A divided nation

At this moment of turbulence in 2021, we Americans think of ourselves as a divided nation. For us, divisive tendencies date back to debates about slavery that animated fateful compromises in our founding documents two and a quarter centuries ago. But frankly, we are absolute amateurs at this: we’ve got nothing on the turbulence of English and Scottish throne-gaming. The internecine struggle that distinguishes the history of this northwest European archipelago, of which Scotland is but one of four nations, can be measured in millennia, not centuries. For our purposes here, we’ll only need to dial back a mere four hundred years, for we wish to place the Cromar family within the turbulent times of the 1690s, which had been set in motion by Anglo-Scottish political maneuverings earlier that century:

Events leading to the Jacobite Risings

• The Union of the Crowns in 1603 made James IV King of Scots and James I King of England, consolidating two kingdoms for the House of Stuart.
• The ascent in 1625 of James’ son Charles I as successor to this personal union brought with it great strife, as Charles provoked confrontations with Parliament, developed unpopular foreign alliances, and stoked consequential religious frictions, all of which culminated with the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, including multiple English Civil Wars, that led to his eventual demise in 1649.
• After the experimental instability of the Interregnum ended in the Restoration of the Stuarts and the return from exile of Charles I son, Charles II, in 1660. Puritan repression was replaced by licentiousness inspired by Charles’ Continental influences, and continued until his death in 1685.

Enter James

James VII of Scotland and II of England, a Roman Catholic, succeeded his brother Charles, but growing anti-Catholic sentiment, coupled with the alienation of his supporters when he suspended Parliament to rule by personal decree, leading to unrest. He only lasted until deposed in 1688 by the relatively bloodless Glorious Revolution, when he was replaced by a coalition of English and Dutch forces, who installed Protestant-allied William III and Mary II as joint monarchs. James slipped away into exile in France, while supporters for his restoration back home became known as Jacobites.

The 1688 deposition of James set the stage for a series of Jacobite uprisings spanning the next six decades. The first of these, the Jacobite Rising of 1689, had mostly been quelled by 1690, but its last embers were cruelly stamped out with the infamous Massacre at Glencoe in February 1692.

Enter Peter

It was during this Rising that Peter Cromar was born. We know little about his life, though we do know a great deal about the times he lived through, being some of the most tumultuous in a Scottish history full of tumult. We know from investigations of Peter’s possible son Robert 1717 of Aboyne and grandson John 1755 of Aboyne that records were lost, destroyed, or possibly never registered, a direct consequence of upheaval.

Deciphering Peter’s stone

What we do know about Peter is primarily gleaned from the record carved in stone at Kirkton of Aboyne, which we investigated as deeply as we can through Covid-imposed armchair archaeology from afar (remember, I would have been visiting the site this coming November 2021, but for our collective failure at beating back the pandemic!). This family burial ground infers relationships that the record neglects, and offers at minimum the span of Peter’s life. He lives a long one by the standards of the time.

8 September?

An unsourced claim of 8 September 1690 as his birthday is not confirmed in the inscriptions on either of the two stones that mention him. His death date is secured by the ornately carved flat stone, indicating he died on 13 October 1770 at the age of 80. From this we can infer his year of birth to be between 13 October 1689 and 13 October 1690. The entire inscription is time-worn and moss-covered, and some of the stone has spalled away, victimized by harsh Scottish winters over the centuries. It is nearly illegible. All one can gather from under the moss is the following:

—RE LYES
—PS OF A BLES—
—RE—TION THE D—
—ETER CROMAR W—
—KIRKTOUN OF
—N HE DIED OCT 13
—70 AGED 80 YEARS

Henderson to the rescue

But a century of decay is miraculously erased by the discovery of a record of the inscription found in Aberdeenshire epitaphs and inscriptions: with historical, biographical, genealogical, and antiquarian notes, a book published in 1907 by historian John A. Henderson, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. On page 125 he transcribes Peter Cromar’s inscription, which may have been much more legible in those days. Here, I’ve styled Henderson’s transcription by setting it in the all-caps typeface seen in the engraving and separating it line by line as the engraver fit it to the stone:

HERE LYES
IN HOPS OF A BLESSED
RESURRECTION THE DUST
OF PETER CROMAR WHO
LIVED IN KIRKTOUN OF
ABOYN HE DIED OCT 13
1770 AGED 80 YEARS

Henderson also writes about the iconography on Peter’s stone, which is quite obscure today:

A tablestone shows a raised figure of the Angel Death standing upon the globe with extended arms, having in the one hand an hour-glass and in the other a scythe. A skull, coffin, etc., are also displayed.

We also get a tantalizing hint about other Cromars living in the area and possible relationships. Henderson writes:

The Poll Book shows that in 1696 there were four persons bearing the surname of Cromar living in Kirktown of Aboyne, and the above Peter Cromar had doubtless been a son of one of them.

