Foreign News: For Auld Lang Syne

The Scrymgeours are an ancient Scots family whose 12th century ancestor, Sir Alexander Carron, was surnamed the "Skyrmisheour" because of his valor in battle. In 1641 Charles I made John Scrymgeour Viscount Dudhope, a title that was to descend to "his heirs male lawfully begotten . . . whom failing his heirs male whatsoever." But when the third Viscount Dudhope (pronounced Duddop) died leaving no immediate heirs, the Dudhope lands were ruthlessly grabbed by the Earl of Lauderdale, crony of the profligate Charles II and High Sheriff of Edinburgh. The earl, a man...

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