
who married Sir Andrew Ramsay, baronet, of Abbotshall, fife. The
representation of the family in the male line then devolved on the
Hepburns of Smeaton, Haddingtonshire, descended from Adam Hepburn,
who, in 1538, got from his father, Sir Patrick Hepburn of Waughton,
half of the lands of Smeaton, and the whole lands of Smeaton Crux.
The direct male line of this house terminated in George Hepburn of
Smeaton, who died, unmarried, 1st March 1764, and was
succeeded in that estate by the eldest son of Elizabeth, his sister,
George Buchan, younger of Letham, who thereupon assumed the name and
arms of Hepburn of Smeaton, and was appointed one of the barons of
the court of Exchequer in Scotland in 1801. He was created a baronet
of the United Kingdom May 6, 1815, and died June 26, 1819. His son,
Sir John, 2d baronet, had 2 sons and a daughter, and died October 8,
1833.
Sir John’s
elder son, Sir Thomas, 3d baronet, born Sept. 30, 1804, passed
advocate in 1827; M.P. for Haddingtonshire from 1838 to 1847; deputy
lieutenant of the county; married in 1835 the daughter of Arch.
Little, Esq., of Sheldon Park, surrey; issue, 2 sons and 4
daughters.
_____
The cadets
of the family of Smeaton were Robert Hepburn of Alderston,
predecessor of Hepburn of Bearford; and Francis Hepburn of Benistoun.
The
Hepburns of Humbie, East Lothian, descend from John Hepburn of
Kirklandhill, brother of Sir Patrick Hepburn of Waughton, and uncle
of Adam Hepburn of Smeaton. His great-grandson, Sir Adam Hepburn of
Humbie, was appointed clerk to the committee of Estates elected in
June 1640, to oppose Charles I., and accompanied the Scottish army
to England in the campaign of that year. He was knighted Nov. 15,
1641, and appointed a lord of session. He was representative in the
Estates for the county of Haddington, and Aug. 17, 1643, appointed
collector-general and treasurer to the army. He was a member of the
various committees of the estates, and appears to have been among
the most zealous and active of his party. In 1650 he attended
Charles II. At Perth, and in August of the following year he was
taken prisoner by Colonel Aldriche and 500 horse at Alyth, and sent
to London. He died, according to Nicol, in 1656, but according to
Lamont, in 1658, leaving his estate to his daughter.
Hepburn of
Riccarton, Forfarshire, descended from Hepburn of Whitsome in the
Merse, brother of Patrick Hepburn, Lord Hailes, about 1450. The
Hepburns of Blackhall are a branch of the Riccarton family. See
SUPPLEMENT.
HEPBURN, JAMES,
fourth earl of Bothwell, see article BOTHWELL.
HEPBURN, JAMES
BONAVENTURA,
a celebrated linguist, was born at Oldhamstocks, East Lothian, July
14, 1573. His father, Thomas Hepburn, a disciple of John Knox, was
rector of that parish. James was educated in the Reformed religion,
and studied at the university of St. Andrews, where he became a
convert to Popery. He soon after passed over to France, and from
thence proceeded into Italy. He then travelled through Turkey,
Persia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Ethiopia, and most of the countries
of the East. He is said to have acquired no less than seventy-two
different languages. On his return from his eastern travels, he
embraced the monastic life, and entered into a convent of Minims in
the vicinity of Avignon. After residing there for some time he
removed to Rome, and retired into the monastery of the Holy Trinity.
The fame of his acquirements soon reached the ears of Pope Paul V.,
by whom he was appointed librarian of the oriental books and
manuscripts in the Vatican. In this situation he remained for sic
years. A Hebrew and Chaldiac Dictionary, and an Arabic Grammar,
compiled by him, forming one volume quarto, appeared at Rome in
1591. He published also translations from Hebrew manuscripts, and
other works, amounting altogether to twenty-nine. About 1620 he went
to Venice with an intention of translating some Hebrew, Syriac, and
Chaldiac writings, and died there in that or the following year.
HEPBURN, ROBERT,
of Bearford, a miscellaneous writer of great promise, was born about
1690 or 1691. After studying the civil law in Holland, he returned
to Scotland in 1711; and, when only twenty-one years of age, he
brought out at Edinburgh a weekly periodical, entitled ‘The Tatler,
by Donald Macstaff of the North,’ which was a professed imitation of
the English work of that name, and, like it, consisted of a series
of essays on literature and manners. He appears to have possessed
vigorous native powers, and a well cultivated mind; but, from his
strong turn for personal satire, his papers seem to have given great
offence, and his periodical only reached thirty numbers. In 1712 he
was admitted a member of the faculty of advocates, soon after which
he died. Two little treatises which he left behind him were
published at Edinburgh, the one ‘Demonstratio quod Deus sit,’ in
1714, and the other, ‘Dissertatio De Scriptis Pitcarnianis,’ in
1715. The same year appeared ‘A Discourse concerning the Character
of a Man of Genius, by Mr. Hepburn,’ supposed to be the subject of
this notice.
