Ecnomus (256 B.C.). Subsequently, apart from unskilful operations
against Regulus, nothing is certainly known of him. For others
of the name see Carthage, Sicily, Smith’s Classical Dictionary.
So far as the name itself is concerned, Milcar is perhaps the same as
Melkarth, the Tyrian god.
See Polybius i.-iii.; Cornelius Nepos, Vita Hamilcaris; Appian, Res Hispanicae, chs. 4, 5, Diodorus, Excerpta, xxiv., xxv.; O. Meltzer, Geschichte der Karthager (Berlin, 1877), ii. also Punic Wars. (M. O. B. C.)
HAMILTON, the name of a famous Scottish family. Chief
among the legends still clinging to this important family is that
which gives a descent from the house of Beaumont, a branch
of which is stated to have held the manor of Hamilton in
Leicestershire; and it is argued that the three cinquefoils of
the Hamilton shield bear some resemblance to the single cinquefoil
of the Beaumonts. In face of this it has been recently shown
that the single cinquefoil was also borne by the Umfravilles of
Northumberland, who appear to have owned a place called
Hamilton in that county. It may be pointed out that Simon
de Montfort, the great earl of Leicester, in whose veins flowed
the blood of the Beaumonts, obtained about 1245 the wardship
of Gilbert de Umfraville, second earl of Angus, and it is conceivable
that this name Gilbert may somehow be responsible
for the legend of the Beaumont descent, seeing that the first
authentic ancestor of the Hamiltons is one Walter FitzGilbert.
He first appears in 1294–1295 as one of the witnesses to a charter
by James, the high steward of Scotland, to the monks of Paisley;
and in 1296 his name appears in the Homage Roll as Walter
FitzGilbert of “Hameldone.” Who this Gilbert of “Hameldone”
may have been is uncertain, “but the fact must be faced,”
Mr John Anderson points out (Scots Peerage, iv. 340) “that in
a charter of the 12th of December 1272 by Thomas of Cragyn
or Craigie to the monks of Paisley of his church of Craigie in
Kyle, there appears as witness a certain ‘Gilbert de Hameldun
clericus,’ whose name occurs along with the local clergy of
Inverkip, Blackhall, Paisley and Dunoon. He was therefore
probably also a cleric of the same neighbourhood, and it is
significant that ‘Walter FitzGilbert’ appears first in that
district in 1294 and in 1296 is described as son of Gilbert de
Hameldone. . . .” Walter FitzGilbert took some part in the
affairs of his time. At first he joined the English party but after
Bannockburn went over to Bruce, was knighted and subsequently
received the barony of Cadzow. His younger son John
was father of Alexander Hamilton who acquired the lands of
Innerwick by marriage, and from him descended a certain
Thomas Hamilton, who acquired the lands of Priestfield early
in the 16th century. Another Thomas, grandson of this last,
who had with others of his house followed Queen Mary and
with them had been restored to royal favour, became a lord of
session as Lord Priestfield. Two of his younger sons enjoyed
also this legal distinction, while the eldest, Thomas, was made
an ordinary lord of session as early as 1592 and was eventually
created earl of Haddington (q.v.). It is interesting to note that
the 5th earl of Haddington by his marriage with Lady Margaret
Leslie brought for a time the earldom of Rothes to the Hamiltons
to be added to their already numerous titles.
Sir “David FitzWalter FitzGilbert,” who carried on the main line of the Hamiltons, was taken prisoner at the battle of Neville’s Cross (1346) and treated as of great importance, being ransomed, it is stated, for a large sum of money; in 1371 and 1373 he was one of the barons in the parliament. Of the four sons attributed to him David succeeded in the representation of the family, Sir John Hamilton of Fingaltoun was ancestor of the Hamiltons of Preston, and Walter is stated to have been progenitor of the Hamiltons of Cambuskeith and Sanquhar in Ayrshire.
David Hamilton, the first apparently to describe himself as lord of Cadzow, died before 1392, leaving four or five sons, from whom descended the Hamiltons of Bathgate and of Bardowie, and perhaps also of Udstown, to which last belong the lords Belhaven.
