FAMILY WEB PAGE

Cruick Water is a very crooked stream, and hence its name, Cruick. The latter element "shank" is a topographical reference to a "projecting point of a hill joining it to the plain". The surname may thus quite well be of local origin: the shank on the Cruick or the Cruick-shank. Incidently, the Scottish Rivers North Esk and South Esk are two of the most prolific salmon and sea trout rivers in Scotland!

 

A similar explanation is given in an April 21, 2001 post by: Gordon Cowan Cruickshank, Oban Scotland. Born in Glasgow 23, January 1949, from father born Alexander Duncan Cruickshank in Eskdale, January 1906, and mother Mary Macauslan Whiting, born Burnside Rutherglen 1903. Both deceased.

 

Gordon says: (quote) “my fathers line comes directly from the river cruick & north esk region." "we were guardians of the stewart lands in the east of scotland..our name comes from the River Cruick, where we were given lands by the stewarts....the lands we occupied were on the banks of the River Cruick at the point where it meets the River Esk, Now commonly known as the North Esk.........the reason for cruick was the actual shape of the river, where it meets the shank (leg )of the River Esk....Please do not believe any other stories THIS IS the actual truth regarding my Birthname. CRUICKSHANK.” (end quote)

 

The web site, HouseofNames.com, states, "The ancestors of the Cruickshank family lived at or near the Cruick River in Kincardineshire. The word shank means a point of a hill."   and “…it is thought that the name was derived from a tribe which dwelt on the banks of the Cruick where the river bends,”. For the PDF document about Cruickshank, from HouseofNames,  CLICK HERE

 

 

 

So how far back can we trace our name?

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1. The web site, Houseofnames.com, says, "Cruickshank was first used as a surname

     by descendants of the Pictish people of ancient Scotland." The Picts were a tribal

     confederation of peoples who lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland 

     during the Mid to Late  Iron Age and Early Medieval periods.

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2. Combining Gordon Cowan Cruickshank and House of Names information, we find

     people including: John Crokeshanks, burgess of Haddington (this is east of

     Edinburgh), who rendered homage to King Edward I (Edward Plantagenet) of

     England (B1239-D1307), in 1296, on Edward’s brief conquest of Scotland (Bain, II,

     p. 197). The Cruickshank family name flourished for the next two or three

     centuries, and branched south from Aberdeen to Arbroath, and they owned (or

     leased) the mill at Tybardy, and land in Aberdeen, Arbroath, and Murthlie.

 

3. Further name references include: Christin Crukschank who is mentioned in the

     foundation charter of the chapel of Urchany (north west of Aberdeen), in 1334

     (REA., I, p. 59), Cristinus Cru sank who was admitted burgess of Aberdeen in 1408

     (NSCM., I, p. 3),  and John Cru sank who was one of the burgesses of Aberdeen

     selected to accompany the provost to the field of Harlaw, in 1411 (Fraser, p. 21).

     Adam Crukshank was vicar of Crovdane (Cruden), 1414 (CAB., p. 381), the mill of

     Tybardy was leased to Croyssaynt in 1434 (RAA., II, 70), and in 1452 there is entry

     of payment to John Cruxschank in Aberdeen (SCM., V, p. 50). John Crukshanke

     was granted 'the seruice of the keping of the orloge for the yer' in Aberdeen, 1453

     (CRA., p. 20). John Crukshank owned a rood of land in the regality of Arbroath,

     1535 (RAA., II, 816), Johannes Crushank is recorded in Murthlie, 1550 (Illus., II, p.

     261), and John Crewshank or Crushank was a tailor in Aberdeen, 1688 (RPC., 3.

     ser. XIII, p. 262,272).

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4. For my immediate family, we have a family tree that goes back to 1590.

     Check it out   HERE ,  then click "Enable Editing" in the top bar of the Excel sheet.

