Rutherford

The lands of Rutherford are near Maxton in Roxburghshire, and there are two explanations given of the name’s origin. The first states that a man named Ruther guided an ancient king of Scots over a little-known ford in the River Tweed, giving him a victory against the Northumbrians. He was rewarded with a grant of land thereafter, named after the crossing which had brought him such good fortune. The other tradition tells of an English army which foolishly abandoned a strong position on heights above the Tweed to attack a Scottish force on the opposite bank. The English attempted to force a crossing of the river and were soundly defeated. The victorious Scots are said to have named the place Rue the Ford, to commemorate the disaster which befell the English at that spot. Whether or not this was the explanation, the English certainly came to rue the name, as the Rutherfords were fierce in their defence of their lands and eager to raid the rich pickings of Northumberland. Robert de Rutherford witnessed a charter by David I around 1140. Sir Nichol de Rutherford is mentioned in several charters between 1161 and 1272. Sir Richard Rutherford was a favourite of Robert III and witnessed a charter in 1390 in favour of William, steward of the lands of Minto. He was ambassador to England in 1398 and he and his sons were wardens of the marches. One of Sir Richard’s younger sons obtained the lands of Chatto and Hunthill. The main line failed, and the lands of Rutherford passed into the hands of the Traquairs. The name, however, continued to be feared in the Borders, and Thomas Rutherford, the Black Laird of Edgerston, was famed for his daring attacks upon the English. His most notable exploit was at the Battle of the Red Swire at Carterfell in July 1575. This came about when the English and Scots wardens of the marches had met to hear mutual grievances and to give redress for complaints. The Scots demanded the surrender of a notorious English brigand named Farnstein. The English warden, Sir John Forster, claimed that Farnstein had fled and could not be found. Sir John Carmichael, the Scots warden, doubted this and said so to Sir John in plain terms. The English warden retorted with insults regarding Carmichael’s family, whereupon the English bowman discharged a flight of arrows among the Scots. The Scots, being taken by surprise, were at first driven back and Sir John Carmichael taken prisoner. However, the Rutherfords and the men of Jedburgh soon appeared and put the English to flight, freeing Carmichael and instead taking prisoner the English warden and a number of his lieutenants. The Lairds of Edgerston further distinguished themselves fighting for Charles I during the civil war. Rutherford raised a troop of horse at his own expense and fought in England until the king surrendered in 1646. However, he took up the royal cause once more, only to be severely wounded and have his whole troop wiped out at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. Lieutenant General Andrew Rutherford of the Rutherfords of Chatto and Hunthill was raised to the peerage as Lord Rutherford in 1661. He was appointed Governor of Tangier in Morocco in 1663 and was killed in a battle against native forces in 1664. He had been advanced to the earldom of Teviot, but as he died without issue, this title became extinct, the title of ‘Lord Rutherford’ passing to a cousin. This title is also now extinct. Andrew Rutherford was MP for Leith from 1839 to 1851. He held the office of Lord Advocate and was ultimately elevated to the Bench with the judicial title of ‘Lord Rutherford’. Ernest Rutherford discovered the alpha particle and developed the nuclear theory of atomic structure, laying the groundwork for the development of nuclear physics in the twentieth century. He was knighted in 1914 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 1925, and died in 1937.