William II de Haya

William II de Haya (William II de la Haye, Guillaume de La Haye), was a Norman knight who is considered to be the progenitor of the Scottish Clan Hay. He is the first recorded de Haya in Scotland and is known to have been in the Scottish court in 1160.

He was the son of William I de Haya and Juliana de Soulis, based on his reference to Ranulf de Soulis as his late uncle, i.e., his mother’s brother, in a charter, and was almost certainly born in the La Haye-Hue (now La Haye-Bellefond) / Soulles region of the Cotentin Peninsula, but the date is unknown. William II probably joined his uncle, Ranulf I de Soules, at the Scottish court as a young man. He married Eva of Pitmilly, Again, the date is unknown. Eva brought into the marriage lands at Pitmilly.

William was pincerna (cup bearer or butler) to Malcolm IV and William the Lion, succeeding his uncle, Ranulf I de Soules, although the exact dates that he held this position are unknown. He witnessed some of the later charters of Malcolm IV, in one of which he is styled pincerna, and he is also styled as such in some of the early charters of William the Lion, and in a charter that he himself granted in 1171.

During the years 1173-74, three of Henry II of England's sons and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, rebelled against him. In 1174, believing Henry II to be distracted by the fighting in France, William the Lion attempted to regain Northumberland for Scotland. He was captured at the Second Battle of Alnwick and taken to Henry in Falaise in Normandy. In order to regain his freedom, in December, 1174 he had to sign the punitive Treaty of Falaise. One of the last provisions was that William the Lion had to send twenty-one hostages to England to ensure compliance. One who went in that role was William de Haya, his butler. In August, 1175, the Treaty of Falaise was ratified at York and William the Lion and his brother, David, having paid homage to Henry II of England for Scotland and Galloway, were allowed to return to Scotland. According to J. C. D. Hay, William de Haya was also allowed to return to Scotland at that time.

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