Mackay/McKay (alias Gow)

[Margaret M]

Has anyone come across Mackays/McKays with the byname Gow,  the Gow often written in brackets after Mackay/McKay or as an alias?  One family appears in Blandy, Tongue in the 1790's and others appear in the Durness OPR in Eriboll. The family in Tongue are John Mackay (Gow) and his wife Barbara McLeod and their children.  John Mackay (Gow) was Ground Officer of Tongue from 1803 to his death 1819/1820. 

These families are distinct from the Gows who lived in the Melness district of Tongue.

[IanB]

Hi Margaret,

As you probably know, Gow comes from the Gaelic for blacksmith, which is Gobha. Besides the clan Gow, there would have been many people with the (occupational)eke name of Gobha/Gow. Sometimes eke names are continued for more than one generation, almost as if it were a surname.

What is the date of the registration in the Durness Parish Register to which you refer? I will take a look to see whether the minister added anything of interest.

Ian

[Margaret M]

Ian

Thanks a lot for your reply. 

The "Gow" in addition to McKay lasted through at least three generations in Tongue, so although Gow may have started as an occupational alias it became an identifying name. 

There is only this one family in Tongue named McKay (Gow).  It seems unlikely that if they were a long-standing Tongue family there would be only one line.  If they did not originate in Tongue, our problem is that we cannot find where they came from.  There are three entries in the Durness OPR for McKays alias Gow, two women and one man, all in Eriboll.  I suppose it could be possible that the family originated in Eriboll. On the other hand, they were in Tongue by 1793 at least, so that they are unlikely to have arrrived there as a result of the West Moine clearances.

Thanks for your offer to look up the OPR entries.  We have Hew Morrison's transcript and have looked at the entries on Scotllandspeople.   We live in hope that someone else may belong to this family and know something of their origins.

Margaret M

[IanB]

Hi Margaret,

I do not wish to impose myself but I have studied the Mackays for years, particularly the "chiefly" lines (in the hope of being able to confirm my connection to one of them, as depicted in a huge website/data base that has not identified the source for the "link").

It may not lead to anything but I just might be able to recognize the Eriboll patronymics.

Ian

[Margaret M]

Dear Ian

Thanks again.  It would amaze us to learn that any of the McKay Gows can be traced to the main "chiefly" line, as is the case for the majority of McKays/Mackays!

Only one of the McKay Gow Durness OPR entries has a patronymic:

9 February 1778 James Mackay alias Machustian macnish, i.e. James Gow,  tenent in Erriboll, Hugh   (Hew Morrison's transcript).  The original, seen on Scotlandspeople, as I remember, confirms the transcript.

The other entries are two marriages in which only the husband's patronymic is given, the girls being "alias Gow", and one baptism in which the mother's name is given as "alias Gow".  These are:

14 February 1782   George Mackay alias Macenbhain soldier in N.F. married Catherine Mackay alias Gow.

17 June 1782   Donald Mackay alias Macneilmacenmacdholicuilam, in Dalnaheru ... Margaret Mackay alias Gow, in Erribol.

22 July 1782   Donald Mackay alias macneilmaceanmhicdhonilicuileam in Islandreir of Strathmore, and ... Margaret Mackay alias Gow, John.


Margaret M

[PrueM]

Sorry, can't add anything useful to this thread, but wanted to keep an eye on it, as my own family name is McKay - only tracked them as far north as Inverness at this stage (from Aberdeenshire, before they came to Australia).

I understand the eke names, but what accounts for the hugely long aliases mentioned by Margaret?  Are they strings of surnames that could be (but aren't) separated by spaces/slashes?  And why would anyone have so many alternative family names?  Was this normal?

I look forward to reading more about this interesting aspect of Scottish genealogy!

Thanks
Prue

[Margaret M]

Dear PrueM

Patronymics set down a person's father, grandfather, great grandfather, and so on, rather like a pedigree.  So you can be, for example, John Mackay, son of Angus, who was the son of Murdoch, who was the son of George.  In Gaelic, "son" is written as "mac", and usually subsequent  sons/grandsons etc as "mhic" pronounced "vic".  If you are a woman, your line starts as "daughter of",  but  instead of "mac" you are "nic", or in Sutherland "nin". 

Following this explanation,  the patronymics in the Durness OPR can be worked out, provided we keep in mind that the minister who wrote them was a Gaelic learner, and wrote them out by their sound - that is, phonetically.  In doing this, the minister, John Thomson, wrote in what now seems almost like a code, though in fact it follows the rules of Gaelic grammar.  John (or Iain in Gaelic) is written often as "en", James (or Seumas) as "amish", George (which is Seoras) appears as "eoras", and so forth.  "Mhic" appears as "ic".

So: "James Mackay alias Machustianmacnish" is James Mackay,  the son of Hugh, son of Angus; and
      "Donald Mackay alias Macneilmacenmacdholicuillam" is Donald Mackay,  the son of Neil, son of John, son of Donald, son of William.

This is a wonderful help for genealogists, as it can reveal names back even five generations. 


Margaret M
     

[PrueM]

Thank you for that explanation Margaret - this is a totally new subject for me and I find it fascinating!  Sadly none of my own folk used this naming system (or at least, it wasn't recorded) but perhaps if I am ever lucky enough to get the family further back than I have already, I might find this in my own family.  I hope so!

I look forward to reading the rest of this thread as it develops.

Thank you again!

Prue 

[IanB]

I'm sorry, Margaret, but I have had no luck. Hugh and Angus were names used by the Aberach Mackays but when  reading  their genealogy in the Book of Mackay and in the History of the House and Clan of Mackay I came across no mention of Gow. The two-name patronymic of James Gow is really not enough to go on.

I also scanned the transcript of the Durness parish register for several years before and after the entry you quoted but did not see any other registrations for a James Mackay with an alias of Gow, or for a James Mackay who did not have a different alias or had no alias. I wonder whether he left the parish?

Ian