Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
This by Richard McAuley" <richard_mcauley@yahoo.com
You may be wondering just who I am, and how reliable
is my information? I will skip the formalities of my
name, since it is the same as my email, but I
undertook my doctorate at Glasgow University
(1996-2001), specializing in conservation studies, for
which my dissertation was focused on the evolution of
the Ardincaple estate, onetime baronial seat of the
MacAulays of Ardincaple, and latterly the home of Lord
Frederick Campbell (b1729-d1816), Lord Clerk Registrar
of Scotland.
Because my dissertation was a cross-discipline, though
I was assigned to the Department of Architecture at
the Mackintosh School (within the Glasgow School of
Art), I was also assigned faculty advisors in the
Departments of Archaeology, History, and Celtic
Studies. It was, as a matter of interest to my
project, necessary to enrol in the honours modules
offered by these other departments, where I attended
joint lectures on the Extinction of the Picts
(including studies of Celtic place-names) and other
archaelogy courses, as well as courses in
archaeogeophysics, archaeological dating techniques,
and still others in the History and Celtic Studies
departments. So, my background, much like my home
library, is multi-disciplined.
In many ways, my studies of Ardincaple, particularly
the name Ardincaple parallels the dilemma you seem to
be facing with the name Parkhill, in that there is
apparently more than one such place to sort out.
Because earlier writers and historians commonly
assumed that the name Ardincaple was unique to this
one place in the whole of Great Britain, the
chronology that they established of the supposed
lairds of Ardincaple, derived from a general search of
the entire historical record for all those surnamed
"de Ardincaple", it is impossible to distinguish among
them just which Ardincaple they may have came from.
It is not unlikely that there is more than one family
of the surname Parkhill, and perhaps as you obtain
more information on each of these groupings, you may
be able to better distinguish between them. Having
taken the liberty to examine you other queries on the
name Parkhill, as well as the geographical locations
of the estates having that name, there were three
items which attracted my attention. One was your
citation of the Parkhill in Fife, anent the stone used
in building the abbey at Lindores had reputedly been
quarried at Parkhill. This then helps to establish
that the name Parkhill in fife dates from at least the
foundation of the abbey at the end of the twelfth
century (1195).
From the citation by Black, of the unnamed Parkhill,
who was a servitor to Sir George Elphingstone, the
first Lord Balmerino, Sir James, youngest son of
Robert, third Lord Elphingston, held the estate of
Balmerino from which he derived his title, and which
is situated just a few miles east of Parkhill on the
Firth of Tay. Sir James, Lord Balmerino's grandmother,
was Janet Stewart, a natural daughter of King James
IV, while Sir James' brothers were, Alexander, fourth
Lord Elphingston, Lord Treasurer of Scotland; and Lord
Deskford, ancestor to the Earl of Findlater. Now, it
may take some work, but if you can indentify Sir
George Elphingston, and he is indeed related to this
lot, perhaps either as a depute or factor of one of
the Fife estates, the estate records would likely
provide the indentity of the unnamed Parkhill sevitor?
The third item, was the reference to the Parks of
Parkhill, which as I had noted of the Parker arms, the
armorials of Parke of that Ilk was emblazoned upon the
arms of Stewart: 'or, a fess chequey, azure and
argent,' to which was added, 'in chief, a stag
trippant, gules' [Facsimile of An Ancient Heraldic
Manuscript Emblazoned by Sir David Lyndsay of the
Mount, Lyon King of Armes, 1542 (1878) ed. David Lang,
plate. 97]. If, and only if, the Parks and Parkhill
families are related, the family of Parkhill may
represent "Parkhill of that Ilk" as a means of
distinguishing themselves from "Parke of that Ilk", or
viceversa, much in the same manner as the MacAulays of
Ardincaple had distinguished themselves from the
family 'Ardincaple de Darleith' by designing
themselves 'Ardincaple of that Ilk'.
