This thread is now old, but in case it's still consulted, this is to confirm that any ancestors from Berwickshire, Lothian or parts of north-east Scotland with the names Broomfield, Brownfield, Bruntfield or Brounfield are part of the same family. They came originally from Lothian and I think took their name from the Bruntsfield district of Edinburgh. The main line moved to Greenlaw in Berwickshire with a royal grant of land early in the 16th century, and bred quite prolifically with about eight different branches emerging by 1600, as lesser lairds mainly. Younger sons either stayed around Greenlaw as farmers and millers, or moved back to Edinburgh as tradesmen, merchants or lawyers. Others were attached to households of the nobility or greater gentry (earls of Home, earls of Atholl) as servitors and attendants. The history is well-documented in the Register of the Privy Council, and is stormy. 'Three brethren of the Brounfields, gentilmen' were killed at the battle of Flodden. In 1597, Adam Bruntfield was the victor in the last occasion that 'trial by combat' was used in Scotland - he was avenging the death of his brother, Stephen, governor of the royal castle at Tantallon, who had been killed in a duel in which the rules were broken (his assailant having been helped by accomplices). Norwegian DNA as mentioned above can be explained - like many Scots, several Brounfields/Bruntfields served in Swedish and Danish armies in the 1630s, and some settled overseas. Some of their careers can be seen on this database:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/ssne/It's a great family history, but difficult to build family trees, sadly, because Berwickshire birth and marriage records are patchy before 1700.
