“What’s in a name?” - Vol. 2
I’m getting intrigued by the people and events surrounding Dundonald Castle, ‘round about 1140 through 1330, or from King David I (Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim) through Robert I, ‘The Bruce.’ That period covers the introduction of the convention of hereditary surnames among gentlemen, the appearance of our first known forebear in Gilbertus de Tempilton, ‘rector of the church of Rothir,’ in 1295, and will involve learning a bit more about the transition from tribal & clan affiliation to feudal relations of vassal and lord. But I’m brewing some fascinating speculation by putting various things into a timeline about what may have been going on with our first family members known by the name, and it’s anchored in the proximity of Dundonald Castle:
Of course the story I think I’m going to come up with rests heavily on George Black’s assertion in his The Surnames of Scotland, Their Origin, Meaning, and History that our name came from a Templar land near Dundonald, and not from one of the other ‘Temple touns’ that may have existed in what is now Ayrshire in the earliest days of the order.
[ A full screen version of the slide show is here. - Ed.]
