A treasure trove of family history!

Below is an excerpt from the Lawson Family Heritage Program website's front page (an excellent resource!):

Welcome!

We are the descendants of William Lawson of Montrose, Scotland.

"Lawson" is one of the Septs of the Clan MacLaren.

"Septs were families that a clan could regard as loyal, either families related to the clan by blood, or families that obtained protection from the clan.

In the times of the Scottish Clans the spelling of the name and the inclusion or exclusion of the Mac or Mc was the preference of the individual. Sometimes a serious family dispute would lead to an individual changing the spelling to show this, or a change might be made to show allegiance to another branch of the clan, or to avoid a persecution. This created the blood related septs."

Motto: Creag an Tuirc - (The Boar's Rock)

It is possible that there are two quite separate origins of this name, one arising in Perthshire around Balquhidder, and the other in Tiree in Argyll. In Argyll, the family are said to descend from Lorn, son of Fergus MacErc, founder of the kingdom of Dalriada in the sixth century. In Gaelic, they are Clann Labhruinn. However, the eponymous ancestor is generally given as Laurence, Abbot of Achtow in Balquhidder, who lived in the thirteenth century. The lands of the Church were often held by hereditary lay noblemen who had the courtesy title of abbot.

Learn more here: http://www.lfhp.org/index.html

Comments

MacLaren / Lawson Scottish Tartan

Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland . Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. Tartan is often called plaid in North America, but in Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder as a kilt accessory, or a plain ordinary blanket such as one would have on a bed. Tartan is made with alternating bands of coloured (pre-dyed) threads woven as both warp and weft at right angles to each other. The weft is woven in a simple twill , two over—two under the warp, advancing one thread at each pass. This forms visible diagonal lines where different colours cross, which give the appearance of new colours blended from the original ones. The resulting blocks of colour repeat vertically and horizontally in a distinctive pattern of squares and lines known as a sett. (Wikipedia) ...

William Lawson: Finding Our True William

Dear Lawson Family, It appears there are some questions as to if the William "the rebel" Lawson is our ancestor or if perhaps another William from Scotland is the true patriarch of our family. I found this note at the William Lawson (1731 - 1826) Wiki Tree Page: William “Our Scottish Immigrant” Lawson Birth 26 Jun 1733 Montrose, Angus, Scotland Death 18 Apr 1826 Snowflake, Scott County, Virginia, USA Burial Lawson Confederate Memorial Cemetery Snowflake, Scott County, Virginia, USA Memorial ID 19302244 Please refer to www.lfhp.org for further information on William Lawson. Many people are still actively researching this ancestor and as of 2017 new data has been found. The LFHP website will be updating this information and sharing it with all on their mailing list. Correcting the information on the website is ongoing. Please understand there is no disrespect intended to any others who have devoted years of research to this ancestor. To those who paid ...

William “the Rebel” Lawson and the Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden (Wikipedia) Excerpt from Lawson, William - A Scottish Rebel by Bill Porter and posted online at Electric Scotland : William Lawson was born 26 June 1731 at Montrose, Scotland. He was the only son of a widow lady (1). No information is available on his father. Some believe his name was Robert and may have been killed during the Scottish uprising which culminated in the fatal route and dispersion of the followers of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, "the Pretender" to the throne of Great Britain at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. At this battle the British army, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland, killed 1000 of the 5000 Scottish troops in less than an hour and pursued the fleeing rebels, persecuting and prosecuting them and members of their families (2). William Lawson was one of many young Scotsmen arrested and placed in prisons in northern England. Confined at Chester and Carlisle, the Scottish rebels became a threat to...

Where our Lawson family line began:

View of Montrose, Scotland by Alan Morrison (Wikipedia) When I first began researching our branch of the Lawson family, I came across the story of "William the Rebel" Lawson and discovered that we are his descendants. One of the stories I want to share is written by Bill Porter and posted online at Electric Scotland : Battle of Culloden - Wikipedia Lawson, William - A Scottish Rebel William Lawson was born 26 June 1731 at Montrose, Scotland. He was the only son of a widow lady (1). No information is available on his father. Some believe his name was Robert and may have been killed during the Scottish uprising which culminated in the fatal route and dispersion of the followers of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, "the Pretender" to the throne of Great Britain at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. At this battle the British army, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland, killed 1000 of the 5000 Scottish troops in less than an hour and pursue...

'The Dialect of The Appalachian People'

The Monongahela National Forest; photo taken from slopes of Back Allegheny Mountain looking east ( Valerius Tygart - Appalachian Mountains / Wikipedia ) As our patriarch William (the rebel) Lawson was originally from Scotland, banished to America and then eventually settled in Snowflake, Virginia, I thought this article on The Dialect of The Appalachian People by Wylene P. Dial posted at West Virginia Archives and History would be appropriate to feature here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The dialect spoken by Appalachian people has been given a variety of names, the majority of them somewhat less than complimentary. Educated people who look with disfavor on this particular form of speech are perfectly honest in their belief that something called The English Language, which they conceive of as a completed work - unchanging and fixed for all time - has been taken and, through ignorance, shamefully distorted by the mountain folk. The f...

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