Clan Leslie is a Lowland Scottish clan. The progenitor of the Clan, Bartolf, was a nobleman from Hungary, who came to Scotland in 1067. He built a castle at Lesselyn, from which the clan name derives.
Clan Chief, the Earl of Rothes
From 1457 the Clan Chief of Clan Leslie also held the position of Earl of Rothes. The Chief is currently the Hon. Alexander Leslie, the brother of James Malcolm David Leslie, 22nd Earl of Rothes (born 1958).
History
Origins
The first Leslie in Aberdeenshire was Alexander who was appointed Constable of the Bass of Inverurie in 1080 on behalf of the king, his brother-in-law.
The progenitor of the Clan Leslie is a man named Bartolf who was a nobleman from Hungary, who came to Scotland in 1067. Bartolf was in the retinue of Edgar the Ætheling, brother of Saint Margaret of Scotland, who was later the queen of Malcolm III of Scotland. Bartholf later married Malcolm III's sister, Princess Beatrix of Scotland.
Bartolf was said to be a man of intellect and bravery and as a result Malcolm III made him governor of the royal Edinburgh Castle and gave him estates in Fife, Angus, the Mearns and Aberdeenshire. It is said that Bartolf helped the queen across a dangerous river on a horse and that Bartolf told her to "grip fast", which is where the Leslie family motto originates.
Bartolf established himself in the Garioch district of Aberdeenshire, at a place then known as Lesselyn. At Lesselyn he built a castle and it is from there that the name evolved into Lesley, and the various spelling variations. Bartolf's son was named Malcolm and was made constable of the royal Inverury Castle, which he held for David II of Scotland. His great-grandson was Sir Norman Lesley who acquired the lands of Fythkill in Fife, which were later called Lesley, in about 1282.
14th to 15th centuries: Rothes and Balquhain
The family sided with Robert the Bruce against firstly The Comyn in the Buchan and secondly King Edward I and as a result were awarded further tracts of Aberdeenshire. They fought at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Sir Andrew de Lesly was one of the signatories of Declaration of Arbroath, was sent to the Pope in 1320 asserting Scotland's independence. His grandson, Walter died at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411 together with six of his cousins from Balquhain.
The chiefly line of the Clan Leslie passed to a junior branch of the family, from whom the present Earl of Rothes descends. In 1391, Sir Norman Lesley believed that his only son, David, had been killed in the Crusades, and therefore passed over his estates to his cousin, Sir George Lesley. Then in 1398, after George Lesley had taken possession of the castle and lands, David returned from the Crusades and claimed possession of his estate. The family managed to resolve the matter peacefully and in 1445 Sir George Lesley's grandson, also called George, was created a Lord of Parliament as Lord Lesley of Leven, and all of his lands were united into the barony of Ballinbreich. At some point before 1458, he was then advanced to the title of Earl of Rothes.
16th century
Rothes
During the Anglo-Scottish Wars, George de Lesly was the Leslys' first Earl. His son George Leslie, the 2nd Earl, and his grandson were killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The third Earl, also George, carried out a private family vendetta on the life of David Beaton, cardinal Archbishop of St Andrews. At the trial he was acquitted.
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes, was one of the Scottish commissioners at the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, as heir to the throne of France in 1558. George, along with the Earl of Cascillus and two others, died in mysterious circumstances, believed to be poisoning for refusing to allow the crown of Scotland to be settled on the Dauphin of France.
Balquhain
Fetternear which became the home of the Leslies of Balquhain, Wardes, and Warthill includes the remains of a 14th-century palace, home of Bishop Alexander Kininmund who, in 1320, drafted the Declaration of Arbroath, the letter sent to Pope John XXII in Avignon declaring that the Scots would never be subjected to English rule. It also incorporates the remains of even earlier palaces and sites of settlement dating back 4,000 years.
John Leslie, Bishop of Ross was born in 1526. He was the most loyal of Mary, Queen of Scots's supporters during the turbulent times of 1562. It was John Leslie who wrote for her the famous History of Scotland. He, the second baron of Wardes, was awarded extensive lands in the Garioch from James IV and was five times married. He is now represented in the Garioch by the Leslies of Warthill descended from his second son.