Gamel's Cottage, Rush Green, Hertford, Herts SG 13 7 SB

Telephone 01920 464022

16th December 1998

To all Bisset kinsfolk:

I have received a letter from Rachel Bisset which has to be of general interest, coming as it does, from one of the last Bissets to have been born in Lessendrum and to have spent most of her childhood there up to the outbreak of war in 1939.

It reads as follows:

"I do not agree with the opinion of the late Lord Lyon that the Bissets of Lessendrum are a clan. If that were so, surely the late Lord Lyon, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, would have told my mother.

He was a friend of my parents and told my mother that the Bisset coat of-arms was one of the very oldest in Scotland because of the simplicity of the design of the shield - azure with a bend argent. Later there were more elaborate patterns.

My mother considered we were sib to the Frasers and the Bissets wore the Fraser tartan. My brother, Mordaunt Murray Bisset invented a Bisset tartan and had it accepted - a frightful jumble of colour and a totally unnecessary innovation, making everyone think we were a Celtic clan instead of a Norman family.

I was carried out of the burning house at Lessendrum by the governess when I was 4 years old to join my older sisters and one year old brother in bed at the chauffeur's house!

Best wishes to all kinsfolk who want to learn about the remarkably long history of the family as it emerges and I hope everyone from abroad will have an opportunity to visit Scotland - Lessendrum in particular.

You will find the new owner, Gunnar Slemming (Danish) very interested and most co-operative, prividing you let him know you are coming.

For this and other advice, contact Michael Bisset at the above address."

                                        Signed :

In conclusion, best wishes to all for 1999.

                                        Signed :

HERALDRY:

Shield - Azure (blue)

Bend Diagonal stripe