48
RIDDELLS OF NORMANDY AND ARDNAMURCHAN.
and Richard, and their sister Matilda, with many other persons of dis-
tinction, were swallowed up in the sea with the crew, soon after leaving
the port of Harfluer.
Hugh Ridel (1), second son of Galfridus (3), was endowed with the
patrimony of the lands of Farringdon, in Northamptonshire, besides which
he held the barony of Rilly, in Touraine, in France, and the manor of
Cranstown, in Scotland. He was ancestor of the "Riddells* of Cranstown-
Riddell" in Mid-Lothian, Scotland. Another authority supposes him to
have been a son of Gervacius Rydale, who stands at the head of the "Rid-
dells of Riddell," in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The Cranstown Riddells
were a distinguished, knightly, and baronial family, and gave their name to
their lands at a far earlier date than the Roxburgh branch. The barony
of Cranstown was held of the crown by the descendants of Hugh. In a
little more than two centuries they became extinct in the male line, and
the heir of the last proprietor, dead in 1357, was the wife of John Murray.
One writer says, "Oscital Ridal having returned to his native land by
consent of King Malcolm Canmore, gave his lands of Cranstown, Preston,
and others, to his son Hugo, who in the year 1110 bestowed the church of
Cranstown, and certain lands in the barony, to the monastery of Selkirk,
which was founded by Prince David." I shall not separate the "Riddells
of Cranstown-Riddell" from the family now under notice.
Philip Ridel (1), third son of Galfridus (3), had one son who be-
came head of the family of "Riddells of Riddell," in Roxburghshire, Scot-
land (which see), one who entered the church and was canonized, and
another who became Baron of Varcillac, in Guinne, who also entered the
church.
Matthias Ridel' (1), fourth son of Galfridus (3), was made abbot of
Peterborough monastery, A. D. 1102 (or, as one writer says, in 1105 A. D.),
by King Henry I. Matthias appears to have made a conveyance of the
manor of Pithesle to his brother, the Justiciary of England, before men-
tioned. He held the abbacy but a year, dying on the twelfth of the calends
of November, the very day twelve months from his entrance. After his
death the king again seized upon the monastery, and held it three years.
* Riddell, a baronial (Norman) name derived from a Gothic race in Aquitaine,
France. Gerard, Baron of Blaye, 1030, granted lands to the Abbey of Fons Dulcis,
near Bordeaux, which grant was confirmed by his brother Gerald de Blaye, and his
sons Geoffry Rudelli (Ridel), and William Frehelandus (or Ridel); the last named,
who was living 1079-1099, married a sister of William de Albini Brito of England,
and had sons, Warin, Oliver, and Geoffry; the latter went to Scotland with King
David, received grants of land there, and became ancestor of the Riddells of Ridell
in Roxburghshire.
Another Geoffry Ridel, of the preceding generation, came to England from
Apulia with William Bigod (or Bigot), to assist William the Conqueror, and is
mentioned in Domesday Book, 1086. He was Crown commissioner with Ralph
Basset, 1106, and succeeded that justiciary, 1120. A collateral branch of this family
possessed lands in Normandy, 1165; Geoffrey Ridel occurs in Normandy, 1180;
Roger, 1195; Geoffrey, 1198. This note was taken from a book entitled "The Nor-
man People."
+ Cranstown-Riddell was acquired by the family of Macgills, in 1561. Sir James
Macgill, of Cranstown-Riddell, was created a baronet in 1619, and in 1651, a peer by
the title of Viscount Oxenford. The title became extinct at the death of Robert,
second Viscount, and the land descended by marriage to Sir John Dalrymple of
Cousland, and Fala, whose family succeeded to the earldom of Stair in 1841, and
Cranstown-Riddell is still the property of that family. John Dodds is the present
factor at Cranstown-Riddell. There is no mansion on the estate now, only a factor's
house.
