Richard de Morville

Richard de Morville (died 1189), Lord of Cunninghame succeeded his father, Hugh de Morville (died 1162), as Constable of Scotland and in his Scottish estates and English lands at Bozeat in Northamptonshire, and Rutland, as well as a number of feus of the Honour of Huntingdon. Around 1180, Richard de Morville, with the consent of his son William, granted liberty to the monks of Melrose to plough and sow the lands of Blainslie and the plain beyond the grove over to the Leader Water. This grant was confirmed by William de Morville, presumably his son. Based on the writings of cartographer Timothy Pont (who viewed the cartulary of Kilwinning Abbey), it was Richard de Morville who founded the Tironensian abbey of Kilwinning, Cunningham. Pont cites a date of 1191, but Richard de Morville was dead by then. Other sources claim dates of 1157, but this is likely confusion with his father's founding of Dryburgh Abbey. It has been suggested by historian Ian B. Cowan that the dates cited are likely to be incorrect, and makes a strong case for the foundation date of 1187. However, Cowan acknowledges that the precise details of the founding of this Abbey would be found in the cartulary, which is now lost. All that is certain is written in the Liber Pluscardensis which notes 'Kylwynnyn in Connyngham Tironensis Fundator Morville.'. Richard established the St Leonard's Hospital at Lauder. Later in the twelfth century, he rented Eddleston -- now a parish in Peeblesshire -- from the Bishop of Glasgow.