Lastly, I am very familiar with another source on
place-names, Pont's map manuscripts, which are held in
the National Library of Scotland. For over two
centuries, Pont's maps were unavailable for
consultation because it was feared that with constant
use and over-exposure to light, would eventually
destroy them. So, for many years, the only copies of
the maps available for consultation were black and
white photos, which being the same scale as the
original folios, could only be read with a powerful
magnifying glass. These extant map manuscripts are now
available on-line, as high-resolution digital images
in full colour, and also in a zoomable format. Thus,
Pont's sketches of the castles depicted on the maps,
which are barely more than a centimetre square, can be
enlarged to a size, well, practically any size you
want!
The sixth chapter of my dissertation is dedicated to
Pont's observations at Ardincaple, and challenges the
notion that there was only one castle built at
Ardincaple. While Pont illustrates the small stone
house which was latterly to become Ardincaple Castle,
he also depicts another great tower-house, situated
about a mile to the north, he called "Ober
Ardincaple", which appears in the same style as Castle
Carrick on Lochgoil, built in the early fifteenth
century. When I venture to locate it, I found that the
location where Pont placed it, was the site of
Torwoodhill House (built 1840), and unable to persuade
the current owner to permit me an opportunity of
exploring the grounds for evidence of an earlier
structure, it was simply beyond their belief. "No,
Ardincaple Castle isn't here; it's is a mile south of
us, and if you don't leave now, we'll have you
arrested for trespass!"
While not all of Pont's maps survived, and there is no
map for Ayrshire, one does show the Tayside of Fife,
illustrating the disposition of Parkhill, as it
existed circa 1583-1596, the period when Pont
conducted his cartographic survey of Scotland. These
manuscripts are highly detailed, and in some
instances, provide information about the terrain and
the architecture that is otherwise unattainable.
Though Macgibbon and Ross (1887-1892) History of the
Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland is
virtually a bible on Scottish architecture, had these
authors spent as much time examining Pont's manuscript
as they did in searching for other illustrations of
plans and drawings, they would not have made so many
blunders. Pont illustrates the number of storeys, the
configurations of castles and other built monuments,
churches, even the views of mountains, which even
today you can find the exact spot where Pont stood to
sketch that view.
The map of Northwest Fife is labeled as Gordon 54, and
you can view the map by following the instructions
below:
1. Go to http://www.nls.uk/pont/index.html
2. Click on "Visit the maps"
3. Click on "Specialist"
4. Under paragraph No 3, Manuscrip Map Index, scroll
down to "(Gordon) 54: Pont's map of Northwest Fife",
taking you to
http://www.nls.uk/pont/specialist/gordon54.html
5. Select medium image, and point to the location of
Lindores (as shown in two places on the manuscript: at
Ballinbrech, in the upper map, and at Lindores, in the
map shown down in the left hand corner, turned
perpendicular).
6. This should open a separate window (with black
background), upon which the map image will appear, and
following the instructions provided, permits you to
navigate in the map, to zoom in and pan. If you will
click on the area you wish to examine, the map will
automatically centre on that area and when it
regenerates, will automatically zoom into that area.
7. If you wish to print or copy the image, you can
copy the frame by just right clicking, and "save image
as", or to print, make sure you have a colour printer.
The B&W is good, but the colour is much better.
As you will note, there is a defined wood lying just
to the east of Parkhill, identified by Pont as
"Yronfydwood" (Ironsidwood), which is likely the
source of the name Parkhill. The castle of Parkhill,
here noting Pont's sketch, should be very similar in
style to that of the castles or tours of Dunboly,
Creich, Woodhead, Cluny, or Ormestoun; not to
different from Claypotts Castle at Dundee. Creich is a
sixteenth century, L-plan tower house, of perhaps five
storeys plus garrets (gables). According to Macgibbon
and Ross, they claim that in the thirteenth century,
Creich Castle belonged to MacDuff, Earl of Fife, and
that the present castle dates from the sixteenth
century, when the lands were obtained by the Bethunes
from the Liddels. The others I've noted are not cited
by Macgibbon and Ross, as neither is Parkhill, so
these may have been latterly destroyed during the
Civil War or simply after having fell into ruin were
quarried for other steadings.
Most of the small castles in this area are
tower-houses, dating from the early fifteenth century
to the close of the seventeenth century. Since there
is a tower shown at Parkhill, it is definitive that a
tower-house, and had existed on that estate before
1596 (likely before 1583 when Timothy Pont graduated
from Aberdeen and began his survey), as for Black's
assertion anent Robert Parkhill in 1605 was the first
of that name, is bollocks!
