While trawling through the parish registers of St Combs, I came across a record for a Charles Gordon BUCHAN. It was quite rare to come across a middle name in this family (as opposed to a tee name) and wondered if it was reference to the mother’s maiden name.
Alexander Buchan (Skipper) in Cairnglass had a son baptd named Charles Gordon. W[itnesses] John Strachan (*sley) & James Buchan.
It was the first time I’d come across ‘Cairnglass’ and found more about the place in the Ordnance Survey Books:
A superior farmsteading on the estate of Cairness. The property of Jas W Gordon Esqr.
I recall reading somewhere that tenant farmers sometimes named their children after land owners so it’s highly likely that Alexander Buchan of Cairnglass names his son in honour of the owner of his farm. However, this seemed based on the valuation roll of 1869/70 – 85 years later – so proof would be needed that this property was in the Gordon family for some time.
A search for the Gordon name and Cairness brought up a page for Charles Gordon, 7th of Buthlaw and 1st of Cairness. He lived at the correct time and therefore lends credence to the idea Charles Gordon BUCHAN was named after him. If anyone knows anything for or against this conclusion, I’d be very interested to hear about it.
