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"The use of fixed surnames or descriptive names appears to have commenced in France about the year 1000, and such names were introduced into Scotland through the Normans a little over one hundred years later." ("The Surnames of Scotland" [xiii] George F. Black) Hector Boece (1465-1536) in his "Buick of the Cronicles of Scotland" stated that at a general council held at Forfar in 1061 Malcolm Caenmore (1057-1093) directed all his chief subjects to adopt surnames from their territorial possessions. Although the Normans never subjugated Scotland they exerted a strong influence on the country. The sons of the noblemen of Scotland were educated south of the border and French was the language of court. Despite Malcolm Caenmore's edict, it was in the reign of David I (1124-1153) that surnames began to come into use in Scotland. |