Sir John Hamilton of Cadzow, the eldest son, was twice a prisoner in England, but beyond this little is known of him; even the date of his death is uncertain. His two younger sons are stated to have been founders of the houses of Dalserf and Raploch. His eldest son, James Hamilton of Cadzow, like his father and great-grandfather, visited England as a prisoner, being one of the hostages for the king’s ransom. From him the Hamiltons of Silvertonhill and the lords Hamilton of Dalzell claim descent, among the more distinguished members of the former branch being General Sir Ian Hamilton, K.C.B. James Hamilton was succeeded by his eldest son Sir James Hamilton of Cadzow, who was created in 1445 an hereditary lord of parliament, and was thereafter known as Lord Hamilton. He had allied himself some years before with the great house of Douglas by marriage with Euphemia, widow of the 5th earl of Douglas, and was at first one of its most powerful supporters in the struggle with James II. Later, however, he obtained the royal favour and married about 1474 Mary, sister of James III. and widow of Thomas Boyd, earl of Arran. Of this marriage was born James, second Lord Hamilton, who as a near relative took an active part in the arrangements at the marriage of James IV. with Margaret Tudor; being rewarded on the same day (the 8th of August 1503) with the earldom of Arran. A champion in the lists he was scarcely so successful as a leader of men, his struggle with the Douglases being destitute of any great martial achievement. Of his many illegitimate children Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, beheaded in 1540, was ancestor of the Hamiltons of Gilkerscleugh; and John, archbishop of St Andrews, hanged by his Protestant enemies, was ancestor of the Hamiltons of Blair, and is said also to have been ancestor of Hamilton of London, baronet. James, second earl of Arran, son of the first earl by his second wife Janet Beaton, was chosen governor to the little Queen Mary, being nearest of kin to the throne through his grandmother, though the question of the validity of his mother’s marriage was by no means settled. He held the governorship till 1554, having in 1549 been granted the duchy of Châtellerault in France. In his policy he was vacillating and eventually he retired to France, being absent during the three momentous years prior to the deposition of Mary. On his return he headed the queen’s party, his property suffering in consequence. He was succeeded in the title in 1579 by his eldest son James, whose qualities were such that he was even proposed as a husband for Queen Elizabeth, but unfortunately he soon after became insane, his brother John, afterwards first marquess of Hamilton, administering the estates. From the third son, Claud, descends the duke of Abercorn, heir male of the house of Hamilton.
The first marquess of Hamilton had a natural son, Sir John Hamilton of Lettrick, who was legitimated in 1600 and was ancestor of the lords Bargany. His two legitimate sons were James, 3rd marquess and first duke of Hamilton, and William, who succeeded his brother as 2nd duke and was in turn succeeded under the special remainder contained in the patent of dukedom, by his niece Anne, duchess of Hamilton, who was married in 1656 to William Douglas, earl of Selkirk. The history of the descendants of this marriage belongs to the great house of Douglas, the 7th duke of Hamilton becoming the male representative and chief of the house of Douglas, earls of Angus.
The above mentioned Claud Hamilton, who with his brother, the first marquess, had taken so large a part in the cause of Queen Mary, was created a lord of parliament as Lord Paisley in 1587. He had five sons, of whom three settled in Ireland, Sir Claud being ancestor of the Hamiltons of Beltrim and Sir Frederick, distinguished in early life in the Swedish wars, being ancestor of the viscounts Boyne.
James, the eldest son of Lord Paisley, found favour with James VI. and was created in 1603 Lord of Abercorn, and three years later was advanced in the peerage as earl of Abercorn and lord of Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick. His eldest son James, 2nd earl of Abercorn, eventually heir male of the house of Hamilton and successor to the dukedom of Châtellerault, was created in his father’s lifetime lord of Strabane in Ireland, but he resigned this title in 1633 in favour of his brother Claud, whose grandson, Claud, 5th Lord Strabane, succeeded
