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The SKIRLING and STIRLING surname connection . . .

(. . . but now possibly McGregor, MacGregor, McGrigor, etc. too - read on . . .)

In the course of drawing up my own family tree in the early 1990's I came to the conclusion that I could link very many persons with the Stirling surname in Angus, particularly around Forfar.  I have always recorded my family tree with the aid of my computer and use the L.D.S. (Mormons) Personal Ancestral File® 4, available for free download from the Mormon website.  (Version 5 is now available for free download.  I also still use MS-DOS PAF® version 3 which can be useful in certain circumstances.)

On my maternal 'side' I have a family tree chart dating from around 1750 with James Stirling and Margaret Whyte, his wife, who married, or had banns called, on Boxing Day in 1773.  My chart of descendants directly from that couple to date has over 200 persons listed.

A while after commencing my researches I decided that I would be better able to carry out my task if I had records for every person of the Stirling surname who I could trace, and then see if they were related, even distantly, in some way to mine.  In the case of married females this would include those whose maiden OR married surname was Stirling.  Using this information with that I already had I was am likely to increase the detail and number of related persons considerably.

As I typed up the information for the file (now called ALLSTIR and available for download from this site) I noticed interesting "snippets" of information which helped me to link family members together.  My main aim was to try to establish the parents, siblings, and spouses of siblings, of that James Stirling back around 1750 I am sure that a considerable number of other Stirlings, and descendants, some with other surnames, could be added.  There are entries where other (so far, unrelated Stirlings) are married to persons on my own 'tree' and I felt that if I can get earlier information for more generations some on my 2,500-name ALLSTIR list of names might "fall into place".

But now . . .

Quite some time after preparing the 'base' information for my ALLSTIR list using the IGI for the STIRLING surname (which included a few spelling variants) I discovered that many more also appeared in another place on the IGI (International Genealogical Index from the L.D.S.) as SKIRLING, again with several variants in spelling. (It is unfortunate that the producers of the IGI did not include them with the STIRLINGS, but I suppose the problem is where to 'draw the line' with similar surnames.)

Particularly in the ANGUS (sometime called Forfarshire) area of East Scotland, the SKIRLING (and variants) surname seems generally to have pre-dated the STIRLINGS and are known, at least in my ancestors case, to be their forebears - I have the same persons recorded under both spellings.  This change in spelling came to my notice as I read in a publication by the Scottish Genealogical Society of a memorial stone in Kinnettles Parish Kirkyard (in Angus, Scotland) where the inscribed name of a person interred and (from the Old Parish Records) recorded as SKIRLING has apparently had the inscription altered to STIRLING to match the STIRLING family name that the family later used.  The following photograph is of that stone.

Some more photographs of Kinnettles village, the Parish Kirk and kirkyard, also 3 Stirling / Skirling stones. My earliest known ancestor, JAMES STIRLING, is recorded in the Old Parish Records of two adjoining Scottish parishes in (the former county of) Angus.  His Marriage Banns were called in December 1773 on the occasion of his forthcoming marriage to MARGARET WHYTE of Kinnettles.  In the OPR for Inverarity he is called STIRLING and in the OPR for Kinnettles, he is called SKIRLING. I have not (yet?) established a link to the SKIRLING family of Kinnettles whose names are recorded on the gravestones.

I decided to include ALL those listed as -

DE STRIVELYN, DE STRYVELIN, DE STIRLING, SCERVEN, SCIRLIN, SCIRLINE, SKERLING, SKERVING, SKERVING, SKIRLANE, SKIRLEN, SKIRLER, SKIRLIE, SKIRLIN, SKIRLINE, SKIRLING, SKIRLINGE, SKIRLNG, SKIRTING, SKIRTON, SKIRVEN, SKIRVINE, SKIRVING, SKRLING, SKYRLIN, SKYRLING, SKYRLINGE, SKYRLYNG, STERLIN, STERLING, STERLYNG, STIRLEN, STIRLIN, STIRLINE, STIRLING, STIRLON, STIRLYING, STRIVELINGS.
(Please note that the webmaster cannot confirm that all these surname spellings have become STIRLING or STERLING.)

. . .on my ALLSTIR list, too.

HOWEVER, possibly a new 'twist'.

. . . now possibly McGregor, MacGregor, McGrigor, etc. too - please read on . . .

A study of the SKirling individuals on my ALLSTIR list very strongly indicates that this spelling (with very few exceptions) is concentrated in ANGUS with some 'spilling over' into neighbouring (former county of) Kincardineshire to the north-east (see parishes map).  With this in mind there is a likelihood that the descendants of these SKirlings became STirlings, many or most of which are on my ALLSTIR list, some related.

I am told that if one studies the history of the McGregor Clan there was, after 'a spot of bother' in the 1700's, a requirement to change their surnames, or take aliases or septs.  It appears that several different surnames were taken, and I have noted that the name STirling was one.  I have a supposition that the existence of SKirling, being so concentrated in this area of Scotland, may have been a branch of the disgraced clan.  I have no proof of this, but would like to hear from anyone who can tell me more, particularly if I can reproduce it here.

If you have read about 'The Massacre of Glencoe" you will be aware of this terrible story in Scottish History.  I am told that the MacGregor Clan had an affinity with the Clan Macdonald.  My earliest known ancestor possibly acquired the land and property in the Inverarity Parish, south-east of Forfar, in Angus, and named it GLENCOE PARK (OLD MAP HERE.).  In my own family history records there are quite a number of births, deaths and marriages connected with that address, although not necessarily the original house/s.  The address exists to this day, although the widower of last Stirling descendant moved out a few years ago from the remaining Stirling family home. (The link in this paragraph is to an article on the website of Scottishweb.net - worth a visit.)

  HOWEVER, a completely different theory about monks from France can be seen here . . .  

I would appreciate any readers views and references on anything here, or linked.

(AN ASIDE - In my personal research I have found that it is also unfortunate, in my opinion, that an contributor to the current IGI has apparently given conflicting information for STIRLING individuals to that which was published in earlier IGI versions based, some based on OPR and Statutory Registration sources - I doubt several entries of these in later versions of the IGI.  The individual contributor appears to have made certain assumptions as to our shared ancestors which I fail to be able to confirm.  This shows the importance of checking EVERYTHING at the source.  If this conflicting information had been in the version of the IGI that I had used originally it would have caused problems for me.  Remember, the IGI is just an INDEX, not an original source.)

The best way to find other  stirling  and skirling references on this website is to use the SITE SEARCH  ENGINE - why not try it out?  It should find the FIRST STIRLING on a page, so use your browser's FIND ON THIS PAGE facility (CNTRL + F for MSIE) after you link to the page.

(Read about my greatly enhanced, 2,500-name, ALLSTIR database.)