A Brief History of Herbertshire
Herbertshire originally extended from Torwood
to the Buchie Burn near Carronbridge. Today this approximates
to the Dunipace boundary. South Herbertshire is basically
where Denny stands today.
Circa 1200AD a man called Herbert De Camera
became the High Chamberlain of Scotland. This appointment
meant that he ran Scotland for the king. It was most probably
this Herbert that named the area after himself and built Herbertshire
castle. The other possibility is that the king had it built
for him as part payment for the importance of his job. De
Camera meant chamberlain so this was not the family name.
In all probability it was De Moreham.
The men of Herbertshire played an integral
part during the wars of independence. Sir Thomas De Moreham
was captured after the Battle of Dunbar (1296) and imprisoned
in the Tower of London and not released until after the Battle
of Bannockburn (1314). His son Herbert was warden at the siege
of Bothwell Castle (1301) and was executed in the Tower of
London by decapitation. This probably resulted because Herbert
captured the Countess of Fife while she was under the protection
of Edward the 1st king of England.
Herbertshire men were famous as among the
best soldiers in the country. In a report in Denny library
it says that the cream of the troops at Bannockburn came from
the four castles in the Carron valley. Two of these four castles
were in Herbertshire namely, Herbertshire Castle owned by
Thomas De Moreham and Castle Rankine owned by Herbert De Moreham.
This is not surprising since we are descended from a tribe
of warriors called the Maeatae who lived in the area during
the Iron Age and the Roman occupation. This tribe had forts
on top of The Myot Hill, behind Binn o' the Braes and just
east of the Dunipace to Plean road.
They were so fierce that after a battle near the Hills of
Dunipace where there was no winner the Romans paid them to
keep the peace. The tribe made raids into England to rob them
of their wealth and on one occasion reached as far as London.
Therefore it is readily seen that we have
a wonderful history on our doorstep and hopefully the Highland
Games and other future events will lead to more local people
researching "our place" in Scotland's story.
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