Weir

The Norman word ‘vere’, from which this name derives, comes from the same Norse root as the old English ‘weir’ meaning ‘dam’. Ralph de Ver was captured along with William the Lion at Alnwick in Northumberland in 1174. He witnessed a charter of his king of lands in the bishopric of Moray sometime between 1174 and 1184. He also donated land to the Abbey of Kelso, and his brother Robert was a witness. The Weirs of Blackwood in Lanarkshire, who were to become the principal family, claim descent from Ralph de Ver, although they do not appear holding their lands until around 1400. Richard Wer appears in the Ragman Roll, rendering homage to Edward I of England in 1296. In the same year, the sheriff of Edinburgh was ordered to restore to Thomas Le Wer certain forfeited lands. George Were received remission for his part in the burning of the town of Dumbarton in 1489. Major Thomas Weir was captain of the Edinburgh Town Guard in the late seventeenth century and a notable character in the city. In 1649 he formed the escort for the doomed Marquess of Montrose when crowds flocked to the Royal Mile to see him pass in a tumbril driven by the common hangman. Twenty years later, Major Weir had retired but was still well known in Edinburgh for his fervent protestant beliefs and great gift for prayer, and he regularly held prayer meetings which were well attended. At one such meeting in 1670, Major Weir suddenly announced that he often committed adultery, and had also indulged in incest with his sister. At first his followers refused to believe him, but not only did the major repeat his confession, his sister Jean added a version of her own. She recalled that the devil often took her brother in a fiery coach drawn by six black horses from the West Bow to Musselburgh and back. It was also alleged that the major’s walking stick frequently opened doors without any assistance from its owner. The major was in due course sentenced to death and was burnt at the stake on 11 April 1670. His sister was hanged at the Grassmarket. For long after his death, the people of Edinburgh would claim that the major could sometimes be seen riding about the West Bow on a headless horse, only to vanish in a burst of flames.