My "lot" as you refer to us, have been lording it over your lot for centuries, if not millennia, and it's no accident, I assure you. You might think of it as a conspiracy, but I think of it as the natural order of things.

Hmmm.... Edward Rutledge (a slave holder) signed the Declaration of Independence and John Rutledge was one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court -- not exactly the sort to uphold your sort.

But enough of that. Penny, a bit of study finds that the "Rutledges" or "Routledges" were from...well, here:

...In the 16th century, we find the Routledges were one of a score of families that many English sources identify as Border Reivers who raided across the English/Scottish border, stealing sheep, cattle and horses, burning barns, etc.

In 1528 an expedition of 500 armed men drove the Routledge families from England into an area north of the Scottish border near Langholm called "Tarras Burn", a desolate region controlled by the Armstrong Clan. Some of these Routledges melded into the Scottish Clans around them, taking the Scottish clan names. Others immigrated to Ireland where the spelling of the name became Ruttledge or Rutledge. A third group drifted back into the Bewcastle area over a period of several decades and took up their old lawless ways. This third group eventually settled on the Routledge spelling of the family name.

Sheep stealing barn burners? Driven into the wilds of Scotland and then into Ireland? Well, the name apparently is geographical and means "red letch." Of course, no one is certain of that (unlike my own name, which translates from Old Dutch as "Keeper of the Sacred Places").   And many of the them eventually became Quakers, although it is most probable that some were expelled from the community because of their war-like actions.

Oh, yes -- "letch" mean "swamp," so it is quite possible your friend Mr. Ballsworthy is right about the reptilian thing.