The Journal of Scottish Name Studies Vol. 6 The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi The Journal of Scottish Name Studies Vol. 6 edited by Richard A.V. Cox and Simon Taylor Clann Tuirc 2012 The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi The Journal of Scottish Name Studies6 (2012) edited by Richard A.V. Cox and Simon Taylor First published in Scotland in 2012 by Clann Tuirc, Tigh a’ Mhaide, Ceann Drochaid, Perthshire FK17 8HT ISSN 1747-7387 © text: the authors 2012 © book and cover design: Clann Tuirc 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, known or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. <www.clanntuirc.co.uk/JSNS.html> The Journal of Scottish Name Studies JSNS is a peer-reviewed journal that exists to publish articles and reviews on place and personal names relating to Scotland, her history and languages. Editors Professor Richard A.V. Cox and Dr Simon Taylor Reviews Editor Mr Gilbert Márkus Editorial Advisory Board Professor Dauvit Broun Dr Rachel Butter Professor Thomas Clancy Mr Ian Fraser Dr Jacob King Mr Gilbert Márkus Professor W. F. H. Nicolaisen Professor Colm Ó Baoill Dr Maggie Scott Mr David Sellar Dr Doreen Waugh Contributions Prospective contributors to the journal should refer to the Notes for Contributors, available from the publisher and at <http://www.clanntuirc.co.uk/JSNS/notes_for_contributors.html>. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi Contents Personal Names in 18th-Century Scotland: a case study of the parish of Beith (North Ayrshire) Alice Crook 1 The Use of the Name Scot in the Central Middle Ages. Part 2: Scot as a surname, north of the Firth of Forth Matthew H. Hammond 11 An Eighth-century Reference to the Monastery at Hoddom Michael Parker 51 Reviews Gilbert Márkus Stephen T. Driscoll, Jane Geddes and Mark A. Hall, Pictish Progress: New Studies on Northern Britain in the Early Middle Ages 81 Thomas Owen Clancy John MacQueen, Place-Names in the Rhinns of Galloway and Luce Valley and Place-Names of the Wigtownshire Moors and Machars 87 Bibliography of Scottish Name Studies for 2011 Simon Taylor 97 Notes on Contributors 100 The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, i–vi Personal Names in 18th-Century Scotland: a case study of the parish of Beith (North Ayrshire)1 Alice Crook University of Glasgow Summary This paper reports upon an investigation into the personal naming patterns of 18th-century Scotland through studying the parish records of Beith (North Ayrshire). Primarily, the widespread theory that Scottish children were traditionally named in a definite pattern was examined: ‘the eldest son and second daughter were named after their paternal grandparents, the second son and eldest daughter after their maternal grandparents’ (Scots Ancestry Research Society) and this pattern was extended to incorporate further ancestors if more children were born to the family. A clear lack of research into Scottish naming patterns meant that this theory may be refuted. The project aimed to support or disprove the theory through a study of the name-stock, rates of parental naming, the role of godparents and the practice of substitution as well as examining those families where the pattern may potentially be most clearly observed. After analysis of over 7,000 records and 1,803 distinct families, no definite proof of the naming pattern being in practice was discovered. However, clear instances of families choosing not to follow the pattern were found. It therefore seems that the theory of a traditional Scottish naming pattern may have to be re-evaluated. 1 Introduction A common feature of many publications which mention Scottish naming is a statement that a single naming pattern was in widespread use, especially during the 18th century. Regional differences and occasional variations have been noted (Hamilton-Edwards 1983, 71), but the pattern is usually outlined as follows: first son for paternal grandfather; second son for maternal grandfather; third son for father; subsequent sons for other relatives or influential townsfolk; and a similar pattern for daughters, although honouring the maternal grandmother before the paternal (Cory 1990, 68). It has been generally claimed that the pattern was ‘highly developed’ (Hamilton-Edwards 1983, 71), its usage driven by an ‘almost ritual [...] attitude to the naming of children’ (James 2009, 175), 1 I would like to gratefully acknowledge funding from The Carnegie Trust, who granted me a Carnegie Vacation Scholarship (July‒August 2011) in order to conduct this research project. The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, 1–10 2 Alice Crook and was used throughout the whole of Scotland regardless of factors such as social class. These are bold statements, but the theory itself does not seem to have been comprehensively examined and the little research undertaken has been based on qualitative rather than quantitative analysis. Thus, it is difficult to accept the claim that the pattern was in common use, and it is possible that, with suitable analysis, such a claim could be refuted. 