Another notable figure, William de Abernethy, known as Lord Saltoun, affixed his seal to the historic Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, asserting Scotland’s independence. King David II granted your family the lands of Rothiemay. The last Abernethy Lord Saltoun, Margaret, became the heiress and married Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth. Eventually, the main Abernethy family merged into Clan Fraser, and their son was officially recognized as Lord Saltoun by Parliament in 1669.

It is interesting to note that the Abernethy coat of arms is now quartered alongside those of Fraser in the heraldry of the present Fraser chief, Lady Saltoun. According to eighteenth-century heraldic authority Alexander Nisbet, the primary cadet branch was Abernethy of Auchnacloich. Throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, individuals bearing the Abernethy name were deeply involved in religious conflicts. John Abernethy, who served as the minister of Jedburgh, was appointed Bishop of Caithness in 1616. However, he was later removed from his position in 1638 when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland rejected episcopacy, leading to the First Bishop’s War the following year.