Border Clan

A Border Clan, also historically known as a grayne, is a family which originates in the Anglo-Scottish Border region. Many of these ended up involved in the Plantation of Ulster, where they formed a major part of the Scots Irish, and also settled in parts of North America.

Names

The historic riding surnames recorded by George MacDonald Fraser in The Steel Bonnets (1989) are:

East March

• Scotland: Hume, Trotter, Dickson, Broomfield, Craw, Cranstoun.
• England: Forster, Selby, Grey, Dunn.

Middle March

• Scotland: Burns, Kerr, Young, Pringle, Davi(d)son, Gilchrist, Tait, Scott, Oliver, Turnbull, Rutherford of West Teviotdale. Armstrong, Croser, Elliot, Nixon, Douglas, Laidlaw, Routledge, Turner, Henderson of Liddesdale, Thomson, Jamieson, Hunter, Anderson,

• England: Potts, Reed, Hall, Hedley of Redesdale. Charlton, Robson, Dodd, Dodds, Milburn, Yarrow, Stapleton of Tynedale. Also Fenwick, Ogle, Heron, Witherington, Medford (later Mitford), Collingwood, Carnaby, Shaftoe, Ridley, Stokoe, Stamper, Wilkinson, Huntley

West March

• Scotland: Bell, Irvine, Johnstone, Graham, Maxwell, Carlyle, Beattie, Little, Carruthers, Moffat, Lowther,
• England: Glendenning, Hetherington, Musgrave, Curwen, Salkeld, Dacre, Harden, Hodgson, Routledge, Tailor, Noble, Storey

Some of these surnames are also connected to other parts of Scotland and England away from the Border. "Johnstone", for example, has also been used as a translation of the Highland surname MacIain, and also as a replacement for MacGregor when that surname was proscribed.

Spelling variants

Some spellings of names are associated more commonly with one side of the Border or another.

Scottish spelling	English spelling
Carlyle	Carlisle
Dickson	Dixon
Forrester	Forster
Gray	Grey
Reid	Reed
Taylor	Tailor

Name origins

Border surnames tend to be related to place names, unlike most of Scotland where patronymics are more common. "M(a)c-" surnames are extremely rare, but can be found native to Dumfriesshire.

Placenames
Scotland: Broomfield, Carlyle (city of Carlisle), Carruthers, Cranstoun, Graham, Hall, Laidlaw, Rutherford, Moffatt, Lowther
England: Carnaby, Collingwood, Charlton, Curwen, Fenwick, Glendenning, Hedley, Hetherington, Huntley, Milburn, Mitford, Ridley, Salkeld, Selby, Witherington

Patronymics
Scotland: Anderson (Andrew), Davi(d)son, Dickson (Richard), Henderson (Henry), Jamieson, Robson (Robert - the form "Robertson" tends to be from elsewhere in Scotland)
England: Dixon, Nixon, Dodd/Dodds/Doddson, Wilkinson (William)

Personal characteristics
Scotland - Armstrong, Kerr, Dunn, Gray, Little, Young, Younger
England - Dunn(e), Grey, Hodgson, Noble

Trades
Scotland - Hunter, Taylor/Tailor
England - Tailor, Turner

Celtic etymologies
A handful of names have Celtic origins, mostly on the Scottish side - Gilchrist (Gaelic: Gille Chriosd - servant of Christ), Gillespie (Gaelic: Gilleasbaig - servant of the bishop), Kerr (Gaelic: cearr - left-handed), Douglas (Gaelic: Dubh-Ghlas, dark grey)

Some of the place names are also of Celtic origin such as Carlyle, Carruthers and Glendenning. The name "Scott" would have originally referred to a Gaelic speaker in an English/Scots speaking area.

Further Reading

• MacDonald Fraser, George (1971). The Steel Bonnets. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-272746-3.