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               PICTISH TIMES and ATHOLL

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From Houseofnames.com PDF,  “The ancestors of the Cruickshank family name are believed to be descended from the Pictish race… which settled in North-East Scotland. The Picts were a tribal confederation of peoples, formed from a number of tribes—how and why is not known for certain. Some scholars have speculated that it was partly in response to the growth of the Roman Empire. They lived in what is today eastern and northern Scotland (before there was a Scotland), north of the rivers Forth and Clyde. The timing is variously reported as a period starting between the Mid to Late Iron Age (400BC to 250AD) and ending in the Early Medieval period (approximately 900AD). They are thought to have been ethnolinguistically Celtic. They spoke the now-extinct Pictish language, which was probably closely related to the Brittonic language spoken by the Britons who lived to the south of them.

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The Venerable Bede, a historian writing in 731AD, said that the Picts had come from mainland Europe, presumably Scandinavia, to northern Ireland to ask for land, but the Irish sent them on to Scotland. Hence a myth that the Picts were given Irish wives, on condition that they became matrilinear.

 

As legend has it, an early king of Pictland named Cruithne (who was a son of Cinq) divided his land amongst his 7 sons. While this is difficult to date, one son, Fib, is said to have ruled between 715 and 691BC. Another one of those sons was named Fotla (or Foclaid) who received land including what later could be called northern Atholl. A number of Pictish kingdoms arose, each with its own line of kings; one Pictish kingdom being Fotla (otherwise known as Ath-fhotla or Atholl). Atholl might mean 'New Ireland'. The map called 'Seven Sons of Cruithne' which is found when you CLICK HERE , illustrates the location of Fotla. 

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Written documents of Pictish Kings can be traced back to 312 AD (List of Kings of the Picts).

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The Pictish kingdoms were frequently dominated by powerful neighbours. One king of Atholl suffered a gruesome fate at the hands of the Pictish overking Óengus [Onuist, or Angus, reigned 729 to 761AD], son of Fergus (Unuist, son of Urguist). This was recorded in the Irish annals under the year 739 AD:  Tolarcan mac Drostan, rex Athfhotla, a bathadh la h-Aengus [translated]: “ Talorcan, son of Drostan, king of Athfhotla [Athol], was drowned by Óengus.” Oengus was from either the area of Angus or Kincardineshire (the Mearns). The Pictish kingdom of Circinn encompassed Angus and Kincardineshire. Two maps on this page illustrate Circinn (on Seven Sons of Cruithne) and Angus and Kincardineshire (on SHIRES from 1890 to 1975) .

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Kenneth MacAlpin (reign 843 to 858 AD), a Pictish king, united the Scottish kingdom in 843, possibly in response to Viking raids in Scotland. The Viking age was late 700’s to mid 1000’s. In a major battle in 839, the Vikings killed the king of the Pictish kingdom Fortriu, Eógan mac Óengusa, and the king of Dal Riata, Áed mac Boanta, and many others. Kenneth was son of Alpin thought to be an earlier king of Dal Riata (comprising most of western Scotland and a part of north east Ireland). Kenneth’s son, King Donald I, ruled a united Scotland from 858 to 862.

 

During this period Scotland’s main sub-divisions were large regional lordships, known as mormaerdoms  or ‘earldoms’ administered by hereditary rulers (mormaers or earls) who functioned as agents of royal authority, under the King of Scotland. The Pictish kingdom of Atholl became one such mormaerdom. Under a united Scotland, several clans, dating back to a person named Dubdon in the 960’s had control of Atholl. This link (click here) gives you the list of mormaers and earls of Atholl.

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               MONARCHY and ATHOLL

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The MacAlpin clan continued ruling Scotland until 1034. Malcolm II (reigned 1005 to 1034) was the last king of the House of Alpin. In his reign, he successfully crushed all opposition to him and, having no sons, was able to pass the Scottish crown to his daughter's son, King Duncan I (reign 1034 to 1040), who inaugurated the House of Dunkeld. Duncan I therefore succeeded to the throne as the maternal grandson of Malcolm II.

