Comments for Ramscraigs - A Caithness Story

Comment on Clans In Ancient Caithness by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:35:10 +0000

Hey Joe! Thanks for reading the site. I sent it over to Russ for possibly inclusion in the fall issue of An Canach.

Comment on Clans In Ancient Caithness by Joe Henderson

Joe Henderson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:26:15 +0000

Bruce,
This is a really good article, the best explanation of a “clan” and its people that I’ve ever read.

I think that it would be a great article for the An Canach publication. How about submitting it to Russ?

Joe

Comment on Vikings in the Woodshed by Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:11:58 +0000

Rebecca, I forgot to add…..

The Normans are credited with bringing the name Henry/Henri to England after their conquest.

The name also has Germanic roots, in the first name Heinrich. The 1st syllable having roots in the word “home”, the 2nd syllable in the word “power”.

Son of Henry “Henderson” a very cool name.

So Viking roots for the name is not so far fetched.

Comment on Vikings in the Woodshed by Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:44:10 +0000

Very interesting.

I’m part Russian, so naturally my mom’s side was full of Vikings.

My Father is an English and Scottish mix. The clan of Donald included.

My fathers side took part in a DNA project. We were very surprised as well to find my father’s English branch came from the subpopulation group called Ultra-Norse.

The Vikings got around.

And Rebecca, perhaps by digging a bit deeper and in other languages you will pick up more clues.

My Mom’s Russian name, “???????”…crazy looking but translates to “son of Peter” aka “Peterson”. Looks nothing like the original.

It may be the same for your “Henderson”.

I feel for all the researchers who lived before the internet. LOL

Blessings.

Comment on Nan and George Bethune on Ballachly “House of Peace” by Julie Goldsworth

Julie Goldsworth — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:17:37 +0000

Am I the first to comment?

I can’t wait to see what they find!

Comment on Reconciling DNA and History by Rueben

Rueben — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:20:18 +0000

Research: What I’m doing, when I don’t know what I’m doing.

Comment on Vikings in the Woodshed by Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:19:21 +0000

The -son suffix seems to not have been exclusive to the viking families, but was widespread in Scotland when surnames came into fashion. But in the case of the Hendersons of Caithness, the Viking heritage was definitely present.

Comment on Vikings in the Woodshed by Rebecca Henderson

Rebecca Henderson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:57:44 +0000

I’ve been wondering if Henderson was a norse viking name, but all I could find mainly was of Scottish orgin. But with son on the end I thought it must have been of norse descent. Records don’t go back that far nowadays. Finally someone with the same last name that looks into the real history.

Comment on Introducing The Reverend Adam C. Henderson & Family by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:08:48 +0000

Indeed, her name is Jane Robertson Taylor, she was born in Dollar Clackmanan. We think she and Adam may have met while working as missionaries in some of the poorer districts in Glasgow. The Cunningham name is interesting, as Adam’s mother was a Cunningham from Dunbeath Scotland. We are now trying to discover if they were related to his mother Ann, who moved to live with Adam, Jane and the family after Adam’s father Donald died in 1892.

Comment on Introducing The Reverend Adam C. Henderson & Family by Dottie Henderson

Dottie Henderson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:57:07 +0000

Does anyone know what Adam Henderson’s wife’s maiden name was? Looking at the family picture,I thought that perhaps the older woman on the right, Connie Cunningham could be his wife’s mother.

Dottie Henderson
Clan Henderson Society

Comment on Missing Families – Where Did They Go? by Dorothy Drake

Dorothy Drake — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:55:09 +0000

Excellent site and fascinating research. My husband’s ancestors were Robert John Henderson, bc 1790 and wife Christy Forbes, married by Rev. Robert Gunn, minister at Latheron, on July 1, 1812. They had 3 children baptised at Latheron then they left for Nova Scotia in 1818 or 1819. About that time Rev. Gunn ended his ministry at Latheron and I wonder if he also went to Canada as I have not found a cemetery record for him.
I suspect but can not yet prove that Robert John Henderson was the grandson of David Henderson and Cecelia Honeyman of Gerston and Stemster, through their son William, of whom I can find nothing except he was probably bc 1760. His brothers entered the military and went to Jamaica and British Guyana, so I wonder if William also was a soldier, perhaps in North America.
Please email me if it looks like we have connections.

Comment on The Ledger – Sinclair Spinning Co. by Christina Baldwin

Christina Baldwin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:14:07 +0000

Hello Bruce
What a great Website. Thanks so much for sharing your journey of discovery. I am linked in with the Badbea community website. I am particulalrly interested in the Sinclair Spinning Company Ledger as, according to Lynn Craig, it also includes some Badbea people of interest. I really like to get original sources of data but I live in New Zealand which makes things slightly difficult (I went to Badbea a couple of years ago and might get back there again sometime). By the look of the scanned extract on this page you have been able to get at least some of the ledger copied. I would like to try to get a copy for myself – Don’t mind paying for it. Is there a specific reference for the ledger & a process to apply for a copy.
Best regards, Christina Baldwin

Comment on What’s Coming For Ramscraigs by James Buchanan

James Buchanan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:15:51 +0000

Hi Bruce,
My name’s James Buchanan, from Dunbar, Scotland. We are a closeish DNA match (I don’t have any really close ones, same as yourself.)Nice site, my father’s maternal line come from Caithness too and it’s one of my favourite areas of Scotland.As for the DNA,I can’t really pinpoint an area from where our family originated.Our earliest known ancestor , Robert, born in Stonehaven 1840, was born out of wedlock and descendants of later children match the Buchanan Haplotype.Rather unhelpfully, my two closest matches at 37 markers , a MacDonald from Glencoe and a Gordon from Aberdeen not only represent two different influences ( Norse and Norman), but also are not really close enough to show anything relevant.A soon to be published study shows that Ultra-Norse is most prevalent in the Western Isles and was present in a small sample taken in Caithness too.Anyway, good luck with the research.

Comment on Origins of the Hendersons Of Caithness by ROBERT L HENDERSON

ROBERT L HENDERSON — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:25:24 +0000

i was reading your site very informative i always felt like the hendersons were vikings if we were the bodyguard clan for the mcdonalds that made me think we had no land so we migrated from scandinavia to the uk and also we are strong hence bodyguard clan vikings are strong paul anderson the worlds strongest man the key is (son) on end of name where you have russians which are neighbors to scandinavia with sen,sin at end of name just alot of the worlds strongest men have son at end of name just speculating thanks again

Comment on Missing Families – Where Did They Go? by Marion Q

Marion Q — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:52:17 +0000

I was utterly hooked on reading your material. My gt grandmother Margaret Sutherland and her sister Marion (Merran) were from Berriedale according to every census and certificate I found them on. However I can find no trace of their parents John Sutherland and Margaret Bruce (wives names are less reliable). Your description of how these families were scattered by Clearances and emigration or transportation gives me hope that I will eventually trace them. Well done!