If you also go to http://www.streetmap.co.uk/, and
type in Lindores Abbey, you will find both the
location of Parkhill and Parkhill House, otherwise if
you type in Parkhill, you'll spend a few days looking.
As for your query anent ap Rhys versus Price, I'm not
certain why, or if they are the same name. As I noted
in the other email, the p-Celtic "map" is equivalent
to the the q-Celtic "mac", the change occurring in the
"c" and "p". So, when I said that the q-Celtic sounds
c, cc, q, qq, k, kk, these characters are in the
p-Celtic languages exchanged with a "p" only. So,
while I could write my surname as Macaulay, Maccaulay,
Makaulay, Makkaulay, Maqaulay, and Maqqaulay, would be
correct, or if I were Welsh, it would appear instead
as Mapaulay
I would not think it very likely that the surname
Parkhill might be derived from Arkill. If the two
words: "park", and "hill" were orthographically the
same in Danish, then perhaps you would at least have a
working hypothesis. As it is found in the historical
record, the name "Arkyll" appears by various
orthographies, all dependent on the native language of
the person recording the name. You may have noticed
that Ordericus Vitalis, a Norman, latinised the name
into Arkyllus, obviously taking a Norse derivative
from Arnketyl, and Arncetyl; whereas Simeon of Durham,
an Anglo-Dane, instead latinised the name into
Archillus, which, presumably, he derived from the
Greek, Archilles (äkalayä) as opposed to Archelaus,
tutour of Socrates.
Besides, Parkhill being a territorial place-name, it
would be highly unlikely that it was derived from a
personal forename, and all the more odd considering
that it contains the word "park", which first appears
on record in the thirteenth century as an 'enclosed
land held by royal grant or prescription for the
chase', or a 'paddock'. Noting where Parkhill is
situated, in that part of Scotland formerly in the
ancient kingdom of Cumbria, makes me rather suspicious
that the name Park-hill was either derived from some
other earlier place name (i.e. pert-cill?), or it was
a name given to the estate by one of its earlier
inhabitants, perhaps because that name had so patently
corresponded to that geographical place.
I suggest this because the Picts and Cumbric (Welsh)
are cognates, in that they each share linguistic
origins, and so are classified as p-Celtic languages,
to which extend to include Breton, Gaulish, and
Cornish. Gaelic (Scottish and Irish), as well as Manx,
are classified as q-Celtic languages; the differences
between the two classifications being that among the
p-Celtic, words sounding with "p" or "pp" are rendered
as q, qq, c, cc, k or kk in the q-Celtic languages. In
Gaelic, 'clann' and 'kindred' are denoted by "mac",
whereas Welsh, they become "m'ap"; and often times we
see this in Welsh and Irish genealogies, where for
example, in historical references to Rhun ap Arthgail,
King of Dumbarton (d872) also appears in Irish sources
as Run Macathgall.
Scotland is abundant in place-names derived from the
languages of its varied inhabitants: Pict, Welsh,
Anglican, Saxon, Norman, Irish (Scots), as well as
modern English and even the newest, which I refer to
as neoGaelic, though you will not find the latter
referenced anywhere in particular, as it is my own
complaint. A note aside, "neoGaelic" place-names have
taken root only in the past half century and is a part
of the cultural reinstatement of Scotland's heritage.
This pertain to those place-names that have been
perhaps Gaelicised from English, like Helensburgh,
which has now been renamed, Baile Eilean. So, if
you're traveling south by train from Oban or Fort
William, and the train makes its scheduled stop at
Sinclair Road station above Helensburgh, if you cannot
read Gaelic, you're likely to have a wee wait because
the next schedule stop is half way to Dumbarton, at
Cardross.
