Freskin

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Duffus Castle, possibly begun by Freskin.

Freskin was minor noble active in the reign of King David I of Scotland. His name appears only in a charter by King William to Freskin's son, William, granting Strathbrock in West Lothian and Duffus, Kintrae, and other lands in Moray, "which his father held in the time of King David".^[1] The name Freskin is Flemish,^[2] and in the words of Geoffrey Barrow "it is virtually certain that Freskin belonged to a large group of Flemish settlers who came to Scotland in the middle decades of the 12th century and were chiefly to be found in West Lothian and the valley of the Clyde".^[3] Freskin's land acquisition does not appear to be unique, and may have been part of a royal policy in the aftermath of the defeat of king Óengus of Moray.^[4] For instance, on December 25, 1160, a charter was issued by King Máel Coluim IV to Berowald the Fleming, who seems to have controlled Bo'ness in West Lothian, granting him the lands of Innes and "Nether Urquhart" [=Etherurecard] in the "province of Elgin"^[5]; notably, one of the three witnesses to the charter which granted "Berowald Flandrensis" these lands, was "Wilhelmus filius Frisgin", William, Freskin's son.^[6] Freskin appears to be the progenitor of the "de Moravia" or "Murray" family who were lords of Duffus in the later 12th century and early 13th century and who rose to become the earls of Sutherland (southern Caithness), although it was not until the 13th century that we can be certain they took the surname "de Moravia".^[7]

[edit] Notes

^ G.W.S. Barrow, The Acts of William I King of Scots 1165-1214 in Regesta Regum Scottorum, Volume II, (Edinburgh, 1971), no. 116, pp. 198-9; trs. of quote, "The Beginnings of Military Feudalism" in Barrow (ed.) The Kingdom of the Scots, 2nd Ed. (2003), p. 252.
^ See Barrow, "The Beginnings of Military Feudalism", p. 252, n. 16, citing T. Forssner, Continental Germanic Personal Names in England, (Uppsala, 1916), p. 95; J. Mansion, Oud-Gentsche Naamkunde, (1924), p. 217; and G. White (ed.), Complete Peerage, vol. xii, pt. I, p. 537, n. d.
^ G.W.S. Barrow, "Badenoch and Strathspey, 1130-1312: 1. Secular and Political" in Northern Scotland, 8 (1988), p. 3.
^ See Richard Oram, "David I and the Conquest of Moray", in Northern Scotland, 19 (1999), p. & n. 43; see also, L. Toorians, "Twelfth-century Flemish Settlement in Scotland", in Grant G. Simpson (ed.), Scotland and the Low Countries, 1124-1994, (East Linton, 1996), pp. 1-14.
^ A.A.M. Duncan, Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 138, n. 11, where Duncan speculates that Houston near Broxburn may also have belonged to a Fleming.
^ G.W.S. Barrow (ed.), The Acts of Malcolm IV King of Scots 1153-1165, Together with Scottish Royal Acts Prior to 1153 not included in Sir Archibald Lawrie's "Early Scottish Charters", in Regesta Regum Scottorum, Volume I, (Edinburgh, 1960), no. 175, pp. 219-20.
^ Duncan, Making of the Kingdom, p. 189.

[edit] References

Barrow, G.W.S. (ed.), The Acts of Malcolm IV King of Scots 1153-1165, Together with Scottish Royal Acts Prior to 1153 not included in Sir Archibald Lawrie's "Early Scottish Charters", in Regesta Regum Scottorum, Volume I, (Edinburgh, 1960)
Barrow, G.W.S. (ed.), The Acts of William I King of Scots 1165-1214 in Regesta Regum Scottorum, Volume II, (Edinburgh, 1971)
Barrow, G.W.S., "Badenoch and Strathspey, 1130-1312: 1. Secular and Political" in Northern Scotland, 8 (1988), pp. 1-15
Barrow, G.W.S. (ed.), "The Beginnings of Military Feudalism" in Barrow (ed.) The Kingdom of the Scots, 2nd Ed. (2003), p. 252-3
Duncan, A.A.M., Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975)
Oram, Richard, "David I and the Conquest of Moray", in Northern Scotland, 19 (1999), pp. 1–19
Toorians, L., "Twelfth-century Flemish Settlement in Scotland", in Grant G. Simpson (ed.), Scotland and the Low Countries, 1124-1994, (East Linton, 1996), pp. 1-14.