Kirkpatrick of Closeburn

MEMOIR
RESPECTING THE FAMILY OF
KIRKPATRICK OF CLOSEBURN,
IN NITHSDALE,
WITH NOTICES OF SOME COLLATERALS.
It appears certain that the family of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn (in ancient times
Kil-Osbern) possessed estates in Nithsdale and Annandale as early as the 8th century,
although various circumstances have occurred to destroy any evidence of title, earlier
than the time of Ivone de Kirkpatrick, in the reign of David the First, at the
commencement of the 12th century.
Living on the Border they were engaged in continual feuds and fights. In 1570
the Earl of Sussex entered Nithsdale with an army of 4000 men, and took and
sacked Closeburn. In 1646 Douglas and others plundered Closeburn, and took away
" what was anyway transportable." And in 1748 Closeburn was burnt to the ground,
when " all the family portraits and furniture, with the greatest part of the papers and
documents were consumed." See Playfair's Scottish Baronetage. There are,
however, sufficient documents, private and public, to prove the Pedigree, as set forth
in the annexed genealogical table.
8^
1. Ivone de Kirkpatkick of Kilosbern (Cella Osberni), is the first whose name
can be traced in any known document. In the reign of David the First, King of
Scotland, who came to the throne a. d. 1124, his name occurs in a Charter of Robert
Brus the elder and Eufemia his wife, granting the fishing of Torduff to the Monks of