Various studies by the universities have categorised
Scottish place-names by these same cultural
influences. Names containing such elements as "pit",
'port', such as Pitmedden, Pitcarmick, Pitcox,
Pitcaple, are part-translations, and are believed to
have been coined during a Pictish-Gaelic interlude, in
that they combine the linguistic influences of both
Picts and Gaels. Other p-Celtic names include:
"lanerc", 'clear space', as may be found in the name
Lanrick, in Perthshire, or Lanark in Lanarkshire; the
word "pevr", 'beautiful': is found in Inverpeffray, in
Perthshire, and Peffer Burn, in East Lothian; as is
"pren", 'tree': Primrose, Fife, and Primside, in
Roxburghshire, are found in both Pictish and Cumbrian
territory; just as "aber", 'river-mouth' is found at
Aberdeen, Aberfeldy (Perthshire), and Aberlady (East
Lothian), have strong ties to the Welsh, Aberythwyth.
The generic "tref", 'dwelling' or 'village', which is
so commonly found in Wales, gives a whole other
wrinkle anent their distribution in Scotland.
So too, are the place-names derived from Anglo-Saxon
settlers, such names as containing "ingham" (i.e.
Coldingham, Whittingham, Tynninghame, and
Penninghame), from "ham" meaning 'village' or
'homestead', and this illustrates the extend of
territory settled by the Angles and Saxons. In the
south, names containing "ing" denote historically the
landing place of ancient Saxon tribal leaders, such as
Haestings, or 'the place of Haest'. Likewise "tun"
(appearing in early records as "toun"), and meaning
'enclosure; enclosed space', is noted in Edrington,
Edington, Renton, Mersington, Thirlington,
Upsettlington and others, while still others combine
the "ing" with "tun". Besides "tun", there is also
another word for 'enclosure', that of "worth", as is
found in Polwarth; and "bothl" and "botl", 'dwelling',
appear in Bolton, Eldbottle, New Batte, Morebattle,
and Buittle, as well as in Tarbolton (Torboltoun),
obviously denoting it as an enclosed dwelling or
castrum (a motte). Indeed, with Tarbolton's proximity
to Taringzean (Terringzean) Castle, which is situated
within the grounds of Dumfries House, and dates
between 1400 and 1540, the later castle may well
occupy the site of an earlier walled enclosure; such
that its name might have given rise to the name of the
baronry of Tarbolton?
There are also many Scandinavian place-names scattered
not only along the west coast and islands, but in
Galloway, where in the early twelfth century was
established a colony of Scandinavians who took refuge
there from the Isle of Man and the western Isles when
the latter came under the dominion of the great
Somerled. Thus we find such names as Wick, Dale, and
Voe, among these territories, just as in southwest
Scotland are found names derived from "bekkr",
'stream'; "byr", 'farmstead, village'; and "pveit",
'clearing, meadow, or paddock'; as well as "fell" or
"fjall", 'hill, mountain'; just as the Old Norse
"kirkja" (church) found in Kirkbride and Kirkgunseon,
is sometimes difficult to separate from their
compounds with Gaelic words. Others, like
Kirkcudbright and Kirkoswald, demonstrate an Anglican
influence (St Cuthbert, St Oswald).
Indeed, for the vicinity of Tarbolton, in Kyle, are
found many names having a very strong presence of Pict
(tref), Northumbrian (wic; ham; and worth), and
Scandinavian (fell, fjall; and kirkja) names, in
addition to Gaelic names. Gaelic words in place-names
as "baile", 'settlement'; "cill", 'hermit's cell,
church', and "achadh", 'field', each appear in areas
before Gaelic had become predominant in Scotland. In
the instance of the "sliabh", 'hill' names, as in
Slewdonan, Slewcairn, Slogarie, Sliabh Mor na Moine,
and others, are somewhat misleading in that while one
might expect all "sliabh" names to have been coined
before, say, the seventh century, their distribution
is confined to the area of the original Dalriadic
settlement of Gaelic speaking "Scots" from Ireland in
the fifth and sixth centuries, and an early "Scots"
colony in Galloway, in the Rinns.
The "cill" (kill) names, are more wide-spread:
Kilbride, Kilpatrick (Ayrshire); Kildonan,
Killantringan, Kilmichael (Galloway); Kilblain
(Dumfriesshire); Kilbucho (Peeblesshire); Kilmacolm
(Renfrewshire); Kilmahew (Dunbartonshire); Killeonan,
Kilchenzie, Kilbarr, Kilbrandon, Kilchalman, and
Kilmaluag (Highlands and Islands), while others lie on
the east and north coasts, like Kilmahog (eastern
Perthshire) as well as in Clackmanshire; as well as
Kilmore in Aberdeenshire; Kilmoremethet and Kiltearn
in Ross; and Kilmalie in Caithness. The medieval name
for the monastery at St Andrews was Kilrimont. Yet,
there is with respects to Parkhill probably no better
"cill" example than that of Kyle.
