Re: Who are the Lairds?

["Spirit One Email" <laurel@spiritone.com>]

Welcome Cousin,
    So interesting to learn about you.  I have checked two lists that I have
of Sinclair Septs but do not see the Lairds.  The Lyall, Lyell,
BudgeLinklater, Clyne are on the lists but not the Lairds.  Do we need to
update things?
Laurel
-----Original Message-----
From: INSLaird@cs.com <INSLaird@cs.com>
To: sinclair@mids.org <sinclair@mids.org>
Cc: LAIRD-L@rootsweb.com <LAIRD-L@rootsweb.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 6:07 AM
Subject: Who are the Lairds?


>In response to Laurels enquiry and Sinclair's reply, apart from "Laird"
being
>an occupational description we of the surname Laird are very much a family
of
>the same name, and in Caithness, as most of the familys, including the
>Sinclairs, of Norse origin.  In investigating our ancestry, we have yet to
>identify a Laird who was a Laird (in the landed sense). We have recently
>identified one real Laird (landed), William Laird of Glenhuntly in 1777,
and
>are looking for more information about him.  A variation of his Arms has
also
>been found matriculated by a Laird in England.  For the moment it is
>speculation that our original Norse name may have adapted to spelling in
the
>same way as the Scottish "lord" or "landowner".  In Western Norway, our
point
>of origin, I have found old farm names beginning with "Leir", e.g. Leirvik,
>Leirdal and Leired. The Norwegian adjective "laerd" means
scholarly,erudite,
>learned! On the other hand "leirdue" is a clay pigeon! There is a town and
>county in Sogn called Laerdal.  In the south of Scotland we see the surname
>appear  when one Roger Lawird of Berwick made an agreement with the Abbey
of
>Kelso relating to his land of Waldefgat in 1257.Thomas le Lanerd of
>Peebleshire rendered homage in 1296.  Laird sometimes appears in Orkney and
>Caithness as Leard and Leird.  I am investigating the origins of the
surname
>in Caithness, where Church records start around 1650.  I have entered some
of
>my findings in my webpage "http://ourworld.cs.com/inslaird".  There is a
>thriving Laird Family Association in the USA with a webpage
>"http://www.qcsi.net/lfa/" but the Laird family is not a clan in the
>traditional sense, and  so my family is proud, with the Earl's permission,
to
>wear the Sinclair Tartans and the Badge of Sinclair.
>
>I believe the Lairds are a "mislaid" sept of Sinclair, as Caithness
families
>by the name of Budge, Clyne, Lyall, Linklater and Mason are also considered
>to be Sinclairs.  100 years ago there were many of the surname Laird in
>Caithness and now there are but one or two.  In the Norse tradition of our
>forbears, we continue to wander the world.
>
>Yours aye
>
>Iain Laird
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