The surname of Spottiswoode is local, and was assumed by the proprietors of the lands and barony of Spottiswoode, in the parish of Gordon, and county of Berwick, as soon as surnames became heredi tary in Scotland. The traditional account of them is, that the male line of the ancient barons of Spottiswoode failed, in the reign of king Alex ander II; that a younger son of the illustrious house of Gordon, who were then seated in the same county, married the heiress and was obliged to take upon him the name of Spottiswoode; but he retained, in his armorial bearing, the boar's head of the Gordons, which his successors, the barons of Spottiswoode, carry to this day.