THE FAMILIES GEDDIE & McPHAIL By JACK GEDDIE Published by HENRY L. GEDDIE CO. 358 Majestic Bldg. FORT WORTH, TEXAS U.S. A. 1959 Copyright, 1959, Henry L. Geddie THE FAMILIES GEDDIE & McPHAIL In the cold, misty reaches of Scandinavia more than one thousand years ago, there was a man foracious in battle, keenly adept in the use of a spear. They called him Ged, because the name for a spear in the old Islandic language was "geddar," and the name "Ged" was derived from that old Norse word, which meant variously a spear, or a pike. "Ged" is also the word from which the fish, the pike, gets its name. Ultimately, the Norsemen ven­ tured outside their fjords and invaded the islands north of Scotland, probably with this Ged, famed for his ability with a spear or pike, among them. To say that there might have been a Ged with Harold the Fair when he conquered the islands north of Scotland around. 890 A.D. is an ambiguous statement, but the condition is just that - ambiguous. It is easy to assume, and it would be ex­ tremely difficult to disprove; therefore, the statement stands until corrected by someone with better facts to present. There might even have been a Ged in the Vik­ ing raids upon the coasts at Moray' in 798 A.D. or in 802 A.D., or even in 806 A.D. when the Vikings conquered nad ravaged Iona. Who is to say that there was not a Ged among the Norsemen who accompanied Thorstein the Red in conquering ancient Morayshire? Ultimately, one of these men by the name of Ged was trapped by civili­ zation for, undoubtedly, he met some winsome Scots lass who held a far greater attraction to him than the life of the Nordic raider, and he settled somewhere along the coast of Scotland, perhaps in Morayshire, to become the progenitor of all the Geddies in the world today. The first child of this Ged was named Gedy, the -y meaning son of Ged. With the eclipse of time, the original name expanded into Gedye, Geddye, and thence into Geddie, as it has been spelled since before 1600. On the name "Geddie", Dr. George Fraser Black (Ph.D.) 8 writes on page 294 of his "Surnames of Scotland:" "Ged­ die: A family of this name was long connected with the district of Essil. John Gedy, Abbot of Arbroath, was pro­ minently associated with the first formation of a harbor at Arbroath in 1394 (RAA II, p. 40-42). The agreement between him and the burgesses of the town is perhaps the most curious and interesting of the records of harbor mak­ ing and also voluntary' taxation in Scotland." In the Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXI, p. 105, there is a further reference to this John Gedy (or Geddie) : "Gedy, John (fl. 1370) Abbot of Arbroath, the worthy Abbot of Aberbrothock of Southey's 'Inchcape Bell' was in office in 1370 when he entered into an engagement re­ garding the judge or doomster of the regality. His seal is appended to the act of parliament which regulated the successor to the crown in 1371. The contract between him and the burgesses of Arbroath dated April 2, 1394, sets forth that on account of innumerable losses and vexa­ tions suffered for want of a port, the Abbot and convent shall make and maintain at their expense, in the best situation, a safe harbour for the burgh. The burgesses engage, on the other hand, to clear away the stones and sand, to execute other parts of the work, and to provide a certain portion of the tools required. The burgesses agree to pay to the Abbot yearly on the completion of the work three pennies sterling from each rood of land within the burgh in addition to three pennies then paid the pope's bull." Conferring on the Abbot the privilege of wearing the Mitred Crown and fortified vestments was dated July 6, 1396. "The Inchcape Rock," a poem by Robert Southey is based on a legend of the dangerous Inchcape Rock in the North Sea. The Abbot of Aberbrothok placed a bell on a buoy to mark the position •bf the rock when the waves 4 covered it, but a roving pirate cut away the bell. The poem tells, of the fate that overtook him a year later on the very same rock. The Abbot referred to was Abbot John Gedy. From this earliest reference, on record, to a Geddie, the name grew and spread over Scotland, and the entire world. There are today Geddies, and their descendants, in Aus­ tralia, New Zealand, South Africa, N. Rhodesia, Nyasaland, United States, and many other places. In the "Commissariat Record- of St. Andrews, Fife, Register of Testaments 1549-1800, edited by the Scottish Records Society under