The four Cromars to which he refers are:

• George Cromar, a tenant farmer, and his wife
• Robert Cromar, a tenant farmer, and his wife
• Peter Cromar, a weaver and tenant farmer, and his wife
• Thomas Cromar, a tailor, and his wife.

We’ll see more about this Poll Book below.

More insights about Kirktown of Aboyne

There’s much more in Henderson’s text that amplifies our amateur stab at archaeology, which we should quickly recount, as it amplifies our understanding of Peter, his family, and his time. The general discussion of Aboyne begins on page 117 and concludes on 128. Henderson confirms and often amplifies several of our findings, including the following:

Henderson’s Findings

• Various spellings of the town including Obyne, Obeyn, Oubyn, Oboyne, and Aboyn, the last being the variation on Peter’s stone, as well as the Gàidhlig etymology: abh, a ford, plus boinne or buinne, a current of rippling water.
• The origins of the Kirk of Adamnan and its eventual demise. We learn that the structure was roofed with thatch, and we confirm the fate of the bell tower and the Formaston stone (which Henderson leave un-named). We also learn the church that replaced it in 1761 was raised at Charlestown a mile away, and this one in turn was replaced in 1842; thus we can confirm its identity as that of the Aboyne and Dinnet Parish Church at the south-west corner of the Charlestown Green.
• We learn more about the development of the area, in which today’s Aboyne, formerly known as Charlestown, began to supersede that of the old Kirktown. Henderson writes:

The hamlet of Kirktown, which stood near the graveyard and church, never included more than a few straggling cottages of primitive construction, and the rise of the village of Charlestown gradually led to its complete eclipse. In 1696, the residenters in it included one or two crofters and their assistants, as also a weaver and a tailor.

The Poll Book

This last bit must also be a reference to the Poll Book of 1696. This book, formally titled List of Pollable Persons Within the Shire of Aberdeen, 1696, was transcribed in 1844 by John Stuart, LL.D., a Scottish genealogist, from an original manuscript compiled by William Hay, a functionary charged with the administration of a poll tax imposed to maintain the military.

This document is an amazingly rich snapshot of the population of each parish (or paroch in the text) in Aberdeenshire. Each person over 16 is accounted for, along with occupation, town of residence, and socio-economic status implied through statement of rank, if any, and individual assessment of tax owed.

Hay’s record indicates the adult population of Kirktoun in 1696 was about 40 persons give-or-take, a small hamlet indeed. Of these, the overwhelming majority are tennant ther, or farmers enjoying the use of land in exchange for rent, followed by grassman and servant. There is one weaver and one taylor, as noted by Henderson. There is also one member of the gentry, the Laird of Finzean.

Cromars in the Poll Book

In all of Aberdeenshire, Hay records about 19 instances of the surname Cromar, including those recorded at Kirktoun:

• a Patrick in Bottomend, Aboyne;
• an Alexander and a Robert in Formestoun, Aboyne;
• an Isobel, a servant in Millne of Charlestoun, Aboyne;
• a John in Drumgask, Aboyne;
• a George in Birss; another in Finzean, Birss;
• another John in Dubstoune, Birss;
• yet another in Birksbeg, Birss;
• a Francis of Hillhead in Kincardine;
• a William of Upper Sachan, in Clunie;
• another Isobell in Westhaugh, Moneymusk;
• an unknown female Cromar, wife of William Rae, in Graystone, Alfoord;
• yet another Isobell in Knowhead, Alfoord;
• a fourth John and a third Robert in Cattie, Touch;
• again, a John from Balfoure, Forbes;
• and a Jeane in Easter Clova, Kildrumey.

The relations among all these Cromars will prove to be an illuminating study in a future separate post on this intriguing Poll Book. For now, staying focused on the identity of Peter Cromar, let’s dig deeper into Henderson’s assumption that one of the four Kirktoun Cromars must be Peter’s father.

A father in Aberdeenshire?

If one of the four Kirktoun men — George, Robert, Peter, or Thomas — can be demonstrated to be Peter’s father, this will be a breakthrough, but one that could debunk the family myth about our origin as MacDonald refugees, or at least call it into question. Our natural first stop is ScotlandsPeople. We’re looking for evidence of men with these names who could 1) be counted in the 1696 Poll Book in Kirktoun as well as 2) able to father a child in 1690:

• No record for a George can be found prior to the 1700s.
• The closest found for a Robert is a birth record for 1603 (too early) or 1677 (too late).
• No record for a Peter can be found prior to the 1700s.
• A “fuzzy match” Thomas Crosar is found for 1609 (too early).