2 Methodology In an attempt to find evidence supporting or negating this theory, an investigation into the naming patterns of Beith (North Ayrshire) was conducted. The primary source was the Old Parish Registers (hereafter OPRs): records of baptisms, marriages and burials taking place within a particular parish. The OPRs are an invaluable source of Early Modern Scottish personal names, as, from the mid-16th century, the Church of Scotland required its representatives to keep an accurate record of a parish’s inhabitants (ScotlandsPeople 1). Although not all Scottish people were members of the church and some records are illegible or were infrequently updated, the OPRs remain one of the largest sources of 18th-century Scottish personal names, and, if a naming pattern does exist and was widely used by the Scottish population, it should be visible in the registers. Using microfilm copies of the OPRs for the years 1701‒1800, details of 7,035 baptisms were entered into an electronic database, comprising 3,561 males and 3,474 females. A purpose-built relational database was used, built on MySQL. The data in a MySQL database are stored in tables which consist of columns (or ‘fields’) and rows (or ‘records’). SQL (Structured Query Language) is useful as it allows the user to easily run queries against the data. A sample of such a query is: SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE `PeopleID` = ‘1’; This query would return all records from the table ‘table_name’ where the field ‘PeopleID’ is 1. Each record in the database has a unique identifier known as a primary key. In this case, the primary key is the field ‘PeopleID’. This particular query would give the user a list of all records within the specified table where the PeopleID is 1 and expected output would be only one record. A more complex query would be: SELECT * FROM `people` WHERE `first_name` IS LIKE ‘Mar%’; The Journal of Scottish Name Studies 6, 2012, 1–10 Personal Names in 18th-Century Scotland 3 This query would return all records in ‘people’ table where the name begins with ‘Mar’. Using this database, I was able to gain my results efficiently and without the possibility of human error. The records were then organised into familial units. This was done by selecting all baptisms clearly related by aspects such as surname, name of parent(s), location and/or occupation of parent and period of birth. If it could be concluded beyond reasonable doubt that records were related, they were grouped together within the database. Those records for which there was doubt were collated into ‘mass groups’, generally organised by surname and father’s name. The records within these mass groups were analysed for aspects such as their presence in the name stock of the parish but were not analysed for the presence of naming patterns. After the grouping had been completed, the database contained 1,803 distinct familial units, with each familial unit representing a single father, mother and their children. These units were comprised of 5,562 records, which meant that 1,473 records (20.9% of the total) were not analysed in relation to other sets of records. These 1,803 familial units did not universally have both male and female children; 1,390 families contained at least one male child and 1,319 families contained at least one female child. By linking individual People IDs together in the database, chains of ancestors and descendants were created for those families I could be sure were directly related. SQL queries were then run against the data to analyse aspects such as number of unique names, name-sharing between parent and child, and the number of those with godparents. 3 Results 3.1.1 Name stock It was important that a study of the name stock be carried out as, with a small name stock, the chance of coincidental name sharing is higher (as opposed to name sharing caused by the presence of a particular naming pattern). After disregarding those records where names were illegible or likely misspellings (e.g. Jeant which was probably meant to be either Jean or Janet), the name stock of the parish totalled 112 distinct names (50 male and 62 female). Due to the removal of certain name forms from the data for the calculation of the name stock, these results account for 98.5% of the records (6,903 of 7,035). Of these 112 names, 17/50 (34%) of male names and 26/62 (41.9%) of female names were used once, giving a regular name stock of 33 male names and 36 female names.