Origins of the clan The origins of the Eliotts is surrounded in obscurity. However, in 1565 a deadly feud arose between the Ellots and their neighbours, the
Clan Scott. Scott of Buccleuch executed four Ellots for the minor crime of cattle rustling. In response three hundred Ellots rode to avenge the fate of their kinsmen. During the battle losses on both sides were heavy but eventually the two clans came to terms with each other. Another feud took place between the Ellots and
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, the future husband of
Mary, Queen of Scots. A skirmish took place around Hermitage Castle in which the earl was wounded. In reprisal, in 1569, a royal force of nearly four thousand men devastated the Ellot's lands.
17th, 18th and 19th centuries In 1603 the
Union of the Crowns marked the end of the border reivers. Many people were executed and many of the Borderers found new lives in
Ulster when much of that province was colonised. Robert Eliott of Redheugh left his broad lands in Liddesdale and went into exile in
Fife. The use of the letter "i" in the Ellot surname was introduced in about 1650. In 1666 Sir Gillbert Eliott of Stobs was created a
Baronet of Nova Scotia by
Charles II of England. He became chief of the Clan Eliott in 1673. In 1764 the
third Baronet remodelled the old Tower of Stobs into a mansion house. His second son was
George Augustus Eliott who was rewarded for a spirited defense of
Gibraltar in 1782. A branch of the chief's family acquired the lands of Minto in 1703.
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto was a diplomat who served in
Corsica and
Vienna. He later became Governor General of
Bengal. ==Clan Chief==