ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2677 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2677 ************************************ From: "Lisa and Ken Theriot" 20 May 2003 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our help constructing a 15th century name in Lowland Scots meaning "Richard, son of Lachlan." Here is the information we have found. As you know, from around the 14th century, the two main languages spoken in Scotland were Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles; and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. These languages were very different and the cultures that spoke them had different naming customs. There was some mixing of names from the different cultures, but most names were not adopted into both cultures. is a fine Lowland Scots name, in continuous use from at least the 14th century, and probably much earlier [1, 2]. is a slightly Anglicized spelling of a name that appears in Scottish Gaelic records as and Irish Gaelic records as [3, 4]; the Gaelic name appears in Scotland from the 12th century on [5]. A man appears in Latin documents as in 1328 and in 1329 [5]. This man held several offices in the town of Stirling, so we believe that he was a Scots speaker. We aren't sure how the Gaelic name migrated into the Scots naming pools. We have no examples of Scots speakers using any form of as their given name in our period, but as Gaelic-speakers moved into the Scots-speaking towns the name turns up as a patronymic byname (a surname that identified a man's father) and later as an inherited surname. Additional examples include [5]: Cristin, son of Louchelan, 1304-5 (Stirling) Adam Lachlane, 1417 (Irvine, in Ayrshire) William Lauchlanesone, 1497 (Aberdeen) Based on these examples, and are fine names for a 15th century Lowland Scot. The surnames were pronounced \LAHKH-lahn\ and \LAHKH-lahn-soon\; here \kh\ is the rasping sound of in Scottish 'lake' or German and \oo\ is the sound of in . The 14th century examples are almost certainly true patronymics, literal bynames identifying one's father. We are less certain of the 15th century examples, though the earlier example is likely literal as well, i.e., Adam's father was probably named . By the 15th century, Lowland Scots were less frequently known by literal patronymics and increasingly known by inherited surnames such as we use today; literal patronymics were relatively common circa 1400 but quite rare by 1500 [6, 7]. So rather than being named , William's father could have been named, for example, . Accordingly, if you want your patronymic to be literal, we recommend that you focus on the early part of the 15th century as your period. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Julie Stampnitzky, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 20 May 2003 References: [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Richard, Richardson. [2] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names" (WWW: Privately published: 2001). http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16 [3] Krossa, Sharon L., "Scottish Gaelic Given Names" (WWW: privately published, 2000-2002). http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/gaelicgiven/ [4] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine [5] Black, s.nn. Lachlan, Lachlanson, MacLachlane. [6] Dickinson, William Croft, ed., _Early Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen: 1317, 1398-1407_, vol. XLIX, _Publications of The Scottish History Society_ (Edinburgh: The Scottish History Society, Third Series, 1957). [7] The manuscript Aberdeen Council Registers, Volumes 8 - 20 (1501-1551), in the Aberdeen City Archives.