The Book of the Thanes of Cawdor, 1236-1742 (1859) - Searchable PDF & Surname Index

Unlock Over 500 Years of Original Highland Charters, Rent Rolls, Bonds of Manrent & Estate Papers from Cawdor Castle (A.D. 1236–1742)

Originally edited by the celebrated Scottish legal antiquary Cosmo Innes and presented to the members of the Spalding Club in 1859 by John Frederick Campbell, 1st Earl Cawdor, The Book of the Thanes of Cawdor: A Series of Papers Selected from the Charter Room at Cawdor, 1236–1742 is one of the most important primary-source muniment collections ever published for Northern and Western Scottish genealogy. Bridging the medieval Celtic and feudal Thanage of Cawdor (Calder) in Nairnshire, Moray, Inverness-shire, and Ross-shire with the westward expansion of Clan Campbell into Argyllshire, Lorn, Muckairn, and the Hebridean Lordship of Islay, this monumental 565-page digital edition provides direct, pre-parish-register proof of kinship, land tenure, marriage contracts, and tenantry across five centuries.

What's Inside This Enhanced Fairbairn's Crests Digital Edition:

• Complete 565-Page Merged Research Volume: Combines 4 pages of newly typeset Fairbairn's Crests Branded Front Matter (Pages i–iv), all 550 original archival content pages from the rare 1859 Spalding Club quarto edition, and 11 pages of our newly compiled Back-of-Book Alphabetical Surname & Place Research Index.
• Artifact-Free Archival Scan with Intact Search Layer: All 18 non-content scanner artifacts (15 blank page backs/flyleaves, 2 tissue-guard bleed-through sheets, and 1 duplicate half-title scan) have been carefully removed while leaving the original 1859 page backgrounds, lithographed royal charter facsimiles, foldout genealogical tables, Victorian engravings by R. W. Billings, and native OCR text streams completely intact.
• Five Centuries of Primary Genealogical Records (1236–1742): Features royal charters of Alexander II (1236) and Robert the Bruce (1310), precepts of sasine, papal dispensations, the 1456–1458 Exchequer Rolls beyond Spey, the 1454 royal license to build Cawdor Castle over its famous hawthorn tree, testamentary inventories, marriage contracts, bonds of manrent and gossipry, bailie court books, and verbatim rent and muster rolls.
• Exact Page-Offset Navigation Guide: Includes a section-by-section conversion chart on Page iv so researchers can jump effortlessly between Original Printed Page Numbers (pp. 1–471) and Merged PDF Page Numbers (Merged PDF Page = Printed Page + 86 for the main charter text on pp. 5–434).
• Comprehensive Surname & Place Finding Aids: Newly indexed across 258 distinct Scottish, Highland, and Hebridean surname groups (with Latin, Early Scots, and Gaelic patronymic variants) and 172 parishes, baronies, castles, kirks, and islands.

Historical & Regional Overview

The first part of the muniments chronicles the ancient Thanes of Cawdor (Calder) in the Sheriffdoms of Nairn, Elgin, Forres, and Inverness — tracing their hereditary offices as Constables of the King's Castle of Nairn and Sheriffs of Nairn, their acquisitions of Boath, Banchor, Moy, Dunmaglass, Ferintosh, and Urchany, and their alliances with neighboring northern barons including the Roses of Kilravock, Mackintoshes of Clan Chattan, Dunbars, Brodies, Dallases of Cantray, Hays of Lochloy and Park, Urquharts of Cromarty, Frasers of Lovat, Grants of Freuchie, and Gordons of Huntly. Following the death of John Calder in 1498 and the celebrated marriage in 1510/11 of his infant heiress, Dame Muriel Calder, Thaness of Cawdor, to Sir John Campbell (third son of Archibald, 2nd Earl of Argyll), the Cawdor charter room became the administrative nexus for vast holdings in both the Moray Firth and the Western Highlands.

In Argyllshire and the Isles, the volume preserves extensive 16th- and 17th-century writs, bonds of manrent, and detailed tenant rentals for the former priory lands of Muckairn (Killespickerrill) and Ardchattan on Loch Etive, the Lordship of Lorn, and the island of Islay — where Sir John Campbell of Cawdor received the 1614 royal commission to reduce Dunyvaig Castle and supplant Clan Donald South (the MacConnels/MacDonalds of Dunyvaig). Because parish registers in Nairnshire, Inverness-shire, Lorn, and Islay rarely survive before the 18th century, these charters, stent rolls, and estate accounts offer irreplaceable names of tacksmen, burgesses, notarized witnesses, artisans, and tenants unavailable in any other source.

