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King David I (1124-1153)
Origins of the name "Carstairs"
When
David the 1st, came to power he imported a lot of Norman
aristocracy and their retainers, he was in exile in England for a number
of years, Carstairs was one of the places they were granted, was in the
estates of Walter the Steward, and the town was settled by a number of
Anglo-Norman artisans, who interbred with the local villagers.
The
family Graduated from farmers to traders in St Andrews, shipping goods
backwards and forwards between St Andrews and Rotterdam, becoming the
foremost family within the town by the 16th century, various Mayors and
local dignitaries. From there became Barons of Kilconquhar, Sir John
Carstairs etc, a Captain in the Kings Bodyguard around 1650, one of the
family was William of Oranges ambassador to Scotland, and official
chaplain and followed him from battlefield to battlefield. However were
stripped of the Barony for supporting the Jacobite’s in the 45
rebellion, and slipped back into obscurity after that.
It’s
not an uncommon surname on the coast of Fife to this day. The Glaswegian
connection comes from a chap who moved his family there from Fife in the
1860s, some of his descendents subsequently moved to Dublin, and lives
just outside there to this day.
At the
proposed Union of the Scottish and English Parliaments in 1706, "the
parishioners of Carstairs united with those of Covington and Symontown,
in subscribing an address to Parliament against Union with England, in
the terms of the proposed articles."
The
surname Carstairs, the name originates from the village. In the late
13th Century, the Stewart Earl (Stewarts were at the time nobles). Were
given a large amount of land surrounding St Andrews by the then king.
The Earl gave the land to his secretary, to administer on his behalf, a
priest named Thomas de Carstairs (no surnames in those days for common
people - didn’t become the norm until the 16th century), Thomas having
no children imported his family members from the village to take up
farms in the area, in turn holding them on his behalf, (the name of the
game - even in those days was tax generation, plus a bit of military
service) and hence a tribe of Johns, Andrews, and Thomas’s from
Carstairs appeared.
(excerpt
from )"Living in St Andrews" by Catherine Forrest, published by St
Andrews University Library
[ I believe there is a limited number of copies of this publication
available for purchase ]
The village lies on Watling Street and in Roman times there was a large
camp there. The site commanded the important military routes to London,
Lanark and Ayr, and indeed in every direction. Such a strategic
advantage did not disappear at the end of the Roman occupation and by
Norman times there was a fortified castle at Carstairs.
It is not surprising that with the passing of years, our village,
originally known as Tarris, probably with the celtic prefix Caer, a
fort, then became, in Anglo-Norman times, first as Chastel-tarris
(modern Chateau), then
Casteltarris. Thus the family got its name, de Casteltarris, and
then Casteltarris.
A very important aspect of the Norman feudal system in Scotland was the
great power and wealth it bestowed on the Church. Successive kings after
Malcolm III and Queen Margaret, and particularly their pious son David
I, carried on this process till the Church in the Anglo Norman era was
one of the greatest landowners in Scotland.
The village of Casteltarris lay in the diocese of Glasgow and the
bishopric of Glasgow had owned the parish, barony and lands from as
early as the 12th century. The early date of the barony of Carnwath
(which incorporated Casteltarris) suggests that it was part of David I's
bounty to the Church. If so it is certain that many of the Anglo Normans
who came to Scotland with David from his large estate in
Northamptonshire would settle in this barony, and acquire lands either
as tenants or by intermarriage.
The de Casteltarris family may well have fallen into one of these
categories, especially since they were not using a surname of Celtic
derivation, but were following the Norman custom of naming - Norman
immigrants, who had dropped their Norman surnames and become known as
"from" or "of" their new place of residence.
for further information and
reading
click on the link OR the Coin below
King David I
(1124-1153)
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