Not a surprising outcome, given the spotty records we’ve been encountering in other contexts, and while, as usual, an absence of evidence does not negate a possibility, this does challenge Henderson’s “doubtless” assumption. While ScotlandsPeople can’t confirm his hypothesis, it does offer other evidence for yet another Cromar who might be eligible for the title of Aberdeenshire father for our Peter: a Jhon Cromar christened 16 December 1670 in Leochel-Cushnie, son of Thomas Cromar and Elspet Margaret Garrioch. He has brothers Robert 1677 and James 1680, no marriage record and does not appear in any birth data as a father of record. If this Jhon is proven to be Peter’s father at some time, this likely debunks our family oral tradition, as well as Ron Cromar’s theory that Peter Cromar is in actuality a MacDonald from Glencoe.

A father elsewhere?

We’re not ready to throw in the towel on the Glencoe theory, as none of the above-mentioned records prove or disprove anything. What of our other speculations? Recall the theories that I first introduced in the post Competing theories on the “How” of Cromar back in May, which for convenience I will restate here:

• The theory is bunk, and the surname Cromar simply and organically evolved toponymically out of the Howe. Perhaps the theory developed to explain away poor record-keeping or inflate someone’s ego.
• The theory is true, and some MacDonald refugees fleeing persecution, possibly from the Massacre at Glencoe (as discussed in an earlier post), arrived first in Cromarty, taking their name therefrom, and later migrated to the Howe at Cromar. Peter Cromar’s baptism record [in Clatt in 1692] could be a breadcrumb that suggests a possible route of migration.
• The theory is partially true, but contains the following variations:
  • The MacDonalds fled Glencoe, but went directly to the Howe of Cromar, not Cromarty. Given the possible escape routes out of Glencoe, this seems plausible… .
  • The MacDonalds fled Glencoe, but their names were not MacDonald: they were a sept named Crom, Crum or the like, and conveniently bent their identity to fit either Cromarty or Cromar. If they arrived in Cromarty, for example, they might have taken on the name Cromar to suggest they came from Aberdeenshire and not Glencoe to cover their tracks.

Glencoe to Cromarty to Aboyne?

Let’s assume for argument’s sake that Henderson’s assumption of an Aberdeenshire father is false and our family’s theory is therefore not bunk. What, if anything, exists in the record that helps support the theory?

First, there is the mystery record of an unknown Cromar, christened 8 September 1692, son of a John Cromar, in Clatt, well north of the Howe of Cromar. We noted that this date, 8 September, is the same day and month noted as Peter Cromar’s date in a Family Search tree, though two years later, a long delay for a christening at that time. I considered this to be quite a meaningful coincidence until I suspected this to be a crowd-sourced dot-connection exercise that could be without merit. There is, after all, no concrete record of Peter’s birth beyond the deduction based on the tablestone inscription, which does not contain a day or month reference.

Father John?

But for now, assume it’s true: could the christening be a clue for a family on the run, and a means by which a name change is recorded to secure an alias in a new home? Could this John Cromar in reality be a John MacDonald (or Crom or Crum or Crombie, one of the several septs of Clan MacDonald)? We know ScotlandsPeople won’t confirm this, but because we have the Poll Book, we can find five Johns recorded in 1696 residing in places in Aberdeenshire including Drumgask, Aboyne; Dubstoune, Birss; Birksbeg, Birss; Cattie, Touch; and Balfoure, Forbes. Mapping these, is there any geographic inference that can be made?

Most of the Johns are clustered in or near Aboyne or Kincardine O’Neil, at least within a day round-trip walk to a common center of Cromar family activity. One, however, is a far outlier: John of Cattie, Tough (formerly Touch), is far north of where we expect to find any Cromars. In fact, we observe that Cattie is actually closer to Clatt than to Aboyne. There is thus a reasonable possibility this could correlate with the mystery christening mentioned above. Does this suggest wandering refugees migrating from the north, perhaps from Glencoe by way of Cromarty?

Refugee routes

If so, what route might the refugees have taken? The maps below suggest a few among many possibilities. Though these maps show modern routes, today’s roads generally follow a foundation of old turnpike roads and military trails, which routes in turn were limited by the rugged geography of the Highlands:

All maps screen-captures from Google’s My Maps

Land routes

• Leaving Glencoe (A on all maps), one could take a westerly route out of the valley toward Loch Linnhe and follow the straight ling of the Great Glen Fault northeasterly along the shores Loch Lochy and Loch Ness, arriving at Cromarty (B on all maps). This route has advantage of speed but the disadvantage of passing by major military installations such as Fort William.
• Alternatively, one can leave Glencoe on an easterly route, sending one into the wild, wrinkled glens of the Highlands, bending first south east, then snaking north to Cromarty. This route is comparatively free of military garrisons, but it’s extremely inhospitable and sparsely settled, making travel difficult. We’re assuming there may be small children or infants in tow (post-Massacre in February 1692, two years after Peter Cromar’s birth), making it a riskier trek.
• Once in Cromarty and assuming an alias, the refugees have the option of an inland route due east, then trending south, to Clatt (C on both inland maps, with arrival by September 1692, for the christening), then further south to Cattie (D on both inland maps, arrival by 1696, the year of the Poll Book), and from there to Aboyne (E on both inland maps).

