McCurdyFamily.ca
Welcome to THE place for all things McCurdy in Canada.
Family Tree
We're starting out with what is already a considerable family tree and growing from there. We've already got information about more than one hundred of our ancestors along with more than 3 dozen living relatives and it's growing every day.
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Next up will be a forum where registered members can have open discussions and communication on a number of topics from geneaology to family reunions to finding long-lost or distant relatives.
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Our photo galleries will provide a place to share and talk about family photos old and new. Any registered member of the family can have a photo gallery of their own.
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The Origin of 'McCurdy'.....
By David Lee Doll ddollhouse@aol.com
On the map of Scotland, BUTE Island in the Firth of Clyde is a very insignificant spot; but in the Gazetteer of the Eastern Continent we find: "Bute, an island of Scotland in the Firth of Clyde about twelve miles long and on average five miles in breadth, comprising 29,000 acres of rugged surface and separated from the Island of Arran by a narrow channel. The northern part is mountainous but yields good pasture while the rest of the island bears corn and other products. The air is healthy and the people live to great ages. The chief town is Rothesay."
The Isle of Bute before the Norwegian invasion of 808 was inhabited by a people called the Albanishe Tribes and who continued there throughout the 400 years of Viking occupation. After the Western Islands became subject to Norway, they were governed by rulers sent from Norway with the titles of Kings, having their seat of government in the Isle of Man. The last of these rulers over all the islands was King Olave (Olaf), who was murdered by his nephews in 1154. His son, Godred succeeded him.
Godred was opposed in his rule by his brother-in-law, Somerled, Lord of Argyll, who had married Ranyhildes, the daughter of Olave. Somerled raised a rebellion against Godred, and, after several indecisive battles, the latter ceded to Somerled in 1156 all the southern isles except the Isle of Man. Somerled styled himself "Lord of the Isles" and was also known as Somerled, Rex Insolarum. A few years after he laid waste the Isle of Man and obtained the Western Islands.
In 1164, Somerled declared war against King Malcolm of Scotland and with a fleet of 160 galleys from the isles sailed up the Clyde, landed his army near Renfrew, and threatened to make a conquest of Scotland. In the first battle, however, Somerled was slain and his army dispersed with many killed or wounded.
Reid says in The History of Bute; "Upon the death of Somerled, the kingdom of the Isles of Man reverted to Godred, whose descendants retained it until it was, long after, finally ceded to Scotland."
Those portions however, which had been settled upon the sons of Somerled appear to have been claimed by them. Dugald received Mull, Coll, Tiree, and Jura. Reginald got Islay and Kintire; and Angus obtained Bute, while Arran seems to have been a bone of contention between the latter two and is supposed by Mr. Gregory to have been the occasion of the deadly battle between them in 1192, mentioned in The Chronicles of Man.
In 1210, Angus and his three sons were killed at Skye and Reginald is thought to have claimed both Bute and Arran, as he then bestowed Bute, and perhaps Arran also upon RUARI (or RODERICK) whose descendants were called MACRUARI.