DE KETH, Hervey King's Marischal ¹

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Hervey married Margaret DOUGLAS, daughter of Unknown (William?) DE DOUGLAS and Unknown.^{1 2} (Margaret DOUGLAS was born about 1135.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Margaret (Douglas), who is said to have married Hervey Keith, ancestor of the Keiths Marischals of Scotland."

from The Douglas Book




"Herveus or Hervey (Keith), called also Herbert, who is said to have obtained from David 1. a grant of the north-west portion of the lands of Keith, in the parish of Humbie, in East Lothian. From its owner it was called first Keith-Hervey, and after-wards Keith-Marischal. About the same time as the acquisition by Hervey of this part of the lands of Keith, the south-east portion of the same manor came into the possession of Simon Fraser, was from him named Keith-Simon, and was afterwards known as Keith-Hundeby.

About the year 1160 Simon Fraser granted the church of Keith to the monks of Kelso, and the grant was confirmed by Malcolm IV. between 1160 and 1165, and by William the Lion between 1165 and 1214. As this church stood within the limits of Keith-Simon, Hervey seems to have erected a chapel on his manor of Keith-Hervey, and to have settled a yearly tribute from his lands on the mother church of Kelso.

It was probably this Hervey who held the office of King's Marischal under Malcolm IV. and William the Lion, and who had a long controversy with the monks of Kelso about the amount of the tribute for his chapel of Keith- Hervey. The contest was settled by Joceline, Bishop of Glasgow, and Osbert, Prior of Paisley, acting as the Pope's delegates, who, in a decreet of about the year 1176, decided that the monks should receive twenty shillings annually from the chapel and manor of Keith-Hervey. In the writ recording this decision Hervey is described as Marischal of the King of Scotland. He witnessed several charters of William the Lion between 1178 and 1199, and is said to have died before 1196. He is said to have married Margaret, daughter of William of Douglas, but this seems very doubtful (see Note below). He had a son, Malcolm"

from Scots Peerage (vol 6)

Note:

The chronology certainly does not support Margaret, the supposed wife of this Hervey de Keth, being the daughter of William de Douglas, father of Archibald Douglas and five other sons. It would , however, support her being the wife of the later Hervey de Keth (whose wife is unknown), this Hervey's great-grandson who was the son of Philip de Keth.

If indeed she was the wife of this Hervey de Keth, the dates would suggest she might have been a sister of William de Douglas, rather than his daughter. The lack of evidence forces us to treat this marriage with great caution. ^{1 2}