Diarmid,
Happy New Year and thank you for your mail about Ardanaiseig. I'm in London,
not Argyll (sadly) and the reason for my enquiry is that Ardanaiseig now
belongs to my friend Bennie Gray who has transformed it into an excellent
country house hotel. I stayed there recently (my first ever trip to Scotland)
and loved it. When I left I resolved to find out as much as I could about
Archibald Campbell, who commissioned William Burn to build the house. Your
mail is my first major lead. I stumbled across the amusing story of
Finlaystone and 'Wicked William' (Cunningham-Graham) but was not quite sure
if this was the same Archibald Campbell. The story behind the garden is of
great interest. Presumably many plants were imported from the West Indies as
a result of that connection. I would very much like to know more, and I thank
you again for such an informative reply to my enquiry. Please keep in touch.
Robin Saikia
Dear Campbell's,
I have noticed while researching in the midwest during the latter part of the
1800's and early 1900's that there are many names listed that are probably
nicknames for the individual in question.
Like Allie which may be a nickname for Alice or Aliantha or Caliantha.
"Bird" seems to consistently be a nickname for Bert, Burt, or Bernice
Bud or Buddy seems to be what a child was called if he had the same name as his
father.
There is also a gradual corruption of surnames, for example:
In TX I have this spelling for Ella Gertrude Rowark by the time they got to CA
it was Roark. It was probably originally O'Rourke.
Also, Camp, could have originally been Campbell
and Etherige was probably once Etheridge.
I wonder if anyone knows of a website that addresses nicknames or corruptions of
last names of British Isles Settlers in the U.S.
Thanks All
Sheila Campbell