Walter de Seton, called Dougall, 2nd of the family of Seton

The son of the 1^st Seier de Seton, of de Lens, is known as Dougall de Setoun and his Christian name was Walter, however he was usually described by a familiar appellation in the language of the Scots people around him.  He married Janet, daughter of Robert de Quincy (and not of Roger, who lived a century later) and had a son also called Seier (2^nd) who is often confused with his grandfather.

The Anglo-Flemings wore a strong coat of mail, which made them objects of dread and wonder to the Britons, Saxons, Picts and Celts in whose ancient songs they were called Du-gall, the “Black Strangers”, from the appearance they made when encased in armor.  This name also came from the French “du Gall”, and referred to the Galois origins where France was once called Gaul.  Dougall de Setoun, then, literally means “the Black Stranger (and French lord) of the town and lands of Setoun, and he flourished in the reign of Alexander I., A.D. 1107-1124.

His wife’s father, Robert de Quincy, had married Maud de St. Liz, daughter of Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntington and Northhampton and Maud, or Matilda, the elder of the two daughters of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland and Judith de Lens, the niece to King William I of England.  To appreciate these ties, note that William married Matilda of Flanders, a cousin of Dougall. Likewise, Dougall’s grandfather married as his 2^nd wife Adele, or Adelaide, of Normandy, William's sister; it made the Setoun’s cousins of the King and his sons, William II and Henry I. Henry I married the daughter of Malcolm III, King of the Scots; and 2^nd, Adela of Bas-Lorraine, a cousin of Count Lambert Lens, Dougall’s grandfather.  Malcom III’s youngest son, later King David I, married Matilda the 2^nd daughter of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland.  Domesday hints towards the identity of Count Lambert’s sons: In that book are just their Christian names; Walter and Seier, and it is obvious from the wording that Seier is absent. Walter, “brother of Seier”, was still holding lands in 1086 but Seier’s possessions had been passed to his elder son Walter (or Dougall), described in the documents as “Walter Flandrensis” – Walter the Fleming. He and his brother Hugh are given as tenants-in-chief of the vast string of Midlands manors, and the estates in Scotland, Seier had been granted lands by the Scottish king, Malcolm Canmore.

Walter de Seton, also called Dougall, Seier or Seher de Seton II

As he is generally referred to, Seher de Seton succeeded to his father Walter, or Dougall.  Says Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington (1559), "Whom he married I find not certainly in any register of the house."  We know very little of him, only that he bore the designation of Seier (Seher), which is the old french word for Baron, and that he lived during the time of King David I of Scotland.