Surnames & Families Indexed in This Volume:

Abercrombie, Aberdeen, Abernethy, Aboyne, Achmutie, Adamson, Agnew, Ahannay, Aikman, Airlie, Albany, Alexander, Allan, Altrilly, Anderson, Andrew, Angus, Annandale, Antrim, Arbuckle, Arbuthnot, Argyll, Armstrong, Arnot, Arran, Atholl, Auchinbreck, Auld, Baillie, Baird, Balcarres, Balfour, Ballindalloch, Balliol, Balmerino, Balnagowan, Bannatyne, Bannerman, Barclay, Barrie, Beaton, Bell, Bellenden, Bisset, Black, Blair, Blantyre, Boece, Bonar, Borthwick, Boswell, Bothwell, Bower, Boyd, Boyle, Breadalbane, Brechin, Brodie, Bruce, Buchan, Buchanan, Budge, Burdsye, Burnet, Bute, Cadell, Caithness, Calder, Cameron, Campbell, Cant, Carlichsoun, Carnegie, Carrick, Carstairs, Cathcart, Celestini, Chalmers, Chancellor, Charteris, Cheyne, Chisholm, Christie, Clapperton, Clark, Clunes, Clydesdale, Cochrane, Cockburn, Colquhoun, Colville, Comyn, Congilton, Constable, Cook, Corbet, Couper, Coutts, Cowie, Craig, Craigievar, Craik, Cranstoun, Crawford, Crichton, Cromarty, Cromwell, Cruickshank, Culloden, Cunningham, Currie, Cuthbert, Dalhousie, Dallas, Dalrymple, Dalzell, Davidson, Dempster, Denoon, Dick, Dickson, Dingwall, Donald, Donaldson, Douglas, Doune, Dow, Drummond, Duff, Duffus, Dunbar, Duncan, Dundas, Dundee, Dunfermline, Dunlop, Durward, Edmonstone, Edward I, Eglinton, Elgin, Elphinstone, Errol, Erskine, Ewing, Falconer, Farquhar, Fenton, Ferguson, Findlay, Fleming, Fletcher, Florentine, Forbes, Fordyce, Forrester, Forsyth, Foulis, Fowler, Fraser, Fullarton, Gaderar, Galbraith, Gall, Galloway, Garden, Geddes, Gibson, Gilbert, Gilchrist, Gillanders, Gillespie, Glamis, Glasgow, Glen, Glencairn, Glenmoriston, Glenorchy, Gordon, Gowrie, Graham, Grant, Gray, Gregory, Grierson, Guthrie, Haddington, Haldane, Haliburton, Hall, Hamilton, Hardy, Harper, Hart, Hay, Henderson, Hepburn, Herries, Hogg, Home, Hope, Horsburgh, Houston, Howison, Hunter, Huntly, Hutchison, Inglis, Innes, Inverliver, Irvine, Isles, Jack, James I, II, III, IV, V, VI & VII, Jamieson, Jardine, Johnston, Kar, Keith, Kennedy, Kincaid, King, Kinloss, Kinnaird, Kinnoull, Kirkcaldy, Kirkpatrick, Knox, Kyd, Laing, Lamont, Lauder, Lauderdale, Laurie, Law, Lawson, Learmonth, Leighton, Leith, Lennox, Leslie, Leven, Lindsay, Linlithgow, Livingston, Lochiel, Lochnell, Lockhart, Logan, Logie, Lorn, Lothian, Loudoun, Lovat, Lovell, Lumsden, Lundie, Lyon, MacAlexander, MacAlister, MacAllan, MacArthur, MacAulay, MacBean, MacBrayne, MacCall, MacCallum, MacCay, MacClellan, MacColl, MacConachie, MacConnel, MacCorquodale, MacCulloch, MacDonald, MacDougall, MacDuffie, MacEachern, MacEwen, MacFarlane, MacFie, MacGill, MacGillelane, MacGillivray, MacGlass, MacGregor, MacIan, MacIlvernock, MacInnes, MacIntyre, MacIver, Mackay, MacKechnie, MacKellar, Mackenzie, MacKerchar, MacKerras, MacKillop, MacKinnon, Mackintosh, MacLachlan, MacLaren, MacLean, MacLehose, MacLellan, MacLeod, MacLucas, MacMartin, MacMillan, MacNab, MacNaughton, MacNeill, MacNicol, MacNiven, MacPhail, MacPhatrick, MacPherson, MacQuarrie, MacQueen, MacRae, MacRankin, MacTavish, MacVicar, Maitland, Malcolm, Mann, Mar, Marischal, Martin, Mason, Matheson, Maule, Maxwell, Meldrum, Melville, Menteith, Menzies, Mercer, Middleton, Millar, Milne, Mitchell, Moncreiff, Monro, Monteith, Montgomery, Montrose, Monymusk, Moray, Morgan, Morrison, Morton, Mowat, Muir, Muirhead, Munro, Murray, Nairne, Napier, Neilson, Nevin, Nicolson, Nisbet, Noble, Ogilvie, Oliphant, Orkney, Ormond, Oswald, Panmure, Paplay, Park, Paterson, Paton, Pluscarden, Pollok, Polson, Porterfield, Preston, Primrose, Pringle, Purves, Queensberry, Rait, Ramsay, Randolph, Rankin, Rattray, Reay, Reid, Richardson, Rigg, Robert I, II & III, Robertson, Rollo, Rose, Ross, Rothes, Roxburghe, Russell, Rutherford, Ruthven, Sandilands, Sanquhar, Schaw, Scherar, Schevez, Scott, Scougall, Scrymgeour, Seaforth, Semple, Seton, Sharp, Shaw, Sibbald, Silver, Simpson, Sinclair, Skene, Skinner, Slater, Smellie, Smith, Smollett, Somerville, Southesk, Spens, Spot, Spottiswoode, Squyer, St. Clair, Stair, Steel, Stephen, Stevenson, Stewart, Stirling, Strachan, Strathallan, Strathmore, Strathnaver, Stronach, Sutherland, Symmer, Tailzeour, Tarbat, Templeman, Thane, Thomson, Torry, Traquair, Trotter, Tullibardine, Tulloch, Turnbull, Tweeddale, Urquhart, Vallance, Vaus, Wallace, Wardlaw, Watson, Wauchope, Wedderburn, Weir, Wemyss, White, Whitelaw, Wigton, Williamson, Wilson, Winram, Winton, Wishart, Wood, Wright, Wylie, Young.