A Sea route?

• Alternatively, the refugees could take a sea route. This could stop at any number of ports along the way: Buckie, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, or Aberdeen, for a few examples. Any of the ports along the north coast could be a jumping-off point for an inland route to Clatt, Cattie, and Aboyne (these are not illustrated on the sea-route map). If Aberdeen (C on the sea route), this makes a direct line to Aboyne (D on the sea route, illustrated) more likely than a diversion north to Clatt, though it doesn’t rule that out.

Glencoe to Aboyne by another route?

We identified one way that the family theory could be partially true: an escape from Glencoe but directly to Cromar and not Cromarty. As with the route to Cromarty, there are two gateways out of Glencoe: easterly toward Loch Linnhe, or westerly toward the mountains. An easterly exit forces travelers north on a path adjacent to the western outskirts of what is now the Cairngorms National Park. A westerly exit forces them south on a path that skirts what is now Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Either route could eventually move refugees either directly through Clatt and Cattie to Aboyne, or directly to Aboyne itself. The maps show that the eastern-to-northern route makes a Clatt-Cattie-Aboyne connection more likely, while the western-to-southern journey favors a direct path to Aboyne via Braemar.

All maps screen-captures from Google’s My Maps

MacDonald by another name?

There is another way the theory may partially be true: the refugees could be part of Clan MacDonald as a sept, and not directly by name. A sept, we’ll recall, is a family name associated with a clan. In Competing theories on the “How” of Cromar, we listed Crom, Cromb, Crum, and Crombie as septs of Clan MacDonald.

Do we dare to think it as easy as attaching Peter Cromar’s potential father John’s name to one of surnames and searching for a record? The quick answer is: no record can be found this way, of course. So we next try variations on the name. Ian and Iain are Scots Gaelic variants for John, and the spellings Jon or Jhon can be explored as well. Other less probable variations might include Evan, Eoin, Eòin, Ioan, Éogan, Eógan, Shane, Sean, Séan, and other minor variants.

Again, no luck.

So we try one more search, this time without forename.

Game over. Thanks for playing.

Highland vs. Lowland

The name search led to a dead end. However, we did learn something interesting from this exercise: all of the results in a ScotlandsPeople record search turned up essentially Lowlander references. Not a single return resulted in a Highlander record. This highlights the cultural difference that existed between these areas of Scotland.

This cultural difference might explain why any potential MacDonald refugee ended up in the Howe of Cromar. People from the Howe may have been considered to be living at the edge of the Highlands by Lowlanders, while Highlanders may have considered them to be Lowlanders. The Howe could have been a transitional place, a threshold between cultures. It’s possible a Highland refugee might have “blended in” a bit better here than in a city like Aberdeen, and might have been attracted to the relatively fertile land as more hospitable than the hardscrabble landscape they escaped. There are enough hills there to feel familiar, but enough arable land to make a better living from the soil.

Conclusions?

My attempt throughout this journal to find a patrilineal line from myself to Peter Cromar as a paternal sixth great-grandfather has met some stiff head-winds, first in identifying the John Cromar 1755 of Aboyne who is probably my fourth great-grandfather, and more recently in a positive finding of Robert 1717 of Aboyne as a fifth. The record has stretched as thin as the wall of a soap bubble, with elaborate armchair archaeology barely keeping it from bursting.

All I can say at this point is that, while I can’t admit to having proven the lineage, I can claim enough evidence not to debunk it either. Is this rigorous? No. Frustrating? Yes. But until I see something that contradicts the family myth, which I’m quite willing to concede when I find it, I’ll continue to move forward on the basis of a probable hypothesis supporting a family oral history that I’m choosing in this moment to trust.

I hardly count this as a failed journey. In exploring my ancestors, I have learned an incredible amount about Scottish history and culture. I’ve been inspired to learn Scots Gaelic and keep a language alive in my own way. I’ve explored heraldry and vexillology. I know how my ancestors lived, even if I haven’t conclusively identified them. And I’ve been inspired to track down other family lines, which will be explored in sister journals linked to this one.

In the meantime, the old farmer lying “in hops of a blessed resurrection” will have to wait a bit longer for me or anyone else to resurrect his story and true identity. Peter Cromar, I’m not quite done with you — and I’ll see you next year when we finally get to visit Kirkton of Aboyne.