Undoubtedly, the hapless workers must have met a swift end at the hands of the King’s swords. But, “Through” is what saved Hamilton and this propitious (if somewhat deceitful) event is forever memorialized in the Hamilton crest which bears the image of a tree with a saw through it and the words “Through” below.

Additional land grants were made by the King of England to the Hamilton descendants and the title of Barony of Cadzow given to the Hamilton family. In 1445, Sir James Hamilton, Baron of Cadzow, was named the first Lord Hamilton. In 1503, James, the second Lord Hamilton, was also granted the Earldom of Arran and Brodick Castle as a gift from King James IVth on his wedding day. Later in 1513, James would be appointed Admiral of the Scottish Fleet.

Lord Hamilton had numerous offspring, including no less than seven illegitimate ones, including Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, who became Cup-bearer and Steward of the Royal Household under King James Vth. In his capacity of Royal Master of Works, Sir James supervised the building of several large castles, including those of Edinburgh, Stirling, and Blackness. He was rewarded for his industry with the lands of Draphen in Lanarkshire. This was the site that Sir James decide to erect the castle of Craignethan.

Two views of Castle Craignethan in Scotland—once the ancestral dwelling of the Hamiltons. Photos courtesy of the Scotland Historic Society)

However, things would end badly for James, who was known to have a fiery, explosive temper. In 1520, he appears to have been one of the main instigators in the infamous “Clear the Causeway” skirmish—a vicious street brawl--that took place on High Street in Edinburgh. Here members of the Clan Douglas, under the leadership of the Earl of Angus, came face-to-face with the Hamilton, led by James. When the fighting finally ceased, more than seventy men and numerous chiefs from the various sub-clans lay dead or dying in the streets. James was also guilty of murdering John Stuart, of Clan Stuart, the 12th Earl of Lennox, and having his own cousin, Patrick, burned at the stake as a Protestant heretic. In 1540, his enemies finally got the upper hand and James was found guilty of treason and embezzlement and quickly beheaded.
His son, John Hamilton, became the Archibishop of St. Andrews and baptized Queen Mary’s son, the future King James VIth. Unfortunately, he was found guilty of being an accomplice in the murders of Lord Darnley and the Regent Murray, the young James’ uncle and brother to the Queen. The Archbishop was hanged from the Bridge at Stirling in 1571, on the orders of the newly appointed Regent Lennox, who probably did not want to take any chances that the Archbishop might try to eliminate him too.

In 1575, James, 3rd Earl of Arran, was proposed at one time as a suitable husband for Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth decided that the Earl would make a more suitable match for her rival, Mary Queen of Scots instead. Helas, the young Earl was deemed insane in 1586 and his brother John became the 4th Earl of Arran and the 3rd Duke of Chatelherault. Both John and his sibling, Claud, were devoted supporters of Mary and helped escort her as she escaped from Elizabeth’s wrath to Hamilton Palace. For their steadfast support of his mother, King James VIth would grant Claud both the Barony and the Abbey of Paisley, raising him to Lord Paisley in 1587. To John the King gave the title of 1st Marquess of Hamilton and Lord Evan in 1599.

The Hamiltons of Waterborough:

My branch of the Hamilton family is descended from Thomas Hamilton, the third son of Sir John Hamilton, Lord of Cadzow. His second son was also named Thomas and was given the lands of Torrance and Lochhouse. Thomas had son John who, in turn, had a son James, who had four sons: James (who became his heir), John (of Shawtoin), George (slain by the Laird of Dunrod), and Allan (yes, same spelling, of Machlinghoill). The eldest James had an heir Robert, who had a son Matthew, who had a four sons, of whom the yongest was Andrew of Torrance. Andrew had two sons, Gabriel, who became his heir, and David, who came to America in 1651.David was born somewhere between 1620 and 1630 just outside of Hamilton, Scotland. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Dunbar on September 3, 1650 and transported to America aboard a prison ship, named the “John and Sara” in 1651. Once ashore, David was relinquished into indentured servitude, first in Massachusetts and then, later, in New Hampshire. When he was taken prisoner, David had left his true love, Anna Jackson, behind in Lanarkshire. As luck would have it, Anna’s father, Richard Jackson, was also a royalist and was also banished to America aboard the very same prison ship that took David Hamilton to America. Richard Jackson was eventually freed from his own indentured service and built a homestead in Saco, Maine and eventually sent for both his wife and daughter. David married Anna on July 14, 1662. David eventually acquired land near Dover, New Hampshire. He was eventually killed by Indians at Newichawannock in 1692 but left no less than seven sons: David, Solomon, Gabriel, Abial, Jonathon, Abel, and Jonas.

Abel, the sixth son of David and Anna, was born in 1676. He had a son, Benjamin Hamilton, who was born in 1719 in Berwick, Maine. He married Experience Walker on October 27, 1747 and they had six children. In 1780, while on his way from Berwick to Massabesick in the company of both his wife and youngest son John, the family was attacked by Indians and his wife was scalped and killed. He would vividly recall the horror of this encounter for the rest of his life and would point out the very spot where she was killed to his children and grandchildren. Benjamin Hamilton lies buried in graveyard in Lyman, Maine along with three of his sons.Benjamin Hamilton was his eldest boy and he married Judith Ricker of Somerset, New Hampshire in 1771. They also lie buried in Lyman. They had two daughters, Abigail and Sally. Abigail Hamilton married the Rev. Hobbs in Waterborough, Maine on January 17, 1793. Sally Hobbs was born on September 25, 1798 and married Captain William Swett in Waterborough on January 24, 1800.There are more than ten generations of Hamiltons descended from David Hamilton of Torrance. My family has lived in New England for generations and I eventually took up residence in Boston a few blocks from where Benjamin Hamilton, my stepfather, was born. I even met a very elderly lady who lived in the same apartment building as I did when I was a medical student in Brookline, who had her wisdom teeth removed by his father—it can be a very small world. I hesitate at times to say I am a Hamilton since my stepfather gave me his surname. Ben, my stepdad, never had any sons of his own to carry on the Hamilton name but he did pass it on to both my brother and myself. We both have children who will carry on that name. It’s a name that I care about and cherish. As I look back at all the broken bloodlines and “dead-ends”--where titles and names were changed, lost, or illegitimate heirs intervened--I guess I am of as pure a bloodline and descent as any Hamilton as there ever was.