{"id":175,"date":"2013-03-11T15:52:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T15:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harknesshistory.org\/?page_id=175"},"modified":"2020-11-11T16:29:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T16:29:32","slug":"the-beginning-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/?page_id=175","title":{"rendered":"The Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harkness is one of the oldest of Scottish surnames, its origin almost \u2013 but not quite – lost in the mists of time. The story of the name begins more than 700 years ago at a time when surnames were only beginning to be used in Scotland; a time when we have little in the way of written history or records.<\/p>\n

In medieval Scotland at the beginning of August the Lammas Fair was held. Lammas survives to this day in a week long annual fair held in the town of St. Andrews and in the quarter days of the Scottish Courts of Law.<\/p>\n

It was an important date in the calendar when the first wheat of the year was harvested and rents were paid. Markets, fairs and gatherings took place all over Scotland; cattle, sheep and produce were bought and sold; the first bread was baked with the year\u2019s new wheat. It was a time when betrothals of marriage were made, debts settled, business dealt with and courts were held.<\/p>\n

A 13th century parchment document records that on the Friday next after the Feast of Saint Peter ad Vincula – Lammas the first Friday in August – 1280, a judicial enquiry was held) at St. Katherine\u2019s Chapel in the Pentland hills some four miles south west of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

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Site of St Katherine’s Chapel Glencorse Reservoir<\/p><\/div>\n

Thomas de Hardkneys was one of the jurors. The \u2018de Hardkneys\u2019 or \u2018of Hardkneys\u2019 tells us that he came from a place called \u2018Hardkneys\u2019. Farmers who were tenants were described as \u2018of\u2019 while those who owned their farms, very few in those days, were described as \u2018in\u2019.<\/p>\n

The enquiry was held to resolve a dispute between local farmers about paying \u2018punlayn\u2019 \u2013 an ancient fine imposed for allowing animals to stray onto neighbouring land. Some of the farmers were tenants of \u2018The Lord of Brad\u2019 and others were tenants of the king, at that time Alexander III. A cleric recorded the proceedings on a parchment document that survives in the National Archives of Scotland<\/a> (RH5\/231). The document<\/a> lists the names of the jurors attending the enquiry, mostly local farmers or land stewards. Thomas de Hardkneys was a farmer living in the area and may well have been one of those attending who could speak to the facts \u201cfor fifty years \u2018byefaud\u2019 and more\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is common in early Scottish writing to find the double \u2018ss\u2019 at the end of a name written as \u2018ys\u2019 \u2018is\u2019 or even \u2018fs\u2019. After 700 years, many of the names recorded in the document still exist, as place names, in and around the Pentland Hills. It is interesting to note changes in the spelling of the names in the document and their present forms:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name in Document<\/b><\/td>\nExisting Name in the Pentland Hills Area<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bavelay<\/td>\nBavelaw \u2013 castle and farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Balhernoc<\/td>\nBalerno –\u00a0 village and suburb of Edinburgh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bounayelin<\/td>\nBonally –\u00a0 village<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Harlau<\/td>\nHarlaw –\u00a0 farm and reservoir<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bradwod<\/td>\nBraidwood –\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cotis<\/td>\nCoates –\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Walstun<\/td>\nWalstone –\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maleny<\/td>\nMalleny \u2013\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Botland<\/td>\nButeland –\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Listunschelis<\/td>\nListonshiels –\u00a0 farm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Pentland Hills Farms<\/p><\/div>\n

Given the variations and changes in spelling, together with other facts that will be covered later, it is difficult not to conclude that Hardkneys and Harkness are\u00a0the same name.<\/p>\n

The farm Harkness or Hardkness no longer exists by that name. Research to establish its location was carried out and is summarised at the Archaeology<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Return to Top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harkness is one of the oldest of Scottish surnames, its origin almost \u2013 but not quite – lost in the mists of time. The story of the name begins more than 700 years ago at a time when surnames were … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-175","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1039,"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions\/1039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harkness.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}