This name is derived from old English and French words meaning, literally, one who knows Latin. Black tells us that the Latimeris were “among the unruly clans of the West Marche in 1857.”
The unruliness of 1587 is well documented. John, Lord Maxwell, was abroad seeking to ally the interests of the Catholic Lords in Scotland with the invasion plans of the Spanish Court, and his cousin William Maxwell, Lord Herries, was appointed Warden of the West Marches in his place. Herries was declared a rebel by the Scottish parliament for his failure to appear and answer their questions about the unrest on the border. The West Marche was in a state of near-rebellion, fomented to a large extent by the Maxwells in an effort to push their Marianist agenda. The Latimers were evidently party to this.
