Documents, Research Reports, and Correspondence relating to The E T H I N G T O N S U R N A M E S In Great Britain and America by The Ethington Family Organization Harold D. Ethington, President 4334 Lynne Lane Salt Lake City Utah 84124 [email protected] www.ethington.org Spring, 2004 The Ethington Family Organization Page 2 Spring, 2004 Introduction Mr. O. P. Clarke, acting commissioner for the United States Department of the Interior, must have shaken his head in utter disbelief. It was Wednesday, April 20th, 1881 as he took his pen in hand, and addressed himself to the postmaster in Mount Pleasant, Spotsylvania County, Virginia: Sir, About the year 1840, Susan Ethirington, or Eatherton, or Edenton, widow of John Etherington, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, applied from your county for pension and filed in evidence a copy of the New Testament, which it is now desired to return. Some of her children were named John, Henry, James, Benjamin, and Francis. If you can do without inconvenience, will you favor this office with the names and post office addresses of some of the descendants of the above pensioner? Please return this letter with your reply. Very respectfully, O. P. Clarke Acting Commissioner One family, one page, 5 spellings of the name. It is no wonder that Mr. Clarke struggled with this. So did the family. And the multitude of spellings over the years shows just how hard it is to capture the sound of this name as it is spoken by its bearers. The documents and comments in this report trace the attempts by family and scholars alike to understand the names Ethington. It is so difficult even today, that the three or four syllables morph into variations never dreamed of by the bearers. The first syllable could be anywhere from a strong “E” sound as in beet, to a soft “A” sound as in bath, or it could have been anywhere in between, a sound approximated by the unusual letter “Æ” . The second syllable was no less difficult. Some retain the hard “D” of a tongue tap on the upper pallet, while others soften that same written “D” into a “th” sound with the tongue placed between the teeth. If the name originates in the Adder River valley of Scotland as we now think, the “er” sound survives in the spoken “Etherington”. But with time, the energy-consuming “er” sound drops out, the name is reduced from four syllables to three, and we end up with Addington, Ethington and Edington. And on and on. The etymology of the name remains hidden, and it continues to this day to morph into forms completely unexpected. Look at the mail you receive today. My favorite so far is “Effington”—engraved forever on the headstone of my grandfather’s first wife. My, how they must have struggled with that one. This report is an attempt to organize the body of research done over the years on the source of the family and of the name. It is not definitive. There is no one answer. And there is no agreement as to source or origin. Even the one source that is earliest and quoted most often— Carr’s Coldingham Prior of 1836, after stating that Edrington derived its name from its contiguity to the river Whitadder, does not further explain how he associates the names. Actually, we do have the answer. It came from a most unlikely source, but with complete confidence. I was sitting in a barber’s chair in the San Francisco California International Airport. The barber had an interesting accent, and I inquired where he was from. He replied that he came from Puerto Rico, and he noted that I too had an accent and he could tell exactly where I came from. Curiously, I asked where he thought that would be. With complete assurance, he said: “You come from Scotland. I cut hair on people from all over the world in this place, and I can tell from the color and texture of your hair that you are Scottish. There is no doubt about it!” So there you have it. Perhaps we will never know the full story of our family name. But hopefully, with time, effort, and studies such as this, we will come to a better understanding of just who we are. And if you are still unsure, just ask your barber. Harold D. Ethington March, 2004 Sandy, Utah, USA The Ethington Family Organization Page 4 Spring, 2004 Table of Contents 1. Greg Lauder-Frost comments on the lands of Edrington .........................................9 Greg Lauder-Frsot, local historian in the Edrington lands, comments on the ancient boundaries and features of the lands of both Edrington and Edington. Maps of the areas. 2. The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History ............................17 By: George F. Black, PhD. New York Public Library 1946 A study of Scottish Surnames states that “Edington” comes from the old barony of the same name in the parish of Chirnside, Berwickshire. Does not state the source of this information. Cites 16 events involving persons of this or similar name from 1166 to 1600’s. Notes that local pronunciation of the name is Ee-din- tun and Ee-thin-tun. 3. The History of the Celtic Place Names of Scotland .................................................19 Being the Rhind lectures on archaeology Delivered in 1916 By William J. Watson, M.A., LL. D. Discussion of Adder River name and its origin. 