The parishes of Kyle, for example: of Galston,
Dundonald, Cragie, Symington, Barnwell, Tarbolton,
Prestwick, Ayr, Monkton, St Quivox, Ochiltree,
Auchinleck, and Cumnock, differ little from those
found in the adjacent districts of Carrick and
Cunninghame: Kirkbride, Maybole, Kirkmichael,
Straiton, Dailly (formerly Dalquharran), Kirkoswald,
Girvan, Kirkcudbright, and Ballantrae (formerly
Invertig); and in Cunninghame: Largs, Kilbirnie,
Beith, Kilbride, Ardrossan, Stevenston, Dalry,
Kilwinning, Dunlop, Stewarton, Irvine, Perceton,
Dreghorn, Kilmaurs, Kilmarnock, and Loudoun.
This is why I would think it unlikely that Parkhill
was derived from Arkill (Archill), and would more so
favour a Scoto-Cumbrian origin, perhaps derived from
"pert" and "cill"? The Pictish word "pert", for 'wood'
or 'copse' of wood, appears in such place-names as
Perth (Perthshire), known as Perthoc and Pertmec in
the thirteenth century; and Pappert Law (in
Selkirkshire). The first laird of Kilmahew in the
Lennox, John Naper, himself a supposed descendant of
the Earls of Lennox, was not from the Lennox at all,
but in the charter by Malcolm Earl of Lennox, granting
him the lands of Kilmahew, John Naper was designed as
"de Pertmec" (of Perth).
While early nineteenth century Lennox historians were
aware of his lands in Gowrie and Stormont, near
Dundee, as well as other lands in Lothian and
Peeblesshire, they ignored these lands to instead
espouse the belief that he was descended from the
Celtic Earls of Lennox. Had they realised it, his
charter of circa 1290 states that he had requested a
piece of land having the least exiguous amount of
feu-duty; meaning to hold the cheapest piece of ground
in the Lennox so would entitle him to become a
merchant-burgess, as he was already a merchant-burgess
of Perth. It was simply a case that unless he held
land within the earldom of Lennox, he could not become
a burgess of Dumbarton. But rather than his family
being descended from the Earls of Lennox, they were in
fact Normans who had come north in 1176, during the
reign of William the Lion. John's father, Sir Adam
Naper, also held lands in Aberdeenshire (1248).
You may recognise Bonhill, the parish situated at the
north end of the Vale of Leven at the point where the
river meets Loch Lomond, but which earlier took such
orthographical forms as Buthelulle, Bohtlul, Buchlul,
and Bulill, before becoming standardised in the late
seventeen century as Bonhill. While nineteenth century
writers identified the name with a Gaelic antecedent,
"Bog-n'-uill", transliterated 'foot of the rivulet',
this is nothing but mere fantasy. It's bollocks. It
seems more likely to be derived instead from "bothl"
or "botl", perhaps in having some reference to its
proximity to the 'dwelling' place of the Earls of
Lennox, situated at Balloch, and also lying within the
parish of Bonhill.
Darleith, another estate situated within the same
parish (or rather annexed in 1620), was evidently
derived from the Welsh "darleithio", whose meaning
precisely matches with a geographical description of
that steeply sloping land. Of course, its possessor in
the mid-thirteenth century, Somerled (Somherle or
Samuel), was the earl's chaplain, and appears in the
cartularies of Earl Maldoven as "de Dalcrus" (of
Dalcross), for which at the top of the hill separating
Darleith Moor from the Vale of Leven proper, had long
stood a great standing cross, demarking the old parish
boundary between that of Bonhill, Dumbarton, and
Cardross.
