Old family; or, The Setons of Scotland and America

220 AN OLD FAMILY. [ A .D.
of this ancient family has passed to Sir George Grant-Suttie,
Bart., and all that now remains of a race that flourished there
for over four hundred years are the ruins of the old weather-
beaten castle bearing their name, and a quaint though much-
defaced tablet, formerly in the inside, but now on the outside
north wall of Tranent Church, inscribed " John Fawside of
that ilk."
The arms were gules, a fess or between three bezants of the
same. The tinctures are those of Seton, only reversed. The
fess, in heraldry, is a bar drawn across the middle of the
shield, and is emblematical, perhaps, of the military belt or
girdle worn by knights around the emblazoned surcoat or outer
garment, which was thrown over the armor to keep it from
rust and dirt. The bezants, or golden roundels, representing
a Byzantine coin or money of Constantinople, would seem to
indicate some Crusading ancestor who was made prisoner, and
had to ransom himself from the Infidel.
Elphinsttme Castle.
This grand ruin is situated on rising ground in the southern
extremity of the Parish of Tranent. It is built on solid rock.
Nothing but the great tower now remains, but it is one of
the most remarkable and best preserved of the old Scottish
keeps. It is an oblong square more than sixty-five feet high,
constructed of large blocks of hewn stone, laid in courses.
The walls at the base are over twelve feet thick. The build-
ing is entered through a Norman-shaped archway. A narrow
stone staircase leads up to the second story, which forms a
single apartment — the feudal banqueting hall — thirty feet
long, eighteen feet wide, and nearly twenty-five feet high.
It is lighted by two windows, from which there are beautiful
views over the surrounding country. This apartment con-