This is my third blog about my ancestral visitations to Scotland. I reading my previous two blogs at Scottish Ancestral Visitations in Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Ayrshire and Scottish Ancestral Visitations in Sterlingshire, Fife, Perth and Kinrosshire, Angus, and Aberdeenshire before reading this one.
My destination today was Tain, where my Ross ancestors lived. According to my DNA, Im 36 percent Norwegian, 32 percent English and Northwestern European, 27 percent Scots and a bit of Welsh and Swedish. Linda is 16 percent Scots, but as mentioned before, we share many Scottish ancestors.
My grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Weavers parents were James McGee Weaver and Anna Elizabeth Ross. The Weavers were from Germany with Johannes Weber (5th ggf), a Moravian who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s to avoid religious persecution. In this line I found Anna Elizabeth Luther (12th ggm), the sister of the Reformer Martin Luther, making him my 12th great granduncle.
My Ross lineage is a bit more interesting. My 6th great grandfather, Rev. George Aeneas Ross, 5th Laird of Balblair, was sent by the Church of England as a missionary to New Castle, Delaware in Jul 1705. I recounted the descendants of Rev. George Ross to my great grandmother Anna Elizabeth Ross in my previous blog at In Search of Colonial Ancestors in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Drawing upon the book
The Rossiana; Papers and Documents Relating to the History and Genealogy of the Ancient and Noble House of Ross, of Scotland, and its Descent From the Ancient Earls of Ross... written in 1850, I was able to track Rev. Georges direct ancestors to the four Lairds of Balblair, five Lairds of Balmachy, a Laird of Shandwick, a Laird of Little Allen, four Lairds of Balnagowan (all of whom were the Chiefs of the Ross Clan), and four Mormaers (Earls) of Ross, to the progenitor Farquhar Mac an Bellin (23rd ggf).
28 Aug 2022 Sunday. I left Alford for Kildrummy Castle. Just days before I received an email informing me that Kildrummy Castle was closed. I drove there anyway, hoping that I could at least walk the grounds. I couldnt...the gate at the highway was closed. I could still see the castle, but what I saw wasnt worth a picture. The castle was built by Sir William de Mar, 5th Earl of Mar who was married to Lady Elizabeth Comyn (22nd ggps). Sir William I OBellin de
Ross, 2nd Earl of Ross married Jean Comyn (21st ggps). As a consequence of these marriages, Sir William II, 3rd Earl of Ross who was married to Lady Euphemia de Berkeley (20th ggps) was a Comyn supporter, and was on the side of King Edward I, who was married to Queen Consort Eleanor de Castille (20th ggps), side in the War for Scottish Independence.
In his war with King Edward I of England. King Robert I the Bruce sent his wife Isabella of Mar (20th ggps) and family members to Killdrummy Castle. They were forced to flee Kildrummy Castle to Tain, Here Sir William II, 3rd Earl of Ross captured the family, turning them over to King Edward I. King Edward I killed Bruces brother Neil and treated the rest of the family most horribly. Isabella was kept in a iron cage hanging from the walls of Berwick Castle, exposed to the elements. This is all portrayed in the movie The Outlaw King. King Robert I the Bruce won their release in a hostage exchange for Sir Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford who was married to Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet of Rhuddlan (19th ggps), daughter of King
Edward I. But instead of wreaking vengeance on Sir William II, King Robert pardoned him, and even gave his sister Maud (Matilda) in marriage to William IIs son, Sir Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross (19th ggps). Their daughter Euphemia would marry, King Robert II (18th ggps), the first Stewart king of Scotland. In 1363 the castle became royal property. The castle was returned to the Earls of Mar in 1626.
