Cockburns Return from France to honour Flodden

Gavinton Coat of Arms
On Tuesday 10th September 2013 the Community Council and the Village Hall Committe hosted a Cheese & Wine Party in the Gavinton Village Hall to meet two very special visitors, Monsieur Gilles de Cockborne and his son Thibaut.
500 years ago, Sir William Cockburn of Langton and his son and heir Alexander were both killed on the field of Flodden. Sir William’s nephew Adam Cockburn of Choicelee left Scotland around the time of the battle to take service in the Garde Ecossaise of King Louis XII of France. 15 years after the battle, Adam married the heiress of the estate of Villeneuve-au-Chemin, about 100 miles southeast of Paris, and his family has been there ever since. Villeneuve-au-Chemin is a charming village of 200 people set in the rich agricultural landscape of the champagne-producing part of France. The present mayor is Gilles de Cockborne, a direct descendant of Adam Cockburn of Choicelee.
Gilles and Thibaut will be attending three commemorations of the battle, in Edinburgh, Coldstream and Branxton, to pay their respects to their ancestors who died in the service of King James IV and his ally, King Louis XII.
Details of the battle of Flodden and this 500 year commemoration are here