Genealogical and heraldic account of the Coultharts of Coulthart and Collyn, etc.

THE COULTHARTS OF COULTHART.
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rial ensigns have ever since, without alteration, been borne by the chiefs of
the family." The wife of Sir Roger was Isabella Stewart, a daughter of
Walter the Steward of Scotland.
The earliest seal bearing the
arms now known to exist is at-
tached to a charter granted by a
later Sir Roger de Coulthart, in
1443, to his brother-in-lawRobert
de Agnew of the lands of Fellmore
in Galloway. This seal is said to
be " still remarkably perfect."
The legend is unusual in form
and position, mentioning only the
surname and not the personal
name of its owner. The sup-
porters form a rebus of the name
—a colt, attired as a war-horse, and a hart, gorged with a coronet.
The father of this Roger, Sir Gilbert, died in 1391 at Dantzick, in the
service of Prussia against the Turks ; and for some generations after, the
fate of each successive head of the family is remarkable. Sir Roger fell at
the siege of Roxburgh castle in 1460; Sir Roger, his son, was killed at
Sauchyburn in 1488 : Sir Richard, the next laird, was slain at Flodden in
1513; and Cuthbert, his successor, at Solway Moss in 1542. One of the
sons of the Sir Roger that died in 1488 was Henry, who settled in Craven in
Yorkshire, and was ancestor of the late H. W. Coulthurst, D.D. Vicar of
Halifax. In the next century occurs another remarkable cadet, one
" Roger, a major in the army of King Charles II. [or I. ?] who, to avoid
persecution when Oliver Cromwell was proclaimed Lord Protector, flew
beyond seas, and never afterwards returned from exile." If there are any
Coultharts in America, they may claim descent from this Major.
We arrive at more peaceful times ; and Richard Coulthart, esq. the chief
who was born in 1659 and died in 1717, was an eminent agriculturist and
author of The Economy of Agriculture, long a favourite text-book of the
farmers of Scotland. His wife was the heiress of Gordon of Sorbie, whose
pedigree we shall have to mention.
He was great-grandfather of the last chief of the house, who was also
devoted to the science of agriculture, residing in Cumberland, where his
tomb is placed in his parish churchyard of Bolton-le-Gate, and is similar to
thoseof the Coulthart family at Kells and Kirkpatrick-Fleming. It bears the
following inscription to his memory, written by the Bishop of Manchester : —
" Gulielmus Coulthart de Coulthart et Collyn Arm. Gentis nominisque
sue facile primarius. Nat. die Martis xxi° MDCCLXXIV. Denat. die
Octob. vii° MDCCCXLVII."
Not long after the decease of this gentleman his widow caused the west
window of Bolton-le-Gate church to be filled with stained glass by Mr.
Willement, of London ; a commission executed with such success, that it is
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