he marriage of his
parents, and bonds were found in the family chests, designating Lord
Wintoun as "our eldest lawful son," by Dame Christian Hepburn Countess
of Wintoun, "our spouse." This important point being established, Lord
Wintoun served himself heir to his father and became the possessor of
the family estates, chiefly situated in East Lothian, their principal
residence being the palace of Seaton, so recognized in the royal
charters, from its having been the favourite resort of royalty, the
scene of entertainment to Mary of Scots, and her court, and the
residence of Charles the First, when in Scotland in 1633. It was
afterwards the place of meeting for the Jacobite nobles, and their
adherents.[7]

Differing from many of his companions in arms, Lord Wintoun was a
zealous Protestant; but without any regard to the supremacy of either
mode of faith, it appears to have been a natural consequence of his
birth and early associations that he should cling to the house of the
Stuarts. One would almost have applied to the young nobleman the term
"recreant," had he wavered when the descendant of Mary Stuart claimed
his services. But such a course was far from his inclination. It was
afterwards deemed expedient by his friends to plead for him on the
ground of natural weakness of intellect; "but," says a contemporary,
"Lord Wintoun wants no courage, nor so much capacity as his friends find
it for his interest to suggest."[8] He was forward in action, and
stimulated the military ardour of his followers, as they rushed with
their ancient cry of "Set-on" to the combat. The earliest motto borne on
these arms by the Seatons, "Hazard, yet forward," might indeed be
mournfully applied to all who engaged in the hopeless Rebellion of 1715.

Lord Wintoun, like Lord Derwentwater, was in the bloom of his youth when
he summoned his tenantry to follow him to the rendezvous appointed by
Lord Kenmure. He took with him three hundred men to the standard of
James Stuart; but he appears to have carried with him a fiery and
determined temper,--the accompaniment, perhaps, of noble qualities, but
a dangerous attribute in times of difficulty.

Robert Dalzell, sixth Earl of Carnwath, was another of those Scottish
noblemen whose adherence to the Stuarts can only be regarded as a
natural consequence of their birth and education. The origin of his
family, which was of great antiquity in the county of Lanark, but had
been transplanted into Nithisdale, i