History
Origins and backgrounds of the Scottish Clan Fergus(s)on
 “Our Clan is the oldest one in Scotland”! Such statements decorate the websites of just about every Scottish Clan Society. Or course not all of them can be right – but neither is any of them truly wrong!
The concept of the Scottish Clan dates back to times when the written word was scarce, not to mention the simple fact that an every-day matter like ones family (that’s what Clan means) was really nothing to write about. Families have always existed. So all we can do in order to determine the “age” of our Clan is, quite arbitrarily, pick a more or less likely progenitor that the whole bloody lot seems to descend from. In case of the Fergussons (at least the Argyll crowd and my own twisted branch), that ancestor is Fergus Mor Mac Earca – as the widely known but still interesting story below illustrates. |
From Highland CLANS of Scotland: Their History and Traditions.
By George Eyre-Todd, Published in 1923
About the year 1900 the present writer, in his quiet dwelling in the neighbourhood of Loch Lomond, was surprised one evening by a visit from a handsome young Highlander in a grey kilt, who stated that he had walked all the way from Keppoch in Lochaber in the hope of finding employment. At a venture the writer suggested that his visitor might be of the well-known race of the MacDonalds of Keppoch; but the suggestion was met instantly with the somewhat disconcerting reply: “MacDonald! The MacDonalds have only been in Keppoch for four hundred years; my people have been there for many many hundred years before that.”
On being asked who his people might be, the young adventurer replied that his name was MacFhearguis. At the request to write down the name, he had some difficulty in doing it, but he had no difficulty whatever in describing a long line of ancestry which stretched back through Fergus, son of Erc, and a long line of Irish kings, to no less a person than Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh himself.
The young man explained that a large part of the district now held by Cameron of Lochiel had originally belonged to his race, and that the original Cameron, who was not a Gael but a Briton from Dunbartonshire, who had got his name “Cam-shron” or “crooked nose” from damage to that feature accruing from his warlike disposition, had originally acquired a footing in the country by fighting the battles, and marrying a daughter, of the MacFhearguis chief. The immediate ancestor of the young man from Keppoch, it appeared, had fought at Culloden and, being exiled to America, there married an Indian princess. The son of the pair had returned to this country and had become the ancestor of the midnight rambler.
At present (1923) there is living in New York a claimant to the Chiefship of the clan, who signs himself “Clann Fhearguis of Strachur,” who has been the hero of many strange adventures, and avers that his ancestors possessed lands on Loch Fyneside.
Whatever the authority for the various parts of the statement as given by the astonishing young Highlander above mentioned, it is certain, so far as Gaelic tradition can go, that the first important settlement on these shores from the north of Ireland was made in the year 503 by three brothers Lorn, Fergus, and Angus, sons of Erc, of the Royal Scottish race; so Clan Fergusson can claim a sufficiently high antiquity for its name, though it may be difficult to prove direct descent from these early Scoto-Irish chiefs.
So far George Eyre-Todd, way back in 1923.
Who, why, when and what we are
The head of the family of Fergusson of Kilkerran has been recognised since the early 18th century as the Chief of the name Fergusson. The present chief is Sir Charles Fergusson, 9th Baronet. Clan background: Many families of the name were established throughout Scotland at an early date. In Perthshire there were the Fergusons of Dunfallandy and Balquhidder, in Aberdeenshire the families of Kilmundy and Pitfour, in Fife the Fergusons of Raith, and in Dumfries the Fergussons of Craigdarroch. In Argyll, where the clan is numerous, the Fergusons held lands in Strachur until the beginning of the 19th century, and there appears to be a connection between them and the Fergussons of Kilkerran. The Fergusons of Perthshire were recognised as the principal Highland branch of the clan and the chiefship belonged to the Dunfallandy family, the head of which was designated “MacFhearghuis”. The direct line terminated in 1834, and the title now rests with the Fergussons at Kilkerran, Carrick, Ayrshire. The family have been prominent in legal circles and affairs of the state over many years.
Digging up your Fergus(s)on Roots1. The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), responsible for the registration of births, marriages, deaths, divorces and adoptions in Scotland, and for carrying out periodic censuses of the population. Additionally there is a very good “Family Records” section. Note: Unfortunately this site seems to be offline (19-8-2009). 2. Scotland’s People is a web site run by Scotland Online on behalf of the General Register Office for Scotland. A pay-per-view website operates for information mentioned in 1) and 2) and also Old Parish Registers of baptisms and marriages. Contact details for 1) & 2) above: New Register House, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH1 3YTR. General enquiries: +44(1)131 334 0380 e- mail: A ‘Contact Form’ is used for electronic submission. 3. The Scottish Genealogy Society Library & Family History Centre at 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL. Tel and fax: +44(0) 131 220 3677, e-mail: info@scotsgenealogy.com. N.B. As a Clan Society member, one has membership and use of this centre and facilities. Please add to the existing Fergus(s)on data base. 4. “Lost Ancestors” page in our Society Newsletter. Please send in your queries. 5. Professional bodies such as Association of Scottish Genealogists & Record Agents and “Scottish Roots” are also available. Check fees, but the latter are happy to provide 10% discount for Fergus(s)ons! 6. Scottish Association of Family History Societies. Of particular interest to the Fergus(s)on name is the North Perthshire Family History Group, now with a Research Centre at Moulin Kirk, Moulin, Pitlochry. 7. “The Records of The Clan and Name of Fergusson, Ferguson, and Fergus”, published in 1895. It can be found in libraries or private possession, and we offer a digital version as a free download. 8. The Fergus(s)on DNA project. 9. If research is directed from or takes one South of the Scottish /English border, these sites may be helpful: The Society of Genealogists; The National Archives; The Family Records Centre; the Mormon Family Search site; and finally: Ancestry.co.uk which has published censuses from 1841 etc. Worth a look!
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The Chief:
Orange bordered on account of my Dutch birth and proudly flying the Saltire in honor of our Scottish roots, I make this website for all Fergussons - regardless of name, spelling or origins. It's dedicated to all Scots and all Scottish descendants around the world, meaning that in fact it's dedicated to ourselves!
