There are many theories about
where our name comes from, one of the most prominent being that
it derives from the village of Harden which lies a few miles to
the west of the city of Leeds in England, but in Scotland Harden
is an area not a village, so it is possible that the area of
Harden is much older than the village of Harden in England,
however, it is equally possible that someone who's name was
Harden and who came from the English village moved to the area
and named it after himself or, someone called Harden arrived in
the area from another country altogether.
Who established this area as Harden? Who named it Harden? And
when? Was his name Harden? These questions are impossible to
answer but the Scottish area of Harden was certainly in
existence before 1501, when it was first mentioned in a charter
form Lord Home to Scott of Synton, so its origins must go back
much further and are now lost in the mists of history. but one
thing is certain, the area of Harden was in existence long
before Scott of Harden came into being, so it follows that there
were almost certainly Hardens of this name before there were
Scott’s of Harden.
Alas, the first written record of anyone bearing the name of
Harden in Scotland was of 'Scott of Synton' who used Harden as
an area designation.
Since writing the above entry
more information has come to light and is House of Names:
Spelling variations include: Harden, Hardene, Hardin, Hardon and
others.
First found in Roxburghshire where they were seated from very
ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the
arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.
It is well to mention here that the registration of events which
take place within the ancient Harden lands were and still are
registered in the county of Roxburghshire.
The oldest recording of the name Harden I have found is in the
Scottish borders (Black's Surnames of Scotland) and are as
follows;
1. John de Harden, Roxburghshire, Payed homage to Edward 1st
1296
2. Ricardos de Harden, recorded purchase of horse 1312
3. William of Harden, ? , 1359
Scott of
Harden
This ancient
branch of the Scotts is said to be descended from John, second
son of Sir Michael Scott of Rankilburn, who was killed at the
battle of Durham in 1346. Sir William Fraser asserts that Robert Scott of
Stirches, second son of Walter Scott of Synton, Selkirkshire,
by Margaret daughter of James Riddell of that Ilk, was the first
actual Scott specifically designated ‘of Harden’, who had a
charter of the lands of Harden from Alexander Lord Home
dated 3rd January 1501.
The Scotts of
Harden have numerous descendants and cadets, notably the Earls
of Tarras, as well as the Raeburn branch, which has become
famous as the paternal line of the great author, Sir Walter
Scott. Bt. 'Auld Wat' of Harden was a notorious Border Reiver
also worthy of mention as was 'Muckle Mouthed Meg', more about
these worthies can be found by clicking on this link
cowdenknowes.com
On the 18th
of April 1754 Walter Scott of Harden (d. 1793), married
Lady Diana Hume Campbell (d/1827), de jure Lady Polworth and 3rd
daughter of the Earl of Marchmont, Berwickshire. Their
eldest surviving son, Hugh Scott (1758 - 1851), claimed, and
was allowed by the house of Lords, the title of Lord
Polworth, and so became the 6th Lord Polworth.
From c 1680
to 1912 the Scotts of Harden owned and moved to the Mertoun
estate near St. Boswells and the old churchyard with the
burial vault of the Scotts of Harden, lies toward the
eastern boundary of the policies. Through the marriage
mentioned above they also acquired the Polworth estate, and it’s
seat.
This
illustrious family have sadly parted with most of their
inheritance, and their other magnificent seat – Marchmont.
But the present 10th Lord Polworth, Henry
Alexander Hepburne-Scott (b. 1916) has an eldest son and heir,
Andrew, who still resides at Harden House (oldest sections
date from c 1630), by Hawick, Roxburghshire. As noted above,
the family had earlier departed for their grander mansions,
but in 1913 they returned. It is pleasing to see a family
seat still intact with its original family in situ.
CULLODEN
In 1746 the Jacobite uprising
led by bonnie prince Charlie was finally defeated on the moors
of Culloden. Following their victory the English were determined
to break the clans forever and swept through the highlands
murdering many thousands of clansmen and their entire families,
many who survived were arrested and hung, or shot, while many
thousands more were loaded onto ships like cattle and taken to
the colonies a great many being taken to America.
In a further attempt to break the Clans the English also banned
the wearing of the kilt and the use of Clan names, these
offences were punishable by death, and in fear for their lives
many families changed their names or moved out of Scotland
altogether many hundreds of families doing both, so, bearing in
mind that there are only around 60,000 Hardens throughout the
world, there is a distinct possibility that a number of them
will have ancestors who were Scottish Hardens.
The area of Harden is in the borders a fact not lost on the
English who had suffered for hundreds of years in the constant
raiding across the border by both sides in raids carried out by
the famous “Border Reivers”. Were the Hardens from this area
Border Rievers? Of
course we shall never know for sure, but Scotts of Harden
certainly were and we can be reasonably sure that any Hardens in
the area would have considered Scott of Harden as their overlord
and followed him when ever called upon to do so.
