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Bethune, or Béthune, is a French and Scottish surname. It originates from the name of the town of Béthune in Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. The name of the town was first recorded in the 8th century, in the Latin form Bitunia. The surname is first recorded in Scotland during the reign of King Alexander II when charters of the abbeys of St Andrews and Arbroath name Robert de Betunia, probably a knight, Sir David de Betun, definitely a knight, and John de Betun, probably a cleric. Bethune of Balfour is an ancient Scottish family who from about 1375 to 1888 were lairds of Balfour in Fife, an estate in the Lowlands parish of Markinch. Originating before the year 1000 in the town of Béthune, then in the county of Flanders. Over the centuries the pronunciation of the family name shifted from the original French bay-tune to the Scots bee-t'n, usually written Beaton. From about 1560, members of the family started using the French spelling again.