 

Duncan I was also the heir-general of King Malcolm I Alpin (B895-D954), as he was paternal grandson of Duncan MacDonachaidh of Atholl (Mormaer of Atholl from 990 to 1010) who in turn was the third son of Malcolm I. King Duncan I was killed in battle by MacBeth (reign 1040 to 1057), also a grandson of Malcolm II. More about MacBeth in the section about the Murrays (below). Incidently, Lady MacBeth’s first name was Gruoch, and she was a granddaughter of an earlier Scottish king, Kenneth III (house of Alpin). I wonder if she was "grouchy"?

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The ranking of titles (lowest to highest) is mormaer, earl, marquess, then duke. Mormaers tended to be the hereditary line of Pictish kings after Scotland was united. Literal translation of mormaer is "big steward."

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The 1100’s find Atholl becoming an earldom, which is a step up from the previous status of mormaerdom.

 

The first recorded earl of Atholl was named Matad. Dates of his being earl are uncertain starting around 1130s and lasting until about 1159/69. The overall medieval kingdom of Scotland emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries (that is 1000’s and 1100’s) during the final phases of the Viking Age. Earls of Atholl continued with different clans including (de) Strathbogie (mid 1200’s to 1320), John Campbell (1320) and William Douglas (1341), until Robert Stewart from 1342 to 1367. This Robert Stewart was given earldom of Atholl (in 1342), by his uncle King David II, son of Robert the Bruce.

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                      Stewart Lineage and the Cruickshank Connection

 

Gordon Cowan Cruickshank’s references (above) to Stewarts also resonates with what I heard growing up; that Cruickshank is a sept of a Stewart clan. My research supports this claim.

 

Cruickshank is a sept of the Clan Stewart of Atholl. The word clan is derived from "clann" meaning children or progeny, but not family, in the Irish and the Scottish Gaelic languages. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “clan” was introduced into English in around 1425, as a label for the nature of the society of the Scottish Highlands. Sept (Síol) is a Gaelic word meaning "progeny" or "seed" that is used in the context of a clan with members who might bear the same surname and inhabit the same territory; as a manner of distinguishing one group from another. Each of these individual septs may further subdivide into more septs, which may sometimes lead to the development of novel surnames and/or the rise of the family such that it may be considered a clan in its own right. Such septs were common in Scotland, where the clan system was well-developed. Septs could be blood related or simply other families that chose to live under the protection of a clan.

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The Stewart (Gaelic Stiubhardt) lineage is much more traceable than the Cruickshank name, and may provide some valuable insights. We will look at the Stewarts of Atholl.

 

This PDF (CLICK HERE) opens the Stewart and Bruce family tree which makes the following paragraphs easier to follow. Zooming in will make it easier to read.

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As Gordon C (above) says, Cruickshanks were guardians of the Stewart lands in east Scotland given to us by the Stewarts, it helps to know the first Stewart came to Scotland from England in 1136, in the reign of King David I (David MacMalcolm) of Scotland (reigned 1124 to 1153). This first Stewart’s name was actually Walter Flaad (B1106 or 1110- D1177). Walter was the son of (fitz means “son of”) a Breton knight Alan fitz Flaad, so was also known as Walter fitz Alan. Walter Flaad (fitz Alan fitz Flaad) became the first ever hereditary high steward of Scotland in 1157 serving under King David I (reigned  1124 to 1153), then King Malcolm IV (reigned 1153 to 1165), and finally William I (reigned 1165 to 1214). To illustrate, Walter could be called Walter Flaad Fitz-Alan Stiubhardt. (but that would be silly!) The occupation/name Stiubhardt became the last name Stewart. Here is a case where the job became the last name. This means every Stewart or Stuart traces his/her ancestry to Walter in 1157.  The spelling 'Stewart' was much later changed to 'Stuart' by Mary (Stuart) Queen of Scots (B1542-D1587) to make it easier for the French to pronounce.

 

Part of the High Steward's role was managing the King's finances. Medieval financiers used chequered cloths to help them count coins, hence the blue and white chequered band in the High Steward's coat of arms (seen below)