![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rjoleary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ScotlandsPeople.1A592289-C8E5-46F6-8FE7-2583F84F5088-OPR630_000_0010_0248Z-copy4.jpg\" "\\"ScotlandsPeople.1A592289-C8E5-46F6-8FE7-2583F84F5088-OPR630_000_0010_0248Z")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rjoleary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ScotlandsPeople.1FC1CA60-1191-4EEA-83E5-F84DBCFB521B-OPR821_000_0030_0158Z2.jpg\" "\\"ScotlandsPeople.1FC1CA60-1191-4EEA-83E5-F84DBCFB521B-OPR821_000_0030_0158Z\\"")
<\/a>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add into the mix a number of Edgar families, all living in or around Moffat, with a large number of children, all with a similar selection of family first names and you begin to understand\u00a0the problems.<\/p>\n Below is a section of this web site\u00a0http:\/\/selectsurname.com\/edgar.html<\/a>\u00a0 giving a brief description of the early Edgars of Scotland.<\/p>\n Scotland<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Edgars held land at Wedderlie (near Westruther) in Berwickshire and on Nithsdale in Dumfriesshire<\/strong> on the Scottish borders.\u00a0 They owned their ascent for their backing of Robert the Bruce in his rise to power.\u00a0 Richard Edgar, a witness to Robert the Bruce’s second marriage, became the first lord of Wedderlie in 1327.\u00a0 Legend has it that the Twin Cairns of Wedderlie were constructed in honor of two Edgar brothers.<\/em><\/p>\n “The Edgar brothers were the sons of an ancient Scottish chief.\u00a0 One was kidnapped at an early age and raised by a Saxon general.\u00a0 Years later the two met in battle and the ‘kidnapped’ son was felled by his unknowing brother at this location.”<\/em><\/p>\n By the 18th century the family had fallen on hard times and John Edgar was\u00a0forced to sell Wedderlie\u00a0in 1736.\u00a0 Today there are no Edgars at Westruther.<\/em><\/p>\n But Edgars remain in substantial numbers in Dumfriesshire<\/strong>.\u00a0 Moffat<\/strong> Edgars from Troloss<\/strong> date from the early 1700’s; while Caerlaverock is an area on the coast where Edgars were to be found from the 16th century.\u00a0 William Edgar and Janet Dickson were married there in 1773.\u00a0 John Edgar died there in 1801 at the advanced age of one hundred.\u00a0 His grandson John, born in the same year, made his living as an engineer and bought the Midlocharwoods estate.<\/em><\/p>\n Another Edgar branch, the Edgars of Keithock, were to be found in Angus in NE Scotland in 1620.\u00a0 A 19th century guidebook described Keithock as follows:<\/em> These Edgars were Jacobite in 1715 and again in 1745.\u00a0 James Edgar had to flee the country in disguise in 1715, as did his nephew\u00a0John Edgar was also a fugitive\u00a0<\/a>thirty years later.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Below are some examples of the Old Parish Records, the main method of recording life events in the Scotland of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. \u00a0Depending on the person writing the entries the information ranges from full\u00a0disclosure, ie: Event, date, name, name of both parents and location, to simply registering a date and name on … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rjoleary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ScotlandsPeople.F7B6C2FF-6324-41E3-81B8-1006FD9618BB-OPR821_000_0090_0351Z1.jpg\" "\\"ScotlandsPeople.F7B6C2FF-6324-41E3-81B8-1006FD9618BB-OPR821_000_0090_0351Z\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n “The mansion house of Keithock is a comfortable edifice, pleasantly situated, with a good garden, fine lawn, and thriving shrubbery.\u00a0 It stands a little to the west of the highway from Brechin and Edzell.\u00a0 In the old days Keithock was a barony and had its gallows hill.”<\/em><\/p>\n