James Nasmyth: Engineer | Page 7

shaft in two. Upon this, one of the pursuers rushed at him, calling out,
"Ye're nae smyth!" The stalwart hammerman turned upon his assailant,
and, wrenching a dagger from him, speedily overpowered him. The
smith himself, armed with a big hammer, effectually aided in
overpowering and driving out the Douglas men. A party of the royal
forces made their appearance, when Naesmyth rallied them, led them
against the rebels, and converted what had been a temporary defeat into
a victory. A grant of lands was bestowed upon him for his service. His
armorial bearings consisted of a hand dexter with a dagger, between
two broken hammer-shafts, and there they remain to this day. The
motto was, Non arte sect marte, "Not by art but by war" In my time I
have reversed the motto (Non marte sed arte); and instead of the broken
hammer-shafts, I have adopted, not as my "arms" but as a device, the
most potent form of mechanical art--the Steam Hammer.
[Image] Origin of the Name. By James Nasmyth.
Sir Michael Naesmyth, Chamberlain of the Archbishop of St. Andrews,
obtained the lands of Posso and Glenarth in 1544, by right of his wife,
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Baird of Posso. The Bairds
have ever been a loyal and gallant family. Sir Gilbert, father of John
Baird, fell at Flodden in 1513, in defence of his king.
The royal eyrie of Posso Crag is on the family estate; and the Lure

worn by Queen Mary, and presented by her son James VI. to James
Naesmyth, the Royal Falconer, is still preserved as a family heirloom.
During the intestine troubles in Scotland, in the reign of Mary, Sir
Michael Naesmyth espoused the cause of the unfortunate Queen. He
fought under her banner at Langside in 1568. He was banished, and his
estates were seized by the Regent Moray. But after the restoration of
peace, the Naesmyths regained their property. Sir Michael died at an
advanced age.
He had many sons. The eldest, James, married Joana, daughter of
William Veitch or Le Veitch of Dawick. By this marriage the lands of
Dawick came into the family. He predeceased his father, and was
succeeded by his son James, the Royal Falconer above referred to. Sir
Michael's second son, John, was chief chirurgeon to James VI. of
Scotland, afterwards James I. of England, and to Henry, Prince of
Wales. He died in London in 1613, and in his testament he leaves "his
herb to his young master, the Prince's grace." Charles I., in his
instructions to the President of the Court of Session, enjoins "that you
take special notice of the children of John Naesmyth, so often
recommended by our late dear father and us." Two of Sir Michael's
other sons were killed at Edinburgh in 1588, in a deadly feud between
the Scotts and the Naesmyths. In those days a sort of Corsican vendetta
was carried on between families from one generation to another.
Sir Michael Naesmyth, son of the Royal Falconer, succeeded to the
property. His eldest son James was appointed to serve in Claverhouse's
troop of horse in 1684. Among the other notable members of the family
was James Naesmyth, a very clever lawyer. He was supposed to be so
deep that he was generally known as the "Deil o' Dawyk". His eldest
son was long a member of Parliament for the county of Peebles; he was,
besides, a famous botanist, having studied under Linnaeus, Among the
inter-marriages of the family were those with the Bruces of Lethen, the
Stewarts of Traquhair, the Murrays of Stanhope, the Pringles of Clifton,
the Murrays of Philiphaugh, the Keiths (of the Earl Marischal's family),
the Andersons of St. Germains, the Marjoribanks of Lees, and others.
In the fourteenth century a branch of the Naesmyths of Posso settled at

Netherton, near Hamilton. They bought an estate and built a residence.
The lands adjoined part of the Duke of Hamilton's estate, and the house
was not far from the palace. There the Naesmyths remained until the
reign of Charles II. The King, or his advisers, determined to introduce
Episcopacy, or, as some thought, Roman Catholicism, into the country,
and to enforce it at the point of the sword.
The Naesmyths had always been loyal until now. But to be cleft by
sword and pricked by spear into a religion which they disbelieved, was
utterly hateful to the Netherton Naesmyths. Being Presbyterians, they
held to their own faith. They were prevented from using their
churches,* [footnote... In the reign of James II. of England and James
VII. of Scotland a law was enacted, "that whoever should preach in a
conventicle under a roof, or should attend, either as a preacher or as a
hearer, a conventicle in the open air, should be punished with death