The Seton Templar Lore
In 1987 the Scottish Knights Templar of the Chivalric Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem formed, from within the younger members of the Order, the Garde Ecosse (Scots Guard). This Garde Ecosse, which acts as a personal bodyguard to the Order's Grand Prior is based, the Order says … “ the Scots Guard who were the Guard of the French kings and fought with honour for that country in the wars against England.
“It contained within its ranks the great names of Scotland, such as the Setons, the Montgomeries, the Hays, the Hamiltons, the Sinclairs, the Douglases, and the Stuarts and was subsequently a supporter of the Stuart cause."
One of the families, which, it is claimed, were prominent in this Scots Guard, is the Seton family. It had been Christopher Seton, in 1306, who saved Bruce's life at the Battle of Methven, while one of his sons, Alexander, played not only a prominent role at Bannockburn, but was one of the signatories to the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. Christopher Seton, in common with succeeding generations of his family, was to pay dearly for his unstinting devotion to the cause of Scotland. Captured after Methven, he was executed in Dumfries ‑ his intestines drawn from his body and burnt before his eyes, then he was hung, beheaded, and his body cut into quarters.
Present at Bannockburn on the Scots side were many noteworthy Scottish Knights- 4 Sinclair Knights (the "Fighting Bishop of Dunkeld", his brother Henry Sinclair, the Lord of Rosslyn, and Sir William Sinclair- who was buried as a Master Templar), Sir Adam Gordon of Gordon (with his kinsmen, knights, retainers, and clann), and Alexander Seton (Templar) who left the English host the night before to give the Scots intelligence, and fought with them at Bannockburn (he was later drawn and quartered as had been his father and a relation John). William Sinclair, Alexander Seton and (perhaps since he delivered it) Adam Gordon were all signatories or supporters of the 1320 Declaration of Scottish Independence sealed at Arbroath. The Sinclairs and Setons at least had strong connections to the monastic knighthood orders; the Setons presided over the Templar Courts at Balantrodoch, while Rosslyn castle appears to have been the center of Templar activity with Sinclairs as Grandmasters.
The Scottish Knights Templar claim that not only did the Seton's serve Scotland's cause, but also they did so as members of the Order of the Temple.
Of the Setons who were members of the Order:
George Seton, 5th Lord Seton was killed at the Battle of Flodden.
George Seton, 7th Lord Seton who in 1535 had not only been a confidant of Mary Queen of Scots, but also helped her to escape from Loch Leven Castle.
David Seton, who died in exile in France in 1581, had been the Templar Grand Prior in Scotland, according to tradition. Through a breach of trust involving Sir James Sandilands over ownership of Templar lands, Seton, along with a body of other knights, had left for self‑imposed exile.
Chevalier Alexander Seton, who died in exile in 1610, the Scottish Knights Templar say he was "... imprisoned by Christian 11 Elector of Saxony and subjected to every torture that cruelty could suggest, yet his constant state never forsook him, and he refused to betray his God‑given knowledge".
One of the most tragic members of the Seton family was Mary Seton ‑ one of the 'Four Marys' who provided faithful companionship to Mary Queen of Scots. Suffering from ill health, she was allowed to retire to France by Mary in 1583, dying in abject poverty in the convent of St Pierre, at Rheims, in 1615.
The last of the direct line of Seton was Earl George Seton, who had raised a company of men to fight for the Stuart cause in the 1715 Jacobite Rising. Imprisoned after being captured at the Battle of Preston and sentenced to death, he managed to escape ‑ dying in the exiled Jacobite court in Rome in 1749. In the meantime, the Hanoverian forces had razed the Seton property, severely damaging the Palace of Seton and looting the interior, the outer office buildings, and demolishing the entrance wing of the Collegiate Church, and desecrating the family graves therein.
In recognition of the Seton family's contribution to Scotland's cause and their close links to the Order, the Scottish Knights Templar of today still hold an annual service of dedication in the Seton Collegiate Church of St Germain, in East Lothian. The Order says: “The Scottish Knights Templar have held several services in Seton Collegiate Church to commemorate the lives of the Seton family who maintained, above all else, unswerving loyalty to the Crown of Scotland; 'One God, one nation, one king, one loyalty' was the motto carved in stone in gilded letters over the portals of the ancient palace that Seton Church once served as a chapel".