Rait

Jordan de Raat held in Lincolnshire temp. Henry III.—Testa de Nevill. The name is of considerable antiquity in Scotland. Among the documents preserved in the Exchequer Office is the Submission and Fealty of Sir Gervays de Rate, given at Elgin, July 27th, 1295. Their principal seat was at Hall Green, in the shire of Kincardine, where the older parts of the castle still show their armorial bearings. "The first Rait, according to Nisbett, took refuge in the Mearns during the 14th century, having had to leave his native district of Nairnshire for some capital crime. It is certain that Raits were settled in the Mearns, and held the lands of Owres or Uras at that period; but it was not until the close of the following century that they had any connection with Hall Green. From that time, till the year 1724, they were possessed of it; and from them all the Raits of any note in Angus and the Mearns, whether landholders, ministers, farmers, or merchants, claim to be descended. The last Laird of Hall Green died in 1724, and his lands, burdened by mortgages, were sold by order of the Court of Sessions."—Andrew Jervise. Thomas Raite, Lord of Owres, received a confirmation charter of half the lands of Arroch, in the barony of Brechin, from Robert II. in 1378: and David Rait of Drumnagair had Hall Green confirmed to him by a similar charter from James III. in 1478.

-- Cleveland