direction of Francis J. Grant, there are a number of Geddies mentioned: Agnes Geddie in 1597, Andrew Geddie, 1598, Patrick Geddie, 1656, David Geddie, St. Andrews, 1616, Catharine Geddie, St. Andrews, 1656, David Geddie, Ceres, Scotland, 1600, Helen Geddie, Coupar, Fife, Scotland, 1596, and others including Geddies with forenames of Helen, 1653, Isabel, 1641, James, a merchant, 1684, James, a bailie, 1717 James, a merchant and bailie, 1751, James, 1615, Janet, 1617, John 1551, John, 1627, John Geddie of St. Nicholas and son, Charles, 1690-93, Margaret, 1606, Michael, a bailie at St. Andrews, 1662, Michael, a cooper, 1706, Rob­ ert, a minister, 1676, Thomas, 1592, William, mariner, 1596, William, merchant, 1651, William, baxter, 1618, Wil­ liam, Dean of Guild, 1651, and William, merchant and a bailie, 1769. Most of the Geddies found in Scotland from the end of the 16th. century to the middle of the 18th century were from Fife, and Morayshire, Scotland. Their names were the same as ours are today, James, John, Thomas, William, Robert, etc. They were ship's captains, ministers, baxters, merchants, farmers just as we are today. Several Ged­ dies held civic posts, some were bailies, provosts (mayors) - city government jobs. 5 Whether the family of Geddie had its Scots origin in the county of Moray or that of Fife is and will continue to be unknown, in all probability, unless some unique and impossible archaeological discovery comes to light. The Geddies of Moray seem inclined to believe that Geddies heralded originally from Fife in Scotland. Those o:£ Fife seem to think their ancestors came from up north. Fife or Moray are equally logical places to credit the origin, since the Norseman invaded both areas and since it has been stated that the name Geddie is of Nordic origin. It is certain that Geddies were present in both Fife and Moray in the 1500's and 1600's. If the Geddies came originally from Fife, it may have been via the route of Pluscarden, a benedictine Priory six miles southwest of Elgin, the county seat of Moray­ shire. Founded in 1230, Pluscarden was united with the Priory of Urquhart in 1454 under the control of Dum­ fernline Abbey, which is located in Fife. Archibald Ged­ die, servitor to the Bishop of Moray in 1582 may have come from Fife, and so too may have come the James Geddie who in 1582 with his wife Jonette Davidson were given a charter by Alexander, Prior of Pluscarden, to 10 acres of the town and lands of Urquhart, the parish that contains the towns of Garmouth and Kingston-on-Spey, the former over a thousand years old, and the latter found­ ed in 1784. Other notable Geddies during the 1500's and 1600's were: James Geddie, George Buchanan's secretary. He was alive in 1581 and is mentioned by William Fowler in his "Answer to Hamilton." John Geddie, got a patent from the king (James VI) for a syphon to take water out of wells and coal pits, around 1580. James Geddie - and here's one we oftentimes, all of us, take after: Courts fool in 1565. The Accounts of the 6 Lord High Treasurer of Scotland contains an item for red and yellow breeches for James Geddie, Fool. In May, 1567, is ;another item for white cloth for a pair of short hose and shoes for the same fool. The queen to whom this fool may have belonged was Mary Queen of Scots, or the queen mother, Mary of Guise. Although he was a court's fool, today he would have been another Bob Hope, Red Skelton, etc. Court fools were smart people. They had to be. John Geddie, was a missionary to the South Seas, dur­ ing the 19th century. When he went to a South Pacific Island, there were only cannibals and head-hunters. When he left, there were only Christians. On Prince Edward's Island, Nova Scotia, there is a church dedicated to his memory, a Presbyterian church he helped to build to train missionaries who went out to follow him to the South Pacific. He left Banff, Scotland, and went to Canada, and then into the mission field. Somewhere in: the South Pacific, on some island today, there is a monument to him. Rev. John Geddie was born in 1815 and died in 1872. G. Patterson wrote a book, published in Canada in 1882 and now long out of print, entitled: "Missionary Life Among the Cannibals: Being the life of Rev. John Geddie." John Geddie was born in Scotland, went to Nova Scotia when young, and was educated at Pictou Academy. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Pictou in 1837 and for seven years was in charge of a church on Prince Edward Island.