William de Heriz was witness to various royal charters, dating from 1175 to 1199. His descendant, Nigel, held lands in Selkirkshire so early as the reign of Alexander II.; a charter from that monarch to the monks of Melrose describing certain property granted to them as extending “from the river Etreyich, by the rivulet of Tymeye, as far as the marches of Nigel de Heriz.” Soon afterwards, we find the family settling down in the Vale of Nith. Their head, William de Herris, swore fealty to Edward I. for his lands in Galloway; and Robert, the son of William, is designated “Dominus de Nithsdale: in a charter granted to him, in 1323, by King Robert Bruce. [Ibid, vol. i., p. 726.]