The Hays and Pitmilly
William II de Haya, the first recorded de Haya in Scotland, married Eva of Pitmilly no later than 1171. Little is known about Eva, except that she was the heiress to land at Pitmilly which she brought into the marriage. However, this marriage was important because it was the beginning of the family that became Clan Hay. In 1172, William II de Haya leased one ploughgate in Pitmilly to St Andrews Cathedral Priory and its hospital for twenty years at an annual rent of half a merk of silver. The brief association of the Hays with Pitmilly essentially ended when, shortly after William's death around 1201, Eva and their son, David, after a dispute with the canons of St Andrews Cathedral Priory, quitclaimed the land to the priory, but retained the annual rent of half a merk of silver. The land in question was part of Eva's tocher (dowry) and is known to be Falside from the rubric on King William's charter. Falside still exists as a farm in Pitmilly. However, nothing remains at Pitmilly of whatever residence Eva's family occupied there, if indeed they did live there in the 12th century.
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