Second Generation

2. William (Thomas) IRVINE *, 1st Laird of Drum¹ was born about 1260 in Dumfriesshire, Aberdeen, Scotland. He was also known as Thomas de Irwyn. He died in 1333 in Drum, Inverness-shire, Scotland. He was a 20th great grandfather of PLO.

William took the name Alexander I although his name was William de Irwin when he was armor bearer for Robert The Bruce, future king of Scotland. William de Irwin was presented the deed to Drum Castle and the surrounding hunting forests in 1323 A.D. The castle near Aberdeen, Scotland has been in existence since 1286 A.D. and was in Irwin hands until 1975 when it was turned over to the National Trust of Scotland. [World Connect Project, Virginia Carolina Georgia Florida Families, David Hunter Brown]

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Per Elson Irwin's files: William de Irvine (Thomas de Irwyn) - second Laird of Drum
William took the name Alexander I although his name was William de Irwin when he was armor bearer for Robert The Bruce, future king of Scotland. William de Irwin was presented the deed to Drum Castle and the surrounding hunting forests in 1323 A.D. The castle near Aberdeen, Scotland has been in existence since 1286 A.D. and was in Irwin hands until 1975 when it was turned over to the National Trust of Scotland.

NOTE: You can look up William de Irwin, he is in all the detailed history books and is mentioned in all accurate accounts of the life of Robert The Bruce of Scotland.

(SOURCE: If anyone needs more on him, I have volumes tucked away in envelopes.)

NOTE: In order to begin this story, you must start with the Irvines of Scotland since that was the spelling of the name for hundreds of years. The "e" was dropped by many Irvines once they reached the colonies of America in the 1700's. The "v" sound was replaced by the softer "w" sound by many Irvines. The name was never pronounced "Irvine" as in "vine," but Irvine as in Irvin.

More from Elson Irwin:

A PAGE FROM ANCIENT HISTORY:
The Irwin lineage traces back beyond Alpin, King of the Scots who married Fergusia, a Pict princess in the 900's A.D. Son of Alpin was Crinan Eryvine, born ca 980 A.D., who married Beatrix, daughter of King Malcolm II, who reigned from 1004 to 1034. Crinan was Abbott of Dunkeld and collector of the king's rents. He was killed in battle against Macbeth's troops in 1045. His brother was Dunegal or Duncan Eryvine. His son was Eruni who married in ca 1060 the heiress of Bonshaw Castle, becoming the first Earl of Angus. Eruni's son was Gilchrist, who became the second Earl of Angus. Gilchrist's son was Gillibrede, the third earl. Gillibrede's son was William, who's son William de Irvine of Wodehouse was the Laird of Bonshaw Castle. It was HIS son, William de Irvine or Irwyn who was armour bearer to Robert the Bruce and the first Laird of Drum Castle. (See below.)

WHY IRWINS CAME TO AMERICA

With all their connections to Scottish royalty and with all their land holdings in Northern Ireland, why did the Irwins of various branches of the family decide to pick up stakes and go to an unsettled, barbaric part of the world called America?

The reasons are many but the most important stimuli for the steady emigration of Scotsmen from Ulster to America during the early 1700's seem to have been:

-- Religious persecution by the Episcopal authorities of a nature most galling and outrageous; one incident being the loss of the rights of citiizenship.

-- A system of "landlordism" which served to discourage thrift and enterprise.

--Prohibitory discrimination against the tradesmen and manufacturers of Ulster (Northern Ireland) in favor of England. This was especially true in the linen business which the Irwins were highly involved in.

-- The enforced payment of tithes to the Episcopal Church to sustain a theocracy which the Presbyterians believed to be contrary to the laws of God, and knew to be destructive of their rights and liberties.

The emigration from Ulster is one of the most striking features of Irish history, and one which has had a most striking effect on the vital force of the United States of America, which drew so much of the best blood from the Presbyterians of the north of Ireland. There was nothing to induce the active-minded men of the North to remain in Ireland, and they left in crowds, going away with wives and children, many of them to perish on the high seas, never to return again to their native country. Thus was Ulster drained of the young, the enterprising and the most energetic and desirable classes of its population, These Scots-Irish abandoned the land which had been preserved by England, by the swords of their fathers. These brave souls crossed the sea to escape from the galling tyrany of the bishops whom Mother England had made rulers of the that land. The Irwins came to a new and better land and here they founded their homes, built their churches, established their communities, and again set up their religion.

And here, alas, in the end, the sons were obliged to draw their swords in order that they might save themselves from England the land which they had taken for their own.
The term "Scotch-Irish" is peculiarly American. The word seems to have come into use since the Revolution, having been taken as a "race name" by many individuals. The first of these immigrants did not use the term at all. They thought of themselves as coming from Ireland and henceforth they were "Irish." The term "Scotch-Irish" was generally applied to descendants in America of the early Presbyterians who had emigrated from Scotland to Northern Ireland a hundred or so years before.

ON GENEALOGY

"And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for
a Memorial in a book. Which we have heard
and known and our Father's have told us:
That the generation to come might know them,
even the children which should be born. We
should arise and declare them to our children."
--From George (I) Irwin's Bible

THE NAME IRWIN

Check: Irvine, Irvin, Irving, Erwin, Ervin, Urvine, Eriwin (all spellings were used at one time or another

The name Irwin, according to Harry E. Irwin, Seneschal of the Clan Irwin, has been spelled several hundred different way over the years with the "Irwin" spelling being the most dominant. It is believed the name was softened from Irvine to Irwin while the family spent a generation or so in Northern Ireland.

In the New World, The "Erwin" spelling was most used in the South, while the "Irwin" spelling dominated in the Northeast and the Middle West.

In Scotland, the "Irvine" spelling centered in Aberdeenshire (Drum Castle), while at Bonshaw in Dumfries, the spelling was more commonly "Irving."
Hence: The Irvines of Drum and the Irvings of Bonshaw.

From William Parkin's webpage: "Alexander de IRVINE (b. Dumfrieshire, Scotland) m. Marotte BERNARD. He was granted the deed to Drum Castle & the surrounding hunting forests in 1323, thus becoming the first Laird of Drum. He was apparently born William de IRWIN, served as armor bearer for Robert the Bruce, and assumed the name Alexander when he received the grant. [-PRESSLEY-PRICE FAMILY TREE, Nanci Presley-Holley]

William (Thomas) IRVINE *, 1st Laird of Drum and Marotte BERNARD * were married before 1317. Marotte BERNARD *³ (daughter of Unk. Prince HUNTINGDON) was born about 1287 in Yr Alban. She died in 1335. She was a 20th g grandmother of PLO.

Note: Per Elson Irwin's files: Marotte Bernard was the great-grand-daughter of King David I of Scotland.

William (Thomas) IRVINE *, 1st Laird of Drum and Marotte BERNARD * had the following children:

+3

i.

William (Thomas) IRVINE *, 2nd Laird of Drum.