Searching Ancestry

[EJ]

I am researching my Scottish heritage. As a decentant of Elizabeth Muir, a daughter of the house of Rowallen and Queen of Scotland having married Robert Bruce-the second, I am looking for history on the Muirs of Caldwell in the Parish of Beith, and the Muirs of Rowallen. Our sheild motto was "Kings come of us, not we of Kings"

Any good ideas of where to look? Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of the families.

Sorry to disappoint you, but there only ever was one King of Scots named Robert Bruce. His grandson (whose mother was Bruce's daughter) was King Robert II, the first Stewart King of Scots. Seven or eight generations of Bruces bore the name Robert before King Robert, but none of them was King of Scots.

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The man o' independent mind,
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

[EJ]

Not a disappointment at all, but thanks for the info on the Kings. However, your comment doesn't respond to my search for information about the Muirs of Caldwell or the Muirs of Rowallen. Have you any knowledge of them? A surprise to you I'm sure, but I'm not really interested in the King side of it.



[This message has been edited by EJ (edited 02 October 2000).]

I'm sorry to say I am posting from work, which is about 4500 miles from home (it's a long story which regulars on here know already so I won't bore you) so I have no access to my books which might have helped.

A quick search on www.google.com reveals that Elizabeth Muir of Rowallen was indeed the Queen of Robert II, King of Scots, but not much else about her. My main aim in posting earlier was to point out the factual error in your naming of Robert II as "Bruce". I wasn't sure if you were refering to King Robert Bruce's ancestor or his descendant, but I now see it was his grandson you had in mind.

I usually find Google a pretty good place to hunt for information... I've just got 30 hits on the terms "Mure" and "Rowallen". Give it a go, and good luck!

------------------
The man o' independent mind,
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

I'm sorry to say I am posting from work, which is about 4500 miles from home (it's a long story which regulars on here know already so I won't bore you) so I have no access to my books which might have helped.

A quick search on www.google.com reveals that Elizabeth Muir of Rowallen was indeed the Queen of Robert II, King of Scots, but not much else about her. My main aim in posting earlier was to point out the factual error in your naming of Robert II as "Bruce". I wasn't sure if you were refering to King Robert Bruce's ancestor or his descendant, but I now see it was his grandson you had in mind.

I usually find Google a pretty good place to hunt for information... I've just got 30 hits on the terms "Mure" and "Rowallen". Give it a go, and good luck!

------------------
The man o' independent mind,
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

[EJ]

Great! Thanks. That's what I was looking for. And I appreciate the correction on the name. I was just copying from the info I had received from a previous search done by someone in my family earlier this year. As I'm sure you notice a lot, geneolgical errors are quite frequent. That's actually why I'm following up on it myself. It's SO easy to make a mistake and totally follow the wrong family tree line.

I can't wait to have the time to check out google.com {I too am at work - but that's only 30 miles from home :-) } Thanks again.

[davidcaldwell]

The Parish Church in Neilston, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, is first recorded in 1163 when it was mentioned in the foundation charter of Paisley Abbey. Though the present church isn’t nearly as ancient as that, incorporated in its back wall is a Gothic window and below that the burial vault of the Mures of Caldwell. On reaching Neilston road look to the left to view Caldwell Tower which stands on the medieval Manor of Caldwell, probably built in the mid 15th century. During the years when the Caldwell estate was forfeited and the head of the Mure family living in exile because of his part in the Covenanters Pentland Rising of 1666, the old building was either allowed to become ruinous or was deliberately destroyed. When the estate was restored, the exiled laird’s daughter and her husband, who was a Mure of Glanderston, built a new residence - the Hall of Caldwell. They used a great deal of stone from the old building but repaired one of the towers, the one we can see today , to mark the site. The National Library of Scotland has several books and collections of estate papers relating to the Mures of Caldwell. Due to variances between French, Scottish, and English, you will find the name spelled as Muir, Mure, and More. The historian of the Church of Scotland located in Uplawmoor, Caldwell Parish, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, has a drawing showing the Mure of Caldwell Estate. I have it, but it is too large for me to print it and I do not know how to send it electronically. I have Microsoft Word 98 for Mac regards, David Caldwell.