House Merryweather of Longtable is a noble house of the Reach, holding their seat at the confluence of the Mander and the Blueburn. Their harvest-laden sigil speaks to the agricultural richness of their lands, and their motto, "Behold Our Bounty," has long announced their prosperity among the bannermen of Highgarden. Though not counted among the oldest lines of the Reach, the Merryweathers established themselves as loyal vassals of House Tyrell through generations of sound lordship and careful cultivation of their estates along those fertile riverbanks.
The house was brought low in the years surrounding Robert's Rebellion. Owen Merryweather served as Hand of the King to Aerys II Targaryen after Lord Tywin Lannister resigned the office. When rebellion broke out across the realm, Owen sent proclamations naming Lords Jon Arryn, Robert Baratheon, and Eddard Stark as outlaws and demanding their heads, but he never stirred from King's Landing to prosecute the war. Aerys, ever suspicious, concluded that his Hand was in league with the rebels and stripped Owen of his lands and titles, sending him into exile before Robert ever took the Iron Throne. The family lost much of their wealth and holdings in the aftermath, and it fell to Orton Merryweather, Owen's grandson, to petition King Robert for the restoration of Longtable and its title. Robert granted the boon, though he emptied the Merryweather treasury in compensation.
At the time of A Game of Thrones, Lord Orton Merryweather holds Longtable in reduced but recovering circumstances. His wife, Lady Taena of Myr, would later bring the house back into the highest circles of power at King's Landing during the regency of Queen Cersei Lannister, when Orton was named to the small council as master of laws and eventually elevated to Hand of the King.