Old family; or, The Setons of Scotland and America

216 AN OLD FAMILY. [a.d.
just beyond the church in the illustration of Tranent. It
stands — or perhaps stood, for I heard recently that it was to
be taken down — on a prominent position in a field opposite
the churchyard, commonly called the Dookit Brae. It was
built in the latter part of the sixteenth century by David
Seton, who was Chamberlain to his relative Lord Seton and
Deputy Bailiff of Tranent town. It had been constructed, as
the pigeon holes show, to accommodate 1,090 pair of pigeons,
and bears the following inscription: David Sitoun — ijSj.
Falside.
Falside Castle, now in ruins, has a remarkable history. It
lies about eight miles to the east of Edinburgh, and nearly
two miles to the west of the village of Tranent. It is a
strong and ancient fortalice, and a picturesque object in that
land of mediaeval towers, and is supposed to have been begun
in the latter part of the eleventh century, and probably by
Saher de Say himself, who there found his first secure resting-
place in Scotland. Its earliest history connects it with the
Seton family, to a younger branch of which it once belonged
and gave a name, " who styled themselves Seton of Falside, "
and afterward " de Falside" only, a not uncommon process
in far-back times in Scotland, when juniors succeeding to or
in any way acquiring an independent estate often dropped the
patronymic and assumed a totally new name — either that of
the heiress-wife or of the mother from whom they got the
property, or that of the land itself. Thus, the Edmonstones
of Edmonstone were originally Setons, as is now recognized
even by themselves. * The Gordons and the Montgomeries
also are examples of change of name on succeeding to great
inheritances.
* Genealogical Account of the Family of Edmonstone of Duntreath.