It has been announced that the skeletal remains of the Scottish prisoners, taken by Oliver Cromwell’s troops at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, that were discovered buried beneath Palace Green beside Durham University and the Cathedral, will be re-buried at the Elvet Hill Road cemetery in Durham at 11:15hrs on Friday 18th May 2018.
It is not known whether there are Clan ancestors amongst the remains, but there is a possibility as Sir David Hume of Wedderburn commanded a Foot Regiment at the battle and it was not unusual to have Clan members serving alongside. We know that Colonel Sir David Hume and his son, Lieutenant Colonel George Hume, were killed during the battle on the 3rd September 1650.
The prisoners were marched down to Durham and imprisoned in the derelict Cathedral.
For more information, please click on the following links:
For a general description of the battle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunbar_(1650)
For information on Durham University’s Archaeological Dunbar Prisoners Project https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/europe/pg-skeletons/history/
For details of Sir David Hume of wedderburn http://www.clan-home.org/tng11/getperson.php?personID=I1358&tree=2
Sir David Hume had raised the Company of the Merse Regiment before 1644, as we have details of their billeting and costs for December.
We also know that his son, George, had made his will on the 17th July 1650 and had written to his wife, Katherine (nee Morrison), two days before the battle, which starts “Deir Sueitt heartt” and finishes “God derect us, and me. Your ever most affectionatt husband till deathe.”
George’s widow, Dame Katherine of Wedderburn re-married on 27th February 1656 to James Bethune of Balfour.