4. Scottish Place-Names. Their Study and Significance ..............................................21 By W.F.H. Nicolaisen B.T. Batsford Ltd. London. An in-depth discussion of the …ington names in England and Scotland, with focus on the Edrington names found in the Border areas. 5. Chirnside Past and Present ........................................................................................22 By Erica Hunt Lindsay & Co. Ltd. Edinburgh EH1 1ND Published 1975 Extracts from Hunt’s 24 page history of the Chirnside area where she is fully aware and conversant with the Edrington area, as well as the town of Edington, close to Chirnside. Excellent view into 18 th century English / Scottish country life. 6. A Dictionary of Surnames ..........................................................................................26 Patrick Hands and Flavia Hodges Oxford University Press 1988 Brief explanation of origin of several Ethington surnames. 7. Albion’s Seed, Four British Folkways in America ...................................................28 An in-depth study of the four major migrations from Britain to America, with emphasis on the movement from the borders area to the American frontier in the mid 18 th century. Speech, dress, mannerisms, construction methods, religion and other identifiers (“folkways”) are studied and compared between Britian and America showing that British borderers became the principal populators of the new American frontier. The Ethington Family Organization Page 5 Spring, 2004 8. LINEAGES research report of 21 January 1986 by Jim Harrison ..........................34 Initial attempt by Harrison to understand the variations on the Ethington name in early American (Virginia) records. 9. LINEAGES research report of 13 February 1986 by Jim Harrison ........................36 Builds on framework laid in the report of 21 January 1986 and attempts to understand the surname Ethington as used in early Virginia and Kentucky. Proposes that as spoken, the name could not be spelled consistently by American recorders. Studies spelling of the name through the early years. 10 . Ethington (etc.) Names found in England and Scotland .......................................42 Over 200 spellings of the Ethington names found in over 2,000 entries in England and Scotland between the years 1500 and 1800, as recorded in IGI records of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City Utah. Several different reports by Harold D. Ethington of Sandy Utah present the names in alphabetical order (given and surname), ranked by usage, listed by location, and separated by time and century of use. Maps showing distribution. 11 . Edrington, Berwickshire A History by Gregory Lauder-Frost ...............................61 Early references focusing on The Lauder Family Ownership of Edrington Lands by Gregory Lauder–Frost of The Old School House Mordington, Nr. Foulden Berwickshire. Mr. Lauder-Frost is a resident of the former lands of Edrington (September, 2003) where his family was granted ownership by the Crown from earliest days. 12 . Descendants of George Edingtoun by Greg Lauder-Frost.......................................71 Greg Lauder-Frost brings to light the life of one David Edingtoun, “of that Ilk” who lived in Edingtoun (upstream about 4 miles from Edrington) in the late 1500’s. One of the earliest instances of a person living in Edingtoun (formerly Iddingtoun ), and assuming the name. Evidence that persons of the area did in fact take the name as their surname. 13 . Descendants of George Ramsay of Idington by Greg Lauder-Frost ........................75 George Ramsay of Idington [Edington] Berwicks sold lands to the Lauder family of Edrington in 1663. 14 . Thomas Edingtoun of that Ilk by Greg Lauder-Frost ..............................................79 One Thomas Edingtoun lived in the Edingtoun area in the late 1400’s. He owned land, and the family is connected with both the Hume and the Ramsay families. Name is spelled Ethingtoun in various documents. 15 . Notes on the Name Edrington by Kay Lamar Edrington .........................................91 The Ethington Family Organization Page 6 Spring, 2004 Long-time Edrington family researcher Kay Lamar Edrington of Laport Utah discusses his years of research and conclusions on the family name and possible links to England and Scotland. 16 . Nicolaisen Correspondence ....................................................................................101 Correspondence between Professor William “Bill” F. H. Nicolaisen of Aberdeen Scotland and Harold D. Ethington regarding the Ethington surnames. 17 . Williamson Correspondence ..................................................................................111 Correspondence between Dr. May G. Williamson of Edinburgh and Harold D. Ethington regarding her PhD thesis of 1942 wherein she discusses the Ethington surnames. 18 .