Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality. Their heyday was in the last hundred years of their existence, during the time of the House of Stuart in the Kingdom of Scotland and the House of Tudor in the Kingdom of England.
Hodgson is a surname. In Britain, the Hodgson surname was the 173rd most common in 1881 and the 206th most common in 1998. In the United States of America, Hodgson was the 3753rd most popular surname in the 1990 census.
Clan Armstrong is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders.
The surname Galbraith is derived from the Gaelic elements gall, meaning "stranger", and Breathnach, meaning "Briton". As such, the surname can be taken to mean "British foreigner", "British Scandinavian", "foreign Briton", or "stranger-Briton". The surname Galbraith can be rendered in Scottish Gaelic as Mac a' Bhreatannaich.
Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands. It is not to be confused with the Clan Fraser of Lovat who are a separate Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Both clans have their own separate chief, both of whom are officially recognized by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
Aitchison is a Scottish surname of Scots origin. It derives from the pet name Atkin, which is a diminutive of Adam.
Atwal is a Jat clan and a family name of Sikhs.
Gavigan is an Irish surname that claims its origins with different local chieftains depending upon the research performed.
Hynes is a surname, many examples of which originate as the anglicisation the Irish name Ó hEidhin.
There have been two baronetcies created for descendants of the ancient 12th-century border family of Heron of Ford Castle, Northumberland.
Acheson is a surname of Anglo-Scots origin with Norman antecedents. It derives from the pet name Atkin, which is a diminutive of Adam.
Drennan is a surname of Irish origin. Variations of the name are found primarily in Ireland, Scotland, and the United States. The surname is purportedly derived from the Gaelic Ó Droighneáin, Ó Draighnáin, or Ua Draighnen, meaning "descendant of Draighnen", or "descendant of blackthorn". Variant spellings include Drennen, Drenning, Drennon, Drinan, Drinnan, Drinnon, and Drynan. Thornton is another Anglicized surname from the same original Gaelic form.
The Gaelic surname Mac Somhairle means "son of Somhairle". The personal name Somhairle is a Gaelicised form of the Old Norse Sumarliðr and Sumarliði. The Old Norse Sumarliðr is composed of the elements sumar ("summer") and liðr ("seafarer"). As such, Sumarliðr and Sumarliði can be taken to mean "summer warrior", "summer seafarer". Anglicised forms of Mac Somhairle include: MacSorley, McSorley, Sorley, and Sorlie. Many settled in Ulster, hired as Gallowglass for Gaelic Kingdoms.
The Gaelic surname Mac Suibhne is a patronymic form of Suibhne and means "son of Suibhne". The personal name Suibhne means "pleasant".
Pollock is a surname. In some cases, it originates as a locative name derived from Upper Pollock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. An early bearer of a form of this surname is Peter de Pollok, in about 1172–1178. In other cases, the surname is derived from the Middle English personal name *Pollok. An early bearer of a form of this surname is Roger Pollok, in 1332.
Timmins is a surname which originated in a number of different countries. It is found mainly in Great Britain, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In England, the largest concentration of the name exists in the West Midlands; variants of the name include Timmings and Timmons. An early example of the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex (1332) - Richard Tymyng. In Ireland, it is mainly an anglecisation of the Gaelic surnames Toimín from Leinster and Ó Tiomáin from Ulster.
The Hearn family is a family of Anglo-Norman origin. The name's original spelling in the 11th century was Heron or Heroun. As early as the 17th century, the spellings Hearn, Hearne, and Harn would also appear in England and the United States.
The Gaelic surname Mac Ruaidhrí means "son of Ruaidhrí". The personal name Ruaidhrí is composed of two elements: the first is ruadh, meaning "red"; the second is rí, meaning "king".
Kirroughtree House is the heritage-listed mansion house of the Kirroughtree estate. It occupies a prominent position 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of the town of Newton Stewart in the Galloway region of southwest Scotland. The main access is from the A712 close to its junction with the A75. Kirroughtree House was the family seat of the Heron family from the 14th or the 15th century until the 1880s. The mansion house is now a luxury hotel. While remnants of an older house have been found in a blocked-off cellar, the current house dates to 1719 with extensions to the northeast added in the 19th and early 20th century. The house has connections with both James Boswell and Robert Burns, each of whom stayed at Kirroughtree House as guests in the later 18th century.
