Re: [LAIRD-L] Sinclair digest posted 12 Sep

[INSLaird@cs.com]

Dear Craig

Tweedside or Berwick and Peebles is the oldest reference to the surname Laird 
in Scotland, and in conventional publications, the only reference to Lairds 
in Scotland. There are also a very large number of references going a long 
way back in Renfrewshire.  Until now the presence of a large number of Lairds 
in Caithness and Orkney, sometimes spelt Leard or Leird has been ignored. To 
create further confusion, there are references to the Lairds in the South 
being of German origin, while in the North we are of Norse origin.  What is 
certain is that where the Lairds are found in Caithness is very much in 
Sinclair country.  The Clans and Septs and Tartans enjoyed a real revival in 
the 19th Century, and by this stage the numbers of Lairds in Caithness had 
begun to diminish.  This is why I am inclined to believe that the Lairds in 
Caithness have been overlooked.  I do not know exactly how long Lairds had 
been in the North, because church records (OPRs) do not start until about 
1650.  We keep looking.

Yours aye

Iain
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