Parishes, Townships & Settlements Indexed:

Aberarder, Aberchalder, Aberdeen, Aberdeen Sheriffdom, Aberdour, Abertarff, Aboyne, Achnacassinoch, Ackergill Castle, Aird, Aitnoch, Alford Parish, Alness, Altyre, Alves, Angus, Appin, Archat, Ardachaig, Ardanaiseig, Ardchattan, Ardclach, Ardersier, Ardkinglass, Ardmeanach, Ardnamurchan, Argyll, Arras, Asswanley, Atholl, Auchindoune, Auchnacloich, Auchneim, Auldearn, Avoch, Badenoch, Balblair, Ballindalloch, Ballindore, Ballivat, Balloch, Ballochhill, Balmakeith, Balnagowan, Balquhomrie, Banchar, Banchor, Banchory Parish, Banff, Barevan, Barglas, Barragalyean, Beauly, Benderloch, Black Isle, Boath, Boghole, Bona, Brachlie, Brechin, Brodie, Bruges, Budgate, Bute, Cadderlie, Cairnbulg, Caithness, Campbell Castle, Campbeltown, Cantray, Carrick, Castlehill, Cawdor, Clachnaharry, Clava, Clunes, Colonsay, Convinth, Corrybrough, Coull, Coulnadalloch, Coupar Angus, Covesee, Cowal, Craigdarroch, Craignish, Cromar, Cromarty, Croy, Culbin, Culcabock, Culcharry, Culclachy, Cullen, Culloden, Dalcross, Dalkeith, Dallas, Dallaschyle, Dalmigavie, Daltulich, Darnaway, Daviot, Delnies, Derry, Dingwall, Donibristle, Dores, Douglas Castle, Doune, Drumchardiny, Drumournie, Drynachan, Duart, Duffus, Dumbarton, Dunachton, Dunbar, Dunbeath, Dunblane, Dundarave, Dundee, Dunfermline, Dunlichity, Dunluce Castle, Dunmaglass, Dunoon, Dunstaffnage, Dunyvaig, Dyke, Dysart, Echt Parish, Edderton, Edinburgh, Eilean Tioram, Elgin, Farnaway, Fearn, Ferintosh, Findhorn, Flanders, Fochabers, Forfar, Forres, Fort William, Fortrose, Foyers, Geddes, Ghent, Gigha, Glasgow, Glenelg, Glenluce, Glenmoriston, Glenorchy, Glenurquhart, Gordon, Grangehill, Hamburg, Hampton Court, Holland, Holyroodhouse, Inshoch, Inveraray, Inverlochy, Inverness, Iona, Islay, Jura, Kellas, Kerdale, Kilbrandan, Kilbride, Kilchoman, Kildrummy, Kilkerran, Killarow, Killean, Killespickerrill, Kilmahog / Kilmachronag, Kilmun, Kilravock, Kincardine O'Neil Parish, Kinchyle, Kincorth, Kindeace, Kinerne Parish, Kinkell, Kinloss, Kinstearie, Kintessack, Kintyre, Kirkcaldy, Knapdale, Knock, Kyllachy, Leith, Leochel Parish, Lethen, Linlithgow, Lintrathen, Lismore, Loch Awe, Loch Etive, Loch Ness, Lochaber, Lochgilphead, Lochgorm Castle, Lochindorb Castle & Loch, Lochloy, Lochnell, London & Whitehall, Lorn, Lossie, Lumphanan Parish, Mar, Maryburgh, Midmar Parish, Moray, Morvern, Moy, Moyness, Muckairn, Mull, Mulquhaich, Nairn, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Oudenaarde, Paris, Partick, Perth, Petty, Philorth, Pluscarden, Rait, Rosemarkie, Ross, Rothes, Ruthven Castle, Spynie, St. Andrews, Stirling, Strathavon, Strathdearn, Stratherrick, Strathglass, Strathnairn, Strathspey, Sutherland, Tain, Tarbert, Taymouth Castle, Teirfogrein, Temple Lands, Thurso, Tiree, Tomatin, Torrich, Toulouse, Turriff, Tyrconnell & Tyrone, Urchany, Urquhart, Wales, Wark, Windsor & Woodstock, York.