Lauder, George (1597 -1676)
George Lauder, of the Bass, was the only son of Master George Lauder of the Bass, Rector of Auldcathy, and Isobel, eldest daughter of Sir Patrick Hepburn of Waughton. The Bass is an immense volcanic rock which lies off the coast of East Lothian near Tyninghame and Tantallon. On the Bass was a castle of some strategic importance. In 1581, James VI visited the Bass and tried to persuade the father to part with the `auld craig', but without success. In 1597 George Lauder of Bass surrendered all his lands into the hands of the Crown and had them regranted to him and his son George jointly. This suggests that the son was born in that year. The father died on 27 June 1611, and the son was served heir to the Bass on 15 July 1613. The estate was probably already encumbered. In 1628, Charles I, who was anxious to acquire the Bass, sent letters to the Privy Council of Scotland in 1628 at the instance of Susanna Sinclair and other creditors, stating that George and his mother “Dame Isobel Hepburn Lady Bass, standing at the horn [i.e. bankrupt and having been put to the horn and outlawed for debt] at the instance of divers of their creditors, peacefully bruik and enjoy some of their rents, and remain within the craig of the Bass, presuming to elude justice and execution of the law”. On 2 December 1628, the two rebels petitioned for a protection to enable them to come to Edinburgh to settle their affairs. This proved difficult, and a series of continuations were granted until 1 November 1635, when they finally reached a settlement with their principal creditor James Livingston of Beill, to whom the Bass was surrendered. George Lauder never married. It is said that he survived until 1676.