Alternatively, we might consider a derivation from the
Latin "pertica" (a perch or pole of land); a quarter
of an acre of land or a "rood", being the smallest
measure of arable land during the late medieval
period. Such land measures also relate to the above
place-names, in that there are 'settlement'
davach-names (Pit- and Bal-) and 'field' davach-names
(Ach-), while the word "davach" rarely appears except
in the form of a fraction: "Haddo" and "Lettoch", both
mean half-davach. There are also thirds (Trin- or
Tirn-names), as well as quarters (Kirrie- names), and
fifths (Coig- names), which refer to davachs not using
the word.
The ploughgate and carrucate were similar terms that
came into use to describe a davach of arable land, and
each davach was comprised of a measure of five score
and four acres of land; comprising eight oxgangs or
twenty pennylands. The Gaelic word "arachor", as is
found in the Lennox Arrochar is derived from the Latin
"aratrum", otherwise, 'ane (an or one) carrucate'.
Although the word davach is Gaelic (dabhach), it is a
word not found in Ireland but only in Pictish
Scotland, and means a "large tub" or "vat", referring
to the land sown by such a measure of seed, or the
lands required to produce so much grain as was paid as
a render (rent). The ounceland was simply a davach by
another name, being the term applied to a unit of land
which paid a tax in money or produce to the value of
one ounce of silver. Thus, a davach paid the value of
one silver penny.
Whether the lands of Parkhill may have originally
comprised a copse of wood belonging to the church, or
perhaps refers to being composed of a quarter acre of
arable land, these are more likely sources for the
name that any derivation from the personal name,
Archill or Arkill. Had your family been from
Arklestoun, lying south off the M8 near Paisley, it
would have seemed more plausible, in that while
etymologists have derived "Arkilstoun" from
"Arkil's-enclosure", as perhaps being among the lands
in Cumbria granted to Arkyll Ecgfrithsson, it was
originally possessed by a man named Grimketyl, and was
renamed in the sixteenth century to Arklestoun. Go
figure?
Rather than my narrating the history of Ayrshire, I
would recommend that you examine more of that history,
and in particular, a book by Daphne Brooke (1994)
"Holy Men and Holy Places: St Ninian, Whithorn and the
Medieval Realm of Galloway" (ISBN 0 86241 588 6; by
Cannongate Press, Edinburgh, for £9.99), as this book
will present an in-depth analysis of Kyle and Carrick,
as well as Galloway. It also touches on the above
origins of Galwegian place-names, and provides
genealogicial data on Ucthred mac Fergus, the lord of
Galloway, his kinship to Gospatrick, the Earl of
Northumbria dispossessed in 1072, to Hugh de
Moreville, Constable of Scotland, and to Alan fitz
Walter, the latter two whom held much of Ayrshire
during the twelfth century. You might like to peruse
Paterson (1847) History of the County of Ayr and
Wigton; G. Robertson (1824) Ayrshire Families;
or the Auchinleck Chronicles (1819; 1877 ed. T.
Thomson), to see what other references may appear in
these.
With respects to what Black says of Robert Parkhill as
the first of that name, all Black is saying is that
this individual is the first person of that name that
Black himself has noted on record, and is not to say
that Robert is the first of that name. What I would
recommend is that you first verify what Black has
cited, that is to examine the roll of burgesses for
the entry of Robert Parkhill in 1605, since that
source should provide what trade he plied. You might
also do the same for each of the other references
Black notes, and determine whether there are any other
relationships between them; particularly with the
unnamed servitor to Sir George Elphinstone. I cannot
be certain, but Sir George may have held the
Blythswood estate, in Renfrewshire, just northwest of
Glasgow?
You might also not rule out the surname Parker. As you
remarked of the Parkhill blazon containing a 'stag
trippant unguled on a hillock', I note two Parkers,
one, 1515, a prior of Gloucester, emblazoned: 'sable,
a buck trippant, argent, between three pheons, or';
and that of Parker of Haling, emblazoned: 'or, a buck
trippant, gules, on a canton of the first ship,
azure'; as well as Parker (of London), emblazoned:
'argent, a chevron between three mullets (or heraldic
stars), gules, on a chief, azure, as many stags heads
cabossed, or'. As you can see, there is always another
possibility.
Notify Administrator about this message?
Followups:No followups yet |
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/parkhill/messages/223.html | ||
 |
Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|